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With the price of food increasing and all of us having to think more about what we spend our pennies on, I thought it would be helpful to share some of the tips and tricks that I use at home when feeding my family of 8 on budget friendly family meals. Plus I share my own fish pie recipe.
There are 6 children in my family ranging from 6yrs to 12yrs and that includes 4 growing pre-teens, a boy with autism with different tastes in food and then I am wheat free. So if you have a growing family with multiple needs, I hear you.
In this video I talk you through how we use frozen foods and rely on the freezer to save money and time without compromising on nutrition.
Ways to use frozen foods in your meals:
Frozen Veg: add to soups, casseroles, pasta dishes, pies, have on the side
Frozen Fruit: add to smoothies, on breakfast, in crumbles, have them as a pudding
Fruit Fish: cheaper than fresh and you can rely on it being fresh. Caught on the day and frozen soon afterwards. Great for fish cakes, homemade fish fingers and fish pie.
Frozen Meat: grab any fresh meat bargains and freeze them for another day.
Other Items: freeze the leftover herbs and spices, the ends of yoghurt pots for curries and soups, broccoli stalks for stocks and soups, brown bananas for baking and any leftover meals can be frozen and used as a topping on jacket potatoes or added to another meal.
How to adapt this recipe:
I hope you enjoy this fish pie recipe, it’s always a huge hit in my family. It is wheat free for me (I can’t eat wheat due to a digestive condition) and I took out a portion of fish to cook this seperately for boy C who has autism and won’t eat a mixed meal in this way. Which shows you can adapt one meal to suit a variety of needs.
To make it wheat or gluten free: use wheat free or gluten free flour (I like cornmeal or buckwheat but you could use a general purpose blend).
Feel free to change the vegetables to suit your tastes or to add extra vegetables on the side.
To make this dairy free or low lactose use a plant based milk alternative like the one I used in the video.
You could change the fish used, I’ve used salmon for the omega 3 content, you could use any other form of fish you have and even add other forms of seafood into the dish such as prawns but bear in mind this will increase the cost.
Low Cost Salmon Fish Pie
A delicious fish pie using frozen fish and vegetables to help you save the pennies
Servings 4
Cost £1.26 per portion
- 480 g frozen salmon
- 200 ml soya milk
- 2 bay leaves
- black pepper
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp cream cheese
- 320 g frozen mixed vegetables
- 1 head broccoli
- 1 tbsp mixed herbs
- 480 g potatoes
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 splash soya milk
- 50 g cheddar cheese
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Poach the salmon in the milk, adding the bay leaves and black pepper.
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Flake the fish, add the cream cheese and lemon juice.
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Add in the frozen vegetables, broccoli, mixed herbs, allow to simmer.
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Cook the potatoes (you can scrub and leave the skins on for added fibre).
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Mash with butter and milk.
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Place the fish pie mixture into an ovenproof dish, top with the mashed potato and sprinkle the cheese on top.
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Bake or grill until the cheese has melted (30-40 minutes at 180C fan)
Look out for the next series in these videos, we will be covering ways to save money using one pan meals, in packed lunches and making some simple family meals that everyone will hopefully enjoy.
