Cooking on a budget/Clever meal planning
Parts of growing up was very tough for me, I used to be handed £30 from my mother and I had to budget food buying to feed me & my brother for the month.
I have also had to think cleverly when I was student living at university & again when I was student nurse, working 100+ hours a week but barely scraping by. I am also having to budget and think wisely in the current state of economy in the UK.
This is a guide to easy food planning and management. The key is to have a select number of meals that are cheap to make and can stretch a long way. I will list a couple of easy recipes at the end too.
I understand my knowledge is mainly UK based so apologise in advance if this isn't transferable to others.
Preparation
You ideally need a select number of meals where the ingredients aren't expensive and you're able to buy plenty of. for me it has been the following:
Chicken thighs
Potatoes
Rice
Spaghetti/penne pasta
chopped tomatoes/passata
stock cubes
Those are my core ingredients used in many dishes, as well as the staples, you need seasoning to add flavour & keep the meals interesting. I ultimately keep in a lot of Worcester sauce, basil, garlic paste, paprika & the faithful salt/pepper. This is individual to your own tastes though.
Cooking Methods
My go to is generally a crockpot, this is easy to use & can make great quantities for batch cooking. I use my crockpot & rice cooker for most of my batch cooking meals.
These are the 'one pot' type where you can throw in your ingredients with some stock then let is stew, stirring occasionally. A crockpot is a great investment for budget & bulk cooking. This type of cooking also works well for those is a busy lifestyle that only get short amounts of time to sort their food. Most meals in a crockpot take 6-8 hours to fully cook but a quick google or check of the recipe you're using will give the exact time & method needed.
The other methods I often use is pan to crockpot or pan to casserole dish then oven. These generally cut a crockpot cooking time down to 2-4 hours depending on the meal.
A large casserole dish is essential for budget pasta meals, I often enjoy cooking pasta bake (penne pasta with sauce, topped with cheese).
Dishing out/Storage
My recipes allow me to make up approximately 6-8 portions, 2 feed me & my partner, the rest then get dished up for future meals.
it's handy to keep standard sized plastic tubs for easy storage, these can be put in the freezer & most meals can be stored up to 3-6 months depending on contents (always do a google check if unsure).
My own budget style recipes
Recipe 1: Cornbeef Hash (a.k.a meat & potatoes)
This is a recipe I grew up on, it holds very close to my heart & brings many fond memories of being at my grandmas & having the 'pot of chug' on for me & all my cousins! The method can use fresh food (i.e. potatoes, carrots, peas etc) but for budget purposes, this is the tinned version.
Ingredients:
cornbeef (1 tin, average £3)
Potatoes (1 tin, average 40p)
Carrots (1 tin, average 40p)
Marrowfat peas (1 tin, average 50p)
1 chopped onion (average £1 per KG, can go a long way for other meals)
Oxo cube or beef stock - 300-400ml, enough to cover ingredients with an inch above (average £1 per pack)
Gravy granules for thickening after cooking, approx 1-2 tbsp (average 20p per tub)
Salt & pepper for flavouring
1tbsp Worcester sauce (average £1 per bottle, add less or more according to taste)
This is a one pot wonder, so you just simply chuck in all your ingredients (except gravy granules), set the crockpot on low and cook away for approx. 8 hours with the odd stir in between. Once onions & potatoes are cooked through, add gravy granules for thickening, get the consistency you prefer then it is good to serve. Goes nice with pickled red cabbage, beetroot & buttered bread.
Recipe 2: Spicy Chicken & Rice (budget edition)
This recipe is one I use often for my partners dinners, it's low budget and stretches a really long way.
Ingredients:
Chicken thighs/breasts (thighs are generally cheaper & more tender)
2 packets of savoury rice (come in packets in most UK supermarkets and is an average of 28p per packet)
Seasoning or sauce of choice (I use peri peri or any hot sauce I have to hand)
This recipe is made using a rice cooker, very similar to a crockpot but has cooking times specific for cooking rice dishes.
Add savoury rice packets to the slow cooker, I usually combine the amount of water for both packets and add an extra 100ml (usually is 1litre in total). If your chicken is uncooked them season & cook in an oven, de-bone and put aside to add afterwards. Set the rice to cook, this is generally on a white rice cycle or if not using a rice cooker (cook by method highlighted on the savoury rice packets). Once cooked, add seasoning/sauce to taste & mix in the chicken.
You can add all sorts of ingredients like different vegetables or meats/fish to this dish.
This usually gives me an average of 6-8 portions.
I have a lot of recipes I use and have constructed so far, I'm open to share any of these.
These methods & recipes have helped me & my family a lot during times of hardship so please no judgement.
Please note, I'm UK based so ingredients might differ in price and availability for other countries.
