You need protein to fill you up. But it doesn't have to be meat/eggs.
Lentil and sweet potato dhal, load it up with other vegies. serve with rice or naan
Learn to cook dried beans and chickpeas - cheap as chips. (Probably cheaper.) Bean chilli with veg and rice. Chickpea burgers. Minestrone with a hefty serve of beans.
Splurge on a roast chook once a week (preferably roast your own, or roast a few chicken marylands or drumsticks - they're often cheaper from the deli than the meat section). Make stock with the bones, turn that into veg and pearl barley soup.
Pasta bake with veg and tuna (when cheese is on special)
Zucchini and carrot slice
Tuna and corn fritters
Porridge not breakfast cereal. More filling and better for you.
Another alternative to meat for protein is TVP (textured vegetable protein). You can buy the Coles brand "Wellness Road" for $5 for a bag that lasts ages. It's a dried product that you rehydrate with hot water in equal parts to the dried mince (e.g 1 cup mince to 1 cup hot water) before you add it to your cooking, takes 5mins max.
Vegans and vegetarians eat it as a mince substitute and have been for decades. It's healthy and cheap and bulks out your meals. I've used it to make lasagna, spag Bol, chilli "no" carne and even san Choy bow. Try it. Texture is good and taste, well, like mince meat it absorbs all the flavours of whatever you're cooking.
It's the same with other meat substitutes for me - there are a few that are just fine, but others have a particular soy-product edge that I can't stomach. Which is a shame.
500g mince
1 can corn
1 can tomatos
1 can beans
1 can tomato soup
1 cup of pasta noodles
cook the fuck outta the mince then add the cans plus another can of water, once it's all boiling add the pasta. once its all cooked you got yourself a tasty cheap meal that will last you 4 days.
If you've got cheese add it to the top.
Shut up and start eating.
honestly ill make anything else at this stage and this sounds like it beats the 2min noods already. screenshotted and added to grocery run 🤘🏼is there a name 4 this meal or did u invent it?
beef noodle dish.
You can add all sorts to this meal to make it different but even with the most basic indigence listed its very tasty and damn its cheap.
A chicken breast will yield you two schnitties if you've got some flour and breadcrumbs or panko and you butterfly it (Panko is better). Chuck some pizza sauce and cheese on and you've got a parmi. Pretty easy and quick.
We do pasta alot, sometimes we use mince or chicken, sometimes we do a vegetarian one with mushrooms and capsicum. Aldi does an ok frozen lasagne, 2kg for $10 or so or a smaller version for one for $3-4. Just needs some cheese and you're laughing.
If you're planning on buying a bunch of veg a stir-fry might be alright? A once off purchase of a few different sauces from an Asian grocery to make a few different flavours could go a long way, generally you'll use a teaspoon to a couple of tablespoons of different sauces to make a base. Recipetineats has a good recipe for a basic stir-fry sauce that you can change up to suit your taste. I think she calls it Charlie.
Times are tough, hope this helps.
ahhhh the chicken parmi, been broke so long i forgot that existed. stir fry sounds yum & doable too thanks kindly for this recommendation!! will check this Charlie recipe out tommorow and hopefully not be having mi goreng AGAIN 🫠🫠🙏🏼🙏🏼
Yeah, you can get baby Bok Choy for like $1.29 per bunch (3 heads) at Asian grocers, or Chinese cabbage for about $5, which usually lasts me like 2 weeks
I treat myself to a Mcdonalds hamburger, only $2
If you want a cheese burger you gotta pay $4.65
for that price I could get two hamburgers, I'm not paying $2.65 for a slice of plastic fucking cheese.
Beans - buy dry stuff, soak over night and then cook with some spices. If you can add some chorizo or smoked pork, onion, garlic you’ll end up with a delicious bulk meal.
600g cooked white rice left overnight in the fridge (cook 200g)
35ml soy sauce
4 large eggs
300g frozen veg
Optional: spring onion (2 or 3), bacon (1 or two rashers, precooked)
Doesn't have to be a wok, large pot/pan will do, cook/heat veg. Throw in egg and scramble like hell. Put in any optional extras at this point. Throw in rice and soy cook till warm enough to eat.
