Or there's an alternative

If tomato sauce isn't your thing – try this on for size!

Alfredo Sauce

Alfredo is traditionally served with pasta – however it's so good and tasty it lends itself to other dishes and particularly leftovers.

1 tbsp unsalted butter

200ml double cream

50g freshly grated Parmesan, plus more for sprinkling

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Gently heat the butter and the cream together, stirring, until the butter has melted, then stir in the Parmesan.

Slowly bring to a gentle boil, turn down the heat and simmer, stir continuously for a minute or so until you have a smooth, creamy sauce.

This sauce can be made ahead.

The above recipe would be sufficient for two servings – enough to coat 225g uncooked pasta. Traditionally there are no additions to Alfredo although I've had it served with petit pois. If you've never tried it I'd highly recommend this sauce. It's the only bowl of pasta I've ever finished.

This would be a treat – and so I didn't include it as part of the dish – however rules are made to be broken!

If you were going to cook a roast on Sunday how about roast pork?

Then there's the tomato sauce …

Here's a simple, tasty recipe for a home-made tomato sauce – I prefer to use sieved tomatoes but it's whatever floats your boat!

Tomato Sauce

500g sieved tomatoes or the equivalent in cans of chopped tomatoes

1 medium/large onion, chopped finely

garlic clove or tsp of minced garlic

1tbsp olive oil

knob of butter

vegetable stock pot and 250ml of boiling water

oregano or garlic Italian seasoning

black pepper

1 tsp caster sugar

Melt the olive oil and butter in a saucepan, add the onion and fry gently until soft then add the garlic. Add the oregano or garlic Italian seasoning and black pepper. Then add your stock pot and boiling water so that it melts, add the tomatoes and sprinkle on the tsp of sugar. The sugar is meant to balance out the acidity that one sometimes gets with tomatoes. Simmer the sauce for about 20 minutes.

If you want to add extra depth you can add a tbsp of tomato paste. I would suggest that you taste your sauce before you simmer for 20 minutes. If you add paste then the simmering process will cook it out and its important that you do this - it tastes horrid if you don't. A lot depends on personal taste and how good your tomatoes are.

When you are ready for supper later in the day place the dish or tray containing the meatballs in a pre-heated oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6 and complete the cooking for 20/30 minutes – this time will vary depending on the sizes of the meatball – ensure that they are properly cooked. Whilst the meatballs are in the oven cook your spaghetti and warm up the tomato sauce.

Or there's an alternative ...

Sample menu recipes

The recipe that follows is easy and makes really tasty meatballs, together with a tomato sauce. All you'll have to do later on is cook the spaghetti. As a rough guide 450g of minced meat will give you sixteen meatballs.

Meatballs

450g minced beef, pork or turkey

*salt and black pepper

*garlic – either 2 tsps of paste or 2 cloves, crushed

*mixed herbs or garlic Italian seasoning – a generous sprinkle

*half a tsp of chilli

*heaped tbsp of tomato paste

*1 egg

sprinkle of plain flour

Rapeseed or vegetable oil for shallow frying

Place the mince in a large mixing bowl then add the remaining ingredients marked *, mix well. At this point your mixture may be too wet. If it is, sprinkle a little plain flour over the mixture and fold in gently.

Use a teaspoon as a measure and heaped with mixture, roll it between your hands and set aside on a board. When the meatballs are ready, heat the oil in a large frying pan and fry on a low heat, gently and carefully shaking the pan to ensure they are evenly coloured – use tongs if you are accident prone! Seal the meatballs in batches - 8 at a time and then transfer to an oven-proof dish or foil tray ready for later – cool, cover and fridge.

Then there's the tomato sauce … or an alternative

A sample menu …

… plan, shop, cook and eat.

“Sample” is the word, these are suggestions which may trigger meal ideas of your own!

The idea is to give you food for thought in planning what you're going to cook next week. If you have a plan then you can make your shopping list.

If you make the best use of your time when you're in the kitchen by part prepping in readiness from that plan then your evening meals will flow and be easy to pull together.

A sample menu

You've got the pie idea already but you don't have

to use the chicken in a pie – there's always a curry

Meatballs with spaghetti and tomato sauce

or there's an alternative

San Choy Bow

Baked jacket potatoes with ham hock and winter coleslaw

Smoked mackerel, beetroot and apple salad

Soup & dumplings

Croque Monsieur with slaw or

Balsamic Onion Jam and wedges

It's no good having a menu if you're not sure what's required so what follows are the recipes for each of the above and the beginnings of your shopping list.

Like I've said, non of this is set in stone, it's an illustration of how to plan!

The bites of time

10 minutes here, 10 minutes there Part 2 – The bites of time

The first ten minutes …

is taken up with prepping your whole chicken and placing in the slow cooker as per the recipe given in Bite size cooking.

Next ten minutes …

When the chicken is cooked and cooled strip it and cut into medium chunks, wrap and fridge. Strain the stock into a jug, cover and “fridge”.

If you wanted to be exceptionally economical you could place the carcass in a large saucepan with an onion, leek, carrot and celery, garlic, mixed herbs and 12 black peppercorns, cover with water, bring to the boil and then simmer for 1½ – 2hours. Your very own home-made stock, which can then be frozen in small amounts, ready to use.

