- 4 hours ago
- #realityinsighthub
Batch from Scratch Cooking for Less Season 2 Episode 2
#
#RealityInsightHub
"If you enjoyed this video and want to support our team by helping us fund our late-night coffee needs, please donate via PayPal! ☕️
A small act – a big impact. Thank you all so much! ❤️"
Donate at: [https://www.paypal.me/ngaxo]
🎞 Please subscribe to our official channel to watch the full movie for free, as soon as possible. ❤️Reality Insight Hub❤️
👉 Official Channel: https://www.dailymotion.com/user/realityinsight
👉 THANK YOU ⭐❤️❤️❤️⭐
#
#RealityInsightHub
"If you enjoyed this video and want to support our team by helping us fund our late-night coffee needs, please donate via PayPal! ☕️
A small act – a big impact. Thank you all so much! ❤️"
Donate at: [https://www.paypal.me/ngaxo]
🎞 Please subscribe to our official channel to watch the full movie for free, as soon as possible. ❤️Reality Insight Hub❤️
👉 Official Channel: https://www.dailymotion.com/user/realityinsight
👉 THANK YOU ⭐❤️❤️❤️⭐
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:01Suzanne and I are back together. Lead the way Professor Batch. Helping families up
00:06and down the country get control of their mealtimes. That is an insane amount of
00:15snacks. As a dad of six kids I know getting good healthy food on the table
00:19fast can be a nightmare. Grump is up! Like feeding the three bears in it. With my
00:26batching tips and tricks we're going to make those dreaded dinner times a thing
00:29of the past. Three minutes your dinner is done no fuss. We'll help struggling
00:35households. Oh could you eat that and not die? Who find feeding the family stressful.
00:41That chicken's off. We'll analyse what they eat. You're only getting a balanced diet
00:4720% of the time. And what they spend. I thought that was a month. And thanks to some
00:54clever hacks and easy to follow recipes. Well done mate. We'll save them
00:59time. When in life does someone give you three weeks of your life back? And money.
01:04That's a good holiday isn't it? Revolutionising their mealtimes. What do we think boys?
01:09Can we have this tomorrow? If you can't beat it, batch it. Thank you. I can't see us ever going
01:17back.
01:18It's life changing isn't it? Definitely. It's a hug and a ball. Oh come here.
01:30Hello Suzanne. Or as they say in Wales, Boreida. Boreida. What a beautiful place you've brought
01:35me to. Well welcome to Cardiff. We're here to meet the Burton family. They're a big blended
01:40family of six. Mum, she's on maternity leave and she's spending hours in the kitchen. But
01:46she's due to go back to work soon. So she needs to get a better system in place. I love
01:51putting a good system in place. So we're off to a good start. Also to make things slightly
01:55more difficult, two of the family members are Celia. All the more reason to get organised
01:59and get batching. Well as they say in Wales, stop cooking you on. I'll take your word for
02:04it. Sorry Cardiff. That will be my last attempt at Welsh. I do promise. Put your hands up.
02:11Oh it's a Burton. The Burton household is a busy blended family. With children spanning 16 years.
02:21Parents Becky and Dan have five month old Axel and four year old Ezra. And every other week
02:26they're joined by Dan's girls. Fionn 12 and Carys 16. I got dad back for you. They definitely
02:33keep us on our toes. Bye dad. Bye. Becky and Dan both have busy full time jobs working in
02:39governance and tax. But currently Becky has her hands full on maternity leave. Axel who's five
02:46months is obsessed with me. He's obsessed with you absolutely. Oh look at that. Are you enjoying
02:52doing your raspberries today? But it's not just the baby that Becky is juggling. At the moment I do
02:58the majority if not all of the cooking and the shopping and the preparing and the list. And then
03:04I'm also breastfeeding. That's like a full time job just feeding my child on top of everything else.
03:08Didn't have to run to the bottom of the plan list you know. The mental load that comes with the
03:13cooking
03:13is definitely added more stress. Added charcoal for flavouring. It definitely creates a challenge
03:20doesn't it? Not only that but planning is tricky as the family changes from four to six every other
03:26week when Dan's girls are home. Sometimes we can end up with massive portion sizes on the weeks we
03:30don't have the girls and then small ones when we do. Becky is spending hours in the kitchen cooking
03:36from scratch every day but with good reason. We can't really do convenience food because of all
03:42the dietary requirements. Girls what do you want for dinner? Can we have Chinese noodles? No because
03:47the noodles have wheat in. Dan's youngest daughter Fionn and their four-year-old son Ezra have both got
03:53celiac disease. Can we have curry? Yeah we could do curry. You're responsible if they have a reaction
03:59it's it's on you. It's way more complicated than I ever realised before I had a kid with allergies.
04:06Celiac's get you if they encounter any gluten which is found in wheat, barley and rye. The main offenders
04:11are pasta, cereals, cakes and bread but traces of gluten can show up in all sorts of places. We keep
04:18our
04:18gluten on one particular area to try and keep the rest of the kitchen as gluten free as we can.
04:23Becky often makes two different evening meals to cater for everyone's needs.
04:29It's hard at times but Becky's cooking is very nice because she always makes meals gluten free
04:37for me and Ezra. Bon appetit! Becky has picked up the slack while on maternity leave apart from the
04:44nights when Dan returns home with the takeaway. There are times where you're just exhausted. The
04:49advantage of takeaways you don't have to clean up the things you've cooked you just eat it and then
04:53you can kind of move on. But when Becky goes back to work they can't live on takeaways and there
04:58won't
04:58be enough hours in the day to continue like this. I'll be working from half six in the morning till
05:03half six so just trying to fit in where I cook where I spend time with the boys as they
05:08grow up
05:09is a little bit of a panic. Becky and Dan can't see how to get out of this rut. So
05:14I would like to
05:15get back to the point where cooking is no longer a chore. It's something everyone wants to help and
05:20do as a family. I think it'd be really cool though to make those memories with the family.
