Zucchini slice goes a fair way in our house for our 4 year old. I can hide so many veggies in it and she has no idea.

Spaghetti is always a good one.

My slow cooker gets a lovely workout all year round and there is a great website you can go to where families will post great recipes for budgets, pantry items, bulk and stuff to freeze!
Slow Cooker Recipes For Families – Google it. It’s a lifesaver.

Slow cooker is amazing! I also cook batch meals and freeze a lot
Lasagne is a great meal the freeze.

I also like to cook in bulk. I cook simple meals like pasta bake with chicken or tuna with veg, or I make up a big pot of taco mince with lots of beans and lentils. We get a couple couple of nights out of the meat mix with tacos or nachos. We can some times even get a third and fourth meal out of it if I mix with pasta and make a pasta bake.

My budgeting tip is to shop the marked down meat etc if you can. That’s helping us to save a bit at the moment. Cheaper beef cuts can be slow cooked as spaghetti sauce or chili con carne or stews. These can also be bulked out with veg like zucchini or lentils.

I tend to use my slow cooker where possible. 20 mins of prep time after I’ve dropped my little one off to school saves time later.

One of my favourite recipes at the moment is a slow cooked roast chicken. Chop up your veg like potatoes, carrots, pumpkin, and layer them on the bottom. Add in the chicken on top, breast side down. This keeps the juices close to the breast meat and stops it drying out while it cooks. Add any spices or seasoning over the top. We add garlic, onion salt and pepper. Cook do about 6 hours.

Remove the chicken. Carefully remove the veg. Whisk chicken gravy mix or corn flour mixed with water to the chicken and veggie juices to make a delicious gravy. Season with salt and pepper if needed.

Any leftover chicken is great for sandwiches or mixed into other meals like pasta or fried rice.

Buy fruit and veggies that are in season. Buy that what is on sale. Visit farmers markets where you can buy cheap and in bulk.

Making batches and freezing meals is also cost effective and saves time.

Buy cheap meat and mix it up in your slow cooker. Great for winter months and super easy to just throw everything in at the start of the day. I often use soup bases (buy on special) then just add meat and veggies and let the slow cooker do the work.

Budget cookbooks are a good investment when working to a budget.
Pasta and rice meals are always good, tasty and filling.
Buying cheap cuts of meat and using them with vegetables in slow cooker meals is a good budget saver too.
Savoury meatloaf is also tasty and filling and lots of veg can be added to it too.

Buying cheap is always an idea and something with pasta and a sauce with a few veggies and bit of meat or fish works well