This is so cheap,  is simple, tastes fab - enough for 3 -4 people

4 or five large potatoes (more if for more people)
1 large onion (or more to taste)
1 pint chicken or veg stock made from stock cube of choice and boiling water
optional - half a swede
black pepper - optional

• Peel (or not) the potatoes, and slice thinly ish!
• The same with onions and swede.
• Put layer of potatoes, to cover bottom of dish, then some onion, then some swede, then potato, onion, swede - a little black pepper every once in a while is nice, and continue in this way to the top of the dish.
• Pour over stock (add more if needed, it should not cover the potatoes).
• Put on lid or foil cover and bake in a moderate oven around 180 deg or equivalent for around 1 hour, then remove lid.
• Dot top with butter/margarine/olive oil and let bake again for around 1/2 hour.

A meal in itself, very tasty but could be a veg accompaniment.

Serves 3/4 people (or 2 if very, very hungary)

1 pack thick sausage
3 or 4 large potatoes
2 large onions
Mushrooms (optional)
Garlic (optional again - I use 3 cloves)
3/4 pint vegetable Stock
1 teaspoon Marmite (optional - I know many HATE it)
Pepper
Smear of butter or oil

Method:

• Butter a casserole dish.
• Slice (thinly) potatoes and line bottom of dish with them.
• Slice onions and mushrooms (if using) and crush garlic.
• Fry onions on a low heat until soft and just turning brown, add garlic and mushroom and gently fry for a while longer, then add everything on top of potatoes.
• Gently fry the sausages until brown all the way round, but not cooked through.
• Mix stock cube (or homemade stock- need to be hot) with marmite (if using) and poor over mixture,  add pepper to taste.
• Put sausage on top, pop a lid (or foil) on and put in the oven for 1 hour - Gas 6 or equivalent.

Eat with crusty bread.

Cheats method!

This feeds our family 2 adults 2 middle sized children
if you have more to feed use a bigger mug.

2 chicken breasts diced or similar amount of leftover chicken chopped small.
Large mug of rice (Risotto rice is best but any will do)
1 finely chopped onion or a few chopped spring onions
2 large mugs of hot stock or boiling water with a stock cube in
1/2 a mug of peas
salt and pepper

To garnish a few raw nuts added at the last minute to warm up and/or fried mushrooms.

Method:

Add all ingredients to a large microwaveable dish.
Microwave on full power for 12 minutes.
Check consistency and add nuts if using.
Microwave for another minute or 2 , all of the liquid should be gone

Serve with fried mushrooms

Filling cheep, tasty and very very easy

4 slices lambs liver - from a butcher not the supermarket vac packs you'll just get bits.
4 large onions - more if you like.
Gravy (powder - but granules if you must)
Cornflour

2 large potatoes
1/2 a cabbage - or a few handfuls of sprouts
4  carrots

Cook cabbage and carrots to your liking, drain, but save a mug of the water.

Boil potatoes and mash lightly.

Roughly slice onions ,  sweat slightly in large frying pan.  Add liver - cook each side for a few minutes until coloured.  Don't over cook it otherwise it will have the same texture as a rubber door seal.  It doesn't matter if it still bleeds when you stab it.

Add vegetable water to gravy powder and cornflour (or granules) and add to pan.

Simmer the lot down turning the liver occasionally - 10 minutes max or until liver is to your taste.

Season.

Plate up mash, vegetables and a goodly amount of liver and onions.

Has to be less than £1 a head.

Here's my version of dhal, quantities don't need to be exact but I have given some as a bit of a guide!

You will need:
split mung beans (those orangey pink lentils in the supermarket in bags) about 8 oz
half an onion
half a lemon
2 bay leaves
2 green chillies slit open
half teaspoon of turmeric
couple of table spoons of sunflower oil OR largish knob of butter with a teaspoon of oil
3 or 4 dried red chillies
medium sized onion cut into fine slices/rings
tablespoon of either mustard seeds or cumin seeds or fennel seeds
largish pinch of ground asafetida* (can miss this out if you don't like it or haven't got any)

To make the dhall:
Pick over the lentils to make sure there are no little stones

Wash thoroughly, put in large saucepan with half onion, lemon, green chillies,  turmeric and bayleaf and enough water to cover to a depth of 2 ins.

Bring to boil, skimming off any froth and throwing this away

Simmer partly covered for about 20 minutes, until lentils are soft enough to squash easily.

Take out all flavourings and discard.

Add salt.

While they are cooking make the tarka topping:
Heat up oil or oil/butter mix (the oil stops the butter burning) in frying pan

Add the dried chillies, asafetida and seeds carefully as they will splutter.

Put in the finely sliced onion and cook until brown and crisp. Low/medium heat, don't stir too much

Pour contents of frying pan over the top of the lentils and serve immediately

Plain rice and green salad go really well with this, or any Indian bread like naans, or hot buttered toast.

Cooking rice
I have also put in our way of cooking rice as it is foolproof and dead simple. You can cook it while the dhall is cooking.

1. Put three quarters of a cup of rice per person in a medium size saucepan and rinse unitl water runs clear. Don't mess about too much with it or starch is released and the rice will be sticky.
2. Put cold water in until it covers the rice to the depth of your first knuckle of your middle finger, half way up the knuckle.
3. Bring to the boil, cover and turn down heat to low and leave it alone for 18 to 20  minutes.

