can you suggest some nice meals not too expensive for one person on their own?

Question

fed up with pasta chicken etc want some quick tasty but quite cheap meals any ideas to cheer me up

Answer 1

I'm mostly alone as my husband is a professional driver and gone a lot, but I still cook as if he was here and freeze the leftovers in single size servings. I make turkey enchiladas in 8x8 disposable tins and freeze three of these at a time and pull them out for as I want them. I make soups and freeze flat in freezer bags. Make a roast with veggies and freeze the rest. Make a meatloaf and freeze the rest. I eat lots of salads with different veggies/fruits added all week and make my own dressings for a change up. For breakfast I buy whole grain small tortillas that have lots of fiber and little fat and make my own salsa for egg burritos or have oatmeal or cereal. Once in a great while I'll partially thaw bacon and refreeze the rest and have a treat for breakfast.

Alternatively, just cut recipes down so that you have enough for two meals instead of 4-6 servings to make your cooking efforts more efficient.

Answer 2

I'm single, too, and cook for one all the time. It's hard, so I usually cook a larger meal and package it up into individual servings. That way I can eat decent food without a lot of cooking every single time.

One of my favorites (about a dollar a serving) is roast beef. Find beef that's on sale. (In SoCal, you can find it for $2.- a pound if you watch for it.) Cut it into fairly thin slices (kind of like milanesa.) Take out a large square of aluminium foil and place that on a baking sheet. Lay one layer of sliced beef on this. Top with sliced onions and minced garlic, lightly salt and pepper it, then add another layers of beef. Layer all the beef in this way. Place another layer of onions and garlic, with a little salt and pepper, on the top layer, too. Wrap the foil up around it and pinch the center to hold it there. Be sure you leave vent holes. Bake this in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (roughly 175 Celsius, close enough for beef) for an hour and a half if you're using about 2-3 pounds of beef. I usually cook that much at once and package it for later use. This type of recipe also works fine with boneless skinless chicken.

Use one serving of the meat with a potato dish one night. The next night, use your serving of beef with pasta (just boil up a little of it and add a little sauce from a jar.) For another dinner, you can use this beef with rice and Asian veggies. Sliced beef is also good with Mexican food, which does come in single-serving sizes if you look for it.

By having the meat already cooked and ready to use, you can have a variety of dishes all week long form one roast. By buying two or three pounds at once, you save money. Cooking it when you bring it home helps the meat to stay edible longer. It's easier to freeze and thaw cooked meat, I've found, with less danger of spoilage or other contamination.

Answer 3

You can make minced meat go a long way, and make several different meals from 1 packet.
I usually make a little shepherds pie
some chilli, and maybe some spag bol. You have 3 meals, the other 2 can stay in the fridge for 2/3 days, or you could freeze.

Answer 4

Heat your oven to gas 7

small amount of butter or margarine I prefer oil (rapeseed, it's healthier)
1 garlic clove
1 large potato, thinly sliced
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
4 0z garlic sausage sliced
S & P
8oz fl oz milk

Mix half the oil (or butter) with the garlic and use it to grease the inside of a shallow ovenproof dish.

Arrange a 1/3 of the potato slices on the bottom and put half of the onion slices on top. Cover the onion with half the sausage slices. Season and then add another layer of potato slices, onion and sausage slices. Pour the milk into the dish Then put the remaining potato slices on top. and drizzle with oil or dot with butter.

Place in the oven and cook, uncovered for 20 minutes. Reduce the heat gas 4. Cook for 1 1/4 hours until the potatoes are golden brown on top and well cooked and almost all the milk has been absorbed..

Answer 5

Cheap,simple,healthy and tasty tuna baguette:
I read this recipe in health magazine in waiting room in doctors.It's really nice.
You need
1 small baguette
red pepper
one spoon of mayo (for healthier option mayo light)
some grated cheese
small tin of tuna
How:
cut the baguette in half and put under grill (or oven) for 2 minutes
make a mixture of mayo,tuna and a some chopped red pepper
add some cheese in the mixture
spread the mixture on the baguette and leave under grill for 5 minutes
sprinkle some extra cheese and leave for under grill for 2 more minutes until golden
Enjoy!

Answer 6

As has been already suggested, buy in bulk, cook ahead and freeze the rest. I do this often. I buy 3 lbs of hamburger and make 50-60 meatballs. Divide these up by proportions that I want (4-6 in a ziplock) and freeze. Then you have these for ideas:
Swedish meatballs -sour cream, mushrooms, noodles
BBQ meatballs-sandwich, or with mashed potatoes or baked yam
Sweet and Sour meatballs over rice with salad and pineapple
Italian with spaghetti and jarred sauce and salad

Do the same with a chicken or two.. OR you can buy in bulk just breasts, thighs or do a couple of whole chickens. I think you get more for your money doing that, but it's whatever you like and whatever you'll eat. You are in control! Roast them have portion for dinner that night with a baked potato and salad, and with the rest, portion it out for the following, or make as much of what you want as you can, and freeze:

Chicken and Dumplings -use breast and a thigh
Chicken veg soup and good bread or with grilled cheese sandwich (whatever is left on the bones, cook with broth, etc)
Chicken enchiladas, fruit salad portion out 1/2 breast, shredded...
Chicken quesadeias (sp) combination, breast, thigh,
Chicken Caesar salad ,rolls breast....on and on and on......
Sweet and sour chicken-with rice
Curry Chicken over rice with peas
BBQ chicken thigh with sweet potato fries baked in oven..yum.
Chcken and rice casserole with cashews and peas on top.

Get the idea? Just think about what you like, and fill up the freezer. Work hard for a day--eat like a queen for a few weeks.

Answer 7

Savoury bread and butter pudding
You can use garlic bread,sliced bread roll, or sliced bread.
Spread with Garlic butter or normal butter.
Use bacon,chiken,leftovers,mushrooms, onions ,cheese and layer
Pour over egg,mixture.
1 or 2 eggs, splash of milk, salt and pepper.
pour over leave to soak in
sprinke with cheese optional
bake till golden and crispy on top
Serve with green salad

Answer 8

How about some nice beans on toast, and you could also throw a nice poached egg on top...

Answer 9

You can get pizzas which are pretty cheap and are nice...

I can get a 14" one for £1.. and its really nice...

Answer 10

You could have ago at making risotto. Here are some recipes.