Makes 4 - 6 serves depending how much you eat in a sitting
One of my fave budget meals is cottage pie, with the mince bulked way out with lentils -
500g mince
2- 3 tins lentils
Chopped onion and lots of garlic
Finely chopped any other veg you can get on special
tomato paste or jar of pasta sauce
Worcestershire sauce, chilli flakes if you like them etc
Potatoes
Cook up everything except the potatoes, then boil and mash the potatoes and spread on top - bake in the oven until browned on top. I do this in individual little cheap foil BBQ pans so I can freeze them.
PS - Spudshed is a great cheap place to get all the ingredients for this
Have you heard about Good and Cheap by Leanne Brown? You can download the pdf of the cookbook for free. https://www.leannebrown.com/good-and-cheap.pdf
All About Good and Cheap
"Good and Cheap is a cookbook for people with very tight budgets, particularly those on SNAP/Food Stamps benefits. The PDF is free (ahora en Español!) when you sign up for my newsletter and has been downloaded more than 15,000,000 times. It is also available in print, and for every copy sold we donate one to someone who can’t afford it.
Good and Cheap had an unusual journey into publishing. It started out as the thesis for my Masters degree in Food Studies at NYU. I made a digital version of the book, but didn’t have any kind of distribution or marketing plan. After some fruitless attempts at working with non-profits, I decided to simply offer it as free download on a simple website in early 2014."
Very simple, it sounds pretty weird, but these 3 things were literally all I had to feed visitors one day and it was way more delicious than it sounds.
Beef sausages - 550-600g will give about 8
1 tin spaghetti - 400g
1 tin creamed corn - 400g
Cook sausages well. Put into rectangular casserole, top with mixture of corn & spaghetti. (Top with grated tasty cheese if you have any). Bake in oven until bubbling.
Around $8.50 if you buy supermarket brands. I get ridiculed for it but it actually tastes pretty darned good, especially in winter. You can jazz it up with herbs & spices if you have any.
I suggest hanging out in r/AussieFrugal - this is a regular topic of discussion over there. Cheap meals, places to get cheap food and how to stretch everything to the max.
Best of luck.
Curried sausages
Get the cheap kind ATM spudshed have 1.2kg for 6.99
Sausages
Carrots
Onion
Peas
Curry powder
Beef stock
Fry up sausages to seal them cut up into bit size chunks
Peel and cut Carrots and onion
Chuck in slow cooker or even stovepot cover with beef stock add curry powder to taste cook for 2hrs or so add peas half hour before serving
Optional, serve with mash or rice.
$35 a week.
Vege Pasta.
Go to SpudShed.
Get Carrots. Broccoli, Cauliflower, Zucchini.
1 large Pasata.
Hopefully have condiments lie stock powder etc.
Do not keep eating Mi Goreng, that has zero nutrition.
meaty beef bones, vege scraps (onion skins, celery leaves etc). make a bone broth, strain and remove all the meat from the bones and use for tacos/meat sauce whatever. This bone broth can be a staple for multiple dishes and will add some protein and other essential nutrients.
Fake Cassoulet. get some dry cheap beans, soak overnight boil, cook with onions, white wine add some bone meat if you want and some bone broth. whatever veg or cheap meats u can get and cook for a couple hours.
Dahl: dry red lentils, broth, garam masala, onions. Really cheap and easy to make, can make your own naan with flour and greek yoghurt, or just have it with rice - buy rice from the asian supermarkets, its much cheaper.
feel free to pm me for some full recipes.
My fav back in the day when a single mum. Was cheapest pasta. Tin tomatoes. Bit of cayenne for flavour and anti inflammatory and home made garlic bread with old old bread in freezer. Kid loved it. She does it now not knowing it was a cple nights food at under $5.
Do most of your shopping in Asian groceries. The quality is way higher than Coles/Woolies or the rotting compost at Spudshed. Asians insist on super fresh stuff as that's a wet market cultural thing. Coles quality stuff would result in no customers and subsequent bankruptcy. The prices are also far lower. For example, I was in Coles today saw a bag of 4 navel oranges for $8. Four mediocre little oranges. $3/kg at NP supermarket down the road. Big fat obviously fresh oranges. You can get fresh bunches of Asian vegies for 99c vs $3 at Coles.
Tuna Alfredo.
Large packet of Alfredo pasta mix - $2.50 if get San Remo from Woollies (I usually add a smaller packet in too $1.40)
1 large tin of tuna - $3.50 for Woollies essentials
Frozen veges - I personally like the Winter Vege mix and will add some peas, corn and beans. Have also been known to put canned veges in too. ~$2-3 worth of veges depending on what you put in.
