Could this meal planning system solve dinner dilemmas on school nights?
It’s touted as a fail-safe way to feed the family healthy and delicious meals quickly each week – while saving money. So how does the 4+2+1 system work?
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“What’s for dinner?”
Three little words that can often evoke all the dread of a Hitchcock thriller, with even the most organised among us far too frequently battling this school night dilemma.
But answering the call no longer has to be an anxiety-inducing nightly stress, say Melbourne mums Gaby Chapman and Jen Petrovic.
The clever culinary duo has come up with what they believe is the ultimate fail-safe concept to feed the family healthy and delicious meals, quickly and easily while saving money, meaning you’ll never have to use another food delivery app again.
In their new book, The Plan Buy Cook Book, qualified chef Petrovic and writer Chapman employ the 4+2+1 rule: cook four dinners – double the amount on two of the meals and freeze half of each, then make two other fast and fresh meals.
Take two meals from your freezer stash, and have one super simple meal like an omelette, toastie or leftovers. That’s seven nights of the week sorted.
It all comes together with a little planning, some smart shopping and maximum efficiency in the kitchen.
WHY IT WORKS
“We all know that meal planning is going to save us time and money and reduce our waste, but having a formula and going, ‘I’m just going to pull two meals out of the freezer every week and I’m only really cooking four meals’, is just really life changing,” says Chapman, a busy mum of three.
“It’s just a habit you form rather than thinking about it as a chore, which is what it was for me and for so many people.”
THE PLANNING
It all starts with a schedule, Chapman says.
“You want to match your cooking time to the time you have available,” she says.
The book includes a seven-day schedule template where you simply enter what nights you are home, and what activities you or the kids have on, such as sport or music rehearsals or meetings, and you decide what days you only have time to whip out a freezer meal and when you have the time to cook something from scratch.
“I do the double up meals on a Sunday and I always cook a freezable snack during school time for lunches as well, like a homemade muesli bar, banana bread, a slice like a simple apple slice that I just take out a portion for each of the lunch boxes. That’s something that makes the weekdays easy, too,” Chapman says.
The planning also includes deciding what you want to cook that week. The ladies recommend taking suggestions from the family so they’re happy with what’s served, and seeing what you already have in the fridge and pantry before making a detailed shopping list.
THE SHOPPING
The other key to the 4+2+1 concept is to only shop once a week.
“Go to the shop with a good list and only buy what you need and what’s on the list,” Petrovic says.
It’s an idea Chapman says was “life changing” for her.
“The average Australian goes to the supermarket three times a week and we talk about the idea that people are sometimes spending more time shopping than they are cooking, whereas all that time you could be putting into easy, healthy, tasty meals,” she says.
It’s also a habit that will save you serious money from reduced food waste and help save the planet, Chapman says.
“We really do think your average family of four will well and truly save at least $2500 a year by planning their meals and shopping once a week and sticking to a formula that isn’t overtaxing in terms of cooking huge meals every night from scratch,” she says.
COST CUTTING
In addition to shopping once a week, Petrovic also suggests shopping in advance to take advantage of buying cheaper cuts of meat that take longer to cook.
“I think a lot of people go to the supermarket right before dinner and they’re forced to buy expensive cuts of meat (that can cook quickly) because they haven’t planned to cook something in advance,” Petrovic says.
“Taking the time to buy cheaper cuts of meat is a really good way of saving at the supermarket.”
The chef recommends buying cuts like beef shin, which is often labelled gravy beef, or pork neck, which is labelled pork scotch, that require longer cooking and using them for everything from braises to slow cooker meals.
Her other tip for keeping more dollars in your pocket is to stay away from pre-packaged foods. That means no pre-chopped carrots, topped and tailed beans or ready side dishes, and buying cheese by the block and yoghurt in the biggest tub.
“Cheese is very expensive to buy in a slice form and a grated form,” Petrovic says. “If you’re putting it in lunch boxes for kids, just dice it up. It doesn’t need to be in all that packaging.”
As for yoghurt, she recommends buying a large tub of the plain Greek variety and flavouring it yourself with things like apple and cinnamon, frozen berries or simply vanilla and icing sugar.
“Often you buy those individual yoghurts and there’s often one flavour no one likes anyway, so you might as well buy a big tub,” she says.
