Cheap eats: live webchat with Bernadine Lawrence Weds 12 Sept 1-2pm

Hello Bernadine

I'm very bored of the things I seem to cook all the time (staples such as shepherd's pie, spag bol, fish pie) and would like to know how to make my menus more exciting without upping the calories or the price too much.

Thank you in advance

Hello Bernadine

I'd like some really cheap and cheerful meals that I can prepare easily but taste as if I've been cooking all day. They also need to be forgiving as I sometimes prepare a meal then my husband gets held up in traffic and it has to be reheated.

Thank you.

I love the idea of that sort of budget. But can you give us advice on where to shop to achieve that? I don't live near a market so it's the big supermarkets or corner shops for me. Actually maybe it should be as much HOW to shop as where

I would be interested to see some vegetarian meals included as I have 1 DS 1 DiL and 1 good friend who are veggie.

I live on my own, and would like some interesting food menu ideas, I live in the country in Scotland, so one has to take account that the food available down south is not the same in the Highlands!

Hi guys - I shop exclusively at Lidl and go for their halfprice weekend offers. Last week it was turkey breast steaks & sweet & sour sauce. So I made a sweet& sour casserole with loads of extra frozen veg in, really yummy. The turkey was £1.47 for nearly a pound & the sauce only 37p. Froze 4 packs for other dishes.
Flowerfriend could use the sauce with loads of vegs & serve on rice.
The nice part about Lidl is the lack of choice [ sounds silly] they have their own brand and maybe just one other [probably to show the huge difference in price!] Being continental most of the stuff is of high quality and the fruit & veg are very good. you can subscribe to their newsletter which comes twice a week on your pc. I have also bought sandals, walking poles, kids stuff and loads of gardening things. Hey, they should be giving me free groceries for this!!!

I would love some new ideas for mince. It's so economical but we are bored rigid with spag bol and cottage pie.

Any tips for fussy children? Healthy eating on a budget is all well and good til you try to factor in one set of GC who only want nuggets or chips

Advice needed! My husband is gluten intolerant so that rules out wheat and oats - the stuff that is cheap to buy and bulk out dishes. Any suggestions for what I can do instead?

Barley goes well in a lot of dishes and lentils disappear in mince to the point everyone enjoys it but no one knows there is a whole tin of non mince in the dish. My kids could always detect and dismiss quorn but never minded the lentils.

Are there any things that it's really not worth saving on? I know my daughter will just not buy anything other that Coca Cola, as for her, the taste is just not the same. Any ideas how to get around this sort of "false economy"?

I try to buy food that's locally-sourced as far as possible but farmers' markets are often quite expensive. Is it possible to eat cheaply but also with the environment and animal welfare in mind?

Any cheap alternatives to pine nuts? I'd love to use them more - in salads, stir fries, tagines - but they are on the pricey side. Or perhaps you know a cheap source?

My DS lives in a studenty shared house (all-male) and seems to exist almost exclusively on cereal and takeaways. Any ideas for nutritious recipes I could persuade him to try? They have to be quick, tasty and use ingredients that are easy to come by. Sorry, bit of a tall order, but I'd love some suggestions.

I feel I would like to cook more with beans as they're cheap - even from a tin, cheaper if you do them properly - and supposedly nutritious and so on but apart from chilli con carne, I know no recipes. Could you suggest something?

good ideas rinky - although I have a thing against barley. It's so...slimy. Or maybe that's my cooking. Bernadine?!

There was a story a couple of weeks ago that Save The Children is going to work with families in the UK, such are the levels of poverty here now. Do you think people would be better off if they thought more carefully about food and eg ate less junk food?

I often feel like it's a toss up between cheap food that takes a while to cook, and more expensive meals that a can heat up in microwave etc. Do you have any ideas for cheap AND quick meals? Thanks x

Bernadine - I read somewhere that you are a anti-ageing guru. I would love to know. And more importantly I would love some tips

I would like some ideas for healthy and cheap snacks for when the GC come to visit. Our local supermarket does multipacks of crisps so cheaply it's hard not to be tempted to have them on standby

Where's the best place to get cheap , good quality meat.b because for me feeding a family for a 5iver means being veggie!

Are you a fan of raw juice - and is it worth buying a proper juicer? I read that the Paralympian champion David Weir swears by beetroot. Does it have special properties?