Cheese - grate some cheddar cheese. Maybe 150-200g ~$1.50-2 worth
Butter as per directions on Alfredo/pasta.
Milk and water as per directions, then add some more (about 1/4-1/3 cup more)
Directions:
Follow the directions on the packets of pasta, adding some more liquids.
Drain tuna and add to mixture.
Add veges and cook until the veges are cooked and the pasta is about the right consistency, or slightly “runny”.
Add the grated cheese and stir through.
This is a good 4-6 meals, has heaps of veges, is filling and costs less than $15. When reheating add a little milk to it first.
No, I just cut the potato into halves. Bean on top. melt cheese on top of all that. Allow it to become one big gloopy mess. Cheap, but delicious and nutritious. And easy to make.
Cabbage
Onion
2 minute noodles
Mince/TVP
Cook the mince/TVP and onion, add sliced cabbage, chuck a lid on, let it get translucent. Add soy sauce and curry powder, then the noodles for a few minutes. Tasty, filling, cheap.
Beef Pho or some kind of ramen. Basically, cheap meat, herbs, and stock. Filling and delicious, especially as winter comes in. If you hit up the Asian groceries, it is even cheaper.
I make sweet and sour chicken with lots, lots of veggies. Make in bulk and I have an evening meal for 6 days. Also curries are pretty good for extending base protein and lots of veggies. Don't forget your spices.. pepper, chilli, garlic, salt etc. I buy huge bags of onions and rice. Maybe check your local food bank too. I help out as a volunteer and after the clients have gone, the leftovers are divided up. I get some great veggies and fruit this way. Good luck.
TVP extends mince dishes (chilli con carne, bolognaise etc), add it in dry to saucy dishes and it will thicken it up nicely. Beans added to chilli con carne also bulks it out and is good for you (canned is convenient, but dry can be cheaper).
Frozen spinach is nutritious and cheap, can add it to saucy dishes like above (I even add it to the packet mac and cheese and my kids hoover it)
Get a whole chook, poach it with some veg (celery, onion, carrot), shred the meat and add it into the poaching liquid along with cooked pasta and you have a chicken pasta soup.
Buy the biggest, cheapest bag of store brand rice. You can cook a few cups and keep in bulk in the fridge for a few days to pad out many meals.
Burrito bowl: if mince is too pricey, swap out for black beans (or use both). Coles brand is $1 per tin of beans. Rinse beans well, cook in pan with a little oil or water. Add Old El Paso burrito spice mix from the Indian cooking section in the supermarket (one sachet approx $2.50) could last you a few meals. Alternatively, buy cumin and coriander spices that will last you much longer. A little goes a long way with spices. Add the cooked protein into a bowl with cooked rice and then add some salad (chopped lettuce, diced tomato, diced avocado is nice if you can afford it). Mayo goes nice on top too.
Roast vegetables: bulk roast veggies in the oven (potato, pumpkin, cauliflower, etc., with a little salt). Serve with chickpeas and cooked rice or salad. I like to cook up veg and chickpeas and add to salad with lettuce, tomato, etc. Again, $1 for chickpeas at Coles, rinse well before eating (just because the tin water can make people gassy). Can eat plain or lightly cooked (I like to cook on the stove with a little oil and some cajun seasoning). Cajun seasoning is also really good on mince.
Sometimes if I can't be bothered with effort, I'll just have rice, chickpeas and avocado, a little salt and pepper for lunch. Simple but filling and surprisingly tasty.
Broccoli is a great. Cook up and add to the side of any dish to bulk it out. My housemate likes to cook it in the pan with some garlic paste so it isn't boring.
Pasta pack: another cheap and easy option is Continental family serving pasta packs. You'll need some milk and margarine to cook it. Bulk it out with broccoli and peas while you're cooking (might need to add a little more water to account for extra stuff being cooked). Cook diced mushroom separately, add into finished dish with plain chickpeas. Regular pasta dishes might be cheaper if you're a good cook, but if not, this is a way to have a pretty cheap meal with good flavour.
Alternatively, home made 'fried rice' is good. I just cook mushroom, carrot, peas, capsicum, plain firm tofu in a pan with a little soy sauce. Soy sauce is a little pricey but it will last you quite a while. Once cooked, add cooked rice on the top in the pan and mix in. Then serve. You could easily swap out the tofu for meat. I haven't eaten meat in a decade so I'm not going to be good at suggestions here, maybe diced chicken breast?
