HOW I KEEP DIET BUDGET FRIENDLY

MY THRIFTY mum was an excellent cook and made the most of every scrap of food in the house — and I’ve inherited that; I cannot bear food waste.

At home, I freeze everything I can. For instance, I always freeze vegetable peelings (such as carrots, celeriac and celery) so I can add them to leftover chicken for a homemade stock.

And I batch-cook because it’s economical and means there is always something delicious, lowcarb and inexpensive in the freezer to eat if we’re short of time.

I’ve currently got leftover chicken and olive stew in my freezer, as well as a couple of curries — they’re my healthy ready meals.

I also slice my low-carb bread before putting it into the freezer — this way I can take out a slice at a time without the whole loaf defrosting and going off.

Preparing wholesome low-carb food doesn’t have to be expensive. It’s amazing what goodquality food you can make with a bit of thought and planning.

These are the kinds of things I am going to focus on next week when I will be running a free cookery course — the aim is to help people discover easy ways to eat satisfying, wholesome meals on a budget.

I enjoyed putting together the high-taste, low-cost, low-carb meals for today’s pullout — I hope they will inspire you to put your apron on and take charge of your health, starting in your kitchen.