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In these tricky times, we're all looking for ways

to make the most of our weekly food shop.

So, in this series, I'll be sharing the savvy recipes

I rely on day-to-day,

to save me time, money and do my bit to help the planet.

We didn't throw anything away, just think about that for a second.

I'll show you clever ways to transform food scraps

into fabulous dishes...

This started life as a sad bag of salad leaves.

...spin boring old leftovers into imaginative new meals...

It's magic, right? This is what it looks like to love your leftovers.

...and bake batch-friendly treats to get ahead.

This is what cooking once and eating twice is all about.

Plus, I'm showcasing creative cooks from across the UK,

who share my passion.

I love using stuff up.

I take great pride in not wasting anything.

It is like chocolate heaven in here!

Cook Once, Eat Twice is my feel-good food philosophy.

Yum!

Convenient, cost-effective and I promise you, totally delicious.

This week, unsung, heroic ingredients

become the star of the show.

You guys are going love this.

A forgotten bag of salad shines as a deliciously simple pasta sauce.

How beautiful is that?

My stunning batch of carrot soup

becomes a gorgeous cod and carrot curry.

Before you know it, you'll be prepped a month in advance.

I'm not kidding!

And a cracking frozen treat reinvents leftover bananas.

Fun, on all sides.

# You can get it if you really want

# You can get it if you really want

# But you must try, try and try... #

With a little bit of imagination, you can

take the saddest ingredients and give them a whole new lease of life.

I'm going to take the concept of cooking with food scraps

to a whole new level.

My super simple make once, eat twice pasta,

smothered in a fresh and zingy sauce,

transforms forgotten ingredients into an imaginative new meal.

When I say "cook once, eat twice", you don't have to buy fancy,

expensive ingredients.

You can do it using everyday heroes that you have in your fridge,

in your cupboard, to make delicious food.

Hands up, who's bought a bag of salad, and ate half of it,

and then forgot about the other half?

I have.

I've done it.

And I know there's a load of you putting your hand up, saying, "Yep".

Never again, once you've made this recipe, life will be transformed.

But first, my super speedy pasta, which begins by making

a well in 200 grams of strong bread flour, into which goes two eggs.

So, just bring that together with your fork.

And as soon as you've got no obvious runny egg bits,

get in there and knead the dough.

It's so easy.

When I'm making fresh pasta, I always like to make a double batch.

Pop it in the freezer.

I am all about the cook once, eat twice.

Soon, as you get into that mindset you will literally cook one

week and just not cook the next.

And you can do that for the rest of your life.

Can you imagine how much time you'll have for crocheting?

So much time!

Once smooth and shiny, the dough is done.

Set aside to rest and it's time to give that sad bag of salad

a new lease of life.

I grew up in a house where wasting was just not an option.

Whatever you bought had to be used in some way -

whether that was to freeze it, whether that was to cook it,

whether that was to dry it, whether it was to ferment it,

there was always a way of saving the scraps.

So, to turn this into a heroic no-cook pasta sauce,

pop the leftover salad leaves into a blender.

I'm not going to throw it away,

because I can get that lovely green colour,

and that flavour, especially if you've got a bit of rocket in there.

I would rather use it in my pasta sauce than it go to waste.

So I've got fresh coriander, stalks and all.

In fact, stalks are the best bit

because that's where most of the flavour is.

Two cloves of garlic.

Two green chillies, just take the tops off.

Then for sweetness, rehydrated apricots,

followed by a splash of water, a sprinkle of salt, and blitz.

That is what you want. The salad leaves work so well in this

because it gives it that really vibrant green.

And to make it deliciously creamy, stir in thick, Greek yoghurt.

How quick was that? We didn't cook the sauce.

So...simple.

And if you thought that was easy, check out my pasta.

I think you guys are going to really enjoy this

because I'm going to not shape this pasta, I'm just going to cut it.

That's right, no rolling, no shaping.

Just the speediest of home-made pastas.

Just take a bit of oil, brush the scissors, and just cut it.

You know when you give a four-year-old in pre-school

a pair of scissors for the first time and they're like "What?!"

