As the cost of living these days goes through the roof, it’s always great to find a few practical ways to keep your food bills down, and we know the value of making every penny go as far as it can.

Fortunately, the SDC has just the tips and tricks for you–direct from savvy author Nicole Pedersen-McKinnon!

Nicole has recently shared a video on social media about 'family-friendly recipes that are saving both the food budget and the food battles in Nicole’s household'.

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The post focused on her version of the delicious Tuna Pasta Bake–a recipe from her mum’s old Women’s Weekly Cookbook–made by combining a tin of tuna with cooked pasta, white sauce, cheese and spices.

Nicole uses a $5 tin of tuna as the main ingredient of her dish. Credit: nicolepedmckmoney/Instagram

According to Nicole, a 425g tin of tuna from Woolworths costs just $5, while the rest of the ingredients from ALDI–including 500g pasta shells, 250g cheese (from a 1kg block), 140g of butter, 2/3 of a cup of plain flour, 6 cups of milk, 2 tsp of Dijon mustard, some salt and pepper, and 8 slices white bread–set her back a total of only $9.83. This adds to a total of only $14.83!

This meal can serve six people twice, which means that all of this sumptuousness comes in at a highly affordable $7.42–a real bargain!

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Here’s how to make this retro tuna delight at home:

1. In a saucepan on medium-low heat, melt 120 grams of butter.
2. Add and saute onion, green capsicum and 125 grams of mushrooms (all finely chopped).
3. Take the sauteed produce off the heat and slowly tip in 2/3 of a cup of plain flour (or rice flour if you’re gluten-free) while stirring vigorously. Put the saucepan back on the medium-low element and keep stirring for two more minutes. You want it to bubble, without burning, and thicken noticeably.
4. Gradually add six cups of milk on low heat. Mix for 10 minutes until the sauce starts to boil and thicken.
5. The Women’s Weekly Cookbook recipe then calls for a teaspoon of dry mustard. Just whisk in bottled Dijon, hot or seeded mustard.
6. The final sauce step is 250 grams of cheddar or whatever cheese you have on hand (that you have grated yourself to save money) until it melts.
7. Along with the 425-gram mega tin of tuna, this amount of sauce works with 500 grams of your preferred pasta. Fold it all together and then tip it into a big, greased baking dish. If you follow the official instructions and melt an extra 20 grams of butter in the microwave, toss through 1.5 cups of soft (possibly gluten-free) breadcrumbs and then spread that atop your cheap tuna triumph, the kids will be in heaven.
8. Bake in a moderate oven for 25 minutes or until the casserole is well heated and the breadcrumbs browned.

Nicole’s take on the retro Tuna Pasta Bake. Credit: nicolepedmckmoney/Instagram

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So if you’re looking for a few ways to reduce your weekly food expenditure, why not try out Nicole's recipe? It’s not only super affordable, but it can also guarantee to satisfy the most discerning dinner guests.

Key Takeaways

• Author Nicole Pedersen-McKinnon has shared her favourite budget-conscious, family-friendly meal recipe in a bid to save money and reduce food waste.
• Her version of Tuna Pasta Bake–a cheesy, tuna-based dish from the 1970s–was sourced from her mother's original Women’s Weekly Cookbook.
• The total cost of her recipe is $14.83. The dish can serve approximately six people twice, making it a budget-friendly meal at $7.42 per serving.
  

Watch the video here:

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Do you have delicious and cheap recipes, dear members? Share them in the comments below!

Happy cooking, SDC Members!

 

[Kathryn69]

My mother made this with a tin of tuna, tin of mushroom soup,cup of frozen peas, spread cooked rice on the top and covered in grated cheddar cheese. Baked in the oven until cheese topping golden brown . Feed 2 adults and 5 kids ages 2 to 16(me) . She dropped the tray when she got it out of the oven, no damage to the meal, but from then on dubbed "mucky duck". Favourite family staple. My mother was an excellent cook and swore by her copy of the Women's Weekly Cookbook. I have the same copy plus a CWA cookbook. Love those 60's recipes.