Sunday

Meal Plan 7: Quick, from the Freezer

Day 7 · Sunday · Batch day 2

Today at a glance. The second batch-cooking day. Today you cook two pots of four portions each: a fish and sweetcorn chowder and a beef and mushroom ragu. You eat one portion of each fresh, and freeze the other three. Together with yesterday's pots, that gives you 16 portions in the freezer. Plan on about 1 hour 45 minutes in the kitchen, mostly simmering. Every quantity in the two batch recipes is for four portions, in metric with UK names.
Before you start
You need 6 freezer bags or shallow containers today, a permanent marker, and room in the freezer. If the fish is frozen, it should have been defrosting in the fridge since last night. Read the "Freezing guide" in Saturday's chapter if you have not already.

Breakfast

Breakfast

Berry Yoghurt Pot

3 minutesNo cooking3 ingredientsVegetarian

Ingredients (1 portion)

  • 150 g plain Greek-style yoghurt
  • 30 g porridge oats
  • 80 g frozen mixed berries

Method

  1. Spoon the yoghurt into a bowl or jar and stir in the oats.
  2. Tip the frozen berries on top. They thaw as you get ready, and their juice colours the yoghurt.
  3. Eat straight away. Remember to make Monday's overnight oats (chapter 1) before bed tonight.

Why it is a healthy start

Greek yoghurt gives protein and the oats give fibre, so the pot keeps you full through a busy cooking morning. The berries add sweetness and vitamin C with no sugar.

Swaps

A grated apple or chopped banana in place of the berries. A few raisins. A pinch of cinnamon on top.

Shopping list for this recipe

Lunch: batch 4

Lunch · Fish · Batch of 4

Fish and Sweetcorn Chowder

15 minutes prep25 minutes cookingMakes 4 portions1 large pan

Ingredients (makes 4 portions, about 350 g each)

  • 500 g skinless white fish fillets (cod, haddock or pollock), fresh or fully defrosted
  • 2 medium leeks (about 300 g once trimmed)
  • 1 onion
  • 1 tin cannellini beans (400 g), drained and rinsed
  • 300 g frozen sweetcorn
  • 1 reduced-salt vegetable stock cube
  • 500 ml boiling water
  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • Black pepper
  • 50 ml semi-skimmed milk, for today's bowl only
  • 2 slices wholemeal bread, for today's bowl only

Method

  1. Cut the root and the tough dark green top off each leek. Slice them in half lengthways and rinse them well under cold running water, because soil hides between the layers. Slice them thinly. Peel the onion and chop it small.
  2. Pat the fish dry with kitchen paper, check it for small bones, and cut it into chunks of about 3 cm. Wash your hands, the board and the knife.
  3. Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Add the leeks and onion with a splash of water, cover, and cook for 8 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft.
  4. Add the beans, sweetcorn, the crumbled stock cube, the boiling water and some pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
  5. Use a stick blender to blitz about a third of the soup, or mash some of the beans against the side of the pan, to thicken it and leave the rest chunky.
  6. Add the fish, push it down into the soup, and simmer gently for 4 to 5 minutes, until it is opaque all the way through and flakes easily with a fork. Do not stir hard, or it breaks up. It will cook a little more when you reheat it, so do not overcook it now.
  7. Taste, and add a little salt if you need it. This is the chowder without the milk, which is added when you serve or reheat it, so it does not split in the freezer.
  8. For today's lunch, ladle one portion (about 350 g) into a small pan, add the 50 ml of milk, heat it gently for 2 minutes until steaming hot, and eat it with the toast.
  9. Let the rest of the pot cool, then divide it into 3 portions and freeze it, following the freezing guide in Saturday's chapter. Label them "Fish chowder" with the date and "use within 2 months".
Fish safety
Fish spoils quickly, so cool and chill the chowder within an hour of cooking, and freeze it within 2 hours. Never leave it on the worktop to cool for hours. A fish dish should be frozen for no more than 2 months. Defrost it fully in the fridge, reheat it once until steaming hot all the way through, and never refreeze it.

