I am skint - does anyone have any recipe ideas that I can live off for £3 per day???

Question

Like I said, I've got no money. Anyone have any clues how I can live off this cash for a week? Even stuff like cooking up a big batch of something and then freezing it. Any ideas?

Answer 1

Lots of potatoes, porridge and pasta. If you prepare the food yourself it'll be cheaper than buying ready meals. Add something cheap like canned tomatoes, tuna, frozen veggies. Use the money to buy stuff in large packs, compare prices and you should be fine.

Answer 2

u have to buy everything ECONOMY BRAND for this:

tin tomatoes: approx 35p

spaghetti/ pack of pasta: 60p

tin of tuna: 80p

some oil: £1

1 onion: 18p

it cud be cheaper than this because u can get spaghetti and tin tomatoes for about 20p each from sainsburys

tuna can cost only about 35p also.

anyways. boil water, add salt if u want (u can get sachets of free salt from a cafe)

cook spaghetti

2.get a pan, fry onion, and tomatoes, add salt/pepper if u can afford it and cook till it taste okay.

3. mix spaghetti and sauce. add tuna to spaghetti and mix.

shud last u at least 2 days.. keep it in the fridge to avoid it going off

good luck

Answer 3

i think i have a good option.

boil some water

crumble 2 chicken oxo cubes and 1 vegetable oxo cube into a jug with the water then boil it.

cook some noodles then put it in the boiled water then mix and then put some chosen vegetables or meats in it.

tesco -  oxo cubes - 67p

noodles - £1.19

vegetables - depends/

meats - dependant.

Answer 4

Good old instant noodles, pasta and supermarket value sauces, frozen veg can be used to bulk out meals and frozen bags of sausages, I used to chop up sausages and put them in everything for the protein and to make my meals more filling. Buying a big bag of frozen mince and then making lasgne/spag bol/shephards pie and freezing it in portion-sized tubs is a good move. Also buying all your bread and veg at the supermarket in the hour before they close can save you loads as its reduced. You can buy bread for a few pence and then freeze it. Also start religiously scouring the reduced sections of supermarkets, I used to get all sorts of stuff cheap, and sometimes would treat myself to things that would otherwise be too expensive.

Answer 5

sandwiches -x

Answer 6

Funnily enough, I can do better than that :0)

Just made a pressure cooker of Geordie broth with oriental flavourings and it works out better than £3 a meal.

1lb steak mince

2 shallots and the remains of a dodgy onion

1 clove of garlic that was on its way out

1 small pepper

2 giant spuds

1 leek

3 big carrots

2 medium golden balls

1 tin of peas, (29p)

3 mushrooms

1 packet of bean like things that were on their sell by date

1 Stock cube and sprinkle of gravy granules

Mixed spices and herbs to taste

Clean and dice everything, chuck in pressure cooker. Bring up to squealing noise with all the weights on the lid, then simmer for 30 minutes.

Nectar of the Gods, the spoon stands up in it.

Freeze when cool.

Bottle of vinegar and a loaf of bread and you won't see the inside of a take away for the next month.

Quite surprised myself, it's not only edible, it's nice :0)

Answer 7

cheesy rice and tomato

3 cups cooked rice

3 Tbsp. oil

1 medium onion, chopped

3 stalks celery, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

2 cups cooked or stewed tomatoes

2 cups cheese, shredded

1 tsp. salt

dash of pepper

Cook rice if uncooked. Sauté in a pan with oil, onion, celery and green pepper. Add tomatoes, rice, cheese, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer until cheese is melted. Serves 8.

