by Thrifty Lesley | Nov 15, 2023 | Christmas, Saving Money
I can’t tell you how tired I am of hearing the words ‘Black Friday’! To me it says ‘buy something, buy something, buy something ……. Please, buy something, anything, please’. I have had endless emails all saying it’s Black Friday, spend some money with us. It hardly...
by Thrifty Lesley | Nov 15, 2023 | Christmas, Meal Plans, Vegetarian Christmas Meal Plan
Vegetarian Christmas If you are on a tight budget, Christmas food can be very difficult, causing stress, and maybe even debt too. No need to get into debt, when with a bit of extra planning, you can enjoy a delicious vegetarian Christmas festive meal, without spending...
by Thrifty Lesley | Nov 15, 2023 | My Diary
Where we are this week I used Fiver to have my favourite picture of my girls enhanced. They are 11.5 and 9.5 here. Just look at those gorgeous eyes! It’s how I think of them in my head. I have been taking a flask of hot soup to my daughters for my lunch when I...
by Thrifty Lesley | Nov 2, 2023 | My Diary
I haven’t been putting much from my life on here for a while and that’s because some pretty difficult stuff has been going on. My eldest daughter has been having health issues for a few years now – pretty serious ones. Very briefly – she has a...
by Thrifty Lesley | Aug 16, 2023 | All Recipes, Dinners, Poaching A Whole Chicken
A quick and simple healthy chicken spaghetti recipe using Sicilian flavours. Juicy chicken, sweet pops of raisins, salty olives, crunchy almonds, luscious sun-dried tomatoes and zesty lemon – delicious! Good hot for dinner, with any leftovers for lunch the next...
by Thrifty Lesley | Jun 25, 2023 | All Recipes, Dinners, Poaching A Whole Chicken
This tasty salad is made using brown rice for fibre, that’s been cooked in chicken stock, for extra flavour. Quick and easy to make, you don’t need to put the oven on when its baking hot and you just want some dinner. Filling from the brown rice and those...
by Thrifty Lesley | Jun 20, 2023 | All Recipes, Dinners
This gorgeous crumble has a nutty, seedy, oaty topping and a creamy, chicken and mushroom base. It will freeze very well, either cooked or uncooked. Lovely to have a home made ready meal in the freezer that just needs to be defrosted. It’s super easy to make,...
by Thrifty Lesley | Jun 6, 2023 | All Recipes, Dinners, Less than 500 calories, Sides
This is a very simple dish, cooked on the hob, in a single pan. Just aubergine (eggplant), tomatoes and olive oil, simmered slowly to an unctuous silkiness. Absolutely gorgeous just on its own, hot or room temperature. Stir through pasta, top a jacket potato or use as...
by Thrifty Lesley | May 31, 2023 | All Recipes, Dinners, Less than 500 calories, Sides
This easy swede mash can be used a side or a main course. Make it vegan by using a vegan cream. Swede mash is a common side dish, but this has fresh ginger, generous nutmeg and chilli to add extra flavour and a touch of creaminess. It tastes really good and may even...
by Thrifty Lesley | May 26, 2023 | All Recipes, Cakes and Bakes, Less than 500 calories, Sides
Did you like the look of the avocado, tomato and orange salad yesterday? It’s one of my absolute favourites, and when we have it, it is often with this delicious no-knead focaccia. The focaccia is at its very best, straight from the oven, as many things are. It will...
by Thrifty Lesley | May 20, 2023 | All Recipes, Dinners, Lunches, Other
Wild garlic pesto This recipe is for pesto made from wild garlic, or ransoms, which is in season in the early Spring in the UK. The pesto is pungent, delicious and made from wild garlic foraged from the woods, or Allium triquetrum which is what I have growing in my...
by Thrifty Lesley | May 18, 2023 | All Recipes, Lunches
This is a very simple soup, made with just 4 ingredients, and saucepan to table in just 30 minutes. It contains a head of broccoli including all the stalk, red lentils, an onion and some seasoning. Change the broccoli to another vegetable and get a completely...
by Thrifty Lesley | Apr 14, 2023 | All Recipes, Dinners, Less than 500 calories
This is a delicious mixed vegetable roulade making use of what might be a wasted part of a cauliflower, together with pumpkin or butternut squash. Made into a tasty sponge, then rolled and filled with a creamy egg and mayonnaise filling, with shredded lettuce for...
by Thrifty Lesley | Apr 13, 2023 | My Diary
I’ve been reading some cracking books lately. It’s my turn to host the u3a book group and my choice was: The Reading List The back cover says When Mukesh Patel pops to the local library, forgoing his routine of grocery shopping and David Attenborough...