05:25They grow up so fast so just spending time with him when he's little and young and wants to talk
05:30to
05:30Becky would be massive. Let's get cracking. Before we figure out how to help Becky and Dan we're going
05:39to take advantage of an empty house and see if it provides any clues to where it's all going wrong.
05:45Oh there's a baby in the house.
05:50Eye bags eat all the baby cuddles. Not much to see on the surface but the issues are always found
05:55behind
05:56closed doors. Oh we've got some food. It's a bit of everything really going on in there. A bit of
06:01a mix
06:01and match. Oh yeah we've got gluten-free down the bottom. The tiniest trace of gluten can make Fionn or
06:08Ezra ill so we'll have to be very careful of any cross-contamination while we're here. We'll have a
06:15little snoop in there Prid. Oh! It's a bit of everything going on in every shelf. A bit like the
06:21cupboards. I think
06:22it just needs a bit of organisation. It needs a batch lady touch doesn't it? It does. Is it the
06:27same with the freezer?
06:30Ready chopped onions sealed with the clip. Not the only one either. There's another clip there.
06:36Top prizes for this. But this seems to be the only bit of organisation in the whole kitchen.
06:42Every cupboard just seems quite full of random things. This could be much more efficient for Becky
06:48especially when she's already spending so much time in the kitchen. It feels like everything's just
06:54come out and be reorganised. Are you going to stay in half? No no I'm just saying that's what I
07:00would
07:00do. I'm not the batch lady. I don't know what you're thinking. Before I get Joe roped into some
07:07kitchen organising it's time to meet the family. Hello everybody. Hello everyone. Hello you lot. Hello baby.
07:17So Dan and Becky tell us what dinner times in this house are like. For one of a better word
07:22crazy.
07:22They're always rushed really busy and yeah Becky does most of the cooking. One-handed most of the time.
07:28It takes quite a long time to do dinner at the moment. Well we're going to delve into that a
07:32little bit
07:32deeper so we're going to nick mum and dad for a little while but I promise Ezra we'll bring them
07:37back all right. All right see you later everyone. To understand what we've taken on and appreciate
07:45exactly what the Burton's meal times look like we've installed cameras to monitor their cooking and
07:51eating habits. I know everyone dreads this part but should we have a little look? Yeah. Yeah nice.
07:57The first thing that I noticed is how much you reminded me of me when I had two tiny kids
08:03and constantly did everything one-handed and you were amazing at this. I mean that's one-handed one
08:09leg. You're normally at work so I've got nobody else to have them. The mum guilt that comes with it
08:15as
08:15well. I still just lie here. You're not giving them the attention that they want or they need
08:20because you're too busy trying to do everything else. Becky is spending hours in the kitchen cooking
08:25fresh gluten-free food as well as other options for the non-celiacs. You know it's hard enough
08:31thinking about meal planning but actually you have to think about so much more than that.
08:35Pre-made sauces and stuff tend to have like secret gluten and stuff so you can't just assume.
08:40It's definitely a challenge just make sure that you can you know eat safely. And while Becky is
08:44spending hours cooking from scratch Dan's go-to is a takeaway. Oh no. There's no babes in arms there.
08:51It's just chips in arms. No no just me yeah yeah just me. Oh dear. So it looks like there's
08:56a lot of eating
08:56for you on the hop. Yeah generally on the move. There's definitely room there for improvement where
09:02we can work out a better routine for Dan as well. Sounds good. And then there's the weeks when the
09:08older girls are at home. Both girls seem like you know they know their way around the kitchen so
09:13that's good that's a good step. But there's some unhealthy missteps too. Oh my god that's so much
09:20sugar. Secretly eating from the fridge. My teenagers do exactly this they just stand in
09:26front of the fridge and sort of graze out of it. Makes sense where the food goes. Overall do you
09:30think that's a fair reflection of your family and their relationship with the kitchen? I don't think
09:34I was aware of the secret eating going on but apart from that yeah. I think it's lovely you are
09:39cooking from scratch. I'm just excited to see how I can make it easier for both of you. That'd be
09:44great.
09:45As well as sneaking a look into the habits in the kitchen for the past month we've been monitoring
09:50how much money and time is being spent on their food. Here we go. A week. You are spending 227
10:00pounds
10:00and 29 pence on food each week. I thought that was a month. I thought maybe 100 pounds but yeah
10:08that's a
10:09lot. You're actually spending 160 pounds a week in the supermarket the rest of that you're spending on
10:14takeaways or eating out. Five shops a week and complex food prep is also stealing hours away from
10:21the family time. You're spending 19 hours and 10 minutes cooking, preparing food and eating food.
10:29Yeah I see your whole days. Yeah. As for hitting their five a day it's a table of two halves.
10:3548% of the time you're hitting that intake. Becky you're actually hitting it 70% of the time.
10:41Dan unfortunately you're slightly bringing it down on what you do. How does that make you down?
10:49How does that make you feel Dan? A bit guilty to be honest because like yeah obviously you know I
10:53want to set a good example. I'm trying to be healthy and clearly that's one area that I'm
10:57struggling with. To see the stats it was a bit surprising how much we spend which is incredible.
11:02It's a lot of time that's like half a full-time job but the most shocking for me you know
11:06maybe not so
11:06much for Bex whereas the nutrition element clearly not quite as nutritious as I maybe I thought I was.
11:12Don't beat yourself up too bad because we've seen worse stats than that. Oh yeah yeah and you're
11:17doing so many of the right things already. This situation can definitely be safe and the good
11:22thing is once we do it now it'll be done for when you go back to work and we'll have
11:25it all in order
11:26it'll be perfect. That'd be great. That'd be good yeah thank you.
11:38The Burton's of a busy blended family. Let me feed these and then I'll feed you. Cooking in our house
11:45is
11:46crazy the majority of the time. The pressure is on mum Becky to provide allergen free meals.
