A Shortcut to My Tips:

1. Use your freezer by labelling each item with name and date. Put the most recent item at the bottom.

2. Use your microwave to save you valuable time and effort

3. FRIED ONIONS: When a recipe calls for fried onions, make a large batch, use what you need and freeze the rest for use at a later date. I keep a box for fried onions in my freezer and just keep topping it up each time it is empty.

4. Make your own Greek yogurt. It will not have the sour taste of store bought yogurt.

5. Need roasted walnuts in your salads? I buy a kilo at a time as it is more economical. Spread the lot in a roasting tray and bung into your oven pre-heated to 200 C. Put your timer on for 6 minutes and then watch them like a hawk. Once they just change colour, take them out, cool and chop. Store in the fridge.

6. GARLIC: Buy a bag of peeled garlic from the markets or Chinese grocer. Blitz with a stick blender and spread into ice cube trays. Freeze, unmould and store in a box labelled “Garlic” in the freezer.

7. GINGER: Buy 500 gms or more, wash with a brush and remove ugly bits. Blend to a paste, and freeze in ice cube trays. Unmould and store in a box labelled “Ginger”.

8. SPICES:

• Coriander: In a dry pan roast whole coriander seeds till they get fragrant, change colour and start to pop and crackle. Cool, grind to a powder and store in a zip lock bag in your freezer.

• Cumin: Same as for Coriander above. Just roast them separately as they have different cooking times.