This is a close approximation of a week's worth of meals for me, though here all the dishes serve two, so the ingredients came to roughly £40 from one of the big four supermarkets. Even more careful shopping could bring down the costs still further.

I find the easiest way to feed myself well when really economising is to cook a chicken. It will last a week and adds flavour to several meals so you don't have to spend as much on herbs, spices and seasonings.

I poach my chicken as it keeps the meat really moist even though you're using it over a few days, plus you get stock while it's cooking, and then strip the carcass and make a second batch of stock. From one chicken I can get about a week's meals for one.

The day I cook the chicken, I tend to have the equivalent of a chicken dinner, with mashed potato on the side which means I can cook the mash for the potato bread breakfast in one batch, to help save energy costs. I also make an American-style gravy, which is like a white sauce made with the chicken stock instead of milk, and then serve it all with my green veg of choice.

Next day I strip all the meat from the bird and make a chicken and vegetable cobbler. When you're stripping the chicken, keep the skin to one side and don't discard it.

Chicken and vegetable cobbler

leek 1, chopped
onion ½, chopped
mushrooms 1 punnet, sliced
butter 25g, plus 10g for sweating the vegetables
plain flour 25g
milk 285ml
stock 285ml
oil 2 tsp
cooked chicken (I use the breast meat)
Worcestershire sauce 3-4 dashes
salt and pepper
tarragon

For the cobbler
plain flour 200g
baking powder 2 tsp
mustard powder 1 tsp
oil 2 tsp
yoghurt, plain unsweetened 150ml

Sweat your chopped vegetables in about 10g of the butter. You want them to soften but not colour. This should take about 10 minutes. Heat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. While the vegetables are sweating, make your white sauce. Melt the butter in a pan, add in the flour and combine, cooking for 1-2 minutes until your roux looks glossy. Remove from the heat, whisking in the liquid gently to make sure there are no lumps. Return to the heat and bring just to the boil to help it thicken. Then cook out on a low heat for about 8-10 minutes.

Flake the chicken breast into fork-sized pieces and toss in with the vegetables and coat well, shaking in your Worcestershire sauce and seasoning. Add the white sauce, along with the tarragon if within budget or in your window box.

Make the cobbler dough by sifting plain flour, baking powder and mustard powder into a bowl and make a well in the centre, pouring the oil and yoghurt into it and bringing it together in a soft, but not sticky dough. Add a touch more oil if it looks dry. Turn out on to a floured surface and cut into rounds with a glass or cutter and place each one on top of the chicken and vegetable mix until it is covered. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

While the oven is on, turn your attention to that chicken skin you set aside earlier. Lay it out in pieces on a baking tray and sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper. Cook in the hot oven for about 8 minutes. It will crisp up to make a crunchy chicken version of scratchings. Technically it keeps well as a garnish, but if you can even sit down before you eat it, you're a better person than me.

Rice and peas

I use the last of the chicken meat to go along with a steaming plate of rice and peas. Influenced by the Caribbean community in my area, it's always good to have something really flavoursome and a bit spicy if you like by using some hot sauce or Tabasco on the meat.

onion 1, finely chopped
long grain rice 150g
water 200ml
coconut milk 200ml (or creamed coconut made up with water)
kidney beans 1 tin, drained
dried or fresh thyme 2 tbsp
chilli 1 whole (optional)
leftover chicken

Sweat the onion in a little bit of oil and once it is softening slightly, add the rice. Toss around slightly to coat in the oil and cook for a minute. Then add the water and coconut and bubble slightly.

Turn the heat down, add the kidney beans, thyme, seasoning (and the chilli if using), and put the lid on and cook for about 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, remove from the heat, don't open the lid and allow to sit for 10 minutes to absorb any liquid and become fluffy. Serve with the leftover chicken – put it in the pot with the rice to heat through – and enjoy the creamy coconutty comfort.

I then start using that amazing chicken stock and get several delicious meals based round it.