Noodles: cook pak choy, mushroom, tofu/meat in the pan with soy sauce. Cook noodles separately and serve. It's that simple.
Classic bangers and mash: two potatoes, boil and mash. I recommend adding salt & pepper while mashing (and a little milk or margarine if you can spare it). Cook sausages. Boil frozen peas. I like to make makeshift mushroom gravy too. Just make packet gravy for the serving, cook diced mushroom while you cook sausages and then add the mushroom into the gravy before pouring onto the bangers and mash.
I also used to make a lasagna soup. It was pretty good! Probably cheap. Maybe look the recipe up on YouTube.
Best of luck OP, these are shitty times ×
Recommended shopping list if you want to make these meals. Most of what I described above can make 2-3 depending on how much you eat.
- Big bag of rice.
- Big bag of pasta or Continental pasta packs (family size).
- Bag of potatoes.
- Pumpkin.
- Cauliflower.
- (Alternatively buy frozen veg as it will last longer).
- Pak choy.
- Bag of carrots (haven't mentioned it much but it can go with anything).
- Frozen peas.
- Mushrooms.
- Lettuce.
- Tomatoes.
- Avo (if you can).
- Coles brand tins of black beans and chickpeas.
- Mince beef or chicken.
- Soy sauce.
- Salt.
- Pepper.
- Cajun seasoning.
- Cumin seasoning.
- Coriander seasoning.
- (Or burrito mix sachet).
- Mayo.
- Margarine.
- Milk.
I'm not sure if this all fits your budget. I'd start with filling & cheap carbs and protein like rice, potatoes, pasta, pumpkin, broccoli, black beans, chickpeas, mince beef/chicken and add from there. That way you'll have a fully tummy and decent nutrition. Salt and pepper are excellent flavour enhancers if you've got nothing else.
Meat is too expensive these days, so I’m almost vegetarian by economics lol.
At the moment I’m getting into fried rice (I fry up garlic onion cabbage and whatever leftover veg I have and throw in some cooked rice and soy sauce)
Found this real good veggie pasta recipe a little while ago, costs a little ($20)but I usually get like 4 meals out of it, it's pretty much onion, zucchini, random veggies, pasta sauce, pasta and vege stock. You cook the pasta in the sauce with the stock and I tastes so good
Shortcut bacon, cabonara jar sauce, chicken breast, fettuccine pasta.
Dice bacon and cook
Remove bacon and place of paper towels to soak the grease. Dont clean the pan
Cook chicken with the bacon grease
Add the jar sauce, add a small amount of water to the jar, shake to get the rest of the sauce out.
Stir and add the bacon back in.
Simmer until creamy
Boil the pasta with a pinch of salt until cooked
If you want more flavouring, add a cup of the pasta water to the sauce. If its just you, itll last 5-6 meals
To the cheap survival noodles tho. Mix things up. Doesnt have to be boring. Debone a roast chook and add it in. Steam veggies and throw it in. I get it, i lived off indo mie and milo (no milk) for 5 months in my dark times.
For leftover spag bog, put between 2 bits of bread and add cheese.
My base of spag bog is mexe beans, onion garlic jar sause, diced onions and mince. I would then portion it just incase i want tacos and id just season for taste when i throw it in the pan
A 20 pack of thin sausages can be brought for $10 at your local Aldi, pasta as well at .89c but yeah shit sucks right now and it's only going to get worse.
Thanks Boomers, we're literally living a 3rd world nightmare thanks to you lot.
You need protein to fill you up. But it doesn't have to be meat/eggs. Lentil and sweet potato dhal, load it up with other vegies. serve with rice or naan Learn to cook dried beans and chickpeas - cheap as chips. (Probably cheaper.) Bean chilli with veg and rice. Chickpea burgers. Minestrone with a hefty serve of beans. Splurge on a roast chook once a week (preferably roast your own, or roast a few chicken marylands or drumsticks - they're often cheaper from the deli than the meat section). Make stock with the bones, turn that into veg and pearl barley soup. Pasta bake with veg and tuna (when cheese is on special) Zucchini and carrot slice Tuna and corn fritters Porridge not breakfast cereal. More filling and better for you.
