by Thrifty Lesley | Mar 24, 2023 | All Recipes, Dinners, Lunches
A mixed vegetable quiche is a classic British dish that comes out very cheap with a bit of frugalisation. If you think quiche or flan sounds like something your granny makes, you could always call it a tart and feel all contemporary. If you decide to use the oil...
by Thrifty Lesley | Jan 4, 2023 | All Recipes, Less than 500 calories, Lunches, Sides
Shredded Brussel Sprout Salad I had a little bit of beef left from a joint and wasn’t sure what to make with it. Decided on topping a couple of jacket potatoes with it, with caramelised onion and mushroom, seasoned with soy sauce. Which just left what to have...
by Thrifty Lesley | Nov 20, 2022 | All Recipes, 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 | Aug 6, 2022 | All Recipes, Lunches, Round Up Post
School packed lunches – the dreaded chore! Can you feed a hulking teenager for 30p a head? 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...
by Thrifty Lesley | Jul 21, 2022 | All Recipes, Dinners, Less than 500 calories, Lunches, Stretch A Chicken
Spicy red lentil soup- Stretch A Chicken (7) 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...
by Thrifty Lesley | Jul 20, 2022 | All Recipes, Dinners, Stretch A Chicken
Spicy Chicken Pasta Bake – Stretch A Chicken (4) 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! How to make Spicy Chicken Pasta Chop the onion and sauté in a little oil until soft. Add garlic,...
by Thrifty Lesley | Jul 17, 2022 | All Recipes, Dinners, Less than 500 calories, Stretch A Chicken
Chicken & Sweetcorn Recipe for a tart – Stretch A Chicken (5) 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...
by Thrifty Lesley | Nov 29, 2021 | All Recipes, Dinners, Less than 500 calories, Meal Plan 2
Pasta with Olives, Tomato & Soft Cheese Post first written in September 2013. Refreshed and updated November 2021. This recipe makes a generous portion of pasta, dressed with olives, tomato puree and soft cheese. Very quick to make, just taking as long as the...
by Thrifty Lesley | Nov 27, 2021 | All Recipes, Cakes and Bakes, Less than 500 calories, Meal Plan 2
Raisin Biscuits Post originally published October 2013, refreshed and updated November 2021 These little biscuits are fun to make, especially if you make tiny hearts or teeny squares. Spice them up with cinnamon or mixed spice at Christmas time. Or see the variations...
by Thrifty Lesley | Nov 21, 2021 | All Recipes, Dinners, Less than 500 calories, Lunches, Meal Plan 2
Salted Cashew Vegan Couscous Salad – warm or cold First written in August 2013, refreshed and updated in November 2021. I wanted to try a couscous salad that I have been doing for a while and see if I could get it sub 50p. Well, it worked out at 71p for the dish...
by Thrifty Lesley | Oct 26, 2021 | All Recipes, Meal Plan 2, Other
Carrot Jam I was looking at the leftovers in meal plan 2 and thought, with a little adjusting, I could probably get another day out of it. And right enough, I did! Very satisfying! One of the things I experimented with was wondering if I could use the last of the...
by Thrifty Lesley | Sep 24, 2021 | All Recipes, Breakfast, Cakes and Bakes, Less than 500 calories, Meal Plan 2, Meal Plan 4
Carrot & Sultana Loaf This post was first written in October 2013. Re-written and refreshedin September 2021. If you take 250g flour, some yeast and water, you can add many, many different things to it and get a lovely loaf, with 4 portions, to use for any meal,...
by Thrifty Lesley | Sep 16, 2021 | All Recipes, Dinners, Meal Plan 1
Falafel with carrot salad This post was first written in June 2013 and updated in June 2021. These falafel are pan fried and served with a super simple salad of carrot and peanuts. Add differing spices to ring the changes How to make pan fried falafel Soak the dried...
by Thrifty Lesley | Sep 16, 2021 | All Recipes, Less than 500 calories, Lunches, Meal Plan 1, Meal Plan 2
Lentil Soup, my go to lunch time soup This post was first written in June 2013 and updated in June 2021. I love this soup, it is my go to for a soup for lunch. I usually add a tsp of ginger paste from a jar, a tsp of garlic paste, and a tsp of turmeric to give it a...
