by Thrifty Lesley | Aug 24, 2025 | All Recipes, Dinners, Meal Plan 7
This recipe uses a one third portion of an easy beef ragu made for use in Meal Plan 7. The picture shows my portion, which is a quarter of the finished dish, not a half, so this dish could feed 4, and not the 2 originally thought. What do I need to make beef ragu...
by Thrifty Lesley | Aug 24, 2025 | All Meal Plans, Dinners, Meal Plan 7
In meal plan 7 we have a cottage pie, a lasagna and spaghetti bolognese. All three recipes use the same easy ragu as a base. What do I need to make Beef Ragu – used 3 ways 500g beef mince. The 20% fat beef mince is usually cheapest, but 20% of it is fat –...
by Thrifty Lesley | Nov 3, 2024 | All Recipes, Dinners
This is recipe I made when looking to use the vegetables in the vegetable box one week. I had a couple of aubergines and a huge lovely firm winter squash and used one aubergine and a wedge of pumpkin. This recipe, for 2-3, uses an aubergine / eggplant and a wedge of...
by Thrifty Lesley | Oct 30, 2024 | All Recipes, Dinners, Less than 500 calories
I recently made a really good lentil ragu which I thought would work well as a lasagna. It did and it was very good indeed. This led me to think of other vegetable based mixes that I could substitute for the lentil ragu layer. I’ve come up with a long list of...
by Thrifty Lesley | Oct 4, 2024 | All Recipes, Dinners
I recently made a really good lentil ragu which I thought would work well as a lasagna. It did and it was very good indeed. This led me to think of other vegetable based mixes that I could substitute for the lentil ragu layer. The first one is a mushroom ragu,...
by Thrifty Lesley | Sep 12, 2024 | All Recipes, Dinners, Less than 500 calories
If you are like me and grow tomatoes in your garden, you are likely to have large amount of them at this time of year. I was looking for ways to use a lot in one go and came up with tomato risotto which used 400g for me and my husband. Oh my goodness, was it good! The...
by Thrifty Lesley | Jul 19, 2024 | Dinners, Lunches, Meal Plan 14, Sides
Peperonata is one of those things that we have pretty often. It is a pepper and onion stew that goes with many things, can be used as a main dish or as a side. We first started having it with cheesey gougere, which is choux pastry – I must blog that recipe one...
by Thrifty Lesley | Jun 6, 2023 | All Recipes, Dinners, Less than 500 calories, Sides
This is a very simple dish, cooked on the hob, in a single pan. Just aubergine (eggplant), tomatoes and olive oil, simmered slowly to an unctuous silkiness. Absolutely gorgeous just on its own, hot or room temperature. Stir through pasta, top a jacket potato or use as...
by Thrifty Lesley | May 26, 2023 | All Recipes, Bready Things, Cakes and Bakes, Less than 500 calories, Sides
Did you like the look of the avocado, tomato and orange salad yesterday? It’s one of my absolute favourites, and when we have it, it is often with this delicious no-knead focaccia. The focaccia is at its very best, straight from the oven, as many things are. It will...
by Thrifty Lesley | May 20, 2023 | All Recipes, Dinners, Lunches, Other
Wild garlic pesto This recipe is for pesto made from wild garlic, or ransoms, which is in season in the early Spring in the UK. The pesto is pungent, delicious and made from wild garlic foraged from the woods, or Allium triquetrum which is what I have growing in my...
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, 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 | Nov 29, 2021 | All Recipes, Dinners, Less than 500 calories, Meal Plan 2
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 pasta does to cook through. How To Make This...