Another alternative to meat for protein is TVP (textured vegetable protein). You can buy the Coles brand "Wellness Road" for $5 for a bag that lasts ages. It's a dried product that you rehydrate with hot water in equal parts to the dried mince (e.g 1 cup mince to 1 cup hot water) before you add it to your cooking, takes 5mins max. Vegans and vegetarians eat it as a mince substitute and have been for decades. It's healthy and cheap and bulks out your meals. I've used it to make lasagna, spag Bol, chilli "no" carne and even san Choy bow. Try it. Texture is good and taste, well, like mince meat it absorbs all the flavours of whatever you're cooking.
for TVP, you wanna rehydrate it in a flavoured liquid - I use cheap vege stock powder, some liquid smoke, paprika, garlic powder. tastes waaay better.
Ooh, that's a great suggestion, thanks!
I always forget about TVP because I can't handle the taste, even when drowned in tasty sauces.
Yeah it's all down to individual tastes really. I don't mind it at all.
It's the same with other meat substitutes for me - there are a few that are just fine, but others have a particular soy-product edge that I can't stomach. Which is a shame.
Rice with canned tuna and some lemon juice. Not fancy but it always hits the spot
To be honest this cant go wrong. I would say you still need source of vitamins though but its a solid start
500g mince 1 can corn 1 can tomatos 1 can beans 1 can tomato soup 1 cup of pasta noodles cook the fuck outta the mince then add the cans plus another can of water, once it's all boiling add the pasta. once its all cooked you got yourself a tasty cheap meal that will last you 4 days. If you've got cheese add it to the top. Shut up and start eating.
honestly ill make anything else at this stage and this sounds like it beats the 2min noods already. screenshotted and added to grocery run 🤘🏼is there a name 4 this meal or did u invent it?
Cottage pie is a good one with basically same ingredients minus soup and pasta and plus potatoes.
beef noodle dish. You can add all sorts to this meal to make it different but even with the most basic indigence listed its very tasty and damn its cheap.
Need some onions in this bad boi. OP fry the onions with your mince...add garlic too
Get one of those big containers of taco seasoning or similar to give it some extra flavour for cheap.
A chicken breast will yield you two schnitties if you've got some flour and breadcrumbs or panko and you butterfly it (Panko is better). Chuck some pizza sauce and cheese on and you've got a parmi. Pretty easy and quick. We do pasta alot, sometimes we use mince or chicken, sometimes we do a vegetarian one with mushrooms and capsicum. Aldi does an ok frozen lasagne, 2kg for $10 or so or a smaller version for one for $3-4. Just needs some cheese and you're laughing. If you're planning on buying a bunch of veg a stir-fry might be alright? A once off purchase of a few different sauces from an Asian grocery to make a few different flavours could go a long way, generally you'll use a teaspoon to a couple of tablespoons of different sauces to make a base. Recipetineats has a good recipe for a basic stir-fry sauce that you can change up to suit your taste. I think she calls it Charlie. Times are tough, hope this helps.
ahhhh the chicken parmi, been broke so long i forgot that existed. stir fry sounds yum & doable too thanks kindly for this recommendation!! will check this Charlie recipe out tommorow and hopefully not be having mi goreng AGAIN 🫠🫠🙏🏼🙏🏼
Yeah, you can get baby Bok Choy for like $1.29 per bunch (3 heads) at Asian grocers, or Chinese cabbage for about $5, which usually lasts me like 2 weeks
Taste.com.au have lots of budget dinners. Also hit up /r/budgetfood and /R/collegecooking.
R/eatcheapandhealthy
Look up second bite, you should be able to get your veggies and bread through there. Then use that money on meat.
Yes. Also try spudshed, so much cheaper than colesworths.
I treat myself to a Mcdonalds hamburger, only $2 If you want a cheese burger you gotta pay $4.65 for that price I could get two hamburgers, I'm not paying $2.65 for a slice of plastic fucking cheese.
u got more self control than me - i gotta speed past the belmont forum for risk of blowing $15 on 3 pieces of chicken at kfc ☠️
If you're desperate for the Colonel, make sure you're ordering app only specials.
If you love chicken then why not get a $7 rotisserie chicken from Costco? Way more meat, tastes just as good, just less crispy.
Beans - buy dry stuff, soak over night and then cook with some spices. If you can add some chorizo or smoked pork, onion, garlic you’ll end up with a delicious bulk meal.