4. There should be no water left. Fluff up the rice and serve (if you leave the lid on the pan the rice will stay warn for about half an hour).

You can add cardamom seeds, bay leaf, lemon etc with the water, or salt if you like.

75 gms risotto  or long grain rice
1 chopped onion
1 or 2  chopped garlic cloves

juice and zest 1 lemon
60 gms butter
1 tblspn olive oil (can be another oil if you prefer)
450 mls chicken or vegetable stock
50 gms of home grown rocket (or buy a small bag)

Heat 25 gms of the butter and the olive oil in a frying-pan add the onion, lemon zest and garlic and cook gently until soft.

Add a little rice and stir to coat everything together.  After a couple of minutes add 75 mls of the stock and boil for another 2 minutes, stirring constantly.  Then add the stock a little at a time, and continue to add as the rice absorbs the liquid, continue to do this until all the stock has been used (for some of the time, I usually cover the pan with its lid) up and rice is soft with just a little crunch to it.

Finally add the remaining butter, lemon juice and rocket and season according to taste.

If you want to you can adapt risotto and use anything else you have to hand, ie: a few bits of cooked left-over chicken, a wrinkled pepper, leek, etc.

2 veg oxos
2 onions
2 potatoes
8 carrots
4 parsnips
1 small swede
1 lemon in half
¼ cup cous cous
3 cloves garlic
1 tin chick peas
2 tsp garam masala
2 tins tomatoes
2 tsp mustard powder
dash worcester sauce
salt and pepper to taste
2 pints boiling water

Chop all vegetable  into stew size pieces.  Soften onion and garlic in a pan, when soft add spices and salt and pepper then add the water and stock cubes.  Bring to the boil and add the veg,  cook until veg is soft.  Add all remaining ingredients and cook in a medium oven until stew is thick.  Serve with a few chopped herbs on top and some crusty bread.

It's a great use anything stew and you can use leeks,  kale, whatever is in the fridge.  I usually make with Chicken oxos and Lamb stock works well too but thought I would keep it as a veggie recipe!

Makes enough for 4 big portions.

Here's my recipe for my version of Corned Beef Hash
Very cheap to make and yummy.

1 tin Corned Beef
1 Large Onion
2 Tomatoes
1 large tin Baked Beans
Worcestershire Sauce
2 or 3 lbs potatoes
Cheese for topping

Take a large dish and slice the Corned Beef making enough slices the cover the bottom of the dish.
Pour on the tin of beans.
Add a splash of Worcestershire sauce.
Soften the onions by lightly frying and add them to the dish.
Slice the tomatoes and layer them in the dish.
Peel and slice the spuds.  Boil until nearly cooked.
Add the sliced and cooked spuds to the dish in layers.
Grate the cheese and sprinkle on top of the sliced spuds.

Bake in the oven Gas mark 5 for about 25 / 35 min or until the cheese is golden brown.

Serves about 8 people.

1 shallot or half a small onion
1tin chopped tomatoes
Olive oil, extra virgin if you have some
1tsp red wine vinegar
1tsp tomato puree, optional
1 tsp sugar
Any fresh or dried herbs.  Basil, thyme, oregano,  parsley etc
Salt and pepper
Crème fraiche, mascarpone or cream if you have some.
Cheese, whatever you have to hand

Soften shallot in oil.  Add red wine vinegar and reduce until it has practically all evaporated.  Add tomatoes, tom puree, sugar, salt and pepper and dried herbs if using.  (Add fresh herbs at the end).  Mascarpone is best and if you are making this for more than one is well worth buying.  Stir in about a tablespoonful.

Enough pasta for one person or two at a stretch.  Sprinkle with cheese.

A nice one to hold your feet to the floor.

Potato and Leek Crunch

300g/10oz potatoes, scrubbed
150g/5oz leeks, washed
a sprig of rosemary
1×400g/14oz can chopped tomatoes, drained
a pinch of chilli powder

300ml/0.5pt cheese sauce *

75g/3oz breadcrumbs
25g/1oz butter or margarine, melted
50g/2oz sunflower seeds, browned under the grill
1 scant tbs chopped raw onion

Cut the potatoes and leeks into small dice.  Cover with water,  add the rosemary and simmer for 8-10 mins,  or until the vegetables are tender but still slightly crisp.  Drain thoroughly and remove the rosemary.

Mix the cooked vegetables with the drained tomatoes.  Season to taste with a little chilli powder, then fold in the cheese sauce.  Pour into an ovenproof dish.

For the topping,  mix the breadcrumbs with the melted butter or margarine and fold in the sunflower seeds and raw onion.  Mix thoroughly.

Spread the topping over the vegetables. Bake at 180C/350F/gas mark 4 for 25-30 mins or until golden brown and crisp on top.

* cheese sauce
40g/1.5oz plain flour
40g/1.5oz butter or margarine
450/5fl oz milk
50-75g/2-3oz grated cheese
bay leaf (optional)
salt and pepper

Put all the ingredients into a saucepan and whisk continuously with a wire whisk over a medium heat until the sauce comes to the boil and becomes smooth.  Simmer for 5 mins to allow the flour to cook thoroughly,  stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon.  Remove the bay leaf, add cheese, salt and pepper and stir until the cheese has melted.

You can also add different vegetables and increase the quantities. Sweet potato, squash and carrots work well.