11:52Theon who has celiac disease, Ezra who has celiac disease. She is spending hours shopping for,
11:58preparing and cooking complex meals from scratch. Becky and Dan are not alone. Six percent of kids
12:05have some kind of gluten allergy or intolerance. Everyday situations just become challenging. It
12:10adds more stress than you'd ever think. I want to show Becky how she can reduce those 19 hours a
12:18week
12:18feeding the family and have a system in place by the time she goes back to work. Grandma has the
12:25baby,
12:25the kids are at school and Dan is at work. So I'm first going to show Becky how to remove
12:30the chaos
12:30from this kitchen. This is a long and narrow space so storing things in the wrong place wastes time
12:36and energy. All those things that you keep having to run back and forth will make sure that the food
12:42that you use all the time as you're standing at the hob is right there for you. Yeah that'd be
12:46great
12:46thank you. And I want to make the utensils easily accessible too. I think we can get a pot and
12:52just
12:53fill them up in here because you've got a lot of space here. This is ideal for Becky's one-handed
12:58cooking. Let's just clear it out we'll decide where everything's going. Hello you two, how are you
13:02getting on? Hello. Good. You all right well listen Dan's at work so Becky I'm going to borrow you to
13:07go
13:08shopping but you're all right to hold down the fort with you Suzanne. Story of my life Jo. All right
13:12come on
13:12Becky let's go. See you later. Bye. Typical left on my own again. Becky's been nipping to the shops
13:21around five times a week eating into valuable time with her family. Ready you hold on to that? Thank
13:26you. Let's do this. I've got an efficient aisle ordered list to get us in and out and the weekly
13:33shop done in one go starting with a fruit aisle. Dan does not eat a lot of fruit and veg
13:39so we need
13:40fruit that's convenient for him. He needs something that is naturally sealed like a banana. Oranges are
13:45really good as well. Dan needs to improve healthy eating at home and on the go so let's chuck in
13:51some apples and plums too. He might think that's a lot of healthy stuff. Well you might need to push
13:56him into it slightly. Maybe we'll start slowly. Yeah there's no I in team is there? Becky is struggling
14:02to cook inexpensive celiac friendly meals that work for everyone. Naturally gluten-free cooking will help
14:09reduce the time spent prepping double dinners. Veg is a great place to start. This is a gluten-free
14:15zone. You can have whatever you want on this aisle. There'll be no cross contamination. This is all good
14:21food that you can eat all your family together. And my top tip potatoes. There's so much you can do
14:28with
14:28it. You can mash it. You can fry it. You can chip it. You can roast it. It's exactly the
14:33same with a sweet potato.
14:34Also sweet potatoes unlike your average spud have plenty of nutrients and count towards your five
14:40a day. Ready? I'll chuck them sir. One, two, quick, quick. I think that should be enough.
14:49We've got enough potatoes to last us forever. Pasta is a go-to for Becky and her family.
14:54Most of the time we have to have two different types of pasta. So you have to have the normal
14:58pasta
14:59and then the gluten-free pasta for the celiacs. So things like gluten-free pasta are double the
15:03price of normal pasta. It definitely adds a lot to our shopping. In fact, shopping gluten-free is 35%
15:09more expensive than a standard shop. So what we need to do is stick to foods that are naturally
15:14gluten-free like this rice. You're not paying the premium on it like you would with gluten-free pasta.
15:20Let's chuck it in shall we? Right, we're on the last knockings now. Freezer aisle and then we are done.
15:25As we've seen from our Snoop, we're not teaching Becky anything new about Suzanne's favourite,
15:31frozen vegetables. Yeah, I am quite lazy. I feel like cutting onions is pretty pointless. No, don't say
15:36that. It's not lazy. Especially if you've got a baby on your arm. True. And we'll tuck some of these
15:41in and we
15:43are done. Good job. And done in one shop, not five, and food for the whole family. I think that
15:51this
15:51has been pretty successful, don't you? Yes. It's much quicker with you helping me do this. Well,
15:56unfortunately, I can't be with you the whole time, can I? There you go. Thank you very much. Thanks so
16:01much. You can hold on to that. Right, let's go. Let's get batch cooking. I wonder how Suzanne's getting
16:08on sorting out that kitchen all by herself. Hello, hello, hello. How is everybody? Hello, how did you
16:15get on? Yeah, I think we've done all right today. Yeah, excellent. We've streamlined the whole process.
16:20Talking about streamlining, I streamlined your kitchen for you while you were out. So,
16:25you've got some nice clear space here with all your batching equipment ready to get going. We've sorted
16:30your cupboard out here so you've got all the things that you need for cooking right to hand. Also,
16:36you're gluten-free. Bits and bobs are all up here. Often, people have all their food in one part of
16:41the kitchen, but separating out the frequently used items is more efficient. I've added your utensils up
16:47here so that you can just grab them when you're one-handed with baby on hip. The change that Suzanne
16:53made will definitely make it more streamlined. Everything's right by where I need to cook. It's really good.
16:59Becky has taken on the lion's share of the cooking while on maternity leave,
17:03but my hacks and tips will need to be sustainable for when she goes back to work.
17:08So, I want to find out more about what that looks like for the Burtons.
17:13You're usually full-time working, are you? Yes, I do compressed hours. I do four days of like
17:18nine and a half hours and then one day off to look after the kids. Nine and a half hours
17:24work and then
17:25getting home, feeding everybody. Yeah. That is a lot. Yeah, the mental load that kind of goes with it.