Answer 8

I think you need to look at the price of eating as a week's worth, and not as 3 pounds per day. You should look at your basic needs and look around the shops/markets for offers, two-for-one, and bonuses and plan your weekly menus accordingly. It can be done and the challenge could be fun. You basically need bulk, such as bread/pasta/rice/potatoes. Whichever ones you prefer. Then protein, meats/cheeses/fish. Then vitamins, fruits/vegetables/salads. Mince is great, spaghetti, meatloaf, lasagne, burgers, stuffing for peppers, aubergines etc., Meatloaf can be eaten hot with different veg, then cold with salad, used to put thinly sliced in sandwiches. Make a large meatloaf and use your imagination. You could eat vegetable based dishes with rice or pasta several times a week. No need for meat every day. Canned tuna and tomatoes are versatile and cheap. Homemade soup is inexpensive and goes a long way served with bread. It's healthy and filling.You could put grated cheese on top for protein. If you have a local market then buy near closing time and haggle the prices down for a bulk buy. Look for coupons or price reductions in the local papers and at the supermarket. Buy cheap fish, in tinfoil with some herbs, salt and pepper, it's delicious. Baked beans on brown bread is filling and healthy. You can use baked beans in a shepherd's pie to bulk it out and it's very tasty. Don't forget eggs. They are full of protein and can be made into all sorts of interesting dishes. Served as a large omelette with either rice or a large tin of readymade Bami- Goreng. A good recipe for skint days is to boil some floury potatoes, steam a couple of chopped leeks. Soft boil a couple of eggs. When the potatoes are cooked chop them up in medium size pieces, add the leeks, some butter and salt and black pepper and crack the soft eggs over the top. Delicious and inexpensive. We often used this to feed the family, four kids, at the end of the month. If you have a local library go and look in the cookery section for budget meals and do some photocopies or note down the recipes. I hope these ideas help.

Answer 9

making larger meals and freezing them in portions is a good idea. thingd like lasagne, bologmeise, mac cheese, shepherds pie etc, try googling pennywise cooking or eating cheaply there'll be loads of ideas online. good luck.

Answer 10

beans on toast everyday

Answer 11

ready meals =]

Answer 12

When they only have a "basic budget" in the Big Brother 'house' they only get £1 per person per day to spend on food, and for that they get pulses, pasta and rice and various tins of basics like tomatoes. For £3, you could do far better than that - just don't waste it on rubbish like McD's or 'ready meals' - buy REAL food and cook it yourself.

Answer 13

you can buy noodles for 8p a packet, you can have a variety of things with them, your imagination is the only limit (well ok and money, i understand that)... i like some vegetable soup with them (18p a tin) sometimes

sorry i haven't helped much but i haven't slept for over a day and i will think of some more things later xx

Answer 14

Pasta and rice in their dried forms, tins of flavours like tomatoes with various additions - good hot and cold & available in nearly endless combinations.

Answer 15

Make a big pot of vegetable soup ( meat or no meat) Use a package of beef broth and the rest veggies and seasonings..you can keep adding to it with a new kind of veggie every day...also Ramen noodle soup is very cheap. In the U.S. 5 for $1.

Answer 16

Bread Fritters;

Go to the bakery section of the store where you normally buy bread.

Ask the baker for an "unbaked" loaf of bread.

He must put exactly the same amount of dough he would have used to bake a bread with in to a plastic bag for you, and it would cost no more than a loaf of bread.

Take that home and in a pot warm some cooking oil to about half the depth of the pot. (Smaller pots take less oil than bigger ones do)...

The oil temperature should be medium hot. (About half the heat that the stove plate will go)

Now cut from the unbaked dough a slice about the size of your palm, and with a little water on your fingers (to prevent the dough from sticking to your hand), stretch out the dough in all directions until it is about the size of your whole hand including the fingers. That brings the cutting of dough to about twice the size it was when you cut it....

Now with care, drop the stretched out dough in to the hot oil.

It would rise almost instantly.

Fry it in the oil until it is golden brown all over, taking care to turn it over occasionally.

It would be puffy and crisp when done.

With a large ladle or sieve, scoop out the bread fritter and place on an absorbent kitchen towel to rid it of most of the oil still on it.

Repeat this process until all the dough is done.

These bread fritters are extremely filling, and can be cut open and filled with almost anything from grated cheese to minced meat to cold processed meat, syrup or jam.

Try it, you will probably have some left over for two or three days, which you can take to work if you like....

Bread fritters can be frozen and warmed up again if you have made too much, but the dough cannot, so rather make the whole lot and freeze what is left over for another day. If you decide to freeze them, do so without a filling. Fillings should always be made fresh.

By the way, these are so nice that many folks have them without fillings at all....