FRI · LUNCH · Dal chicken (COOKED) · pan 8 min + 3 tbsp water
FRI · DINNER · Chicken strips for spaghetti (COOKED) · toss in sauce 3 min
Saturday
SAT · BREAKFAST · Egg & bean burrito (COOKED) · covered pan 10 min + 2 min crisp
SAT · LUNCH · Beef & bean chilli (COOKED) · pan 8 min till bubbling
SAT · DINNER · Tikka boti 235 g (RAW) · pan 10 min, lid on
Nightly thaw schedule
Night
Move to the fridge
Also tonight
Sunday
Smash cheeseburger
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Monday
Chickpea chaat with boiled eggs, Chicken taco rice bowl with chilli-honey yogurt, Chicken tikka pan pizza (no oven)
Boil 3 eggs (9 min) and cool in cold water; keep them in their shells; Whisk 1 portion chilli-honey yogurt sauce for Tuesday lunch
Tuesday
Cheesy honey-chilli chicken quesadilla, Crispy chicken burger (pan-fried, no deep fry)
Shopping: the 'Tuesday evening' column of the list; Whisk 1 portion chilli-honey yogurt sauce (Wednesday lunch) and 1 portion light burger sauce (Wednesday dinner)
Wednesday
Chicken karahi (tomato, black pepper and green chilli), Honey teriyaki chicken rice bowl
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Thursday
Dal chicken with a smoky onion tadka, Creamy garlic chicken spaghetti
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Friday
Egg, bean and cheese breakfast burrito, Beef and bean chilli on a loaded potato, Chicken tikka boti with chapati and mint yogurt chutney
Make the mint yogurt chutney for Saturday dinner
Saturday
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Weekend prep evening (see the cook-up); Sunday's diced chicken and beef slices stay boxed on the bottom shelf
Power cut rules
Power cuts (load-shedding): keep the freezer door shut. A full closed freezer stays safe about 48 h, half-full about 24 h, so keep water bottles frozen in the empty spaces. Keep a cup of frozen water with a coin on top: if the coin has sunk, the freezer thawed. After a cut: a bag that still has ice crystals goes back in. A bag that is fully soft but still fridge-cold moves to the fridge and is eaten within 24 h (the rice box that same day), never refrozen. Anything that feels like room temperature, or if you cannot tell how long the power was off: bin it.
If the fridge is off more than 4 h, bin anything perishable that is no longer cold to the touch: thawed raw meat, thawed cooked boxes, the Monday shawarma box, the Sunday rice box, yogurt sauces, raita, chutney, peeled eggs. If it is still cold, cook or eat it today. Eggs in their shell and unopened sauces are fine.