Weekly Shopping
Meal Plan 7: Quick, from the Freezer
Chapter 8 · Weekly shopping list
How to use this list. It merges the shopping lists of all 22 recipes from Monday to Sunday, so you can shop once. Amounts are totals for the week, and the last column says where each item is used. Check the cupboard section before you go, because oil, salt and spices are probably already at home. Monday to Friday are one portion each, reheated from the freezer, and need no shopping beyond the sides. Saturday and Sunday are the batch-cooking days, and their quantities are for four portions, so they carry most of this list. The weekly cycle below shows when to defrost and when to cook. Each recipe page still has its own list.
Download
A plain-text copy of this whole list is here: Weekly shopping list (text file)
Meat and fish
| Item | Buy | Used in |
|---|---|---|
| Lean beef mince (5% fat) | 2 packs of 500 g (1 kg) | Sat 500 g (keema), Sun 500 g (ragu) |
| Boneless, skinless chicken thighs | 600 g | Sat (casserole) |
| White fish fillets, skinless (cod, haddock or pollock) | 500 g, fresh or frozen | Sun (chowder) |
| Tuna in spring water (about 145 g tin) | 1 small tin | Thu (pitta) |
Fruit and vegetables
| Item | Buy | Used in |
|---|---|---|
| Onions | 9 | Sat 6 (minestrone 2, casserole 2, keema 2), Sun 3 (chowder 1, ragu 2) |
| Garlic | 2 small heads (11 cloves needed) | Sat 8, Sun 3 |
| Carrots | 11 | Mon 1, Sat 8, Sun 2 |
| Courgettes | 2 | Sat (minestrone) |
| Leeks | 2 medium | Sun (chowder) |
| Mushrooms (button or chestnut) | 1 punnet, 250 g | Sun (ragu) |
| Tomatoes | 2 small | Tue (wrap), Sat (omelette) |
| Cucumber | 1 small (5 cm needed) | Wed (sandwich) |
| Baby spinach | 1 bag, at least 100 g | Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu and Sat, 20 g each |
| Bananas | 2 | Mon (overnight oats), Wed (toast) |
| Eating apple | 1 | Thu (porridge) |
Dairy and eggs
| Item | Buy | Used in |
|---|---|---|
| Eggs | 1 box of 6 | 6 needed: Tue 2, Fri 2, Sat 2 |
| Plain Greek-style yoghurt | 1 pot, 500 g (about 245 g needed) | Mon 50 g, Wed 1 tbsp, Thu 30 g, Sun 150 g |
| Semi-skimmed milk | 1 litre (about 635 ml needed) | Mon 120 ml, Tue 200 ml, Thu 200 ml, Fri and Sun 65 ml |
| Mature Cheddar cheese | 1 small block, about 200 g (80 g needed) | Wed 30 g, Fri 30 g, Sat 20 g |
| Hummus | 1 small tub, 90 g needed | Mon 60 g, Tue 30 g |
Bread and bakery
| Item | Buy | Used in |
|---|---|---|
| Wholemeal bread | 1 small loaf | About 13 slices: Wed 6, Fri 4, Sat 1, Sun 2 |
| Wholemeal pitta bread | 1 pack | Mon 1, Thu 1. Freeze the rest |
| Wholemeal tortilla wraps | 1 pack | Tue 1, Fri 1. Freeze the rest |
Frozen
| Item | Buy | Used in |
|---|---|---|
| Sweetcorn | 1 bag, at least 360 g | Thu 60 g (pitta), Sun 300 g (chowder) |
| Peas | 1 small bag, at least 60 g | Thu (keema) |
| Mixed berries | 1 small bag, at least 80 g | Sun (breakfast) |
Tins, jars and bottles
| Item | Buy | Used in |
|---|---|---|
| Chopped tomatoes (400 g tin) | 5 tins | Sat 3 (minestrone, casserole, keema), Sun 2 (ragu) |
| Butter beans (400 g tin) | 2 tins | Sat 1 (minestrone), 1 (casserole) |
| Cannellini beans (400 g tin) | 1 tin | Sun (chowder) |
| Baked beans, reduced sugar and salt | 1 small tin (200 g), or half of a 400 g tin | Fri (quesadilla) |
| Peanut butter, 100% peanuts | 1 small jar | Mon 1 tbsp |
| Wholegrain or Dijon mustard | 1 small jar (optional) | Wed 1 tsp |
Dry goods
| Item | Buy | Used in |
|---|---|---|
| Porridge oats | 1 bag | About 150 g: Mon 40 g, Tue 40 g, Thu 40 g, Sun 30 g |
| Raisins | 1 small bag | Tue 15 g |
| Dried pasta shapes or spaghetti | 1 pack | Mon 75 g, Sun 75 g |
| Small dried pasta (macaroni or small shells) | 1 small pack | Wed 30 g, Sat 30 g |
| Couscous | 1 small pack | Tue 60 g, Sat 60 g |
| Long-grain white rice (basmati) | 1 small bag | Thu 60 g |
| Reduced-salt vegetable stock cubes | 1 small box (5 cubes needed) | Sat 3, Sun 2 |
Cupboard check
You probably have these already. Check the amounts, then add to the trolley whatever has run out.
