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 31, 2023 | All Recipes, Dinners, Less than 500 calories, Sides
This easy swede mash can be used a side or a main course. Make it vegan by using a vegan cream. Swede mash is a common side dish, but this has fresh ginger, generous nutmeg and chilli to add extra flavour and a touch of creaminess. It tastes really good and may even...
by Thrifty Lesley | May 26, 2023 | All Recipes, 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 | May 18, 2023 | All Recipes, Lunches
This is a very simple soup, made with just 4 ingredients, and saucepan to table in just 30 minutes. It contains a head of broccoli including all the stalk, red lentils, an onion and some seasoning. Change the broccoli to another vegetable and get a completely...
by Thrifty Lesley | Apr 14, 2023 | All Recipes, Dinners, Less than 500 calories
This is a delicious mixed vegetable roulade making use of what might be a wasted part of a cauliflower, together with pumpkin or butternut squash. Made into a tasty sponge, then rolled and filled with a creamy egg and mayonnaise filling, with shredded lettuce for...
by Thrifty Lesley | Apr 13, 2023 | My Diary
I’ve been reading some cracking books lately. It’s my turn to host the u3a book group and my choice was: The Reading List The back cover says When Mukesh Patel pops to the local library, forgoing his routine of grocery shopping and David Attenborough...
by Thrifty Lesley | Mar 27, 2023 | All Recipes, Dinners, Lunches
I bought a 200g packet of smoked mackerel fillets and wondered how I could stretch them into lovely meals for 2. The first one I tried was this recipe for mackerel pâté that is super simple and very delicious. What do I need to make mackerel pâté smoked mackerel...
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 | Mar 13, 2023 | All Recipes, Other
Healthier Nutella Alternative Do you like Nutella? It’s gorgeous stuff, kids can be addicted to it, it seems to go with everything and can be eaten straight out of the jar with a spoon. And probably often is! But… and there’s always a but isn’t there, the nutritional...
by Thrifty Lesley | Mar 8, 2023 | My Diary
Had the cookery group round to my house on Tuesday, we meet on the 1st Tuesday of the month. We have a lot of fun gathered around my kitchen island cooking 3 or 4 recipes each month which participants bear off home in their wicker baskets, just like school cooking...
by Thrifty Lesley | Feb 27, 2023 | My Diary
I took my 15 year old grand daughter up to London recently to the stage show Matilda . I’d bought tickets as her Christmas treat. I’m trying to do more experiences rather than buying stuff. And who knows what a 15 year old wants anyway! I was just on the...
by Thrifty Lesley | Feb 22, 2023 | All Recipes, Breakfast, Less than 500 calories, Meal Plan 1, Meal Plan 10, Meal Plan 2, Meal Plan 7
Raisin Pancakes This is an idea I first came across on Cheap Family Recipes, I absolutely love them, especially with a strawberry compote with full flavoured summer strawberries The raisins contribute towards your need for a portion of purple each day. I think this is...
by Thrifty Lesley | Feb 22, 2023 | All Recipes, Sides
One of the u3a groups that I belong to has a group called Cookalong. In it, we decide on a theme, soups say, Easter bakes or, next month, hearty salads. We all make one, take it along to group, and all taste and talk about the various recipes. One month, we did...