You know, "Give me some scissors," it's a bit like that. I love it.

Got a tray with some semolina, stops it sticking.

If you just want fresh pasta, you don't have to fuss.

Scissors, oil, brush, done.

Each snip magically creates the perfect piece of pasta.

I love these tiny little dents

that just kind of hold the sauce really well.

And as if it couldn't get any better,

it cooks in just a couple of minutes.

Once it's risen to the top, it means it's cooked.

And our quickest ever home-made pasta

is ready to meet that super simple sauce.

You don't need tonnes of this sauce, it's so flavourful,

but look how vibrant that looks.

There's loads left, and the real bonus is,

it also makes for a tasty chutney.

This is the kind of thing that we would eat with samosas,

with pakoras, with kebabs.

You could pop it in the fridge for a week, it's delicious.

But if you're going to keep it longer, pop it in the freezer.

To finish the pasta, top with a few pearls of mozzarella

and fresh cherry tomatoes.

How beautiful is that?

Bag of salad, pasta sauce, fresh pasta, just for me.

My cook once, eat twice home-made pasta with a vibrant raw

sauce that revitalises your forgotten salad leaves.

You would not know this started life as a sad bag of salad leaves

that we all have been guilty of throwing away.

Not any more.

So zingy and fresh.

Make yourself a delicious chutney sauce, some fresh pasta and enjoy.

Next, I'm transforming a mundane veg into a bountiful meal.

The humble carrot is an everyday hero in my book,

and this recipe is giving them a glamorous glow-up.

# I'm gonna love you, baby... #

My plentiful batch of velvety carrot soup,

with warm aromatic spices and zingy citrus makes for a deliciously

effortless meal you can dine on for days.

Nothing says everyday like carrot soup.

You've had a carrot soup, I've had a carrot soup,

but have you had the best carrot soup?

You will after this.

I'm making a big batch because I want enough for now,

and another day. So, it starts with a kilo of carrots.

One of the things that we waste the most in the UK are carrots.

I think we don't forward plan.

If you think about what you're going to cook,

you'll know whether you need the carrots or not.

Throwing away food is throwing away money, and that was a thing that

started me off, really, and then I realised how much fun it can be.

And I know you're thinking "sad".

Sad nearly-40-something-year-old,

she is excited about using up waste food.

It is actually a lot of fun.

And grating, rather than chopping, cuts down on cooking time.

The bigger the pieces of carrot, the longer it will take,

which means you're spending money on your gas or electricity.

Saving you, every time.

Surprised you can see me behind my mountain of carrot!

The starch from a grated potato will act as a natural thickener

in the soup, and I've got a nifty trick for reinventing your peelings.

Drizzle some oil on there, put some spices and stick it into the

oven or the air fryer and you get a lovely delicious crispy snack.

Nothing goes to waste here. Nothing.

For a rich and creamy soup, I'm cooking with butter,

and then the first of my secrets to making it oh so tasty.

We're going in with our spices first, just to kind of toast them.

These spices are going to really

elevate the flavour of this carrot soup.

So, into the hot butter goes coriander seeds, cumin seeds,

chilli flakes and ground turmeric.

Hot fat is kind of doing its thing,

kind of extracts those lovely flavoured oils.

They're sleeping right now, they need a little shove,

"Wake up, come on, give us all that flavour."

If you didn't know that I was making a soup, you would think that

I might be making a curry.

Well, you might be right.

Because what I love to do is use the leftovers

as the base to a cod-carrot curry.

And I'll show you just how to do that later.

But for now, in with a roughly chopped onion.

And a sprinkling of salt.

It's so vibrant and beautiful in the pan, but it's aromatic, like...

just beautiful!

Then to maximise that aroma, fresh garlic.

In with our potatoes, and our carrots.

You need this amount of carrots, otherwise it's just...thin,

and insipid, and nobody wants an insipid carrot soup.

No, nobody.

Then, on to the next twist, to set this soup apart.

Orange.

And for a real citrus hit, I'm going in with zest and the juice.