- Olive oil: about 12 tsp (4 tbsp, 60 ml) over the week
- Salt and black pepper: used in most recipes
- Smoked paprika: 2 tsp (Sat)
- Ground cumin: 2 1/2 tsp (Fri, Sat)
- Ground coriander: 2 tsp (Sat). May be new
- Ground turmeric: 1 tsp (Sat). May be new
- Dried oregano: 2 tsp (Sat, Sun)
- Dried thyme: 1 tsp (Sat)
- Ground cinnamon: 3/4 tsp (Tue, Wed, Thu)
Equipment
- 16 freezer bags (about 1 litre) or shallow freezer-safe containers with lids, and a permanent marker for labels
- A very large pan (Sat, Sun) and a second large pan or a flameproof casserole dish with a lid (Sat)
- A stick blender (Sun, optional, a masher works)
- A baking tray or the sink, for cooling pots quickly (Sat, Sun)
- A microwave-safe bowl for reheating (Mon to Fri)
- A frying pan (Tue, Fri, Sat) and a toaster
- A sharp knife, a chopping board and a coarse grater
Start here: the weekly cycle
The first time you use this plan, cook the weekend first (Saturday and Sunday, chapters 6 and 7), then follow Monday to Friday the week after. After that, each weekend restocks the freezer for the next busy week.
| Day | Night before, or what to cook | At dinner time, or the batch work |
|---|---|---|
| Mon | Take a ragu portion out of the freezer into the fridge. Make the overnight oats the evening before | Cook pasta, reheat the ragu 6 to 8 minutes |
| Tue | Take a casserole portion out of the freezer into the fridge | Reheat 8 to 10 minutes, soak the couscous |
| Wed | Take a minestrone portion out of the freezer into the fridge | Simmer with 30 g of small pasta and 100 ml water for 8 to 10 minutes |
| Thu | Take a keema portion out of the freezer into the fridge | Rice on, reheat the keema 6 to 8 minutes, add peas for 3 minutes |
| Fri | Take a chowder portion out of the freezer into the fridge | Warm gently with 50 ml milk for 8 to 10 minutes |
| Sat | Defrost the mince and chicken in the fridge if frozen | Batch day 1: cook minestrone, casserole and keema (about 2 hours 30 minutes) |
| Sun | Defrost the fish in the fridge if frozen | Batch day 2: cook chowder and ragu (about 1 hour 45 minutes) |
Defrost schedule
Each weekday dinner is one frozen portion. Take it out of the freezer the evening before, or on the morning of the day, and put it in a covered container on the bottom shelf of the fridge. Defrost it in the fridge, never on the worktop. If you forget, defrost it in the microwave on the defrost setting and reheat it straight away. Raw meat and fish for the weekend should be defrosted in the fridge the evening before you cook it.
| Item | Cook on | Take out of the freezer, or defrost |
|---|---|---|
| Beef mince, 2 packs (if frozen) | Sat and Sun | Fri evening |
| Chicken thighs (if frozen) | Sat | Fri evening |
| White fish (if frozen) | Sun | Sat evening |
| Beef ragu portion | Mon | Sun evening or Mon morning |
| Chicken casserole portion | Tue | Mon evening or Tue morning |
| Minestrone portion | Wed | Tue evening or Wed morning |
| Beef keema portion | Thu | Wed evening or Thu morning |
| Fish chowder portion | Fri | Thu evening or Fri morning |
Freezer safety
Cool every pot within about an hour, divide it into shallow bags or containers, chill it, and freeze it within 2 hours of cooking. Use meat and vegetable dishes within 3 months and the fish chowder within 2 months. Defrost in the fridge, reheat until steaming hot all the way through (75°C in the middle if you have a thermometer), reheat only once, and never refreeze a portion that has defrosted. Throw away any portion that has been defrosted for more than 2 days.
Freezer tips
- Label every bag with the dish, the date and 'reheat once', so nothing sits in the freezer unrecognised for months.
- Lay bags flat to freeze, then stack them like files. They take up the least space and defrost the fastest.
- Keep the oldest portions at the front of the freezer and use them first.
- Cool food quickly: divide it into shallow bags, or stand the pot in a sink of cold water. Freeze within 2 hours of cooking.
- Freeze the pasta, rice and couscous separately, or not at all. Cook them fresh on the day, which takes 5 to 10 minutes.
- Use the freezer portions from Plans 3, 4 and 6 too. A pie, a pasta bake or a stew fits straight into the same weekday routine.
Using up leftovers
- After one weekend you have 16 labelled portions in the freezer: 3 minestrone, 3 casserole, 4 keema, 3 chowder and 3 ragu. The next busy week uses 5 of them, one of each dish, so 11 portions are left for later busy weeks.
- Eggs: none spare if you buy a box of 6. Hummus, yoghurt and Cheddar: use by the dates on the packs. Grated cheese freezes well.
- Half a tin of baked beans (if you opened a large tin): keep in a covered container in the fridge and use within 2 days.
- Spare pitta, wraps and bread: freeze in a bag and take out what you need.
- Defrosted portions: use within 2 days of defrosting and never refreeze them. If a plan changes, cook the portion the same day.
That completes Meal Plan 7
Five weekday dinners that are a 10-minute reheat, a weekend of batch cooking that stocks the freezer with 16 portions, three beef dinners (Monday, Thursday and Sunday), a fish dinner on Friday, a vegetarian dinner on Wednesday and a shopping list to match. This is a new way of cooking, so note what works and what does not, and we can revise any recipe once you have tried it.