by Thrifty Lesley | May 20, 2015 | All Recipes, Dinners, Lunches
I was cruising round the Abel & Cole recipe pages last night and came across a recipe using dark greens in a pasta sauce. I had a head of spring greens I wanted to use, so that was my lunch sorted for today. Abel& Cole are a great source for inspiration. A...
by Thrifty Lesley | May 7, 2015 | My Diary
Another lovely parcel today. My Mother of the Bride dress arrived from China and looks beautiful. I got it from eBay. I shan’t look quite as slim as the lovely model here in it. They are very reasonable prices, and made to measure too. I have got them to make it calf...
by Thrifty Lesley | Mar 10, 2015 | All Recipes, Other
Went to the third Cooking Around The World class last night. We made Beef Rendang, a spicy Indonesian beef and coconut curry, and Gado Gado, a layered vegetable salad with Katjan sauce, which is a spicy peanut sauce. We’re having the Rendang with some rice this...
by Thrifty Lesley | Feb 22, 2015 | All Recipes, Dinners, Less than 500 calories
This is a variation of Tomato Dahl, just replacing the tomatoes with spinach. I’ve used individual spices here, but you could use the equivalent amount of any curry powder or any curry paste. Make sure you sizzle the spices/paste in the oil. The tomatoes/spinach can...
by Thrifty Lesley | Jan 30, 2015 | Cakes and Bakes, Meal Plan 8
These are from meal plan 8. Use them whenever you need the calories. 200g self raising flour, value 1.5kg/45p, 6p 200g sugar, Asda 1kg/59p, 12p 100g vegetable oil, 1 litre/£1.25, 12p 80g creamed coconut, chopped up fine 200g/76p, 30p for 24 biscuits from the batch, 3p...
by Thrifty Lesley | Oct 27, 2014 | Bready Things, Dinners, Lunches
A little experiment today with the fridge dwelling Magic Dough. I thought I could almost certainly make crumpets with it. So I put a little in a bowl and beat in some water, so it looked like a Yorkshire pudding batter, greased some rings and poured a little batter...
by Thrifty Lesley | Oct 25, 2014 | Less than 500 calories, Lunches
A variation on Percy Pumpkin soup today. We don’t really ‘do’ Halloween, so after the fun of yesterday, Percy was roasted off in the oven this morning, peeled and turned into soup. Forgot to weigh him, but he was a small one. I used 200g red lentils, twice as much...
by Thrifty Lesley | Apr 2, 2014 | All Recipes, Cakes and Bakes
Was intending to make plain scones today, but ended up adding rosemary and cayenne, plus some oats. It worked very well. They had a lovely flavour from the rosemary, and a bit of a kick from the cayenne. The oats gave them quite a different texture, more short than...
by Thrifty Lesley | Oct 9, 2013 | All Recipes, Other
Piccallili – around 84p a jar I made some Piccallili this week. I made some last year and found that the men in particular amongst my aquaintance liked it, and it was received with pleasure as a hostess gift too. So as it is coming up to that time of year when...
by Thrifty Lesley | Sep 29, 2013 | Lunches, Meal Plan 3
This tasty veggie soup makes use of an ingredient that perhaps you haven’t before, the stems and stalks of a cauliflower head. I actually prefer the taste of the stems to the florets! Makes 4 servings 150g onion, peeled and chopped 200g carrot, diced, no need to peel...
by Thrifty Lesley | Sep 25, 2013 | All Recipes, Dinners, Less than 500 calories, Lunches, Sides
Tried this today. Have been reading Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Veg Every Day, there are lots and lots of lovely recipes in it, including several hummus ones. I am quite a fan of H F-W, I like his ideas and his recipes are often usable, using everyday ingredients...
by Thrifty Lesley | Aug 28, 2013 | All Recipes, Dinners, Less than 500 calories
I tried these several years ago as my brother is coeliac and these, if you use the gram flour option, are gluten free. They are easy to make, freeze well and taste delicious. This recipe serves 4 adults. Great for kids as it’s easy to portion, they can just have...
by Thrifty Lesley | Aug 12, 2013 | All Recipes, Dinners, Lunches
What do you do with your cauliflower leaves? I think they have a lot of flavour, like broccoli stalks, and tend to choose those first when we have something and veg. I usually cook them like the florets, DP has those, because he prefers them, and I have the leaves,...
by Thrifty Lesley | Jun 26, 2013 | All Recipes, Dinners
On my travels round the market town where I live, I popped in the greengrocer and amongst other things, bought a huge Savoy cabbage from the cheapy box for 50p. Looking up cabbage recipes, I came across Savoy Cabbage with Lentils at Abel & Cole – lots more...