It tastes so good.

Combine with vegetable stock

and let that glorious aromatic mix bubble away for ten minutes.

Then, reduce to a simmer and cover for half an hour.

Look at that, it's cooked down, it's perfect.

Now, I'm going to blend it into a smooth, velvety, delicious,

delicious soup.

This is what you want.

And when you make a soup, you want a big, abundant pot of it.

If you think cook once, eat twice every single day,

before you know it, you'll be prepped a month in advance.

I'm not kidding.

This batch will happily sit in your fridge for three days,

or simply pop it in the freezer.

But I'm going to finish today's serving with a drizzle of chilli oil

and a sprinkling of fresh coriander.

This is for me.

# I don't know what it is that makes me love you so

# I only now I never wanna... #

Cook my huge pot of scrumptiously wholesome soup once

and it will satisfy you many times over, with no extra effort.

# It happens to be true

# I only wanna be with you... #

It's SOUPER yummy!

Your mouth just fills up with those aromatic, delicious spices,

and then that orange... That orange, so citrusy.

If you think this looks good,

wait till you see what I do with the leftovers.

A big part of my cook once,

eat twice philosophy is spinning leftovers into delicious new meals.

So, let's take some of that gorgeous carrot soup

and transform it into a mouth-watering cod and carrot curry.

Take some succulent cod chunks, drizzle in oil,

sprinkle with chilli powder, salt and sliced spring onions.

Get frying.

Sizzle until golden.

Then, combine with yesterday's warm spiced soup.

Simmer until the fish is beautifully flaky.

And serve with fluffy rice and a flurry of fresh coriander

and chillies.

How's that for cook once, eat twice?

I just love finding creative ways to make the most of leftover food,

and I'm not the only one.

In Bristol, food writer Elly Pear makes it her mission to turn

unloved scraps into scrumptious meals.

I love using stuff up.

I take great pride in not wasting anything

and encouraging people to not think about things as sad leftovers,

but actually a source of great inspiration.

And Elly does just that with her now huge following on social media,

where she's been posting a different recipe using leftovers every day,

and one in particular shines a light on back-of-the-fridge heroes.

So, I'm making a galette which is like a free-form tart.

The beauty of a galette is that you can throw all sorts of things

into it, but when it's finished, it looks beautiful and it looks like

you've put loads of effort in, but it's actually super quick and easy.

So, I'm going to start off by making the pastry.

Really quick and easy, it's literally just butter

straight from the fridge, flour and some yoghurt.

I love this pastry, it's really good,

especially for using up this last scraping of yoghurt in the pot.

Give it a good sniff, it's absolutely fine.

OK, so that's taken literally like ten seconds to make.

How cool is that?

I've worked in hospitality since I was 17.

I owned my own cafe for over 12 years.

Actually, being clever with using bits

and pieces up came from necessity really.

My reasons for trying to reduce food waste have just grown and grown

and grown, and now, it's absolutely essential to the way that I cook.

And Elly's gorgeous galette filling perfectly showcases this philosophy.

So I've got various things that I need to use up,

there's a little baby red onion, cooked new potatoes

and then I also had some Stilton to use up, so perfect.

End of a jar of onion marmalade,

this is going to add loads of delicious flavour.

Super satisfying to finish something that's been

sat in the fridge for ages. That's finished.

Potato, onion and cheese together, it's going to be delicious.

I see leftovers as an absolute positive, stopped me

from wasting anything, but it's also the excitement and the interest in

being able to be challenged to come up with something delicious.

Ancl hopefully spread some inspiration to others.

This has turned out so beautifully, all those bits

and pieces that were just left over half an hour ago,

and now we've got this beautiful little thing.

Absolutely banging!

I love the way that Elly celebrates sad scraps for the heroic

ingredients they really are.

We waste over four million potatoes every single day in the UK.

So, next, a nifty recipe to make the most of those final few spuds.

I love this because this is almost like a jacket potato hybrid.

We've got mashed potato,

and we're going to fill that with baked beans, cheese, bit of chilli.

You guys are going to love this.

