Day 2: Food
Eat well, spend wisely and never make yourself ill.
Today's goal
By the end of today you can plan and cost a week of meals, compare supermarket prices, cook two dishes and follow the key food safety rules.
Agenda
The session
Fridge forensics
A home fridge is full of clues about food safety. With permission, take a look.
- Find three foods with a use-by date and three with a best before date.
- Note where raw meat or fish is stored compared with ready-to-eat food.
- If there is a fridge thermometer, read it. If not, add one to your shopping list.
Solo
Do it at home with a parent's permission, without moving anything you should not.
Group
If no fridge is available, the facilitator brings ten food packets and flats sort them into use-by and best before piles.
Related lessons: Reading food labels: traffic lights, ingredients and dates, Stocking your cupboard, fridge and freezer for one
Food safety that matters
Most food poisoning at home comes from a few avoidable mistakes. These are the rules from the UK Food Standards Agency.
- Keep your fridge between 0 and 5 degrees Celsius and check it weekly with a fridge thermometer.
- Do not put hot food straight in the fridge: cool it, then refrigerate within one to two hours. Splitting it into smaller portions helps it cool faster.
- Eat leftovers within 48 hours, or freeze them.
- Store raw meat, poultry and fish sealed on the bottom shelf so they cannot drip, and keep raw and cooked meat apart.
- Defrost in the fridge and use food within 24 hours of it fully defrosting. You can freeze it again once cooked, but then reheat it only once.
- Use-by dates are about safety; best before dates are about quality. Do not eat food past its use-by date.
Related lessons: Kitchen safety and food hygiene, Reading food labels: traffic lights, ingredients and dates, Cooking for one without waste, Stomach bugs, food poisoning and dehydration
Plan a week of meals
A plan turns a vague idea of 'cooking more' into a shopping list and real meals.
- Draw a grid of 7 days by breakfast, lunch and dinner.
- Choose three or four main dishes you will cook in batches, and plan leftovers into the following days' lunches.
- Include at least one dish using a tin of beans or lentils and one fast egg meal for busy days.
- Check balance: vegetables or fruit at most meals, a source of protein, a starchy base.
- Write a shopping list grouped by supermarket section, crossing off what you already have.
Solo
Plan the week for yourself as if you were living alone.
Group
Each flat plans a shared week for four people, then divides it into four individual lists to compare.
Related lessons: Planning a week of meals for one, Writing a shopping list that works, Stocking your cupboard, fridge and freezer for one, Eating well on a tight budget: a worked week, Batch cooking, leftovers and meal prep on a budget, Finding halal food abroad
Supermarket price-check mission
Find out what your plan really costs and how much smarter shopping can save.
- Take 15 items from your shopping list.
- Find each item's price in a real supermarket (in person with an adult, or on its website or app).
- For at least five items, compare a branded product with the own-brand version, and note the price per kg or per litre.
- Total your week's food cost and compare it with the food line in your Day 1 budget.
- Note three swaps that would cut the total by at least 10 percent.
- Compare your weekly cost with ordering three dinners on a delivery app.
Solo
Shop with a parent or do the mission online, then report your three best swaps.
Group
Each flat checks a different supermarket or app, then all flats share totals to find the cheapest basket. Students under 18 should only visit shops with an adult.
Related lessons: Supermarket strategies: getting more for your money, Eating well on a tight budget: a worked week, Online groceries and delivery apps versus cooking, Tracking your spending
Break
Wash hands and set up for cooking.
- Tie back long hair, roll up sleeves and wash your hands.
- Clear and wipe your work surface.
Cook two dishes
Cook one main dish and one breakfast or bake from the Simple Recipes module, using the safety rules from this morning.
- Choose one main: mujaddara (sp-02), a student pasta (sp-04), frittata (sp-05) or bean chilli (sp-09).
- Choose one quick dish: overnight oats or porridge (sp-06) or a hummus and ful plate (sp-01).
- Read both recipes fully, set out ingredients and equipment, and agree with your supervising adult which tasks you do alone.
- Use a separate board for any raw meat and wash hands after handling it.
- Cook, taste, and plate up. Photograph the result.
- Cool any leftovers, then refrigerate within two hours in a labelled container with the date.
- Clean down: wash up, wipe surfaces and take out rubbish.
Solo
Cook at home with a parent present for knives and the hob.
Group
Use a school or community teaching kitchen with one adult per flat, or students cook at home that evening with a parent and bring photos and costings the next day.
Related lessons: Hummus and ful medames: a two-tin mezze plate, Mujaddara: lentils, rice and crispy onions, Two student pastas: tuna pasta and lentil bolognese, Frittata: the clear-the-fridge egg dinner, Overnight oats, porridge and fast breakfasts, Store-cupboard bean chilli (with a halal beef option), Kitchen safety and food hygiene, Knife skills and basic cuts
Cost and taste review
Good cooks always review what they made.
- Work out the cost per portion of your main dish.
- Rate it from 1 to 5 for taste and for effort.
- Write one change you would make next time.
Solo
Ask whoever ate it to rate it too.
Group
Each flat shares cost per portion; the group votes for best value.
Case: the leftover dilemma
Lina, in a shared flat in Kuala Lumpur, finds three things in the kitchen: chicken curry left on the hob since lunch five hours ago, rice and lentils she cooked and refrigerated three days ago, and yoghurt one day past its best before date.
- Which items should she throw away, and why?
- What do the FSA rules say about the leftovers from three days ago?
- How should she judge the yoghurt, and would it change if the date were a use-by date?
- What one habit would have saved the curry?
Solo
Write your answers, then check them against the teaching points.
Group
Flats vote 'eat' or 'bin' on each item, then the facilitator reveals the answers using the FSA rules.
Related lessons: Reading food labels: traffic lights, ingredients and dates, Cooking for one without waste, The shared kitchen: cleanliness, food and the fridge
Day 2 quiz
Five questions on food safety and shopping.
- Answer alone, then check the explanations.
Block timer
Your journal
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Day 2 quiz
Score 80% or more to complete Day 2.
1. What fridge temperature range does the Food Standards Agency recommend?
2. How long does the FSA say you should keep leftovers in the fridge?
3. Where should raw meat be stored in the fridge?
4. What is the difference between use-by and best before dates?
5. Your hot stew is ready but you will not eat it today. What should you do?
Overnight challenge
Cook breakfast for your household tomorrow morning (with permission), using something you planned today, and clean up completely afterwards.