Choosing homebrand legumes and tinned tomatoes is another good way to save, but when it comes to taking advantage of specials, Petrovic cautions to only buy what you know you will use or simply keep it to non-perishables.
Perhaps the biggest way to cut costs, however, is to incorporate more vegetarian meals into your week using the likes of lentils, chickpeas, red kidney beans or noodles.
“It also means if you have that meal once a fortnight that’s lamb or fish, the cost doesn’t blow out over the two weeks,” Petrovic says.
GETTING STARTED IN THE KITCHEN
Obviously the first week you won’t have any meals in the freezer, or the “foodbank” as the ladies call it, so you’ll need to make a couple of meals the week before you technically start and pop them in the freezer with clear labels of what they are.
The book outlines the best recipes to freeze and the best to make fresh and fast, with Petrovic tending to avoid freezing things like rice, potatoes, fish and noodles.
“I just find that when they defrost they sort of retain a lot of moisture and they can be really watery,” she says.
Meat stews, dahl and tinned bean mixes are great to freeze, as are marinated meats.
“You marinate them when you get home from the shops, they’re marinating while they’re freezing and they’re marinating while they’re defrosting and you just have to barbecue or cook it and put simple sides with it like a salad,” Petrovic says.
MAKE HERBS LAST LONGER
If you’ve ever bought herbs from the shops you’ll know that most of them end up a wilted, rotting mess in the bottom of the crisper.
But not any more. Petrovic says you can ensure the garden greens make it into more than one dish by picking off the leaves, washing and drying them either in a salad spinner or with a tea towel, and popping them in a lidded container with paper towelon the top and bottom.
“That way you can get two or three meals using coriander as opposed to if you leave it in the plastic sleeve and you only get one meal,” she says.
GET KIDS INTO THE KITCHEN
“We outline tasks that grow as the kids grow in the book.
“Some are just clearing the table or unpacking the dishwasher, but giving them life skills like how to steam rice and cook pasta and cook their own eggs and then you can build on that,” Chapman says.
SIMPLE SOLUTIONS
“It’s very hard being a parent and producing a meal that someone doesn’t eat and putting a whole lot of effort into something and that’s what used to really get me down,” Chapman says.
“When cooking became a mainstream TV event … I think it became very alienating for your average home cook because you sort of felt that if I’m not producing an Ottolenghi meal every night, what am I doing? Actually it doesn’t need to be hard, it doesn’t need to be stressful. It needs to be tasty and healthy.”
WHAT ABOUT FUSSY EATERS?
Dealing with a fussy eater is a nightmare Chapman knows only too well, with one of her three kids refusing to try new things from the age of four.
However, she says Petrovic’s recipes are helping change all that, making things like tofu and the ever-troublesome eggplant appealing in exotic new ways.
“They’re not overly challenging but they are introducing all those flavours and textures as well,” she says.
The ladies’ other tip to encourage finicky offspring to try something new or eat their vegetables is to serve the food family-style on the table for people to help themselves.
“Without putting food onto children’s plates and forcing them to eat it, you want them to come to good food naturally,” Petrovic says.
“Putting it in the middle of the table they get to have maybe just one bit of lettuce and as they get older they might put more on.”
OTHER TIMESAVERS
Pre-preparing parts of a meal when you have five minutes can be a great way to save time down the track.
Petrovic says if you have to dice onions, carrot and celery for the base of stews or braises, just do it all at once and portion it out, storing the remainder in a container in the fridge for when you need it.
She also recommends roasting vegetables for side dishes or snacks at the beginning of the week and simply reheating them as required.
“Having vegetables cooked in the fridge is great when children come home from school,” she says, saying the likes of roasted sweet potato is a great afternoon snack for kids.
* The Plan, Buy, Cook Book by Jen Petrovic and Gaby Chapman (Hardie Grant Books), $29.99.
TRY THESE RECIPES FROM THE BOOK
CHICKEN AND CHORIZO BRAISE
This chicken and chorizo braise is a lovely recipe to double and freeze for an extra meal down the track. The chorizo offers a great savoury flavour, eliminating the need for chicken stock. This will become a family favourite for sure.