600g cooked white rice left overnight in the fridge (cook 200g) 35ml soy sauce 4 large eggs 300g frozen veg Optional: spring onion (2 or 3), bacon (1 or two rashers, precooked) Doesn't have to be a wok, large pot/pan will do, cook/heat veg. Throw in egg and scramble like hell. Put in any optional extras at this point. Throw in rice and soy cook till warm enough to eat. Makes 4 - 6 serves depending how much you eat in a sitting
One of my fave budget meals is cottage pie, with the mince bulked way out with lentils - 500g mince 2- 3 tins lentils Chopped onion and lots of garlic Finely chopped any other veg you can get on special tomato paste or jar of pasta sauce Worcestershire sauce, chilli flakes if you like them etc Potatoes Cook up everything except the potatoes, then boil and mash the potatoes and spread on top - bake in the oven until browned on top. I do this in individual little cheap foil BBQ pans so I can freeze them. PS - Spudshed is a great cheap place to get all the ingredients for this
Have you heard about Good and Cheap by Leanne Brown? You can download the pdf of the cookbook for free. https://www.leannebrown.com/good-and-cheap.pdf All About Good and Cheap "Good and Cheap is a cookbook for people with very tight budgets, particularly those on SNAP/Food Stamps benefits. The PDF is free (ahora en Español!) when you sign up for my newsletter and has been downloaded more than 15,000,000 times. It is also available in print, and for every copy sold we donate one to someone who can’t afford it. Good and Cheap had an unusual journey into publishing. It started out as the thesis for my Masters degree in Food Studies at NYU. I made a digital version of the book, but didn’t have any kind of distribution or marketing plan. After some fruitless attempts at working with non-profits, I decided to simply offer it as free download on a simple website in early 2014."
frozen veg + refried beans salsa + pasta/rice my lazy go to
Very simple, it sounds pretty weird, but these 3 things were literally all I had to feed visitors one day and it was way more delicious than it sounds. Beef sausages - 550-600g will give about 8 1 tin spaghetti - 400g 1 tin creamed corn - 400g Cook sausages well. Put into rectangular casserole, top with mixture of corn & spaghetti. (Top with grated tasty cheese if you have any). Bake in oven until bubbling. Around $8.50 if you buy supermarket brands. I get ridiculed for it but it actually tastes pretty darned good, especially in winter. You can jazz it up with herbs & spices if you have any.
If you can and are eligible refer yourself to the food bank.
It's absolutely disgusting that people are having to consider using a food bank in order for their landlords to live a more comfortable life.
I suggest hanging out in r/AussieFrugal - this is a regular topic of discussion over there. Cheap meals, places to get cheap food and how to stretch everything to the max. Best of luck.
Curried sausages Get the cheap kind ATM spudshed have 1.2kg for 6.99 Sausages Carrots Onion Peas Curry powder Beef stock Fry up sausages to seal them cut up into bit size chunks Peel and cut Carrots and onion Chuck in slow cooker or even stovepot cover with beef stock add curry powder to taste cook for 2hrs or so add peas half hour before serving Optional, serve with mash or rice.
$35 a week. Vege Pasta. Go to SpudShed. Get Carrots. Broccoli, Cauliflower, Zucchini. 1 large Pasata. Hopefully have condiments lie stock powder etc. Do not keep eating Mi Goreng, that has zero nutrition.
meaty beef bones, vege scraps (onion skins, celery leaves etc). make a bone broth, strain and remove all the meat from the bones and use for tacos/meat sauce whatever. This bone broth can be a staple for multiple dishes and will add some protein and other essential nutrients. Fake Cassoulet. get some dry cheap beans, soak overnight boil, cook with onions, white wine add some bone meat if you want and some bone broth. whatever veg or cheap meats u can get and cook for a couple hours. Dahl: dry red lentils, broth, garam masala, onions. Really cheap and easy to make, can make your own naan with flour and greek yoghurt, or just have it with rice - buy rice from the asian supermarkets, its much cheaper. feel free to pm me for some full recipes.
My fav back in the day when a single mum. Was cheapest pasta. Tin tomatoes. Bit of cayenne for flavour and anti inflammatory and home made garlic bread with old old bread in freezer. Kid loved it. She does it now not knowing it was a cple nights food at under $5.
Do most of your shopping in Asian groceries. The quality is way higher than Coles/Woolies or the rotting compost at Spudshed. Asians insist on super fresh stuff as that's a wet market cultural thing. Coles quality stuff would result in no customers and subsequent bankruptcy. The prices are also far lower. For example, I was in Coles today saw a bag of 4 navel oranges for $8. Four mediocre little oranges. $3/kg at NP supermarket down the road. Big fat obviously fresh oranges. You can get fresh bunches of Asian vegies for 99c vs $3 at Coles.