# I can't get by without you... #

My deliciously crisp potato cakes, packed with oozy melted cheese,

sweet and spicy baked beans and zingy spring onions spin

everyday ingredients into a heroic meal that needs nothing wasted.

# ..| can't get by without you, no way... #

If it starts with potato, you know it's going to be good.

And I love this because when you've got a couple of odd potatoes,

but they're not quite the right size for a jacket potato,

don't let them go to waste, make these.

And for potato cakes, first you need mash,

so get some spuds on the boil.

I never, ever throw away my peel|ngs.

Pop them in the freezer

and you could use a handful of those to thicken your soups,

and it doesn't get thrown away.

Potatoes, for me, are one of our everyday heroes,

and when you say "everyday heroes",

you kind of think, like, someone you love, but for me, it's root veg!

It's root veg for me!

And once these guys are just tender,

they're ready to be drained and riced.

There's nothing nicer than really, really smooth mash,

so I love to use a potato ricer.

You could totally just use a potato masher, absolutely fine.

So, I've made the potato specifically for this recipe,

but this is actually perfect for if you've got leftover mash.

Of all the things that I make,

my niece says that my mash is by far the best.

So, every time I make it, there's a little

Tupperware in there for her, and then I text her, and then before you

know it, she's round and then she takes it home for a midnight snack.

Once cooled, the mash is ready for a little flavour,

starting with zingy spring onions or any onion you've got to hand.

When I know I've got leftovers, I think about it at night,

and I think, "How am I going to use that?"

And, "What can I do with that?"

And I go to bed at night and I wake up with a spring in my step

because I'm like, "|'m going to use that up,

"|'m going to find a creative way of making that really delicious."

I do! I love it, I love using leftovers.

In goes a sprinkle of salt and black pepper.

We could be here a while. I do like black pepper.

Then, to start the transformation from mash to potato cake,

plain flour.

This is really going to help to bind those potato cakes.

If you try and fry those mashed potatoes without the flour,

you're going to get more of a pancake, and we don't want that.

Followed by my secret weapon, baking powder.

It's not just for baking.

Baking powder's going to create a light kind of fluffy airy texture,

which is exactly what we want.

We're looking for something that really holds its shape,

so this is perfect.

Now for the deliciously easy filling.

I love baked beans.

They're versatile. I think it's such a good ingredient.

There are so many ways of eating baked beans.

Stick with me.

But to avoid soggy potato cakes,

separate that tasty sauce from the beans.

If can save that and use it and make something delicious,

we will, and I'll show you how.

But for now, back to our filling with tangy grated cheddar.

I mean, greatest combination of all-time.

As those potato cakes cook, the cheese is going to melt, the

beans are going to warm up, and it's just like all that yummy goodness.

And finally, for a bit of oomph, a sprinkling of chilli flakes.

And we're ready to make potato cakes.

Just going to wet my hands,

and this should just stop it all from sticking.

Flatten it out. Take some of that cheesy bean mixture.

Just bring it all together, seal it.

Look at that.

I love making these because you can pop them in the freezer

and then I don't have to cook twice, cos I've already done it!

Gently fry our fluffy morsels in melted butter.

I love to fry these in butter because potatoes, butter -

winning combination.

As the butter kind of melts and cooks, it starts to brown

a little bit so it adds that lovely toasted flavour, as well.

While they sizzle away, we can get on with a deliciously

versatile dip that you can use for the rest of the week.

Simply mix that scrummy bean sauce with ketchup,

punchy chilli sauce and creamy mayonnaise.

We didn't throw anything away! just think about that for a second.

That's a big deal!

Once the potato cakes are gorgeously golden and crisp,

they're ready to serve.

Oh, my goodness, look at that! And the cheese is oozing.

My sweet-and-spicy-bean-filled potato cakes

are a scrumptiously simple way to use up everyday

ingredients you've got knocking around at home.

Bit of that sauce.

That's so, so good!

That's how you can take everyday heroes

and turn them into a complete hit.

And that's just what I'm going to do next with a fun fruity treat

that you'll make once, but eat again and again.

