Meal Plan 9: Spring and Summer Fresh
Chapter 8 · Weekly shopping list
How to use this list. It merges the shopping lists of all 21 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, flour, soy sauce and spices are probably already at home. Every recipe is for one portion except Saturday's lentil salad (2) and Sunday's roast lamb (4), which make extra portions. Each recipe page still has its own list.
Meat and fish
| Item | Buy | Used in |
|---|
| Lean beef mince (5% fat) | 1 pack, 125 g or a 250 g pack | Mon (lettuce wraps) |
| Chicken breast | 1 fillet, about 150 g | Tue (pesto pasta) |
| Lean rump or sirloin steak | 2 steaks, about 150 g each (275 g needed) | Thu 125 g (noodle salad), Sat 150 g (chimichurri) |
| Boneless lamb leg joint, rolled | 800 g | Sun (roast, 4 portions) |
| Hot-smoked salmon fillet (ready to eat) | 1 fillet, about 100 g | Fri (potato salad) |
| Cooked, peeled cold-water prawns | 1 pack, 100 g | Thu (lunch wrap) |
Fruit and vegetables
| Item | Buy | Used in |
|---|
| Strawberries | 1 punnet, 250 g (200 g needed) | Mon 100 g (oats), Tue 100 g (smoothie) |
| Blueberries | 1 small punnet, 100 g (80 g needed) | Thu (yoghurt pot) |
| Banana | 1 ripe | Tue (smoothie) |
| Avocado | 1 small ripe | Thu (wrap) |
| Lemons | 3 | Mon 1 (½ lunch, ½ dinner), plus about 5 tsp of juice Tue to Fri, 1 tbsp Sat dinner, 2 tbsp Sat lunch, Sun. Thu breakfast uses ¼ for the zest |
| Lime | 1 | Thu (dressing) |
| Asparagus | 1 bunch, about 200 g | Wed 100 g (breakfast), 100 g (frittata) |
| Courgettes | 3 (one small, one medium, one small) | Wed 1 small, Fri 1, Sat 1 small |
| Cucumber | 1 large, about 400 g (340 g needed) | Mon 50 g, Tue 30 g, Wed 30 g, Thu 80 g (30 g lunch, 50 g dinner), Fri 50 g, Sat 100 g |
| Carrots | 2 | Mon 1, Thu 1 |
| Spring onions | 1 bunch (6 needed) | Mon 2, Wed 1, Fri 3 (2 soup, 1 salad) |
| Little gem lettuces | 3 | Mon 1 (wraps), Thu 1 (salad) and 2 leaves (wrap) |
| Baby spinach | 1 bag, 100 g | Mon 20 g, Fri 40 g, Sun 40 g (20 g breakfast, 20 g lunch) |
| Medium tomatoes | 6 | Tue 1, Wed 3 (lunch 2, dinner 1), Sat 2 |
| Cherry tomatoes | 1 pack, 350 to 400 g (350 g needed) | Tue 100 g, Fri 50 g, Sat 100 g, Sun 100 g |
| Baby new potatoes | 1 bag, 500 g (400 g needed) | Fri 200 g, Sun 200 g |
| Corn on the cob | 1 | Sat (dinner) |
| Garlic | 1 head (5 cloves needed) | Mon 1, Thu 1, Sat 1, Sun 2 |
| Fresh mint | 2 small packs or 1 large pot (about 40 leaves) | Mon 12, Thu 6, Fri 12, Sat 10, Sun 6 |
| Fresh basil | 1 small pot or pack (10 leaves) | Wed 6, Fri 4 |
| Fresh parsley | 1 small pack (15 g needed) | Sat (chimichurri) |
Dairy and eggs
| Item | Buy | Used in |
|---|
| Eggs | 1 box of 15, or 2 boxes of 6 plus 1 spare (13 needed) | Tue 2, Wed 5 (breakfast 2, frittata 3), Fri 2, Sat 2, Sun 2 |
| Plain Greek-style yoghurt | 1 tub, 500 g (365 g needed) | Mon 95 g, Tue 15 g, Thu 165 g, Fri 45 g, Sun 45 g |
| Semi-skimmed milk | 1 pint (568 ml, 300 ml needed) | Mon 100 ml, Tue 200 ml |
| Feta cheese | 1 pack, 200 g (150 g needed) | Mon 30 g, Wed 30 g, Sat 30 g (fritters) and 60 g (lentil salad). About 50 g spare |
| Light mozzarella | 1 ball, 125 g | Wed 60 g (lunch), Fri 60 g (breakfast) |
Bread and bakery
| Item | Buy | Used in |
|---|
| Wholemeal bread | 1 loaf (12 slices needed) | Tue 2, Wed 4, Fri 3, Sun 3 |
| Wholemeal tortilla wraps | 1 pack (2 needed) | Mon 1, Thu 1 |
Frozen
| Item | Buy | Used in |
|---|
| Peas | 1 bag, 500 g (440 g needed) | Mon 80 g, Tue 80 g, Wed 60 g, Fri 140 g (soup 80, salad 60), Sun 80 g |
Tins, jars and bottles
| Item | Buy | Used in |
|---|
| Green or brown lentils in water (400 g tin) | 1 tin | Sat (lunch, 2 portions) |
| Green pesto | 1 small jar | Tue (pasta). Keeps 4 weeks in the fridge |
Dry goods
| Item | Buy | Used in |
|---|
| Porridge oats | 1 bag (95 g needed) | Mon 40 g, Tue 25 g, Thu 30 g |
| Basmati rice | 1 small bag (60 g needed) | Mon (lettuce wraps) |
| Dried wholewheat penne or fusilli | 1 small pack (75 g needed) | Tue (pesto pasta) |
| Rice vermicelli noodles | 1 small pack (50 g needed) | Thu (noodle salad) |
| Flaked almonds | 1 small bag (10 g needed) | Mon (oats) |
| Reduced-salt vegetable stock cubes | 1 small box (½ cube needed) | Fri (soup) |
Cupboard check
You probably have these already. Check the amounts, then add to the trolley whatever has run out.
