Mary cooks up four delicious recipes that prove watching the pennies does not mean having to sacrifice flavour. She presents a sumptuous crab courgetti spaghetti dish which uses tinned fish at a fraction of the cost of fresh, a sausage spinach filo swirl with an inventive way to stretch six sausages to feed the family, a thyme bavette steak that uses a cost-effective cut of beef, and a lemon and lime meringue tranche pie pudding which utilises the humblest of ingredients.

Mary also shares some clever tips on how to keep ingredients fresher for longer to stretch the budget just that little bit further.

One person who knows all about cooking on a shoestring is School Chef of the Year Holly Charnock. With a budget of just £1.30 a head, Holly recreates her award-winning recipe in the school canteen, much to the delight of the primary school children. A genius at making the budget stretch, Holly is proud to help the children grow and develop, and thrives in making something that brings the kids joy.

There is no ingredient more useful and economical than an egg, and Mary visits Cackleberry Farm to meet Paddy and Steph Bourns. Along with their daughter Sybil, they are passionate about producing good eggs because of the way they treat their chickens. Show less