17:31You've got like 20 lists in your head like make sure I do this for school and this needs to
17:35be paid
17:35and then the food aspect of it and everything. So, I got into doing batching at about exactly the same
17:40stage as you are. I had one just going to nursery and I had one about your size, yes, and
17:47I never felt
17:47like I was quite doing my job right, bringing up the kids right and I just felt like overwhelmed
17:52cooking from scratch every single day. Batching isn't really about the food. For me, it's about
17:58lightening the mental load and that was the best time to get into batching for me because I could
18:04batch on a Sunday morning and just get myself ready for the week ahead. Yeah, that's where I'm really
18:08hoping you can help us, I guess, to understand how we can do that kind of thing. So many of
18:14us have been
18:15in this situation before. I certainly have baby in arms, toddler at feet, it is hard work. I think
18:21you're doing an amazing job. You really are. I mean, you are juggling a little bit of every bit of
18:28somebody's life, babyhood, teenagers, it's all going. You are so cute. I want to batch you up and take you
18:35home with me. I do. Rather than batching the baby, it's time to introduce Becky to the first of many
18:42recipes. We're aiming to streamline the Burton's cooking so all the dishes will be naturally
18:47gluten-free. This will prevent Becky from having to cook multiple meals and reduce costs by avoiding
18:54specialist gluten-free products. And all my recipes can be batched and frozen, giving Becky or Dan
19:00a quick meal on another day. Sausages, is that a family favourite? They do love sausages but because
19:06there's so many of us, we do have to have quite a few packets of sausages so it can get
19:11quite pricey.
19:11When you're feeding a large family it's about bulking out with pulses, beans, lentils.
19:17And that's exactly what we're going to do here. This sausage and bean cassoulet is protein-rich and
19:23excellent value. We're going to double bubble this, okay, so we're making one for now and one for the
19:28freezer. Becky can also control how many portions are in the freezer so she's not over or under cooking when
19:35the girls are at home. One in the freezer for five or we'll put one in the freezer for three
19:39then you don't have any waste. This is a super quick dish so let's get frying those sausages.
19:45These are gluten-free of course. And then prep the veg. You can either choose to peel a carrot or
19:50just
19:51wash it. I quite often just have a clean scrubber and scrub them, saves me peeling. To save more time
19:56we're going to chop everything in the food processor. Great for hiding veg as well.
20:05My god that's so much quicker. Easy to do one-handed as well in the little one. Remove the cooked
20:10sausages
20:10and add some stress-free, tear-free frozen chopped onions to the pan along with the veg.
20:17Just chuck it straight in? Right in, yep. Perfect. Next we add chopped tomatoes and the butter beans.
20:24Any type of bean or even chickpeas could be used here, whatever you have in the cupboard.
20:30And you can see at the moment you know we haven't added sausages and look how much volume of food
20:35we've
20:36got going on. Quickly grate a stock cube for added flavour and there's enough sauce for two family meals.
20:42So we're doing the hard work once and we're getting the benefit of it twice. Pop the cooked sausages back
20:49in and simmer for 20 minutes. Plenty of time for me to show Becky another of my speedy side dishes.
20:55Ever use canned potatoes? Never use canned potatoes. These are my rapid roasties. If you're in a hurry
21:02you're just opening them up and using them straight away. These guys are a blank canvas for flavour.
21:08We're coating in oil and any herbs and spices of your choice. I'm using oregano and garlic granules.
21:15You could do paprika, you could do anything you want. There'll be lovely little crunchy balls of flavour.
21:22Then just 20 minutes at 200 in the air fryer. They can go straight on your plate or be batched
21:28and
21:28frozen once cooled. Now time to try our cassoulet. Joe, Dan. Oh wow that's good. I'm not going to taste
21:36it
21:36because it's my recipe so I could maybe have the baby. Now we know the real reason you're here Suzanne.
21:43Oh god that's really tasty. That is lovely. That is. And that's got four of your five a day.
21:49Four? Four? Four. How has it got four? We've hidden lots of veg in there.
21:54And the good thing is about cooking meals that are naturally gluten-free is it's not costing you any
21:58more money because you're not buying specifically gluten-free products. Yeah it's also a lot easier not
22:04having to think about different pans and different pots all the time. Becky and Dan have a whole other
22:08meal ready to go for when it's the five of them. All they need to do is defrost it in
22:12the morning
22:13and reheat it for dinner. It was super fast I could actually just shove that in the oven
22:17play with the kids 20 minutes later it's ready to put on the table. I would say more but I'm
22:23really
22:23enjoying it. This one's gorgeous. Are you talking about me again?
22:32Well now me and the gorgeous Joe thank you Suzanne are heading to our test kitchen because I've got a
22:38great snack to show you my homemade chicken tenders perfect for a treat. What I love is you can make
22:46them put them in the freezer grab out of any time you want. Nice I'm excited. Now my goujons have
22:52a
22:52slightly unusual coating. Tortilla chips are having a snack? No. We need three separate bowls for smashed
23:00up tortilla chips the beaten eggs and some flour. Tortilla chips are made from corn so my tenders can
23:07easily be celiac friendly if you use gluten-free flour. And I'm going to add some cajun seasoning just to
23:13give that flour a lovely taste. And then it's the messy bit. I knew I was going to end up
23:19with a
23:19dipping job. I'm using pre-cut mini chicken fillets to dip into the flour the egg and then the corn
23:26chips.
23:26My tip is that I always have a wet hand and a dry hand. I'm holding the wet chicken in
23:34one hand
23:34yeah and then I'm going to keep that wet hand for the egg wash then I use my dry hand
23:40for the coating.
23:41I wish you'd have told me before I started because I've basically breaded my fingers.
23:47If you don't have tortilla chips my goujons work with corn flakes or even crisps.
23:53Oh nice this is stuff I've got in my house. Oh no.
23:57You didn't follow the rules. I forgot my top tip. High five.
24:02This is the stage that you can batch your tenders, flash freeze on a tray to stop them sticking together
24:08and then bag them up. Shall we put one away and have one for that? No I think let's taste
24:13them all.
24:14Stop it. Come on then. Cooking from fresh they need 18 to 20 minutes at 200 degrees.
