Very cheap meals for one!

[Scarlett]

I am making a bet with my friend that i can make a tenner last longer than him, regarding spending money on dinners. Any ideas on what very cheap meals I can make - suitable for one person and preferably one portion, no repetition or left overs.
Thanks!

[4getmenot]

just get a microwave meal from iceland. Everythings a pound!!!

[sherrardk]

What are the rules - do you have to eat 'properly', is it just dinners? Not sure if I can help - just curious.

[4getmenot]

I was just thinking that. I could make a tenner last ages but I'd end up starving myself. Would just buy a pack of special K lose a dress size lol

[237SJ]

Are you talking about a meal for one in one evening?

[ummmm]

Stew.

[4getmenot]

if it is just one evening I hate to think what the repetition bits about, eeeeuuuugh

[boxtops]

Pasta, pasta and pasta. Good for you, goes a long way! and Chili con carne - I quite often make a big pot and eat it for several days, keeps fine in the fridge.

4get did you read about specialK, it's apparently not as good for you as we are led to believe!

[4getmenot]

I've read up ojn it yes. I tried it too and lost about a 1lb lol. boxtops there cant be any repetitions.

[hc4361]

Vegetable curry and rice.
Macaroni cheese.
Spag bol.
Shepherd's pie
Toad in the hole

[boxtops]

4get I only just read that bit, not hot on observation tonight.

OK then:
chili con carne
macaroni cheese
spag bol
pasta carbonara
cauliflower cheese
beans on toast (that's the cheapest)
soup

[Eve]

Spaghetti hoops :) or ravioli

[4getmenot]

they must be at least 4 pound a meal surely? I'd be doing aldi tin of beans (taste like bullets) and aldi bread for beans on toast 1st meal. Then a pack of nettos noodles with some meatballs about a pound in total. Maybe some spam, can do allsorts with spam

[lcg]

asda own microwave meals - the curries and bangers and mash etc are great. 79p each, so the tenner will go a long way! x

[carrot99]

potatoes, pasta and rice are all cheap as are most vegetables and you can buy small amounts of them all. The expensive part is the meat but you can buy one chicken breast for a curry or fajitas or a pasta dish or you could buy half a pound of mince and use half for spaghetti bolognese and half for a shepherds pie.

Cheaper and healthier than processed stuff and more on your plate.

[tamborine]

1. Omelette & fried bread
2, Welsh rarebits
3, Mushrooms on toast
4. Lentils & b.roll
5. baked beans, egg & chips
6. Bacon sandwich
7. New pots & sm. tin tuna

[boxtops]

certainly not four pounds for my ones 4get, I can be a cheapskate. Jacket potatoes would be great to add too.

[Buenchico]

(2-part post):

Meal 1:
Buy some 'value' mince from a Asda, Tesco, etc. Divide it into 100g portions. (That typically works out at about 24p per portion).

Also buy some 'value' pasta sauce (or Asda's cheap Bolognese sauce). That's about 36p per jar. You're going to use ½ jar at a time, so about 18p per portion.

Brown a portion of mince in a frying pan (with a very small amount of oil). Add the pasta sauce. Cook for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. In the meantime, cook some 'value' pasta. (You get 6 or 7 portions from a pack costing about 40p, so say 7p per portion). Then simply pour the mince and sauce over the pasta. So you've got a meal for about 50p. (Adding some 'value' mixed herbs and/or some black pepper will enhance it, but it's not strictly necessary).

Meal 2:
As above (using up the other half of the jar of sauce) but add some chilli powder to the sauce and cook rice instead of pasta. So you've got an equally cheap chilli con carne. (OK, it's not got the beans which you normally associate with chilli con carne but it still tastes good).

[Buenchico]

Meal 3:
Use another portion of mince! Brown it and cook lightly in the frying pan with a bit of gravy. Add half a can of 'value' baked beans and transfer to a shallow dish, with a bit of black pepper. Top with mashed potato (made from the 'value' powdered stuff) and cook in the oven for around 30 minutes at 200C (gas mark 6).

Meal 4:
Use some more mince to make a curry. (Either use some more pasta sauce as your base, with some 'value' curry powder, or buy the 'value' canned curry sauce which Tesco sells really cheaply). Serve with rice or (if you can find some cheap ones) with a jacket potato.

When I'm not working I usually try to live on a tenner per week. (I've survived on a fiver for a week). There are loads of cheap meals you can make. (Experiment further with pasta and different sauces). You can always make cheap sandwiches - Tesco's 'value' ham is surprisingly tasty and goes a long way in 'value' bread.

Chris

[Scarlett]

The rules are: Just evening meal. No beans on toast as that really is a lunchtime snack not a proper meal. No repetition means: no making a huge pot of chilli and making it last 6 days! Just one meal per evening, as if eating at a canteen, and trying to have a decent portion so you aren't hungry, and also eating healthily enough, with variety!

[4getmenot]

Not an evening meal!!! It blinking is if you've had a hard day at work lol

then I think buenchino wins the prize!!