The cost of living continues to soar as energy and fuel prices rise. It's more important than ever to keep an eye on spending - and feeding the family can be expensive.
With that in mind, anti-poverty campaigner Jack Monroe often details money-saving recipes for her followers to enjoy. She posts money-saving recipes on her website cookingonabootstrap.com to help those watching their budget, as well as on her Instagram page.
One of her latest recipes has gone down a storm with fans and can be done very easily. The recipe takes around 15 minutes to make on the hob in one pan and costs around 46p per portion, Jack said. It takes around 45 minutes to make in total.
Read more: Jack Monroe shares simple 11p meal recipe as cost of living soars
In a tweet she wrote: "One pan, 15 minute pasta in chicken stock with smoked Polish sausage, chickpeas, onion, carrot, kale, conchiglie pasta and a smattering of cheese and black pepper. Costings to follow shortly - we want to eat it first - but it’ll be under £1 for sure."
One Twitter user replied: "In all my born years I never thought of cooking pasta in stock... If I wasn't a follower already I'd follow you all over again." A second said: "Yes, this is rather very good - you are rather good at this."
And a third added: What a fabulous cook you are. I was post-war generation & was taught thrifty cooking by my Nan. We weren’t big on pulses/pasta in those days. Always cooked from scratch & used all leftovers for day 2. She’d love you. (Big compliment)."
Explaining how to make the dish, Jack said: "Using pulses to bulk out a meal is one of my fave things - people ask me how I get my kid to eat chickpeas and lentils etc and the answer is I started by putting them into already-familiar dishes alongside the meat, then gradually reduced the meat and increased the pulses. Adding protein (by way of beans and pulses) makes meals more filling, and also adds extra fibre and vital nutrients that you probably won’t get from adding more sausage or bacon. So it cuts the overall bill, and is also better for your health.
"I started with the smaller ones; red lentils can be made to almost completely disappear, brown lentils can be disguised in ‘mincey’ dishes like bolognese and chilli, before moving onto bigger ones. Anything white can generally be passed off as a ‘naked baked bean!’
"And this was actually a 45min meal, but only 15mins was cooking on gas. Then I put the lid on the pan and took it off the heat for half an hour to continue to cook and thicken in the residual warmth of the pan. Just blast it back through to serve. (This works for lots of things!)"
Have you any money-saving meal tips? Tell us in the comments section.
