How to get maximum nutrition for minimum cost?

There are some budget recipes on here and here which might give you some ideas.

Your ingredients list sounds like mine ? except we don't have tomatoes yet because we eat seasonally (its cheaper that way too)

risotto - we're doing a cauliflower risotto this week, spring green and blue cheese risotto is also nice.

pizza - normal ones or potato, garlic and rosemary topped (no tomatoes or cheese involved)

chilli black bean stew - its slow cooked but i'll sort out the recipe now.

curries

quiches/ tarts.

its asparagus season and you can get a bunch here for £1 - 1/2 a bunch is enough for sundried tomato and asparagus risotto for 2.

patatas bravas, garlic mushrooms, tortilla for a tapas meal and leftovers for lunch.

Veg wise - find a local market, and try and get there towards the end of the day when they're clearing stock. I ended up with about 10lbs of cherry toms for £3 a couple of weeks ago (which are now pasra sauces)

Chilli black bean stew from slow cooking by Sara Lewis

serves 4-6 (does us 2 x 2 and we eat loads)

250g black beans, soaked overnight

2 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

2 carrots, diced

2 celery sticks, diced

1-3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed

1 tsp cumin seeds, crushed

2 tsp coriander seeds, crushed

1 tsp chilli powder

1 can chopped tomatoes

300ml vegetable stock

1 tbsp brown sugar

salt and pepper

1. boil the beans vigorously for 10 mins, set aside.

2. heat the oil in a pan, fry the onion for 5mins until softened, add the carrots, celery and garlic and fry for 2-3 mins. stir in the spices and cook for 1 min.

3. add the tomatoes, sugar, stock and seasoning and bring to the boil.

4. mix in the beans.

slow cook on low for 8-10 hours but this could be adapted for oven or hob cooking.

Cool, thanks for all these

We tend to onle eat seasonally too Legless, the tomatoes were last years frozen stock

I'm tryign to think in terms of foods that give a lot back nutritionally for the cost too, like lentils, tofu and tomatoes

and not just poor or empty sacks of carbs like potatoes and white bread

Eggs, avocados, quinoa? It must be incredibly hard when you don't eat meat, because, let's face it, beans do taste much the same ?

Cottage cheese? It's not that versatile but it';s yummy and you could make your own.

Eggs, avocados, quinoa? It must be incredibly hard when you don't eat meat, because, let's face it, beans do taste much the same ?

Cottage cheese? It's not that versatile but it';s yummy and you could make your own.

yes, it does get a little samey

whilst experimenting I have discovered that well cooked buckwheat mixed with an egg and some flour and spices turns into nice sausage type substitute when cooked in a bit of oil in the oven though so it's not been all that bad

I would love to know how to make my own cottage cheese though, we've managed to find ourselves a temporary free supply of milk and I love cottage cheese

I'm sure making cottage cheese is much the same as making paneer. Basically lots of milk with natural yoghurt or lemon juice as a souring agent. With paneer you pour the curds through a muslin cloth and then leave what's left in the cloth and put under something heavy such as a pan of water until it forms a solid mass.

we had a fantastic dish last week when we took the children on a trip to a Hindu temple, basically it was cubed paneer in tomato sauce with peas etc.

We quite often have an indian veggie banquet with onion bhajis (done in the oven not fried), bombay potato, spinach curry and dhal.

You just boil it milk, add the juice of a lemon to curdle it, strain through a cheesecloth and salt, as far as I can remember. Couldn't be easier.

Yes, pretty much the same as paneer, although you can add natural yoghurt instead of lemon juice if you prefer it softer. Apparently the higher the fat content of the milk the more cheese you get but basically you can use whatever milk you like.

Really? that easy?
I reckon I'll have a go at that tomorrow, thanks

I've got an unused muslin cloth left over from my last jam making session

Yes, it's resally easy. If you decide to make it in to paneer you either need to stick it in an airtight box and freeze it or store it in a bowl of water and cover the bowl. When you come to use it soak in hot water for 10 mins first to soften it.

Just found a link to the recipe for you:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/paneer_86451.shtml

Excellent! thanks for the great tips

I'm going to indulge myself in a session with my The Wire dvds now but will check back tomorrow in case anyone else has some great thrifty tips

?

Any day people have any different suggestions?

I was thinking about this last night acutally - how about nuts and seeds? You could try making your own nut butters, adding seeds to bread and salads, etc.

That's a really good idea actually, and so simple that I hadn't thought about it

I think I know where to pick up a load of nuts and seeds pretty cheaply