Why it is a healthy lunch

White fish is lean and high in protein, and the beans and blended vegetables thicken the chowder without cream or butter. Using milk only at serving keeps the freezer batch light.

Swaps

Smoked haddock or coley in place of half the white fish, for more flavour. A handful of frozen peas stirred in at the end. A squeeze of lemon and some chopped parsley when serving.

Shopping list for this recipe (batch of 4)

Dinner: batch 5

Dinner · Beef · Batch of 4

Beef and Mushroom Ragu with Pasta

15 minutes prep40 minutes cookingMakes 4 portions1 large pan plus a pasta pan

Ingredients (makes 4 portions, about 350 g each)

  • 500 g lean beef mince (5% fat)
  • 250 g mushrooms (button or chestnut)
  • 2 onions
  • 2 carrots
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 2 tins chopped tomatoes (400 g each)
  • 1 reduced-salt vegetable stock cube
  • 100 ml boiling water
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • Salt and black pepper
  • 75 g dried pasta shapes or spaghetti, for today's bowl only

Method

  1. Peel and chop the onions and garlic. Peel the carrots and grate them on the coarse side of a grater. Wipe the mushrooms with kitchen paper and chop them small.
  2. Heat 1 tsp of the oil in a very large pan over a medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes, until they are soft and the liquid has gone. Tip them onto a plate.
  3. Add the remaining oil and the mince to the pan and cook for 6 minutes, breaking it up with a spoon, until it is brown all over with no pink left. Tip off any extra fat.
  4. Add the onions and carrots and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and oregano for 30 seconds. Return the mushrooms to the pan.
  5. Add the tomatoes, the crumbled stock cube, the boiling water, a pinch of salt and some pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes with the lid off, stirring now and then, until the sauce is thick and the mince is tender.
  6. Taste, and add a little more salt if you need it.
  7. For today's dinner, cook the 75 g of pasta in boiling water following the packet, drain it, and toss it with one portion (about 350 g) of the ragu.
  8. Let the rest of the pot cool, then divide it into 3 portions and freeze it, following the freezing guide in Saturday's chapter. Label them "Beef ragu" with the date.
Mince safety
Cook the mince until there is no pink left, and wash your hands and anything that touched the raw mince. Cool the pot quickly and freeze the portions within 2 hours of the end of cooking. Cook the pasta fresh on the day you eat each portion, and do not freeze it in the sauce.

Why it is a healthy dinner

The mushrooms and vegetables mean each portion has less beef than a plain mince sauce, with lots of fibre and very little added oil. Four portions come from one pot, and the pasta is cooked fresh each time.

Swaps

Green lentils or a tin of drained brown lentils, for a vegetarian ragu or to stretch the mince. A grated courgette with the carrots. A splash of balsamic vinegar or a spoonful of tomato purée for a richer sauce.

Shopping list for this recipe (batch of 4)

Plan of attack

  1. Start with the ragu (it takes the longest): brown the mushrooms and mince and get the sauce simmering. About 30 minutes of work.
  2. While it simmers, start the chowder: chop the leeks, soften them, and simmer the base. About 20 minutes of work, and the fish goes in just before you eat.
  3. Eat lunch (a bowl of chowder), then dinner (ragu with pasta). Cool and freeze the rest as each pot finishes.

Your freezer after this weekend

When you have finished, you should have 16 labelled portions:

  • Minestrone, no pasta: 3 portions
  • Chicken casserole: 3 portions
  • Beef keema (add peas): 4 portions
  • Fish chowder: 3 portions
  • Beef ragu: 3 portions

Next week's five dinners use one of each (the ragu, the casserole, the minestrone, the keema and the chowder), leaving 11 portions for later busy weeks.

That is the weekend
You have cooked and frozen a whole busy week of dinners. Chapter 8 is the combined shopping list for the whole plan, with the freezer plan and a one-page "start here" schedule.