Dinners from supermarket offers

mirrorwall14

Second up is Chicken Tikka Masala based on a version of http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/12798/chicken-tikka-masala


Ingredients
2 large onions (0.47c three pack from aldi, used one in previous recipe)
Chicken tikka masala paste (I made a version of this using a variety of spices from the press. Its 2.69 in tesco for a big jar)
1 red/1 yellow pepper (1.59 only used 2 of three)
2X 3e chicken pieces (6.00)
2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes (0.94c for two)
4 tbsp tomato purée (0.49c but only need half of it)
2-3 tbsp mango chutney (0.95c only need less than a quarter of it)
150ml double cream (1.29c need 2/3s of it)
150ml natural yogurt (0.55c need 1/3 of it)

Cupboard ingredients
Vegetable oil
Butter

Total Cost: Assuming you need to buy all of the above and used all of it (realistically you will be storing things like puree and using peppers etc in other recipies)
Circa 15e
With the amount of chicken it should serve 8 I think at least, again I'm splitting it up into four freezer trays and will serve with rice or naan when it comes to it.

Directions followed as per the link above

Greenmachine

What does 5c worth of salt look like? Surely people aren't using 50+ grams of salt at a time. My last package of salt lasted over a year.

mirrorwall14

Greenmachine wrote: »

What does 5c worth of salt look like? Surely people aren't using 50+ grams of salt at a time. My last package of salt lasted over a year.

Nah I posted earlier that I was just costing those dashes at 5c for the sake of it. Like you I only need salt less than once a year! Same with pepper. I've actually given up on costing too closely in more recent recipes as its too awkward

L1011

I manage to go through pepper at a rate that I buy 300g bags of it in the nearest Asian supermarket. Works out cheaper than the premade grinders and much better than the preground stuff. Ditto all spices but its a false economy if you don't use them frequently - I'd cook 3/4 curries a week.

madmaggie

I made a beef cassorole using offer meat and veg from the freezer yesterday. Perfect food for this weather. Any leftovers are frozen, or blitzed in the blender (Argos €13.50) to make beef soup. It might need thinning down with some beef stock. Yum.

Greenmachine

L1011 wrote: »

I manage to go through pepper at a rate that I buy 300g bags of it in the nearest Asian supermarket. Works out cheaper than the premade grinders and much better than the preground stuff. Ditto all spices but its a false economy if you don't use them frequently - I'd cook 3/4 curries a week.

Ditto. We bought a big bag of pepper of pepper corns from tiger. Shame all our grinders are sealed. :eek:
Bigger shame, Mrs. Greenmachine is afraid of spice. Unlike Mr Green.... who will eat scotch bonnets for breakfast. True story.
:pac:

mirrorwall14

Third up a variety on this Pasta Soup (though not actually putting the pasta in the freezer)

This is very filling and I will make it regularly when it lines up with the super 6 as its dead cheap and healthy. If the super six veg had carrots etc i would have used fresh instead of frozen veg but its still good without the fresh veg. This is the cheapest of the four recipies



Ingredients
2XSuper 6 chicken pieces (6e)
one bag frozen veg-I used about 750g rather than the 200g called for in the original recipe (1.25)
2Xtins tomatoes-I added chicken and extra veg so added an extra tin tomatoes to the original recipe (0.94)
Remainder of soup mix-leek/carrot/parsley chopped small (costed in stew)
1 chopped green pepper (costed in tikka)
1 diced large onion (0.47 for three, used 1.5 in this and will use the other 1.5 in lasagne)

Total cost circa 9e (served 8)


Cupboard Ingredients
Dry Basil
Garlic
Salt/Pepper
Olive Oil
Chilli Powder

Method
Add frozen veg to boiling water with stock cube (use less than a litre of water or you end up way to watery!)
Fry onion,garlic and leek in some olive oil until slightly soft.
Add chicken and a good dash of chilli powder for extra flavour.
Add chopped pepper if using it
Fry until chicken is sealed

Once chicken is sealed transfer both veg and chicken/onion to a big pot
Add a good dash of basil and a spoon of sugar to taste if you like.
Add Salt and pepper to taste. I find the stock has enough salt but alway add a dash of pepper

Simmer until chicken is cooked through. We like ours falling apart so thats usually 45 minutes or so.
At this stage it is ready for freezing.

