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, Poaching A Whole Chicken
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, Bready Things, 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 | May 2, 2023 | All Meal Plans, Meal Plan 13, Meal Plans For 4
Meal Plan Thirteen from the Tonight programme on ITV This meal plan came about after ITV approached me and asked if I would like to be involved in making a programme helping a family to save money on their grocery bill. Consequently, the budget is quite a bit higher...
by Thrifty Lesley | May 1, 2023 | Meal Plan 5, Meal Plans For 1
Week Five Meal Planner – Brie, Chicken and Eggs Something a bit different this time. This plan is an extended version (2 more days added) of a Live Below the Line 2014 plan I did for ActionAid. It looked quite nice, so I thought I would add it to our meal plan list....
by Thrifty Lesley | Apr 30, 2023 | All Meal Plans, Meal Plan 8, Meal Plans For 2
The Eighth Meal Plan. As I say every time, it shows 3 meals a day, plus some cakey extras to fill any gaps, for 7 days, for 2 adults. Change the meals around to suit yourself, combine the shopping list of ingredients in any other way that suits you, add extra...
by Thrifty Lesley | Apr 29, 2023 | All Meal Plans, Meal Plan 9, Meal Plans For 2
The Ninth Meal Plan. Last priced at Aldi.com, on 28th April 2024. You will need £22.17 at the checkout, but the food eaten comes to £19.19, which is £1.37 per person, per day As I say every time, it shows 3 meals a day, plus some cakey extras to fill any gaps, for 7...
