by Thrifty Lesley | May 18, 2018 | All Recipes, Cakes and Bakes, Less than 500 calories
What are brownies like? Brownies are meant to be crisp on the outside and soft and fudgy on the inside. Should brownies be gooey in the middle? That’s how I like them, so that’s how I make them! Get the batter right, and this is achieved through the length...
by Thrifty Lesley | May 7, 2018 | All Recipes, Dinners, Lunches
Two very yummy meals today. First up was breakfast after Fitstep class, so I was pretty hungry. Crisped up some focaccia from the freezer in a frying pan, with a couple of chorizo slices and had that with scrambled egg and tomato. Yum Then at lunchtime I tried one of...
by Thrifty Lesley | Feb 6, 2018 | All Recipes, Dinners, Lunches
I bought 2 packs of yellow sticker pork mince recently. There was a post on the Facebook group talking about some meatballs from Waitrose which had added vegetables and pearl barley. I thought these sounded lovely, so decided to use some of the mince to experiment....
by Thrifty Lesley | Jan 20, 2018 | All Recipes, Dinners, How To Cook, Lunches
On the wonderful Facebook group associated with this blog, we have been talking on a long thread about helping anyone who wants to learn to cook, and needs some help with the basics. This is one of what will be many in a series. If there are any things that you would...
by Thrifty Lesley | Jan 13, 2018 | All Recipes, Dinners, Lunches
I tried this Lentil & Nut Loaf tonight. What a little gem! Cheap, super nourishing and needing no super cookery whizzery skills to make. I found it on Pat Parkers Facebook group, posted by Emily Brown. Thanks for a great recipe. Lentil & Nut Loaf Priced at...
by Thrifty Lesley | Jan 9, 2018 | All Recipes, Lunches
Today’s recipe is a lettuce soup that can use any leftover bagged salad leaves, wilting lettuce, that half a bag of fresh spinach, gluts from the garden in the summer, etc. The recipe is written by Janice Lambert, one of our lovely Facebook group members. I’ve added...
by Thrifty Lesley | Dec 6, 2017 | All Recipes, Christmas, Other
This recipe was first written in December last year after a meeting of the great U3A cookery group – we have such fun! Cookery Group We had the last U3A cookery group meeting of 2017 yesterday afternoon. Half a dozen people came and the noise level was pretty extreme!...
by Thrifty Lesley | Oct 27, 2017 | All Recipes, Bready Things, Cakes and Bakes
Twenty years ago, I was, and still am, a great admirer of the chef Lesley Waters. She used to make a lot of vegetarian recipes, using ordinary ingredients to make lovely tasty things. I bought two of her books way back when, including Broader Than Beans, from which...
by Thrifty Lesley | Oct 20, 2017 | All Recipes, Dinners
This recipe is one I have been making for decades. I first came across it at the house of a close friend when we went for dinner, and he kindly gave me the recipe Sweet Bean Curry Ingredients 175g dried beans, £1.06/500g, 37p Tblsp vegetable oil, £1/litre, 1p an...
by Thrifty Lesley | Oct 3, 2017 | All Recipes, Dinners, Less than 500 calories, Sides
The U3A cookery group came round today. We did 3 recipes this time, including this one, stuffed potato cake. 2 potato cakes is the recommended portion size. It isn’t many calories, but 2 really is enough The recipe uses a potato dough and it has spiced...
by Thrifty Lesley | Sep 5, 2017 | All Recipes, Less than 500 calories, Sides
Cipolline is pronounced chip-oh-LEE-nay and is a flat type of onion used in Italy for this dish. How to make Cipolline in Agrodolce (Onions in Sweet and Sour Sauce) Peel some onions, without removing the roots, or the onions will fall apart while cooking. Place in a...
by Thrifty Lesley | Sep 3, 2017 | All Recipes, Dinners
We had a roast chicken on Friday, so I had lots of lovely leftovers to do something with. This is the first thing I did, a lovely buttery leek base, along with the chicken, in a white sauce, and topped with an oaty savoury crumble with a hint of stuffing. The topping...
by Thrifty Lesley | Aug 27, 2017 | All Recipes, Budgeting, Lunches, Saving Money
Diet The diet started again yesterday and the 3 pounds I’d gained have gone again as of this morning. Went to help our eldest do some unpacking yesterday as they moved whilst we were away – good planning on our part I thought! Left theirs needing a shower...
by Thrifty Lesley | Jul 11, 2017 | All Recipes, Lunches, Other, Round Up Post
Whilst gardening on Saturday, I was musing about baked bean paté / hummus and what different flavours could be achieved. I came up with over 30 without trying very hard at all! And as I was writing this post, I kept thinking of more! So this has turned into an...