Ideas for quick, easy, cheap dinners?

[pinkandblue]

Hi Everyone
Just wondering if anyone can give me some ideas on what to cook for dinner. It seems we are always eating the same things. We dont have an oven at the moment as we are renovating so it can only be things I can cook on the stove that are quick, easy, and cheap. Any ideas?
Thank you
Natalie

[BlueGin]

Hiya Natalie,
I am a bit of a master of the "cheap" thing ... One thing I find great for the stovetop is casseroles. Buy a cheap cut (lamb shanks work great) and best if you have a heavy based saucepan. Add in water that half covers the meat, along with onions (a couple of small ones or a large one in quarters), here you can add quartered potatoes/bayleaves, and a packet of homebrand/no frills spring onion soup powder. Leave this on a low heat so it just simmers for an hour or so until the meat is tender. I then add things like carrots and other vegies and let it cook until the meat is no longer springy and the carrot chunks (I call them rustic ) are tender.
This goes well with rice, or if you don't add potatoes at the start it is great with mashed potatoes (I put olive oil in mash instead of some of the milk).
Hope this helps

[shell]

hi something fast is pasta bakes you just need pasta , a pasta bake sauce that are ready make from the supermarket and cheese .



kylie mum of chloe

[mumof2girls]

Hi;

Also adding to shell's idea we use these when we are busy and also add tuna, mince meat etc. You could also make taco's as these are quick and easy.

Good Luck!

[Rell]

Im a big fan of soups. Our favourite is pumpkin but we also have meat, veges and tonight we are having tomato and noodle.

[Chickadee]

Soups and pasta are excellent cheap and fast dinners for week nights. Just watch the labels, some of the bought sauces and soups have a lot of salt in them which you might not want for little ones. To boost a tinned soup just add anything you have to hand - veggies (I always have frozen peas and corn to toss in), leftover pasta or rice, tinned (rinse and drain) chickpeas or other beans, pieces of chicken or sausage, or vary flavours with dried herbs, worsterchire sauce, hot sauce. Toss in anything really.

Other options if you have a microwave hooked up are to grab some burrito/fahita wraps. Top with sliced veggies (capsicum, mushrooms, onion, tomato etc) a bit of cheese, cooked meat if you want, and throw in the microwave for 30 sec to 1 min until cheese melts. Put a piece of paper towel underneath as they tend to get soggy otherwise. Once heated, top with salsa if you want and wrap up. For littler kids you can do the same but just fold the fahita shell over while the cheese is still hot and it makes an easier package to eat. For my 1.5 year old snacks I often do this using a bit of tomato sauce, bits of ham, tomato and cheese, to make a sort of closed pizza & cut into manageable pieces once it cools a little.

I've also seen fahita shells used as breakfast wraps, to hold scrambled eggs, sliced bacon, etc (tomato, salsa... whatever). Makes a bit of a change at least.

[Rell]

Great point about tin soup. Tin food tends to have a lot of preservatives too. Thats why I always make my own soups, all of which are on the table in about 30min.( providing not too many interuptions)

[willsmum]

If your little ones are eating eggs, you can always do omelettes (and stuff them with whatever you like - cheese, veggies, ham, mushrooms etc) or frittata (get a heap of cooked veggies, bacon or ham if you like, pour an eggy/cheesy mix over the lot and cook til it's firm, flipping it to brown the top. There are more detailed recipes available on the net if you need, but you get the picture)

[jarrahsmumma]

hi all,
afte my bub as born we just had no time for cooking (as you all know) the one thing that saved us was a sandwich press a big flat thingy, we just grabbed what ever from the fridge, tomato, cheese, baby spinach, leftover vegies and put it between two bits of wholemeal bread/turkish bread/pita/lebanses flat bread, and wah-lah instant yummy toasted sandwich.

very quick, hardly any washing up and you can eat one handed.

peace
natalie