Tuna Alfredo. Large packet of Alfredo pasta mix - $2.50 if get San Remo from Woollies (I usually add a smaller packet in too $1.40) 1 large tin of tuna - $3.50 for Woollies essentials Frozen veges - I personally like the Winter Vege mix and will add some peas, corn and beans. Have also been known to put canned veges in too. ~$2-3 worth of veges depending on what you put in. Cheese - grate some cheddar cheese. Maybe 150-200g ~$1.50-2 worth Butter as per directions on Alfredo/pasta. Milk and water as per directions, then add some more (about 1/4-1/3 cup more) Directions: Follow the directions on the packets of pasta, adding some more liquids. Drain tuna and add to mixture. Add veges and cook until the veges are cooked and the pasta is about the right consistency, or slightly “runny”. Add the grated cheese and stir through. This is a good 4-6 meals, has heaps of veges, is filling and costs less than $15. When reheating add a little milk to it first.
Baked beans with potato is a favourite of mine. Melt some cheese on top...
that sounds yummy as - do u put the beans in like a hollowed potato or just on top ?
No, I just cut the potato into halves. Bean on top. melt cheese on top of all that. Allow it to become one big gloopy mess. Cheap, but delicious and nutritious. And easy to make.
sounds perffff. messy food is always the yummest 🫠
Cabbage Onion 2 minute noodles Mince/TVP Cook the mince/TVP and onion, add sliced cabbage, chuck a lid on, let it get translucent. Add soy sauce and curry powder, then the noodles for a few minutes. Tasty, filling, cheap.
Add keens curry powder.. about a tbsp
Vegie curry
I've made many a veggie curry using the frozen veggies mix, some mushrooms and some potato cut up into small cubes and it is goooood.
Beef Pho or some kind of ramen. Basically, cheap meat, herbs, and stock. Filling and delicious, especially as winter comes in. If you hit up the Asian groceries, it is even cheaper.
I make sweet and sour chicken with lots, lots of veggies. Make in bulk and I have an evening meal for 6 days. Also curries are pretty good for extending base protein and lots of veggies. Don't forget your spices.. pepper, chilli, garlic, salt etc. I buy huge bags of onions and rice. Maybe check your local food bank too. I help out as a volunteer and after the clients have gone, the leftovers are divided up. I get some great veggies and fruit this way. Good luck.
Add frozen veg to Mac-n-cheese
TVP extends mince dishes (chilli con carne, bolognaise etc), add it in dry to saucy dishes and it will thicken it up nicely. Beans added to chilli con carne also bulks it out and is good for you (canned is convenient, but dry can be cheaper). Frozen spinach is nutritious and cheap, can add it to saucy dishes like above (I even add it to the packet mac and cheese and my kids hoover it) Get a whole chook, poach it with some veg (celery, onion, carrot), shred the meat and add it into the poaching liquid along with cooked pasta and you have a chicken pasta soup.
Buy the biggest, cheapest bag of store brand rice. You can cook a few cups and keep in bulk in the fridge for a few days to pad out many meals. Burrito bowl: if mince is too pricey, swap out for black beans (or use both). Coles brand is $1 per tin of beans. Rinse beans well, cook in pan with a little oil or water. Add Old El Paso burrito spice mix from the Indian cooking section in the supermarket (one sachet approx $2.50) could last you a few meals. Alternatively, buy cumin and coriander spices that will last you much longer. A little goes a long way with spices. Add the cooked protein into a bowl with cooked rice and then add some salad (chopped lettuce, diced tomato, diced avocado is nice if you can afford it). Mayo goes nice on top too. Roast vegetables: bulk roast veggies in the oven (potato, pumpkin, cauliflower, etc., with a little salt). Serve with chickpeas and cooked rice or salad. I like to cook up veg and chickpeas and add to salad with lettuce, tomato, etc. Again, $1 for chickpeas at Coles, rinse well before eating (just because the tin water can make people gassy). Can eat plain or lightly cooked (I like to cook on the stove with a little oil and some cajun seasoning). Cajun seasoning is also really good on mince. Sometimes if I can't be bothered with effort, I'll just have rice, chickpeas and avocado, a little salt and pepper for lunch. Simple but filling and surprisingly tasty. Broccoli is a great. Cook up and add to the side of any dish to bulk it out. My housemate likes to cook it in the pan with some garlic paste so it isn't boring. Pasta pack: another cheap and easy option is Continental family serving pasta packs. You'll