Low cost winter meals

The winter chill has set in so we thought it time to revisit the best of our oily rag tips for low-cost tummy-warming winter meals. Leaving home on a cold morning, there is nothing much more I look forward to then coming home, getting cosy and enjoying a warm delicous meal.

Casseroles

“I bought an old cast-iron casserole dish with a lid from a garage sale for just a few dollars, and now I make delicious and inexpensive meals by using it on our wood burner. The trick is simplicity and slow cooking.” – Thrifty from Whangarei

Simple Casserole

You will need:

• stewing steak
• onions,
• mushrooms,
• capsicum,
• carrots
• potatoes,
• any other vegetable from the fridge or garden
• 1 can of crushed tomatoes
• flavour with garlic, salt and pepper
• Frozen peas (add in later)
• Parsley (add in later)

Cube the steak and brown off in a pan then put it in the casserole with the cubed and chopped vegetables. Leave it to cook all day on low.

Half an hour before serving, add in some frozen peas and chopped parsley.

Chicken Tomato Casserole

“This recipe is cheap, quick and delicious and is now a family favourite in my home. This recipe also freezes really well, so you can make it in advance or freeze the leftovers.” M.M 

You will need:

• chicken legs and/or thighs
• a large tin of tomato soup
• a large sliced carrot
• 10 chopped mushrooms
• a thinly sliced large brown onion
• 1 tbsp dried mixed herbs

Coat the chicken pieces in flour and brown them before placing in the casserole dish. Add the other ingredients, mix, and then place the lid on the dish. Cook in a moderate oven for approximately 1 hour. I usually stir it after 30 minutes to mix it all through.

Serve with rice and beans or peas. “It is such a hearty meal, you will all love it!”

Quick and cheap

Add oats and veggies as a stretcher and gain the benefits of additional vitamins. 

Cate from Hamilton says, “We discovered that adding a good heap of rolled oats to the mince mixture was a fantastic healthy ‘stretcher’ to bulk up the patties. Even better is to then add grated carrot or zucchini which puts moisture back into the patty and is unrecognisable to those fussy vegetable averse people!”

Simplicity at its best

M.E. from Auckland has a favourite recipe for rice. “One of my fav’ cheap yummy meals is eggs and rice. Cut onions into thick slices and cook till translucent, then add the eggs beaten with salt to taste.  Cook on medium so it doesn’t burn and barely stir so you have nice big fluffy scramble.  Take off 30 seconds to a minute before you think it’s cooked because the eggs keep cooking.  Serve on fresh steamed rice.”

Sausage Lovers

“Delicious! A family favourite, when we were growing up.” – Hamilton reader

Sausage Pie

• Two of the tubes of sausage meat for a family size pie, or just one for a smaller one,
• a packet of puff pastry,
• some herbs of your choice,
• an onion (chopped & sautéed)

Use a dish that can go in the oven. Put pastry on the bottom and sides, then a layer the bottom with half of the sausage meat.

Cover with a layer of herbs & onions, then the rest of the meat. Put a top on and bake until the pastry is cooked.

Sausage Shepards Pie

Linda Mitchell from Te Puke says, “We empty a tube of sausage meat and a finely chopped onion into a glass dish, squish together, then microwave until cooked. Add tin of baked beans and spread over, then cover with mashed potato and a sprinkle of grated cheese. Grill until brown.”

JayFKay from Manurewa also works wonders with simple sausages.

Quick Sausage Casserole 

“Cook cubed potatoes. Fry sausages and sliced onions. Drain off fat and cut sausages into 3. Make up a packet of Maggi oxtail soup with 1 1/2 cups of water, add to the pan with sausages, onions, potatoes and mixed frozen veges. Heat until frozen veges are cooked.  Ingredients can be added to for more people. I love this recipe.”

Desert

Rice Pudding

Tessa from Northland swears by rice pudding for cooler nights. “It’s cheap, simple to make, filling, good for you, and delicious – what’s not to like!”

All you need is:

• 5 tbsp short-grain rice
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 3 cups milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 tsp butter
• Dried fruit
• and a sprinkle of nutmeg

Mix everything together in an oven-proof dish and bake for 2 hours at 150 Celsius. Serve with yoghurt or cream – yum!”

If you have a favourite low cost meal you would like to share, please send it to us via our website at oilyrag.co.nz or by writing to Living off the Smell of an Oily Rag, PO Box 984, Whangarei.

By Frank and Dr Muriel Newman.

Read more Oily Rag articles here.

You can contact the Oily Rag community via the website at oilyrag.co.nz or by writing to Living off the Smell of an Oily Rag, PO Box 984, Whangarei.