What size joint of meat do I need for the number of people I am feeding?
How to size a roast by cut and by whether it is on the bone, plus the shrinkage and leftover allowances that make the sum come out right.
beginner10 min3 min read
Meal Planning
Cooking once, eating well several times.
53 guides in Food & Cooking
How do I cater for different dietary requirements?
How to ask, how to plan a menu that works for everyone, and how to avoid cross-contamination without cooking four separate meals.
beginner1 hr2 min readHow do I cook using whatever's in the fridge?
A method for improvising meals from leftovers and odds and ends, using formats that absorb almost any ingredient.
beginner40 min2 min readHow do I feed myself when I have no energy to cook?
Lowering the bar deliberately, and the small set of things worth keeping in for days when cooking is not possible.
beginner15 min2 min readHow do I meal prep without eating the same thing every day?
Prepare components rather than finished meals — the change that makes batch cooking survive past Wednesday.
beginner1 hr2 min readHow do I plan meals so ingredients get used up?
A planning method built on ingredients rather than dishes, so whole packs get finished and the fridge drawer stops being a compost bin.
beginner20 min5 min readHow do I use up leftover vegetables?
Formats that absorb almost any combination of leftover vegetables, and which ones suit which state of vegetable.
beginner40 min2 min readHow do I batch cook for the freezer properly?
What freezes well, how to cool and pack it safely, and the labelling that stops the freezer becoming a mystery.
beginner3 hr2 min readHow do I cook for someone with diabetes?
What actually affects blood glucose in a meal, how to cook normally rather than differently, and the questions to ask instead of guessing.
beginner15 min4 min readHow do I keep food hot for serving?
Which dishes hold well and which do not, the methods that work at home, and why lukewarm is the outcome to avoid.
beginner20 min2 min readHow do I plan Christmas food shopping?
What to buy when, how much people actually eat, and the things that always get bought twice.
beginner1 hr2 min readHow do I run a batch cooking day from one shop?
The choreography of a three-hour cooking session — what runs in parallel, in what order, and where the cooling has to fit.
intermediate3 hr 30 min5 min readHow do I cook for one without wasting food?
Shopping, portioning and freezing strategies that make single-person cooking economical rather than wasteful.
beginner30 min2 min readHow do I cook once and eat twice?
Batch cooking components rather than whole meals, so the second meal is not the same dinner again.
beginner1 hr2 min readHow do I get children to eat more vegetables?
Repeated low-pressure exposure, involvement and presentation — the approaches with actual evidence behind them.
beginner30 min2 min readHow do I make a packed lunch I will actually want to eat?
Building lunches that survive a morning in a bag, and the components approach that avoids the same sandwich daily.
beginner20 min2 min readHow do I cook for a lot of people?
How to plan and time a meal for a large group without a last-hour panic — menu choice, prep-ahead strategy and a working timeline.
intermediate4 hr2 min readHow do I make a decent breakfast when I have no time?
Preparing ahead, and the few options that take under five minutes without being toast and nothing else.
beginner15 min2 min readHow much food should I cook per person?
Practical dry and raw weights per person for common ingredients, so you stop over-catering or running short.
beginner10 min2 min readAre yellow-sticker reduced items safe to buy and freeze?
What the reduction actually signals, which items are worth it, and the rules for freezing on the day.
beginner5 min4 min readHow do I cook safely for a baby or toddler?
The salt and sugar limits, the foods that must wait, choking hazards and how to prepare them, and how to adapt a family meal.
beginner15 min4 min readHow do I make a meal feed more people than planned?
Bulking out with cheap ingredients, adding sides, and adjusting the seasoning so it does not taste diluted.
beginner20 min2 min readHow do I write a shopping list that actually works?
Building the list from a plan, ordering it by the shop's layout, and the habits that stop you buying the same thing twice.
beginner15 min2 min readHow do I adapt an oven recipe for a slow cooker?
The liquid reduction that nobody mentions, the timings conversion, and which ingredients go in at the end rather than the start.
beginner15 min3 min read
Going deeper: PizzaHQ
Dough hydration and fermentation schedules, flour selection, oven types and bake profiles.