24:21They look amazing. They're quite cool and they're different colours as well.
24:25And my kids would love this with chips and salad where I'd love it just on a nice salad on
24:30top.
24:30Chicken tenders are your lobster. Right shall we get tasting? Yeah. Dip dip.
24:38Oh yeah. That really works well doesn't it? And you can make endless versions.
24:44Lovely. What a fantastic idea. Cheers. Cheers.
24:52Back in Cardiff I'm continuing my mission to show the Burtons that they don't need to spend
24:57hours in the kitchen to make delicious and nutritious gluten-free food.
25:02And to make sure Danny's ready for Becky's return to work we've got him in the kitchen too.
25:07This is a super quick recipe. He'll have it done before he can even reach for the takeaway menu.
25:13I've got a really good recipe that I want to show you that I think you can both make.
25:18My spiced beef skewers are once again entirely gluten-free and cook in just five minutes.
25:25Sounds good. Sound good? Yes.
25:27Jill. Yes.
25:28We're looking for the veg to be chopped into chunks. Okay.
25:31You know for a fab. Again we are doubling up our batch.
25:35Such an efficient use of time and of course saves on the washing up.
25:38It means a meal for next week is done and in the freezer.
25:42That's it. Just go for it.
25:44Dan and Becky are making the marinade using oil, paprika, garlic and onion powders,
25:50ginger and peanut butter.
25:51Do you ever do cooking in the kitchen together after bringing back good old memories?
25:55There's no arguments yet.
25:57There's plenty of time for that mate.
25:59Then we cut the steak into one inch strips.
26:02The steak can be quite expensive but you actually don't need that much because we're going to be adding
26:05the onions and the peppers so you still get to have a premium ingredient that you're making it go
26:10further.
26:11Add the steak, onions and peppers to the marinade.
26:14And we're all going to get our hands dirty now.
26:16That's good.
26:17You can change the protein to chicken or halloumi and the veg you could swap to mushrooms,
26:23courgettes or tomatoes, whatever you fancy.
26:26We're putting half the batch into bags and they can go straight into the freezer for another day.
26:32Ready for that quick easy meal when you come in from work.
26:34Sounds great.
26:35To serve, once defrosted, they just need to be assembled and cooked,
26:39which we can now do with the rest of the batch.
26:42Now I've soaked these skewers. Do you know why I've soaked them?
26:46I know, I know.
26:47Go on.
26:48You don't want to burn the wood so you get the wood wet.
26:51Yes.
26:52Ah, yes.
26:53You get the gold star today.
26:56If you're in a hurry, this is a great recipe because it's four minutes either side.
27:00Oh, super fast then.
27:01Super fast. And talking about super fast, I want to show you a great side to have with this.
27:06This is my Mexican rice, a simple way to make rice a bit more exciting and more nutritious too.
27:13Add a can of kidney beans and chipotle paste.
27:16This is going to give that lovely Mexican flavour.
27:19Then add sweet corn and water. Three cups for every two of rice. This is the perfect ratio. Don't mess
27:26with it.
27:27And cook for 12 minutes.
27:28Well, there we go.
27:29Leave it five or ten minutes once it's done. Never take the lid off. Just leave it on and you'll
27:34be able to fluff it up. It'll be perfect Mexican rice.
27:37And that's not all. You can even batch some for later.
27:40This is rice you can actually freeze. Lots of people think you can't freeze rice, but you can.
27:46There's just two rules. Wash the rice before you cook it and cool it quickly.
27:51By spreading them out, we're getting rid of all the lumps. We don't want to retain any heat.
27:56We put it in the freezer once it's cooled. Take it back out after about an hour. You'll be able
28:00to bag it up and it's as easy as that.
28:03Frozen rice goes to prove that nothing's impossible for the batch lady.
28:07Right, why don't you two go and grab the kids and we'll get ready for the food, shall we?
28:10Let's do it.
28:11Left to defrost in the morning, this is a meal that older kids can make in just 15 minutes.
28:17Tuck in, guys. Let's have one. And the best bit, of course, it's gluten-free.
28:23Yeah, this tastes really, really nice. That number two, is it? Yeah.
28:28Yeah, it's nice that everybody can enjoy without any messing around.
28:31I feel straight away it went for seconds, didn't she?
28:33She did. I like the rice. Oh, nice.
28:36Actually took like no time at all and plenty left in the freezer now, so it's going to be even
28:40quicker the next time.
28:42Yeah. Is this a good start to your batch in life? I think it's a great start.
28:54In Cardiff, we've been helping the Burtons, a big blended family with complex dietary needs.
29:00I like the rice. Oh, nice.
29:03Suzanne's been showing Becky quick, naturally gluten-free recipes to give her more time with her young boys.
29:09Shove that in the oven, play with the kids. 20 minutes later, it's ready to put on the table.
29:14Becky will go back to work soon, so for this family to succeed,
29:17Dan will have to up his game and avoid those quick fix takeaways.
29:22I can only go in one place, can't I? You can go across as well, if you wanted to go
29:25across.
29:26I'll go. Yeah.
29:26Dan is a big fan of board games and he's attempting to show me how to play.
29:31I'd basically get two of these pieces and then I'd put one here.
29:33While I find out more about Harry, he wants things to change at home.
29:37How important is your family to you? My family is massive to me.
29:40I come from a big family and obviously now got four kids as well.
29:45But the challenge has been, life is so busy, you're just trying to eat as you go.
29:49And, you know, invariably, just taking the easy options.
29:52You are eating quite a lot of unhealthy food and snacking a lot.
29:57I'm still in the kids to make their lunches before bed and then I don't do the same.
30:01And I feel guilty that a lot of the prep, the thought, the shopping and all that has just fallen
30:07on Becky to do.
30:08And it's unfair, especially with the various dietary requirements, it's a challenge.