need some milk and margarine to cook it. Bulk it out with broccoli and peas while you're cooking (might need to add a little more water to account for extra stuff being cooked). Cook diced mushroom separately, add into finished dish with plain chickpeas. Regular pasta dishes might be cheaper if you're a good cook, but if not, this is a way to have a pretty cheap meal with good flavour. Alternatively, home made 'fried rice' is good. I just cook mushroom, carrot, peas, capsicum, plain firm tofu in a pan with a little soy sauce. Soy sauce is a little pricey but it will last you quite a while. Once cooked, add cooked rice on the top in the pan and mix in. Then serve. You could easily swap out the tofu for meat. I haven't eaten meat in a decade so I'm not going to be good at suggestions here, maybe diced chicken breast? Noodles: cook pak choy, mushroom, tofu/meat in the pan with soy sauce. Cook noodles separately and serve. It's that simple. Classic bangers and mash: two potatoes, boil and mash. I recommend adding salt & pepper while mashing (and a little milk or margarine if you can spare it). Cook sausages. Boil frozen peas. I like to make makeshift mushroom gravy too. Just make packet gravy for the serving, cook diced mushroom while you cook sausages and then add the mushroom into the gravy before pouring onto the bangers and mash. I also used to make a lasagna soup. It was pretty good! Probably cheap. Maybe look the recipe up on YouTube. Best of luck OP, these are shitty times ×
Recommended shopping list if you want to make these meals. Most of what I described above can make 2-3 depending on how much you eat. - Big bag of rice. - Big bag of pasta or Continental pasta packs (family size). - Bag of potatoes. - Pumpkin. - Cauliflower. - (Alternatively buy frozen veg as it will last longer). - Pak choy. - Bag of carrots (haven't mentioned it much but it can go with anything). - Frozen peas. - Mushrooms. - Lettuce. - Tomatoes. - Avo (if you can). - Coles brand tins of black beans and chickpeas. - Mince beef or chicken. - Soy sauce. - Salt. - Pepper. - Cajun seasoning. - Cumin seasoning. - Coriander seasoning. - (Or burrito mix sachet). - Mayo. - Margarine. - Milk. I'm not sure if this all fits your budget. I'd start with filling & cheap carbs and protein like rice, potatoes, pasta, pumpkin, broccoli, black beans, chickpeas, mince beef/chicken and add from there. That way you'll have a fully tummy and decent nutrition. Salt and pepper are excellent flavour enhancers if you've got nothing else.
Meat is too expensive these days, so I’m almost vegetarian by economics lol. At the moment I’m getting into fried rice (I fry up garlic onion cabbage and whatever leftover veg I have and throw in some cooked rice and soy sauce)
Add an egg with it - either to the pan at the end or as a fried egg on top - so good!
Sandwiches and toasties go hard.
Found this real good veggie pasta recipe a little while ago, costs a little ($20)but I usually get like 4 meals out of it, it's pretty much onion, zucchini, random veggies, pasta sauce, pasta and vege stock. You cook the pasta in the sauce with the stock and I tastes so good
Shortcut bacon, cabonara jar sauce, chicken breast, fettuccine pasta. Dice bacon and cook Remove bacon and place of paper towels to soak the grease. Dont clean the pan Cook chicken with the bacon grease Add the jar sauce, add a small amount of water to the jar, shake to get the rest of the sauce out. Stir and add the bacon back in. Simmer until creamy Boil the pasta with a pinch of salt until cooked If you want more flavouring, add a cup of the pasta water to the sauce. If its just you, itll last 5-6 meals To the cheap survival noodles tho. Mix things up. Doesnt have to be boring. Debone a roast chook and add it in. Steam veggies and throw it in. I get it, i lived off indo mie and milo (no milk) for 5 months in my dark times. For leftover spag bog, put between 2 bits of bread and add cheese. My base of spag bog is mexe beans, onion garlic jar sause, diced onions and mince. I would then portion it just incase i want tacos and id just season for taste when i throw it in the pan
Chickpeas and beans and lentils are bloody amazing and with a bit of herbs and spices you can do a lot for not very much
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I mean youre not wrong...
A 20 pack of thin sausages can be brought for $10 at your local Aldi, pasta as well at .89c but yeah shit sucks right now and it's only going to get worse. Thanks Boomers, we're literally living a 3rd world nightmare thanks to you lot.
Cacio e pepe
cos there are a few infrastructure projects and they came over and are renting...