LORNA’S TOP TIPS FOR MEALS

MAKE A PLAN

For me, meal planning is not about dedicating an entire day at the weekend to batch cooking. I want more variety, so I write a meal plan that covers two months at a time. Divide the days into breakfast, lunch and dinner, write down the exact ingredients of each meal, then only shop for the ingredients on the list. It ends up averaging £20 a week. This doesn’t have to be limiting – if you don’t fancy Monday’s meal, swap it with another day. Once you’ve changed your thought process and planned like this for eight weeks, you’ll be more confident and can start to adapt the plan.

SMART SHOPPING

SHOP AROUND. I do one big online shop every six weeks. In between, I’ll buy freezer items at Farmfoods or Iceland, noodles and spices from an Asian supermarket, and once a month go to the local market for fresh fruit and vegetables. It sounds a lot, but once you’ve done it, you’re stocked up for eight weeks – so it’s less time consuming than going to the supermarket every week.

BUY IN BULK.

It’s much more cost-effective. At my local Asian supermarket I can get a huge bag of spices for the same price as those tiny glass jars in most shops. The same goes for massive bottles of sauce, rice, noodles and pasta – even potatoes and onions.

SWITCH FRESH TO FROZEN.

Buy frozen veg. You get more variety and it will last longer.

FOOD STORAGE

FIND A COOL, DRY PLACE TO AVOID VEG GOING OFF.

I keep carrots, potatoes and onions in my garage in nets, paper sacks or cloth bags.

KEEP CUPBOARDS STOCKED. My essentials include tinned tomatoes, flour, spices, herbs, sugar, porridge oats, lentils and barley. I always have stock cubes and cheap noodles for a quick chow mein or soup. In the fridge, it’s eggs and butter. My nana used to say if you have eggs and potatoes, you can make a meal!

COOK CLEVER

REDUCE MEAT. Most dishes can be bulked out with veg: add broccoli and cauliflower to a chicken curry; or throw in red lentils, porridge oats or a tin of baked beans to a chilli.

ADAPT RECIPES. Try dry herbs instead of fresh, basic oil instead of extra virgin olive oil. Value supermarket noodles instead of branded ones, and one tablespoon of coconut milk powder with water makes the equivalent of a tin.

THE TWO FOR ONE RULE. When making a lasagne, curry or soup, make two and portion up and freeze the second. It won’t take much more effort, and when you’re short on time, you have a home-made ready meal waiting.