30:11Well, that's why we're here, because we're going to change all this, aren't we?
30:15Before you know it, Becky will be coming home from work and you'll be getting her something out of the
30:18fridge to make her for dinner, you know?
30:19Yeah, yeah, exactly. And Karis is almost at uni age. She wants to learn, which is good. She's keen.
30:25So I think it's good to kind of give them the skills they'll need for the rest of their life.
30:29We'll have you cooking as a family if it's the last thing we do.
30:32And absolutely eating healthy. That would be great.
30:35And there's no time like the present.
30:39Karis and Fiona are at their dad's half of the time.
30:42And Becky and Dan are hoping that they will help a little bit more in the kitchen when Becky goes
30:46back to work.
30:48I would love to help dad and Becky. I feel like if I had easier recipes to follow, then I
30:54could help them a lot more.
30:55Well, we've got the perfect solution.
30:58We know that dad quite likes a takeaway. So I thought we should do a fake away.
31:04Oh, yes. Come on.
31:05We're making buffalo shredded chicken. Like all the recipes so far, this is naturally gluten free.
31:10And to help save the family time, it's a slow cooker meal.
31:15What's great about this is that you just literally throw it all in the one pot and you leave it
31:21to cook and do its magic.
31:23It's super versatile too. Add sides for an evening meal or serve it with a wrap or salad for lunch.
31:29Ideal for preventing Dan from eating on the go.
31:34We start with frozen chopped onions and mixed peppers. Both great time savers and they keep all their nutrients.
31:41Feel free just to throw that whole bag in and you can just, that's it.
31:46Go on, there we are. Chuck it in there. My kind of cooking, I like it.
31:49We're adding six whole chicken breasts on top of the veg.
31:52You could use thigh if you wanted to. Thigh would help keep the cost down as well.
31:57But breast shreds a lot easier. Then in with the hot sauce. We've checked this one is gluten free.
32:03This shortcut means you're not faffing around with lots of different flavours and spices. It's all done for you.
32:09I like spice but I know Fiont doesn't really. You just add yoghurt. The rest of us usually are fine
32:13with it.
32:14You know my top tips already. I was just about to say.
32:17Alternatively, if you want to avoid spice altogether, you could just use pre-made barbecue or teriyaki sauce.
32:24Just give it a little mix around. That is how easy this is. Okay, the slow cooker is going to
32:29do all the work for you.
32:30Three hours on high or six hours on low. And put the lid on.
32:36The pulled chicken can be served with rice or nachos but we're going for sweet potato fries.
32:41Naturally gluten free and helping Dan out with one of his five a day.
32:45Have you ever had dirty fries before? I think so, yeah.
32:48Chips on the bottom and then you load it with all different things.
32:52We just cut in olive oil, paprika and oregano. That's it.
32:55This could be any combination of herbs or spices to your taste.
32:59Now we need somebody to get their hands in there.
33:01Can I suppose do it? Come on. That's it. Give it a go.
33:04Bake them in the oven 200 degrees for 35 minutes.
33:09Here we go.
33:10Three hours later and the chicken's ready.
33:13I'll have a go and I'll go and give me a fork.
33:16Shredding the chicken makes it go further and makes it easier to batch.
33:20Look at the volume of that now.
33:22Exactly. Look how thick it all becomes.
33:26I'm batching in individual portions so they can pull out as many as they need,
33:30depending on who's eating that evening.
33:33And Dan can use them for his lunches too.
33:36And then whatever's left, we're going to make it into our dirty fries.
33:39Sounds good.
33:40All together, this meal has three of your five a day and is, of course, gluten-free.
33:45I want one of these.
33:47You want the chippies, yeah?
33:49This is really nice.
33:51Is it something you think you could do again?
33:53Yeah, absolutely. I think it was, it seemed really straightforward,
33:56especially using a slow cooker.
33:57I'm pretty proud of myself because I think it's gone really well.
34:00I think that I'll be able to help more.
34:02And it's really good because me and Dad got to talk a lot while we were making the food
34:06and obviously we don't really do that very often, if at all.
34:09Yeah, it was really good to spend some quality time with Karis
34:12because I don't have that many more moments now before she's a full-grown adult.
34:16I think this could be an every Friday meal.
34:18I think it's good. It's a good chance.
34:19The future's bright. The future's batching.
34:22That's a good one. We'll keep that.
34:24Yeah, we'll keep that.
34:29Now I've got the ultimate batching dessert to show Joe in my test kitchen.
34:33A super easy ice cream, great for all ages.
34:37People think you might need an ice cream machine or it's going to be hard to do.
34:41That's what I thought. That's what always put me off.
34:42I've got a no-churn, two-ingredient ice cream that you can make.
34:46Those two ingredients are condensed milk and double cream.
34:51Anybody else just goes like that?
34:53No, I'm keeping it at some.
34:55Whisk these together.
34:57O-M-G.
34:59Until soft peaks form.
35:02Perfect. Well done.
35:03And that's it. Just pour into a dish with a lid, ready for the freezer.
35:07At this stage, this is a quick and easy gluten-free dessert too.
35:12You could put anything you want in this.
35:14You could leave it plain, you can make it sweet or...
35:17Oh, here we go.
35:18So I'm loving all the different flavours that are on social media at the moment.
35:22You can have a tomato soup ice cream, you could have a beans ice cream.
35:25I assume you're going to put something crazy in it.
35:28I want to do yeast extract and toast.
35:33To make this work, I've toasted some breadcrumbs and added sugar and butter.
35:37And I've just made them like sweet little bits of toast.
35:40OK.
35:42Just mix that through and then into the freezer.
35:44Leave it overnight and it's ready to try the next day.
35:48Lucky for you, Jo. I made one earlier.
35:50I feel so lucky today.
35:52So there you have it. Yeast extract and toast ice cream.
35:56You're either going to love it or hate it.
