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 | Jun 2, 2022 | All Recipes, Cakes and Bakes, Less than 500 calories
I made a sponge cake this morning using pureed orange and lemon carcasses that I keep in the freezer. Love your leftovers! When I’ve zested and juiced a lemon, or eaten an orange, I stash the peel in the freezer. When I want some, I simmer it in water until...
by Thrifty Lesley | Nov 27, 2021 | All Recipes, Cakes and Bakes, Less than 500 calories, Meal Plan 12, Meal Plan 14, Meal Plan 2, Meal Plan 9
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 for masses of...
by Thrifty Lesley | Sep 24, 2021 | All Recipes, Bready Things, Breakfast, Cakes and Bakes, Less than 500 calories, Meal Plan 2, Meal Plan 4
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, as an anytime snack or...
by Thrifty Lesley | Jun 21, 2021 | All Recipes, Cakes and Bakes, Less than 500 calories, Meal Plan 1
A lovely, slicing, easy to make fruit loaf. Use any dried fruit you have. Cuts into 12 slices at 8p a slice First published in June 2013, updated June 2021 How To Make an Easy Fruit Loaf Line a 2lb loaf tin and heat the oven Stir all the dry ingredients together. In a...
by Thrifty Lesley | Mar 11, 2020 | All Recipes, Love Your Leftovers
Oranges If you are having an orange, do you do anything with the peel, the pith or the pips? Zest If I am just having an orange to eat, I’ll often zest it into a small container that I keep in the freezer for the purpose. That zest can then be used for all kinds...
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 | Jul 13, 2016 | Breakfast, Meal Plan 14, Round Up Post
I am a new convert to overnight oats, and I’m loving them. These are wonderful if you are time stretched. You can make up dishes ready to be topped, or a big bowl that can be used over several days, or directly in little pots ready to be topped and carried off...
by Thrifty Lesley | Dec 19, 2015 | Cakes and Bakes, Christmas, Love Your Leftovers
A few days ago, I made some mince pies for the U3A Christmas meeting. I had bought a new large jar of mincemeat, but then remembered I still had 2.5 jars of the same size left from last year. So I dug out one of those and used that. I made some oil pastry, then used...
by Thrifty Lesley | Oct 31, 2015 | All Meal Plans, Dinners, Meal Plan 10
Had this for lunch today. It’s a dinner from Meal Plan 10. I used a potato rather than frozen chips, as on the plan, as that is what I had. I chopped it up into chips, skin and all and dusted it with a pinch of garlic powder and tandoori spice, my favourite. You...
by Thrifty Lesley | Aug 2, 2015 | All Meal Plans, All Recipes, Dinners, Meal Plan 9
I have been a lady who lunches this week. I know I am anyway, but it was even more this week. On Wednesday, it was a good friends 70th and we went to hers for a bit of a party. Lots of talk, laughs and giggles. Lovely. On Thursday, I was taken out for an Italian by...
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 | Jan 15, 2015 | Cakes and Bakes, Less than 500 calories, Puddings / Desserts
A few friends are coming to dinner tomorrow, so this evening, I am making a pudding. Delia Smith’s Chocolate Squidgy Log, something I’ve made lots and lots of times. This is another recipe from Delia Smith’s Complete Cookery Course This is a quality pudding, that...
by Thrifty Lesley | Jan 4, 2015 | Other
I made this today. Had a pack of cranberries in the fridge and I love a good curd, so decided to make a cranberry curd with them. I looked at various recipes on the net. Many used cranberry juice, many used lots of ingredients. So in the end I opted for a Delia Smith...
