by Thrifty Lesley | Dec 8, 2022 | Christmas, Saving Money
E-Cards from Jacquie Lawson As an update to sending Christmas cards. I completely forgot to mention that I use Jacquie Lawson e-cards through the year for all kinds of greetings cards. They are all created by a team of very creative people with beautiful, and unique,...
by Thrifty Lesley | Nov 21, 2022 | Christmas, Saving Money
At this time of year, thoughts begin to turn to gifts for friends and family. Many people like to make a hamper, personally, I love to receive a hamper containing anything food related. Want to do a homemade Christmas hamper? What a smashing gift to receive Many...
by Thrifty Lesley | Nov 18, 2022 | Christmas, Saving Money
Christmas Season People are starting to talk about the Christmas season for 2023 now, maybe you are too. If you are struggling to make ends meet, November and December can be a very stressful time. Thoughts may turn to how the hell you are going to be able to afford...
by Thrifty Lesley | Aug 25, 2022 | All Recipes, Bready Things, Love Your Leftovers, Round Up Post
Bread is the most wasted food item. WRAP says that 240 million slices are thrown away every year. I find that such a huge number, that I had to break it down to something that I could visualise. So I divided it by 22 slices into loaves. Nope still too big. 365 days,...
by Thrifty Lesley | Aug 20, 2022 | All Recipes, Puddings / Desserts
You don’t need to make an egg custard and you don’t need an ice cream maker to make no churn chocolate ice cream. There isn’t a trace of an ice crystal crunch either. If you leave it to get fully frozen, take it out at least half an hour before you want to eat it and...
by Thrifty Lesley | Aug 6, 2022 | All Recipes, Lunches, Round Up Post
Ideas for school packed lunches – many people with school aged children need them. Packing up a lunch box for children or an adult packed lunch is bad enough. It can be boring, tiresome and a real chore to do. You might be lucky and not mind it too much, but...
by Thrifty Lesley | Jul 21, 2022 | All Recipes, Dinners, Less than 500 calories, Lunches, Meal Plan 12, Stretch A Chicken
This spicy carrot and lentil soup uses chicken stock made when processing a roast chicken carcass. The stock brings a great deal of flavour to the soup. If you don’t have any home made stock, use a good quality stock cube, or a vegetable one if you’d like...
by Thrifty Lesley | Jul 20, 2022 | All Recipes, Dinners, Stretch A Chicken
Got a little bit of chicken to use up? Try it in this spicy pasta bake- make it as hot and spicy as you like! What do I need to make Spicy Chicken Pasta To make 4 servings Pasta Bake ▢ 120 g cooked chicken around 150g if using raw chicken ▢ 150 g onion ▢ 2 tsp oil ▢ 1...
by Thrifty Lesley | Jul 17, 2022 | All Recipes, Dinners, Stretch A Chicken
Pizza is one off the worlds favourite foods for at least 1000 years, loved, and made, by millions. Pizza toppings can make a meal from little things leftover in the fridge, or as here, from chicken left after a roast. Homemade Pizza Dough Mix the pizza base...
by Thrifty Lesley | Jul 17, 2022 | All Recipes, Dinners, Less than 500 calories, Stretch A Chicken
This recipe is part of a series on stretching a chicken to the max. I took one medium chicken of 1.5kg and made it feed a family of 4 for a week, with 7 different budget stretching chicken recipes. I roasted the chicken, had a roast lunch with my husband, then...
by Thrifty Lesley | Jul 17, 2022 | All Recipes, Dinners, Less than 500 calories, Meal Plan 11, Stretch A Chicken
Risotti are incredibly useful to use up all kinds of bits and pieces. Or, as here, using leftover roast chicken and a couple of vegetables to make something truly delectable. How to make Italian chicken risotto This leftover chicken risotto uses meat leftover from a...
by Thrifty Lesley | Jun 2, 2022 | All Recipes, Cakes and Bakes, Less than 500 calories
I made a sponge cake this morning using pureed orange and lemon carcasses that I keep in the freezer. Love your leftovers! When I’ve zested and juiced a lemon, or eaten an orange, I stash the peel in the freezer. When I want some, I simmer it in water until...
by Thrifty Lesley | Apr 11, 2022 | All Recipes, Less than 500 calories
Cabbage is a very nutritious vegetable and has been eaten by people for 1000’s of years, currently consumed worldwide. One day last month, I had far too much white cabbage to be able to use it up before it went manky. So I decided to try freezing it. I hadn’t...
by Thrifty Lesley | Apr 6, 2022 | All Recipes, Less than 500 calories, Other
How To Make Hot Ginger Tea I use a small glass tea pot of 450ml to make fresh ginger tea. By far the easiest way to store it is freezing fresh ginger whole. I pop it in just as it is – not wrapped, not peeled, and grate it on a fine grater straight out of the...