36:03I love the little crunchy bits.
36:05It's not my go-to combination when it comes to ice cream.
36:08But I do see there's an appeal for someone out there.
36:12That someone is just not me.
36:15Now I've got something that might be more up Jo's street.
36:19My hack for making one of those fancy top-end ice creams at a fraction of the price.
36:24You've got a lot of kids.
36:26Yeah.
36:26Like you do.
36:27It will add up.
36:28It's going to add up.
36:29Those little tubs are going to cost a lot of money.
36:31You can either make your own base or use a large tub of shop-bought vanilla ice cream.
36:36Let it soften slightly, then add whatever you fancy.
36:40We're going with brownies, caramel sauce and chocolate chips.
36:44You can make it however you want that's going to suit your family.
36:47That sounds better.
36:49And now to taste.
36:55That's nice. That's better.
36:56You'd never know that wasn't one of those luxury expensive brands, would you?
37:01Yeah, well done.
37:03I'm taking it.
37:10When we arrived at the Burton's, Becky was spending hours upon hours in the kitchen, painstakingly preparing multiple meals from
37:17scratch.
37:18To equip the family for when we leave and get them fully ready for Becky's imminent return to work, I've
37:24created a 28-day meal plan to get them started.
37:28And it is all gluten-free. Don't have to worry anymore about making two separate meals.
37:34We've covered breakfast, lunch and dinner with the aim of streamlining Becky and Dan's time in the kitchen.
37:40We've added in some batching elements for you.
37:43So, for instance, the kebabs.
37:44You have them in week one and then you're just pulling them out the freezer for an easy meal on
37:48week three.
37:49That's going to help you as well with that end of month week.
37:52You're going to have plenty in the freezer.
37:54Looks really nice.
37:54Sounds fabulous.
37:56Time-consuming meals with multiple gluten-free and wheat-based components have been replaced with things like Cajun salmon and
38:03rice.
38:04Yeah, this will make going back to work super easy and hopefully give me some time back with the boys.
38:10So that'll be great.
38:11And to help Dan with his quick fix lunches and takeaways, we've added some healthy pasta salads.
38:16Are you feeling more confident?
38:18Absolutely. I think, yeah.
38:21Let's get the girls involved as well. I think it's going to be brilliant.
38:23Amazing. Well, Suzanne, I feel like our work here is done.
38:27Aww.
38:27But we'll be back. We'll be back to checking on you.
38:30Make sure you're still on your batch cooking journey.
38:34I've now got all the recipes that I need to be successful.
38:38Can you believe all of these are gluten-free?
38:40No.
38:41It's all about enjoying the moments that we've got and, you know, having fun with it.
38:44And I think that's going to be really good for the future.
38:47Right. I think that was a job well done, didn't you?
38:49They're going to be amazing. Such a nice family, weren't they?
38:51I feel like they're going to thrive with our batch cooking.
38:54They really will. Feel it in my bones, this one.
38:56Where'd you park the bloody car?
39:07When we first met the Burton family, mum Becky was spending 19 hours preparing food every week.
39:14Scared of making her celiac kids poorly, she was painstakingly preparing every meal from scratch,
39:20missing out on valuable time with her family.
39:24To reduce Becky's time in the kitchen and prepare the family for when she goes back to work,
39:29we left them with a 28-day meal plan full of naturally gluten-free recipes that are quick and easy.
39:36And many can be batched in advance.
39:40If they stick to the plan, they could be saving time and money and boosting their nutrition all at once.
39:47Let's work out next week then, Shireen.
39:49It's been over two weeks since we left them,
39:51and Becky and Dan are already getting stuck into the batch cooking way of life.
39:55When are you in the office?
39:56Tuesday, Wednesday.
39:57OK.
39:58If we want to do some batching, we can do it on a weekend.
40:00I'll take the kids off to us.
40:01Yeah, mix it up.
40:02Grabbing just 10 minutes to sit down and plan their week is going to save them hours overall.
40:08You love salmon?
40:09I do love salmon.
40:09Do you have some salmon?
40:10Cajun salmon then, serves three, but you get two fillets in a pack.
40:14So if we get three packs, then I can batch one and put it in the freezer as well.
40:17I like that.
40:18It seems they're already getting the hang of this, and Dan is doing his bit too.
40:23I mean, you can't go wrong with that, it's seasoning olive oil and salmon.
40:27You're right, I don't think I can go wrong with that.
40:29They're using our meal planner to make economical, healthy meals that everyone can enjoy.
40:34Cajun swarma tray bake.
40:36Oh, that'd be a good one for the freezer.
40:38Before, Becky was shopping five times a week, and Dan's quick fix lunches and takeaway nights
40:43were hooking up the costs.
40:44Hopefully one trip to the shop this week.
40:46Sounds good.
40:47Cool, let's do it.
40:47Let's go.
40:48Now Dan has prioritised his time to help her, and they have a plan.
40:53We need salad.
40:54Salad, what salad?
40:55It's got to go in the lunch.
40:57There we go, you're helping again?
41:00Yeah, he's a helper.
41:01On the menu this week are three different chicken dishes.
41:05I was going to batch them at the same time, so we need two big packs of chicken.
41:08Let's grab the large pack now.
41:10Buying in bulk always works out a bit cheaper, so this is all helping towards their overall
41:15savings.
41:16So it'll be four meals for five people.
41:18Yeah, woo!
41:20Now we need peppers.
41:22We do need quite a lot of peppers, so we can just get a big pack.
41:24More veg, the better.
41:25Yeah.
41:26Excellent.
41:26They've definitely listened, Suzanne.
41:28And it doesn't stop there.
41:30Sweet potatoes, because me and Karis are going to do some bit of batching.
41:32Ooh.
41:33Nice, and they're also saving money and stress by making meals naturally gluten-free.
41:39Rice, because we do the rice with the Cajun salmon.
41:42Yeah.