Who doesn't have the odd banana knocking around in the fruit bowl?

I always have.

I'm going to show you how to make a cheeky no-bake bake that

turns an everyday staple into something sensational.

# Ooh, sugar pie, honey bunch

# You know that I love you... #

Loaded with sweet banana, creamy peanut butter

and chunky dark chocolate, make this giant banana bark once and you'll

have a treat ready and waiting for whenever you have a sugar craving.

I don't know about you guys, but my kids love bananas,

but they do this thing where they're like, "Oh, we love bananas,

"can we have bananas every single day?"

"Course you can," so I go off and buy like 15 bananas.

And then, the next day, they don't like bananas any more.

"Guys, shall we eat the bananas? Someone eat a banana.

"Guys, have a banana." Nobody wants a banana.

So, make banana, peanut butter bark, it's so good.

And it starts off with three bananas.

Cut into rounds.

They're not going to go in there. They need to go somewhere.

And pop into rows on a lined baking tray to create our base.

I originally saw this online.

Bark is a very American thing and it's usually chocolate

covered in lots of different types of candy that's broken up.

But I love this version cos it's better for you,

and it's a really, really good snack.

Pop in the freezer until the banana is firm,

and we're on to our next easy layer, melted dark chocolate.

You could totally use milk chocolate if you wanted, but

I really like the dark chocolate, I think it's such a good contrast.

Peanut butter and then the sweet banana.

So, the water's simmering away.

And when you're melting chocolate,

you want to move it around, so it melts evenly.

And look at that. That is... Whoar, delicious!

And when that fruity base is firm, we're ready to build.

If I didn't freeze this, the bananas would kind of go everywhere

and it would just be a little bit of a mess.

Tasty, but messy.

And it doesn't get tastier than banana

crowned with creamy peanut butter.

Push that peanut butter into those little gaps.

You'll create this solid slab of deliciousness.

Then, smother in that velvety dark chocolate.

This looks absolutely delicious.

All my kind of favourite flavours.

It's my husband's favourite flavours, as well.

You can do all sorts of types of fruit,

but I love using bananas because I don't like making banana bread

all the time, sometimes I want to make

something a little bit different.

And then, for that all-important top layer,

sprinkle with crunchy peanuts.

This is as much about flavour as it is about texture.

You could use cashews, you could use pistachios.

This is stuff that you've already got at home.

Just to add a little bit more crunch, some rock salt.

I just love that burst with the rock salt where you go for a bite

and it kind of bursts in your mouth. We love it.

Pop that into the freezer and that's it, it's done.

After just that tiny bit of effort,

you'll have a heroic sweet treat that'll last you weeks.

And in just a couple of hours, it's ready for action.

Check this out.

This is my favourite bit.

I love the bananas, they're like in a row.

It looks really, really cool,

and it looks like you've put tonnes of effort in

when, really, you haven't.

Look at it, banana, peanut butter, chocolate bark.

Fun on all sides.

And all that's left to do is chop it into chunks.

Look that. Can you hear that? I love that crunch.

Can we just take a moment to appreciate these delicious layers?

Look at that! As a snack, it's so, so good.

Just keep this stash of blissful bark in the freezer

and return for a nibble again and again.

But we like to have it as a pudding.

And for minimum effort but maximum tastiness, it can only be ice cream.

Get it in there, and then sprinkle those,

and like that makes a proper cool pud.

My scrumptious bark is not only an effortless sweet treat

that keeps on giving,

but a deliciously simple way to make sure your bananas never

go to waste again.

That...

Yum!

We've gone from simple, to decadent with just a few staple ingredients.

There is nothing nicer than sitting down to some dessert that

didn't take forever to make.

And this isn't just a one-off but I've also got some in the freezer,

so I'm going to be having this dessert on repeat

for the rest of the week.

Next week, my fastest feeds to save you time.

One simple recipe, and we've got two dishes.

From my emergency burritos...

Look at that. Full, delicious, really easy.

...to a stir-fry with a second life.

Make this because it's quick, it's simple, it's perfection.