Next ten minutes …

Seal a gammon joint (smoked or unsmoked to suit your taste) and slow cook in vegetable stock (or chicken if you prefer).

Next ten minutes …

Remove the gammon joint and cool, cut into similar sized chunks as the chicken, then wrap and fridge – reserve the stock and when cooled freeze it for another day and don't forget to label and date – as previously mentioned small amounts are more practical.

Next ten minutes …

Make your Velouté sauce and/or your Sauce Supreme using your stock from the slow cooked chicken – cool, cover and fridge. At the same time you can multi-task and sweat 2 leeks, sliced, in a glug of rapeseed oil and an optional knob of unsalted butter – this will take 2/3 minutes on a low heat. Cool, box and fridge.

Next ten minutes …

Assemble all your elements to create your pie. In a large mixing bowl combine the chicken, gammon and leeks, sprinkle generously with black pepper and then fold in the sauce. Tip your pie filling into a casserole or foil tray. Top with sliced cooked jacket potatoes and sprinkle with grated cheese. (You shouldn't need any salt, you've already seasoned the Sauce Supreme and there's salt in the smoked gammon, the stock and in the cheese topping).

Bake in a pre-heated oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6 for 30 minutes until your cheese is golden. Freeze two portions individually, for another day.

You might want to add the Campbell's condensed chicken soup to your store cupboard – there's a mushroom version too – another very useful emergency stand-by for making another sauce.

Now for a sample menu ...

Bite size cooking

10 minutes here, 10 minutes there – Part 1

Everyone cooks differently - if you are a household of only two it's probably more difficult not to waste food. For example, buying a smaller chicken isn't necessarily better value – you're paying for less meat.

If you're giving this “getting organised” malarkey a go you can use the slow cooker principle even in a household of two in fact it's very economical, all that happens is divide your ultimate pie into portions that suit your family appetites and freeze what's left. It's the beginning of your ready-meal stash in your freezer that now has heaps of newly created space.

You may pass the “meal deals” by, thinking you can't take advantage because there's too much or it's not convenient this particular weekend, but that ain't necessarily so – invariably whole chickens are part of the deal and they can be frozen whole but I appreciate that freezer space may be an issue – aim for a weight 1.5kg – 1.75kg. The cost is £3.33 ish – ignoring the bottle of wine in the equation. Instead of using chicken fillet in the pie recipe, slow cook a whole chicken and get the best value for your money.

It's the easiest recipe :

Slow cooked whole chicken

1.5kg chicken

1 chicken stock pot

generous sprinkle of oregano or

garlic Italian seasoning

2 tsps of garlic paste

Place your chicken in the slow cooker and mix the garlic and stock pot together and spread over the chicken. Sprinkle with herbs. Switch your slow cooker on low and leave it for 8 hours – no liquid required.

The resultant juices give you approximately half a pint (300ml) of stock. Strain the stock, cover and refrigerate until cold, ready for use or freeze if preferred.

Similarly don't rule out the deals on gammon joints - they usually have a good use by date because they are vac packed or they can be frozen. The gammon joints can usually be found at 3 for £10 – aim for a weight between 500g – 750g.

If you're following “getting organised” I'm taking it as read that you'll already have cooked, baked jacket potatoes and a box of grated cheese stashed in your fridge.

What follows is a series of 10 minute bites of time that, pulled together, create a supper and freezer stash using inexpensive ingredients and smart shopping! Each bite of time can be fitted in to suit you.

I should point out that you won't produce a dish until all the 10 minute bites have been completed. The idea is that you have a spare 10 minutes one day and may be two separate 10 minute time bites the next day and so on. Every element along the way is easily fridgeable so you can pull it all together when the mood takes you. If the mood doesn't take you, you can freeze it all and use when it does – a practical and efficient way of cooking!

Here we go ...

Option 2 – not as healthy – Option 3 - somewhere in between!

This is definitely a luxury version, perfect for a supper with friends.

Replace the soup with a Velouté sauce. A Velouté sauce is one of the “Mother Sauces” - a light white sauce made with chicken or fish stock and a roux – it is also used as a base for other sauces, for example, a Sauce Supreme, known as a “Daughter Sauce” using Velouté and then enriched with cream.

Here's the Sauce Supreme recipe :

half a pint (300ml) of cold stock

15g unsalted butter

15g plain flour

½ tsp Dijon mustard

200ml double cream

salt and black pepper

Melt the butter, take the pan off the heat, add the flour and whisk. Return to the heat and cook out the flour for 2/3 mins, stirring continuously – do not walk away.

Then tip your cold stock straight into the roux and whisk until smooth, then cook on a low heat for 30 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper.

Add the mustard and cream and simmer for 5 minutes.

Fold your gammon, chicken and leeks into the sauce.

Top your sliced potatoes with seasoning and 2/3 knobs of butter, finish with a mixture of grated Red Leicester and mature Cheddar cheese. Bake as before.

Option 3 – somewhere in between

Omit the potato, butter and cheese topping and replace with a puff pastry lid. This option can also apply to Options 1 or 2. Bake as before. You could “hit the middle” and make Option 1 enriching the tinned soup by adding double cream. The world is your lobster or in this case your pie!

For those sceptics among us who think that a slow-cooker is only capable of producing stews and casseroles I hope you might be persuaded otherwise.

Bite size cooking to follow ...