Today I lifted the portion for my lunch into a smaller pot and added some fresh pasta to serve (yum!!). Its very good with garlic bread or crusty bread too if you want instead of pasta.

The remainder I allowed cool and froze.

mirrorwall14

And last but not least Lasagne

Ideally you would use super six mince which would reduce the cost, unfortunately it was out of stock for me!

Ingredients
Irish Beef Mince aldi (4e)
2 peppers from 3 pack diced small (1.59)
1.5 large onions (costed in previous)
3 X tomato tins (1.41)
2 X Creamy sauce (you could make your own, I hadn't the energy!) 1.98 (don't need all of it)
1 tablespoon Tomato puree (costed in tikka)
Carrots (I used preprepped, no need if watching costs!) 1.19
Lasagne Sheets 0.99

Total cost about 11e and will serve 6-8 depending on serving sizes. I use a lot of veg for bulk and nutrients so usually 8 for me.

Store cupboard
Olive oil
Bay leaf
Garlic
Additional Lasagne sheet pieces from last lasagne
Salt/Pepper

Instructions
Parboil finely diced carrots with bay leaf in water
Fry garlic, onion and diced peppers until onions are soft in a dash of olive oil
Add mince and continue to fry until meat is sealed
Add three tins of tomatoes and some tomato puree (you can also use ketchup here if you like)
Simmer for about 30 minutes until fully cooked

Layer mince with pasta/sauce in dish. Freeze at this stage if you want to.

Otherwise take the finished lasagne and place in oven at about 180 degrees (fan oven) for about 35 minutes (edges will be brown)

Serve with salad, chips or garlic bread for example!

mirrorwall14

Just to note all this cooking cost me 50e for the ingredients and part of that was 6e for foil trays! Even if you add on a healthy 10e for store cupboard ingredients which is way over estimating it, the total cost is 60e.

Depending on your serving sizes this gets you between 20-30 portions of food. There is no excuse for not cooking healthily when living frugally. I actually surprised myself at how inexpensive it was to stock the freezer and this is definitely something that can be done. It took me two days but if you had a second pair of hands it would speed it up dramatically, e.g. chopping veg etc is the tedious bit. Most of the recipes above end up simmering themselves for a period.

This thread seems to have lost a little bit of motivation so I would encourage everyone to post what they are doing. Remember cooking is a little terrifying for people and anything we can do to encourage people is important! I'm not even a good cook but the food is coming out good! I mean 90% of my try outs are from the one website so I'm no Michelin chef

madmaggie

Supervalu doing great meat offers too, mirrorwall, get your mince there! Would dried pasta work in your chicken soup, I use the gluten free pasta, being coeliac. PS Got a massive bag of mushrooms reduced in SV, going to try mushroom soup, a first for me.

collegeme

Well done Mirrorwall and best of luck with the pending arrival.

I surprised myself at how tasty my super6 soup was.

Broccoli and potato soup
One large super 6 onion (10c)
Head of s6 broccoli (29c)
500g potatoes s6 (10c)
Garlic cloves *2 (20c)
Chicken stock cubes *2 (15c)
Knob butter (20c)

Put a knob of butter in a large pot and saute the onion and garlic.
Add the chopped broccoli and continue on low heat.
Add crushed stockcube and splash water.
Finally add chopped potatoes and 2pts water and second stock cube.

Bring to boil and simmer.

Blend and serve.


It was the niceest soup I've ever made and at €1.05 for about 6-8 servings , absolute bargain.

mirrorwall14

collegeme wrote: »

Well done Mirrorwall and best of luck with the pending arrival.

I surprised myself at how tasty my super6 soup was.

Broccoli and potato soup
One large super 6 onion (10c)
Head of s6 broccoli (29c)
500g potatoes s6 (10c)
Garlic cloves *2 (20c)
Chicken stock cubes *2 (15c)
Knob butter (20c)

Put a knob of butter in a large pot and saute the onion and garlic.
Add the chopped broccoli and continue on low heat.
Add crushed stockcube and splash water.
Finally add chopped potatoes and 2pts water and second stock cube.

Bring to boil and simmer.

Blend and serve.


It was the niceest soup I've ever made and at €1.05 for about 6-8 servings , absolute bargain.

Thanks!! Oh that looks yum. Might make that tomorrow!

I must keep an eye on Supervalu too