41:42Rice with the mince fajitas.
41:45Yeah.
41:45And rice with the curry, and it's gluten-free.
41:48Nice.
41:49It's not all plain sailing.
41:51Did you want the bourbon creams?
41:53No.
41:53But the savings have started to add up.
41:57Thanks very much.
41:59£67 for seven days of lunch,
42:02and then, like, 11 dinners.
42:03Nice.
42:05Looks like the meal plan is paying off handsomely.
42:09Garlic, ginger, chili.
42:12Becky's been using the time when Ezra's at school
42:14and Axel's been napping in the morning to get used to batch cooking,
42:17ready for her return to work.
42:19It's good practice.
42:20There's food in the fridge or the freezer for the whole week,
42:24and it's super easy.
42:25By doing the chicken dishes all in one go,
42:28it means that two packs of thighs will spread out better.
42:33Sounds like Becky's after your job, Suzanne.
42:36So that's all the chicken meal's done,
42:38Chinese honey chicken's done, chicken shawarma,
42:39tray bake's done, and the butter chicken.
42:41So that is us done for the week.
42:44And my batch and draw is very full now.
42:47What Becky's putting into practice now will just shift to a weekend morning
42:51once she's back at work.
42:52A huge weight has been lifted.
42:54I feel a lot more confident of being able to go back,
42:57where I won't have to pick between dinner and spending time with the kids.
43:00So it'll be really nice to not feel the stress of being pulled in
43:03three different directions at the same time.
43:05Can you rub two tins of chickpeas?
43:07Fiona, can you get some tomato puree, please?
43:10But it's not just Becky that's taken to batching like a duck to water.
43:14Dan can now cook for dinner.
43:15He knows what he's doing in terms of the food.
43:17And the girls are definitely helping out a lot more.
43:19Dad, you ready? Yeah, ready.
43:21The game changer is the fact that I can help.
43:24I can see the stress come off Becky.
43:27She's now got time to enjoy those moments with the kids.
43:30The kids as well, they can all be involved and, you know,
43:32just creates those family memories that will last a lifetime,
43:35which is, you know, what we really wanted.
43:37I sent all friends a photo when I made food.
43:40I was like, look, I made this food all by myself.
43:41Good job, girls.
43:42It made me pretty happy, the fact I'd done it, yeah.
43:45Is this something we can expect every day now?
43:47Not every day.
43:47Twice a week?
43:48Maybe.
43:49Twice a week, there we are, see?
43:51I can't see us ever going back to normal cooking now.
43:55I actually feel weird that I've cooked like that before.
43:58I don't know why I've never cooked like this before.
44:02Becky and Dan have certainly embraced our naturally gluten-free
44:05batch cooking way of life.
44:07And I want to show them what a difference it will make if they carry on.
44:10Hello, guys.
44:11Lovely to see you again.
44:13Good to see you, yeah.
44:13How's it been?
44:14Good.
44:15When people mention batch cooking, you think like, oh my god,
44:17it's so confusing, it's going to take ages.
44:19But actually, it was so simple.
44:21Cook once, it's all done, everyone can eat it.
44:24I feel like we may have sold you the batch cooking dream,
44:27but just to give you that extra little bit of encouragement,
44:29we've got you your stats.
44:31Right, here we go.
44:33You're looking at saving every year £5,802.
44:39That's a lot of money.
44:40What do you do with that money?
44:41I'd get the carpet fixed in the house.
44:43I was thinking holiday.
44:45You might be able to do both of them with that sort of money.
44:48Now, you were saying, Becky, you were spending too much time in the kitchen,
44:51not enough time with the kids.
44:52If you stick to this for 12 months, you're going to save 507 hours just over three weeks.
45:00Oh my god, that's loads of time to get back to make memories with the kids and stuff.
45:03So it's amazing.
45:04I mean, when in life does someone give you three weeks of your life back?
45:07That's incredible.
45:08Especially with you going back to work, Becky.
45:10Yeah, I think it'll make such a big difference
45:11and take the stress out of going back to work.
45:13So that'll be great.
45:14Now, previously, as we know, Dan was bringing down the health stats.
45:17But with the new plan in place, the fruit and veg intake will improve by 95%.
45:23All working towards Dan staying healthier and fitter for longer.
45:26You'll be hitting your five a day every single day.
45:28Right, staggering, to be fair.
45:30When I come back, Dan, I expect to see a six pack, all right?
45:33Not just in the fridge, right?
45:37Getting all those hours back is actually more valuable than the money aspect of it,
45:41because you can't get time back with your kids as they're growing up.
45:44See you later.
45:45Give my love to the kids.
45:46Will do.
45:47Thanks.
45:47I mean, three weeks is just unbelievable, isn't it?
45:50Just not missing any of those key moments.
45:51And yeah, just building bonds with the family.
45:54It makes such a difference to our life.
45:56And it's a lot more simple than you think.
46:01Just sticking to this plan, eating good food, eating healthy food,
46:05and it being totally convenient.
46:07I definitely think the future for this family is batch cooking.
46:11Next time...
46:12This is their doomsday prepping bonds.
46:14We help a family in chaos.
46:16They kind of give that kind of grumpy chef vibe.
46:19I'll tend just to keep well out of the way.
46:21Whose late night dinners mean everyone's shattered.
46:23So I haven't seen you have dinner in sunlight.
46:26I think my dad probably could do with some help.
46:28Maybe he doesn't always want it, but he might need it.
46:35And same time next Monday for that.
46:38Well, a billion pound industry, but is it served with Piri Piri?
46:41Or that secret sauce, Nando's versus KFC.
46:44New battle of the brands tomorrow at eight.
46:47And speaking of spicy, imagine being handcuffed to your polar opposite
46:50and sticking it out to try and win a hundred grand.
46:53Jonathan Ross has new last pair standing next.
47:03We'll see you next time.
Comments