Prep 20 minutes | Cook 40 minutes | Serves 4
2 tablespoons olive oil
600g boneless chicken thighs, diced
1 red onion, finely diced
1 garlic clove, crushed or grated
250g chorizo, sliced
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
150g store-bought roasted red capsicum (bell pepper), sliced
250ml tomato passata
(pureed tomatoes)
125 ml white wine (optional)
4 flat-leaf (Italian) parsley sprigs, leaves picked, chopped
8 pitted kalamata olives
vegetables or salad, to serve
bread, to serve (optional)
METHOD
1. Heat half the oil in a saucepan and brown the chicken in batches. Remove from the pan and set aside.
2. Heat the remaining oil in the same pan, then add the onion and garlic with a little water to assist cooking and prevent burning. Cook for 5 minutes.
3. Add the chorizo, paprika and capsicum and cook for 3 minutes.
4. Add the passata, wine (if using) and 300 ml water, then bring to the boil.
5. Return the chicken to the pan. Bring back to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes.
6. Add the parsley and olives and stir to combine. If doubling up the recipe, split the mixture in two and allow the extra meal to cool to room temperature. Refrigerate overnight before freezing for later use.
7. Serve with veggies or salad of your choice. Bread is also a great addition.
SPLIT PEA DAHL
Dahl in winter is like a big woollen jumper: warm and cosy. This is a great way to get at least three serves of veg in the one meal.
Prep 15 minutes + soaking overnight |Cook 1 hour | Serves 4
200g green split peas, soaked overnight
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
1 garlic clove, crushed or grated
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon mild curry powder
200g sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 quantity Perfect Steamed Rice to serve
100g (2 cups) baby spinach leaves
50g green beans
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garam masala
pinch of dried chilli flakes
125g plain or Greek yoghurt
METHOD
1. Drain the split pea soaking water and rinse them.
2. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat and cook the onion, garlic and ginger for 10 minutes until soft.
3. Add the cumin and curry powder and cook for 2 minutes.
4. Next, add the split peas and 750 ml (3 cups) water, bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer, covered, for 25 minutes.
5. Add the sweet potato, cover and simmer for a further 20 minutes, or until soft. You may need to add a little more water at this stage if the mixture seems a bit dry, or the split peas seem too hard.
6. In the meantime, steam the rice following the packet instructions.
7. Once the sweet potato is soft, add the spinach, green beans, salt and garam masala and cook for 5 minutes.
8. Adjust the seasoning if required. If doubling up the recipe, split the mixture in two and allow the extra meal to cool to room temperature. Refrigerate overnight before freezing for later use.
9. Serve with dried chilli flakes, yoghurt and rice.
*There are some great varieties of flatbreads in the supermarket. Grill them on the barbecue or in a hot chargrill pan as an alternative to rice, or pick up fresh bread from your local Indian takeaway on your way home.
ASIAN BEEF MINCE
Wok cooking is a great way to prepare a meal in a short amount of time. This is a family favourite and can be on the table in minutes. Measure out all the sauces before you start cooking. You can always do the veg prep a day in advance.
Prep 20 minutes | Cook 15 minutes | Serves 4
1 quantity Perfect Steamed Rice, to serve
100 ml Shaoxing (Chinese rice wine)
2 tablespoons sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
3 tablespoons light soy sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
pinch of ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 spring onions (scallions), finely sliced white and green parts separated
2 garlic cloves, crushed or grated
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
500g lean minced (ground) beef
½ red capsicum (bell pepper), cut into matchsticks
1 carrot, cut into matchsticks
300g Chinese cabbage (wombok), shredded
pinch of dried chilli flakes
METHOD
1. Steam the rice following the packet instructions.
2. Mix together the Shaoxing, sweet soy sauce, light soy sauce, sugar and cinnamon, and set aside.
3. Heat a large frying pan or wok, add the oil and cook the white part of the spring onions, the garlic and ginger until fragrant.
4. Add the beef mince and fry to brown, stirring continuously to break up any lumps. Cook until the liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes.
5. Add the sauce mix, capsicum, carrot and cabbage to the pan and stir to combine.
6. Remove from the heat and top with the green spring onion and chilli flakes, if desired.
7. Serve immediately with rice.
*The leaner the mince, the better the taste.
Use whatever cabbage you have at home.