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I hid leeks in a fish chowder last night - my DH won't eat them if he can see them!

I totally do that, I put leeks in loads of things and my DB never knows...if he says anything I tell him it's onion 

I also put carrots in lots of things chopped up fine and tons of chopped spinach goes into my currys, along with cauliflower and sometimes mushrooms, which my DB has said he absolutely can't stand but eats at least once a week! I've also hidden a myriad of things in meatloaf It's like having a giant child I'm well prepared for if we ever have kids!

Can you try a split where the meat is added really late? Like for instance, make a saffron risotto with some peas, and then fry chorizo separately and add it to your husbands meal before serving? The same for spaghetti B, make a veggie sauce (so easy to hide veggies in tomato sauce) but fry off some mince separately and add it to his portion? It wont taste quite as nice as cooking it all together, but it will still be good and you only have to cook one pot with a little extra.

You could do the same with pies, make a creamy veg and mushroom pie filling, cook chicken separately and add to your husbands, then put pastry rounds on top (less fatty as well.

Strategic use of ingredients is really the key to getting your food bills down, everyone thinks I must spend loads on my food bill as I shop at Ocado, Abel and Cole and Farmers markets, but the truth is, I meal plan, don't waste anything and don't spend money on processed foods. I also don't wander around the supermarket impulse buying and doing BOGOFs I don't need (BOGOFS can be great, but often they're just a waste!)

Yes it's more effort, but it tastes better, is healthier and is generally nicer for everyone, My DB really didn't like vegetables, he would say "oh I hate parsnips, or I don't like leeks" yeah, turns out he loves all that stuff he just hadn't had them prepared in nice ways

Just an idea!

Good ideas, I will try them for sure, I'm only really learning to cook so it's all a bit overwhelming for me sometimes but each time I get a little better (I think?). 

Do you know the site Cheap, Healthy, Good? They do things like the $25 food project where they really do eat healthy for very little money. I follow the site in my RSS feeds for the good recipes, but like cheesbiscuit, I cook everything from scratch and wouldn't feed half of the Hillbilly crap to my cat, let alone my child.

Ha ha - I will definitely check out the site, thank you!

Sorry, I only just now found this thread!

A friend of mine has been working on a massive project to design a meal planner that feeds a family of 4 for £100/month.  It's nutrionally researched and provides all your major vits/mins WITHOUT supplementing with vitamins - and enough fat & calories to sustain.  Even better, also contains the gov't recommended 5-a-day.  And no processed food, no trans fats or additives...things are fresh & homemade.

http://www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk

Even if you don't want to follow the planner exactly, the recipes alone give you great jumping off points on how to make great meals for a very low price point.  The homemade pizza is yum yum yummy!  She's now working on a vegan/vegetarian version of the planner (mostly for people who aren't comfortable buying caged eggs or don't want milk), so there's lots of recipes for that as well.

Spread the word .

Thank you Aless, £100 a month sounds like a dream to me, though unfortunately it would be a cold day in hell before my DH would eat hummus, bean pate or apple curd lol!  But I do get the general idea and I think I could modify some of the recipes perhaps.  Good thing I like porridge!  Thanks for the link!

Oh, and sorry to bump!