Making in advance and eating later? Simply make up until the final instruction above but do not put it in the oven for the 10 minutes, instead allow to cool, then cover and place in fridge until needed. If you’re going to make one meal, simply double the ingredients to make another. It will only take about 3 extra minutes!

Over time, I found that cooking once a week with a view to freezing meals was the best way to save time, money and my peace of mind. This way, I could add salt or spice to some portions before serving, thus keeping everyone happy and healthy. Wednesday: Macaroni cheese with sweetcorn crunchy top, served with a satsuma, biscuit and glass of juice Always make a basic recipe, that way it’s easy to add spices and salt to taste after you have portioned out the kid’s meals. Each recipe also has all the information you need on how to freeze, store, defrost and reheat your fabulous dinners. Such an easy lunch, but who doesn’t love a bagel! This is a great on the go lunch for summer, simply serve it with fruit, a treat and a drink of juice to make a full child-friendly lunch.You also won't waste food or money. If you go shopping at the start of the week, those sell-by dates will quite often have come up mid-week. But if you cook everything into portions for your fridge and freezer, you'll get to Friday and realise you've still got two meals left. What is The Batch Lady Planner?

With so many of us juggling the pressures of work, family and food budgets, this book shows how preparing meals for the freezer in advance can save us time, money and food waste. The recipes cover a variety of appliances and cooking methods, from conventional oven to pressure cooker, air fryer, slow cooker and hob, and will help you see your freezer in a new light, where you can just ‘grab and cook’ from a selection of beautifully prepared, portion-controlled dinners. Next use a little oil and heat the onion in a pan until soft, add the ¾ jar of sauce to this pan and allow to heat for 3-4 minutes Serve your children curries, chilli and fajitas, but adapt them to their palates by adding crème fraiche to their portions prior to serving, so they get a milder version of your meal.

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Do you want to save time, money and hassle when it comes to cooking? Do you prefer to feed everyone in the family the same meal? Combat fussy eaters? Get lots of hidden veg into your children?

If eating later, simply add the cold sweetcorn to the top, allow to cool, place in fridge and when ready to eat. Heat in over at 180 for 20 minutes, stirring ½ way through. While the pasta is cooking you can now chop the onion, grate the cheese, toast your bread in a toaster and grate the toast so it becomes breadcrumbs Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat, then add the onions, bacon lardons, mushrooms and garlic. Fry the mixture, stirring, until all the elements are crisp and golden for around 10 minutes. Step 2The Batch Lady method will inspire you to make fast, simple and portion-controlled meals in under 10 minutes. By spending a couple of hours, one day per week, cooking meals that have the same basic ingredients, you can prepare a host of varied, healthy and delicious dishes, which you can pop into the freezer until you need them.

Once you have done your shopping from the list, it’s a good idea to look below and see what you will need each day. Often you will be using just some of an ingredient and keeping part of it for another day, such as the sweetcorn, ham, cheese and tomato sauce, which are divided and used over different days. This is a great way of keeping costs low, you just have to remember not to use it all on the first couple of days. Start to pair your recipes. I make 10 meals in one hour every Sunday – it gets easier every time! Choose two from my book, spaghetti Bolognese and chilli for example, see if it works for you. And then next time, double those recipes, you've got four meals. Then add in meatballs the time after. Every time you do it, it'll take you less time! Simply lay out your wraps and add 2 tablespoons of sauce to each wrap, don’t worry if it doesn’t look enough, it will spread out once cooked

Diaries & Calendars

Once your pasta is cooked, drain and add to the sauce, stir until the sauce coats the pasta then and pour all the coated pasta into an oven proof dish If you are making spaghetti bolognaise, you will need chopped onions, mince and grated carrots. You also need those ingredients to make, burgers, meatballs, chilli, fajitas and lasagne: one large pot of veg and mince will serve as a base for six different dishes. Making in advance: Simply follow all the steps above, then allow to cool and place in fridge these can be served cold or you can heat in microwave for 2-3 minutes, if wanting to serve warm again. You will have a few leftovers from your shopping list (you may have even more if you're only serving two children). These can either be frozen and can be used the next week, or if you have teenage children you may wish to use these to bulk out the lunches above. grams of dried pasta 1 onion finely chopped 2 ends of bread - toasted 100g of cheese - grated ¾ jar ( 500g jar) of pasta sauce