Frugal Recipes

AeryFairy

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I thought we had a thread like this already, but I couldn't find it.

Anyway, things are a little tight financially at the moment, so my fiancé and I are trying to find super cheap meals to make. He found a blog with a budget recipe section (an omni blog, but plenty of veg recipes on there). So I thought we could all post budget recipes with roughly how much each portion/batch costs.

9 pence bean burgers
24 pence red wine and mushroom soup
 
Dahl is my favourite cheap meal. You can buy 1kg bags of lentils from Tescos or independent shops cheaply. You can either just use lentils, or add vegetables/onion/garlic/chilli/ginger/spices/coconut/tomato depending on what you have/like/can afford.

http://www.ladyandpups.com/2013/03/21/deathly-scalloped-potato-pizza-eng/ Moccocan spiced potato pizza, if you have bread flour and yeast as kitchen staples, it's really cheap - potatoes, tomatoes and store ingredients (I'd use onion instead of shallots, mint from my garden). If you need to buy the flour/yeast I guess it's not so great.

I wish I had more... now I think about it most of my recipes involve expensive ingredients. Half the time I'm so busy trying to make new, tasty, interesting, nutritional, sometimes low-calorie meals... I give up on trying to make them cheap too. :rofl: I'll keep an eye on this thread, I have much to learn.
 
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Oh this is cheap - sometimes for lunch I have a jacket potato, and then slice up mushrooms, garlic and tomatoes (or whatever vegetables are left over in the fridge) and add lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper, and put it in the oven with the potato to make a really tasty garlic mushrooms to eat with the potato.

Usually it happens when I've ran out of baked beans. But it's actually really tasty. You could use vinegar instead of lemon juice too.
 
Bean chilli is always cheap to make - even if you buy tinned beans instead of dried ones, you can easily feed at least six people on about £4. I buy kidney beans, cannelini beans, haricot beans, and black eyed beans at about 50p a tin, add a large onion, a tin of tomatoes, some red peppers, and some mushrooms, then season with chilli powder, paprika, salt, and pepper.
 
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I spent a lot of my younger life learning how to be resourceful from my mother and then most of my adult life working for the love of it and volunteering, with little money and having to make a bag of lentils go a very long way.
When I first moved to Glastonbury about 8 years ago, I had to feed my partner and child on next to nothing and was really good a getting the end of day fresh food reduced bargains from the supermarket, making stews from red lentils or beans, with garlic or onion and a few dried herbs to make them special (or even mushrooms for a treat) and served with rice, millet or potatoes. I also learnt to forage for nettles and things adding some delicious natural super foods (for totally free) to our meals when they were in season here.

Buying what is in season from the farmers market usually works out a really good buy and I can usually walk away with a couple of huge bagfuls to keep us going for a week... I find it helps me to only buy what's in season and get creative with those things... like 101 recipes for cauliflower :)
 
This isn't a recipe, but beans are a major part of my diet and I save quite a bit of money doing this, as I spend less on them, and save money in lower cooking times as I cook in large batches. Also on top of being healthier because of their lower salt content I think that they taste better.

I buy bulk dried beans. Soak them overnight. Boil them. Drain them. Cool them. Package them in ziplocks (1 1/2 to 2 cups per*) and freeze them.
(* a normal can holds about 1 1/2 cups of beans)
Every time I need beans I grab a package and use it just like canned beans.

Right now my freezer is loaded with about 30 frozen bags full of either black beans and chickpeas (I use these most often). I also have a few bags of great northerns, pintos, and kidneys.
 
Just thought- one of my go to meals is actually pretty frugal.
I used to be a professional cook so I keep a few shortcuts available. This is why I try to always have some boiled fully cooked unpeeled potatoes available in my frig. That way I can quickly make hashbrowns (I just grate them directly into a hot oiled frying pan) or use them diced or mashed for any other dish.
Anyway....

At least once a week I'll usually eat what I call vegetable browns. It's basically hashbrowns mixed with any vegetables I have available. I usually start with a base of onion, garlic, carrot, and celery. Though I'll normally add at least one or two of these: mushrooms, bell peppers, corn, green beans, cabbage, zucchini, cucumber, tomato, squash, turnip, any other fresh veggies, or any leftovers I might have that'll fit.

I start the hashbrowns cooking. While they're browning I dice up the other vegetables and add them in the order of how soft I want the vegetables cooked.
I normally toss in the onion right after I turn the browns for the first time. Then I add the carrot, and last the garlic and celery. I cook them al denti (crisp) add some ground black pepper and chow down.
 
Hi there,

I am all about frugal!

I read Penniless Parenting. She is not a vegan but makes lots of vegan meals for cheap and has great tips too.

I blog and my focus is easy vegan and frugal, simple living. If interested you might want to take a look Vee's Easy Vegan.

I am new on the forum so the URL's are not showing up yet :)
 
Hi there,

I am all about frugal!

I read Penniless Parenting. She is not a vegan but makes lots of vegan meals for cheap and has great tips too.

I blog and my focus is easy vegan and frugal, simple living. If interested you might want to take a look Vee's Easy Vegan.

I am new on the forum so the URL's are not showing up yet :)

They soon will be if you keep posting.:)

I'm also on the frugal side ; coupons, discounts, leftovers etc.:p
 
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I "liked" your FB page. And I found your blog. Was only able to give it a quick look so far...very nice!
 
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My meal last night was pretty frugal. I warmed up about a half cup of cooked chickpeas in the microwave, mixed some salsa in with them, dumped them on top of some shredded lettuce and grated carrots (large grate). Then I took a scant handful of corn chips and crumbled it over top (last of the bag).

Overall I doubt if I used much over a dollar worth of food, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was less than a dollar.

I was trying for a lazy man's vegan taco salad, and it turned out to be a very satisfying meal.

Strangely (to me) the large sized grate of carrot* played a big part in how satisfying the meal was -I just added them for bulk (and because I had them left over in the frig). It was a happy coincidence that I'll now continue doing.

*I grated the carrot at an angle and ended up with what resembled a 1/8 inch julienne (little sticks).
 
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I usually do keep in mind frugal, easy meals so keep your eyes out for some beauties this week and a contest :)
I just checked out your blog as well.Your abundance bowl looks really good!I may have to try it sometime.:apple::broccoli::tomato: :)
 
Yes do give that one a go. It is delish, easy to make and you can use whatever you have on hand. A lovely combo of fresh and raw :)
 
My most frugal meal would be my spiced beans done in a crock pot.I make them once a week to use in whole grain wraps.This can get you through 3 or 4 evenings of the week with eating 3 or 4 burrito wraps per evening.
It's quick and easy when you only have time to just warm something up.I like to do a different regions style and bean choice every week.Warning....They are super when diced crunchy onions and pink salt are added.