| Cooking with Cash Savers, TV3 |
| | | It can be a real challenge to eat well on a tight budget, especially if you’re unsure about which foods are nutritious and inexpensive, where to get them, how to cook them and if you’re short on time too! So we’ve put together some main meal suggestions which you can peruse through. We hope you find some that appeal to your family’s tastebuds! And perhaps you might even try something new for the first time. | | |
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Building up a repertoire of nutritious affordable family meals can be good for your family’s health and not as bad on the pocket as many takeaways and fast food options.
Enjoy your cooking!
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| Beef Casserole |
Beef is a good source of iron – particularly important for teenagers who are deficient in iron (74% of teenage girls and 19% of boys are not getting enough Iron in their diets) |
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| Cost of meal from Tesco: €7.31 in total or €1.83 per serving |
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| Serves 4 (Based on a recipe by Eunice Power) |
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 | 500g Stewing Beef, cut into 3cm cubes |
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| 1 tin of Tesco Value chopped tomatoes |
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| 1 teaspoon of sugar |
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| 1 small cup of pearl barley |
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| 1 Tesco Value beef stock cube |
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| 4 carrots, peeled & roughly chopped |
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| 1 medium onion peeled & thinly sliced |
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| Freshly milled black pepper |
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| 4 baking potatoes |
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| Preheat oven to 150°C or equivalent. Place all ingredients, except the potatoes, in a casserole pot. Stir well and cover, bake in oven for 1.5 - 2 hours. Scrub and score the baking potatoes, and place in the oven 45 minutes before the casserole is finished cooking. After your family walk serve the delicious casserole with baked potatoes. |
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| Nutrition Analysis of Casserole & Potatoes |
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| | Calories | Protein (g) | Fat (g) | Saturates (g) | Sugars (g) | Salt (g) | Fibre (g) | | Per serving | 568 | 49.8 | 9.0 | 3.0 | 15.7 | 0.8 | 8.5 | | GDAs | 28% | 100% | 13% | 15% | 17% | 13% | 34% |
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| Chilli Non Carne |
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| When choosing tinned beans, choose those tinned in water or with low-sugar or salt contents. Or for better value still, buy the dried versions and soak them overnight before cooking. You don’t have to soak lentils but rinse them well. |
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| Cost of meal from Tesco: €5.95 in total or €1.49 per serving |
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| Serves 4 (Based on a recipe by Eunice Power) |
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| Red Split Lentils (250g of bagged lentils or 1 tin of red lentils) |
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| Tesco Value Chopped Tomatoes (Portion for 4 people = 400g tin) |
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| Tesco Value Dark Red Kidney Beans (Portion for 4 people = 400g tin) |
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| 1 large onion |
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| 2 Garlic cloves |
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| 2 Carrots |
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| 1 tbs Tesco Dried Mixed Herbs |
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| 1 tbs Tesco Chilli Powder |
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| 1 Red Pepper |
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| 240g Fine Beans |
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| Tesco Whole Grain Brown Rice (Portion for 4 people = 120g uncooked) |
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Put the rice on to boil (about 40 minutes). Finely chop the onion and crush the garlic. In a large saucepan, fry the onion and garlic 2 tsp olive oil over a medium heat until softened. Add the chopped carrot and pepper and stir-fry for 3-4 minutes. Then add the chilli and stir fry for a further two minutes.
Rinse the lentils in a sieve or drain in the tin, and add to the pan along with the tin of chopped tomatoes, drained kidney beans, fine beans, herbs and a cup of water. Simmer for 25 minutes or until the chilli thickens. Serve with the cooked rice.
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| Nutrition Analysis of Chilli & Rice |
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| | Calories | Protein (g) | Fat (g) | Saturates (g) | Sugars (g) | Salt (g) | Fibre (g) | | Per serving | 400 | 20.6 | 4.7 | 0.6 | 16.4 | 1.2 | 12.8 | | GDAs | 20% | 41% | 7% | 3% | 18% | 20% | 51% |
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| Salmon Fishcakes with a Green Salad |
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| Healthy omega-3 essential fats are found in fresh and tinned oily fish, linseed, and walnuts. You can use tinned fish instead of fresh fish in this recipe. (Delia Smith actually recommends tinned salmon for her fishcake recipe as she says it works better). |
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| Cost of meal from Tesco: €7.00 in total or €1.75 per serving |
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| Serves 4 |
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| 350g tinned salmon, roughly chopped |
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| 2-3 garlic cloves, peeled & crushed |
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| 100g wholemeal breadcrumbs |
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| 1 Free Range egg, whisked |
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| 2 tsp Dijon mustard |
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| 2 tbsp lemon juice |
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| 6 spring onions, chopped |
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Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and whiz to combine. Taste for seasoning – add more pepper, lemon juice, if necessary.
If you don't have a food processor, chop up the salmon as finely as possible and mix together all the ingredients in a bowl.
Shape into patties with a 7.5cm (3in) diameter or 4cm (1½ in) diameter patties for mini salmon cakes. Pan-fry in olive oil on a medium heat for 3-4 minutes on each side (2-3 minutes for the mini cakes) or until golden. Blot on kitchen towel to remove any excess oil. Serve on warm plates with a mixed salad.
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| Nutrition Analysis of Fishcakes |
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| | Calories | Protein (g) | Fat (g) | Saturates (g) | Sugars (g) | Salt (g) | Fibre (g) | | Per serving | 220 | 25.6 | 8.6 | 1.8 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 1.8 | | GDAs | 11% | 51% | 12% | 9% | 1.5% | 25% | 7.2% |
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| Tomato & Bean Soup |
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 | The butter beans in the soup add fibre and protein and a creamy texture also if they soup is partially blended. This is a really filling soup with lots of flavour from the tomatoes and other vegetables. |
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| Cost of meal from Tesco: €2.00 in total or €0.50 per serving |
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| Serves 4-6 |
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| 2 Garlic cloves |
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| 2 Onions |
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| Tesco Value Chopped Tomatoes (2 x 400g tins) |
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| Tesco Butter Beans (400g) |
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| 4 Carrots |
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| 4 Celery sticks |
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| Tesco Value Vegetable Stock Cubes x 2 |
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Finely chop the onions and crush the garlic. Fry in a large saucepan with 2 tsp olive oil over a medium heat until softened. Add the chopped celery and carrots and stir fry for a further two minutes. Make up the stock cubes with water according to the package instructions. Add to the saucepan with the tomatoes and stir.
Simmer for 20 minutes, then add the butter beans and simmer for a further 10 minutes. You can blend the soup with a hand blender or liquidizer, or blend half to leave some texture before serving. |
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| Nutrition Analysis of Soup |
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| | Calories | Protein (g) | Fat (g) | Saturates (g) | Sugars (g) | Salt (g) | Fibre (g) | | Per serving | 98 | 5.2 | 1.5 | 0.2 | 9.1 | 1.1 | 4.8 | | GDAs | 5% | 10% | 2% | 1% | 10% | 18% | 19% |
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