- Olive oil: about 16 tsp (5 tbsp, 80 ml) over the week
- Plain flour: 2 tbsp (Sat)
- Reduced-salt soy sauce: 2 tbsp (Mon, Thu)
- Honey: up to 3 tsp, optional (Mon, Thu)
- Salt and black pepper: used in most recipes
- Ground ginger: ½ tsp (Mon)
- Dried thyme: 1 tsp (Sun)
Equipment
- A frying pan with a metal or ovenproof handle, about 20 cm, for the frittata (Wed)
- A grill and a baking tray (Wed, Sat, Sun)
- A medium saucepan with a lid (Mon to Sun) and a small pan for poaching (Wed, Sat, Sun)
- A blender or a stick blender (Tue smoothie, Fri soup)
- A roasting tin, foil and ideally a meat thermometer (Sun)
- A jar or lidded container for the overnight oats (Mon) and for packed lunches
- Three lidded freezer containers for the lamb (Sun)
Prep-ahead schedule
Each weekday dinner can be partly prepared in 5 to 10 minutes any time that day, which leaves about 10 to 15 minutes of work at dinner time. Nothing needs a long oven session during the week. Saturday is a quick steak, and Sunday is a roast lamb leg with lots of waiting time.
| Day | Prep ahead (any time that day) | At dinner time |
|---|
| Mon | Chop the garlic, spring onions and vegetables, mix the soy mixture (8 minutes) | Cook the rice, brown the mince, add the sauce, fill the lettuce leaves |
| Tue | Slice the chicken (bottom shelf), halve the tomatoes (5 minutes) | Boil the pasta, fry the chicken and tomatoes, toss with peas and pesto |
| Wed | Cut the asparagus and courgette, slice the spring onion (5 minutes) | Cook the vegetables, add the eggs, set under the grill, make the tomato salad |
| Thu | Slice and marinate the steak (bottom shelf), chop the vegetables, mix the dressing (10 minutes) | Soak the noodles, fry the steak 2 to 3 minutes, toss everything together |
| Fri | Optional: boil and cool the potatoes, mix the dressing (5 minutes) | Boil the potatoes and peas, assemble the salad, flake the salmon on top |
If you shop once: freeze and defrost
Raw meat and fish should not wait several days in the fridge, so buy them on your shopping day, freeze them at once, and take each one out the evening before you cook it. Defrost on a plate on the bottom shelf of the fridge, never on the worktop. Check the use-by date on the pack: if it falls before the day you need the item, freeze it. Do not refreeze raw meat that has defrosted.
| Item | Cook on | Take out of the freezer |
|---|
| Beef mince, Monday's pack (freeze on buying) | Mon | Sun evening |
| Chicken breast | Tue | Mon evening |
| Prawns | Thu | Wed evening |
| Steak for Thursday | Thu | Wed evening |
| Steak for Saturday (freeze on buying) | Sat | Fri evening |
| Lamb leg joint (24 hours or more) | Sun | Fri evening |
Prepping raw meat and fish ahead
Sliced chicken, steak and mince wait in the fridge on the
bottom shelf, covered, away from other food. Cook meat the same day (within about 8 hours) and fish within about 6 hours. Never leave prepped raw food on the worktop. Chill any batch portions within 1 to 2 hours of cooking, reheat them once until steaming hot all the way through, and never refreeze food that has been defrosted.
Leftovers: using it all up
- Sunday's lamb: 1 portion in the fridge for a lamb flatbread within 2 days, and 2 portions in the freezer.
- Saturday's lentil salad: the second portion is Sunday's lunch, so there is no waste.
- Spare feta (about 50 g) and yoghurt (about 135 g): feta in an omelette or on a salad, and yoghurt on porridge or fruit.
- Spare eggs (2) and pesto: an omelette or egg sandwich, and pesto on toast or stirred into soup or pasta.
- Spare mint, basil and parsley: chop and freeze in a little water in an ice-cube tray, or add to salads and omelettes.
- Spare peas, spinach and bread: peas keep frozen. Use the spinach within 2 days or freeze it, and freeze the rest of the loaf in slices.