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Meal Plan 3 – chorizo, chick peas and dried mash

Meal Plan 3 – chorizo, chick peas and dried mash

by Thrifty Lesley | Aug 25, 2025 | All Meal Plans, Meal Plan 3, Meal Plans For 2

Meal Plan 3 And here we have our Third Meal Plan. Based around chorizo/salami, chick peas and, of all things, dried mashed potato. Bear with me here, this idea is from Miss South on NorthSouthFood.com. Miss South is quite a potato connoisseur, so if she likes them,...
Egg Mayonnaise Sandwich

Egg Mayonnaise Sandwich

by Thrifty Lesley | Jun 28, 2025 | All Recipes, How To Cook, Less than 500 calories, Lunches

A boiled egg, chopped, with a generous spoon of mayonnaise, classic deli filling, found in all the supermarkets. Absolutely delicious, and very quick to make yourself at home, with just 2 ingredients! What do I need to make an egg mayonnaise sandwich? some delicious...
Quick Banana Bread

Quick Banana Bread

by Thrifty Lesley | May 11, 2025 | All Recipes, Cakes and Bakes, Less than 500 calories

This banana bread comes together very quickly and isn’t complicated to make. It’s super delicious still warm from the oven so the chocolate pieces are still melted, ooh, yum!. Add pecans to it too if you like! It will keep for 7-10 days, so is great for...
Christmas Coronation Sandwich

Christmas Coronation Sandwich

by Thrifty Lesley | Dec 8, 2024 | Lunches, Vegetarian Christmas Meal Plan

This sandwich is for tea on Christmas Day on a Vegetarian Meal Plan for the entire Christmas week  It is lentils spiced with curry powder, moistened with mayonnaise and with a hint of sweetness from a jar of mincemeat, together with the fresh crunch of raw vegetables...
Christmas Week Food. Lots of festive flavours & not many £££’s

Christmas Week Food. Lots of festive flavours & not many £££’s

by Thrifty Lesley | Nov 15, 2024 | All Meal Plans, All Recipes, Cakes and Bakes, Celebration Meal Plans, Christmas, Christmas Meal Plan 4

Christmas Week Food 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 festive meal, without spending a fortune. If you...
Egg, Lentil, Raisin, Puy & Curry Sandwich

Egg, Lentil, Raisin, Puy & Curry Sandwich

by Thrifty Lesley | Nov 4, 2024 | All Recipes, Less than 500 calories, Lunches

Lunch today was a sandwich I discovered on one of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s programmes and in one of his books, Veg Every Day What do I need to make this lentil sandwich for each curry sandwich, you will need an egg green, brown or puy lentils curry powder,...
Meal Plan 14 – 7 days for two adults and two x 15 year olds –  chicken, cheese and bacon

Meal Plan 14 – 7 days for two adults and two x 15 year olds – chicken, cheese and bacon

by Thrifty Lesley | Oct 12, 2024 | All Meal Plans, Meal Plan 14, Meal Plans For 4

The Fourteenth Meal Plan – wow, that’s three and a half months worth! Plus all the celebration and 5 day ones! This one, as per usual shows 3 meals a day, plus some cakey extras to fill any gaps, for 7 days, for 2 adults, and this time, two 15 year old...
Chocolate Muffins. Quick, easy, great for packups and very cheap

Chocolate Muffins. Quick, easy, great for packups and very cheap

by Thrifty Lesley | Apr 26, 2024 | All Recipes, Cakes and Bakes

Chocolate Muffins Recipe Mike was ‘needing some chocolate’ yesterday, so I decided to make some chocolate muffins. Haven’t made any kind of muffins for yonks.  They are super easy in that it is just a bit of stirring, and not too much of that either...
Meal Plan 10 – based on sausages, sardines and soft cheese

Meal Plan 10 – based on sausages, sardines and soft cheese

by Thrifty Lesley | Apr 28, 2023 | All Meal Plans, Meal Plan 10, Meal Plans For 2

Updated and repriced in June 2024 The Tenth Meal Plan – we’re in double figures! The usual caveats apply, 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...
School packed lunches – the dreaded chore! Can you feed a hulking teenager for 30p a head?

School packed lunches – the dreaded chore! Can you feed a hulking teenager for 30p a head?

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...
Spicy Chicken Pasta Bake – Stretch A Chicken (4)

Spicy Chicken Pasta Bake – Stretch A Chicken (4)

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...
Chicken & Sweetcorn Recipe for a tart – Stretch A Chicken (5)

Chicken & Sweetcorn Recipe for a tart – Stretch A Chicken (5)

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...
Parsnip Cake with Maple Syrup & Lemon

Parsnip Cake with Maple Syrup & Lemon

by Thrifty Lesley | Jan 27, 2022 | All Recipes, Cakes and Bakes, Less than 500 calories

I really like the carrot cake from Cheap Family Recipes. Like most carrot cakes, it doesn’t actually taste of carrots and I fell to wondering what other vegetables could be used in a similar way. At Christmas, I got lots of the very cheap vegetables on promotion...
A roulade recipe using mincemeat, Bramley apple and whipped cream – gluten free

A roulade recipe using mincemeat, Bramley apple and whipped cream – gluten free

by Thrifty Lesley | Dec 22, 2021 | All Recipes, Christmas, Less than 500 calories, Puddings / Desserts

I had surplus mincemeat from Christmas and decided to use some in a pudding. I have made chocolate roulades for some time and felt sure that swapping the cocoa for flour and using mincemeat and perhaps some apple too as the filling, as well as cream, would work very...
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Visit our sister site Cheap Family Recipes for other creative ways to feed a family on a tight budget.

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