3 meals for the fridge, 3 for the freezer (menu plan 1)

1 meal – jacket potatoes with tuna mayo
2 meals – hasselback chicken
2 meals – vegetarian burritos
2 meals – spaghetti Bolognese

Don’t forget to keep clearing as you go!

Cook the rice according to the instructions on the packet. Once cooked allow to cool.

Score the potatoes with a cross, place in a microwave dish, cover with clingfilm and cook for 15 mins. Then remove potatoes, place in a heated roasting tin with some olive oil and finish in the hot oven until soft throughout.

Heat some oil in a large pan, add 4 cups of chopped onions and cook for a few minutes.
Add the chopped garlic and the 2 packets of beef mince to the pan. Stir, then leave it all to brown, stirring occasionally.

Slice the mushrooms and add to the browned meat and onions.
Add the rest of the Bolognese ingredients to the mince: the grated carrots, cans of chopped tomatoes, carton of passata, tomato puree and oregano. Stir well and leave on a medium to low heat to cook through.

Heat some oil in a second pan. Add 1 cup of onions and leave to sweat.
Thinly slice the peppers and add to the second pan with the onions.

Make up the tuna mayo. In a bowl mix the tuna and mayonnaise and a small tin of sweetcorn. Season to taste. Cover the bowl and keep in the fridge.

Take the onion and peppers off the heat and place them in a bowl to cool so you can use them to make up the burritos shortly.

Now slice the tomatoes and slice the mozzarella.
Take the first 4 chicken breasts. Slice through the back in hasselback style.
Into the slits you’ve cut, alternately insert the tomato and mozzarella slices – one slice per slit. Insert the basil leaves in with the tomato or the mozzarella.
Lay the 4 chicken breasts together on a piece of tin foil and wrap then up, sealing the foil around them in a parcel. Place the four in a glass container or a zip lock bag for the freezer. Make sure they are well sealed so there is no air.
Repeat with the other 4 chicken breasts.

To assemble the burritos:
Open up a wrap and lay on a piece of tin foil. Fill evenly with a spoonful of refried beans, a spoonful of rice, a spoonful of peppers and onions, some salsa and finally some cheese.
Fold up both ends of the wrap, then roll it up and turn it over so the edges are underneath and it can’t pop open.
Do this for each burrito and then wrap each in tin foil.
Place 4 wrapped burritos in a freezer bag together and 4 in the fridge.

Take the Bolognese mixture off the heat and leave to cool. Once cooled spoon half the bolognese mixture into a freezer bag. Flatten and seal the bag, removing any air.
Put the other half in the fridge for this week’s spaghetti Bolognese.

Re-heat instructions: Ensure everything is red frosted. To cook the hackleback chicken, place the defrosted chicken in the foil parcel in the oven at 180oc for 30 minutes. For the vegetable burritos simply defrost and reheat either in the microwave for 4 minutes or place in the oven at 180oc for 30 minutes flipping halfway. For the Spaghetti Bolognaise simply reheat the defrosted mince either in the microwave or in a saucepan until piping hot.