Plan 2026-W39 · Monday 21 – Sunday 27 September 2026
A week of food for Nikki and Ian
Seven days, built around one breakfast with five toppings, two rotating packed lunches and five dinners across seven nights. One batch session, on Sunday evening, and everything it makes is listed once, in the prep section — the days just say which box to open. Every figure below is computed from USDA FoodData Central against the weighed quantities in each recipe — nothing here is estimated by eye.
Against the targets
Weekly average
kcal
Protein
Fibre
Sodium
Potassium
Sat fat
Nikki
16341450–1660
112 g≥ 100 g
37 g30–45 g
787 mgas low as practical
3922 mg≥ 3,000 mg
8 g—
Ian, core meals
24682300–2600
177 g≥ 140 g
45 g30–55 g
1241 mg—
5544 mg—
16 g—
Ian, with top-ups
2826
195 g
47 gceiling 55 g
1505 mg
6268 mg
22 g
On fibre. Nikki averages 37 g a day and Ian 47 g once the top-ups are counted, against a floor of 30 g. The soft ceilings are 45 g for Nikki and 55 g for Ian. There is no official upper limit for fibre, and for Nikki the soluble kind in oats and pulses helps bring LDL down, so more is no problem. They are only there to stop one day jumping far above the rest — a sudden jump is what causes bloating while the gut catches up. Saturday's ride breakfast is kept low in fibre on purpose.
On potassium. Nikki averages 3,922 mg against a 3,000 mg target. That is the point — potassium is one of the better-evidenced dietary levers on blood pressure, and there is no upper limit for it from food with normal kidney function. One exception, worth settling before Monday: for anyone on an ACE inhibitor (ramipril, lisinopril), an ARB (losartan, candesartan) or a potassium-sparing diuretic (spironolactone, amiloride), or with any reduced kidney function, this much potassium is a conversation with a GP first. Those drugs retain potassium by design.
On eggs. Eggs appear in exactly one place — Ian's optional scrambled eggs, cooked and eaten alone. Nothing Nikki eats shares a pan, board or utensil with them without a wash in between.
What changed this week. Nikki's calorie band is 100 kcal lower: 1,450–1,660 a day, and 1,450–1,900 on the Saturday ride day. Ian no longer gets a bigger dinner. Instead he has a second lunch: a paprika chicken, rice and roast veg box, the same every weekday and made in the Sunday session. His weekday dinner is now Nikki's plate, with a little more pasta on meatball nights and more tortillas on Friday, and his breakfast extras have gone. Weekends are as before.
Wholegrain wherever Nikki eats. Brown rice, wholewheat pasta, wholemeal tortillas and wholemeal bread. The only white rice this week is in Ian's chicken boxes. Saturday's ride breakfast is porridge, which is wholegrain too.
After last week. No tempeh. It dried out in the oven and was worse reheated, so it is now on both avoid lists and can't come back by accident. The two dinners kept back for a second night are both saucy, a chilli and meatballs in tomato, because a stew reheats and a roast tray dries out. The soba boxes are back with a peanut–lime dressing and broccoli.
Using up. The 500 g of sweet potatoes go into Monday's chilli, and the two leftover avocados are Monday's and Wednesday's. Keep them whole in the fridge until then. Take both off the shopping list. The third avocado, for Friday's tacos, is bought firm on Sunday.
The freezer run. The cod and salmon go straight into the freezer when you get home; the prawns are frozen already. On Sunday night, Thursday's and Friday's dal boxes and chicken boxes go into the freezer as soon as they have cooled. Each comes down to the fridge the night before: the dal and chicken on Wednesday and Thursday nights, the cod on Thursday, and the salmon and prawns on Friday.
Sunday prep · 20 September · the only batch session of the week
Everything that is cooked in bulk is here, once, with the whole batch's ingredients. The days below only say which box to open and what goes beside it.
Running order
Straight in from the shop: the cod loins and salmon fillets go in the freezer. The chicken goes in the fridge until you start.
Dal first. It needs you for ten minutes, then simmers on its own for twenty-five, which is the window for everything else.
While it simmers: both rices on (brown for the dal, white for the chicken), the oven to 200C fan, and the chicken, the tray of veg and the tofu go in together. The tofu comes out after 20 minutes and the chicken after 25–30.
Soba next, while the trays roast: noodles, then the broccoli and edamame, then the dressing and the crunchy veg. Toss it together once the tofu is out.
Box everything up: six dal boxes, five chicken boxes and four soba boxes. The oat jars take two minutes at the end. Let everything cool with the lids off before it goes in the fridge or freezer, and send Thursday's and Friday's dal and chicken boxes straight to the freezer.
Breakfast
Dry overnight-oat jars
makes 10 jars · eaten Monday to Friday
The whole batch
400 g rolled porridge oats
5 tbsp chia seeds60 g
Method
Line up ten jars, five each. Weigh 40 g of oats into each and add 1½ tsp chia seeds.
That is all that happens on Sunday. Nothing wet goes in until the night before, which is why Friday's jar is as good as Monday's.
Box it up. Lid them and put them in the cupboard; dry, they keep all week.
One portion181kcal6 gprotein6 gfibre3 mgsodium169 mgpotassium
Lunch
Peanut–lime soba noodle boxes with tofu, edamame, broccoli and crunchy veg
makes 4 boxes · eaten Monday and Wednesday
The whole batch
a 200 g pack of soba noodles200 g
1 block of Tofoo280 g
160 g frozen edamame beans
½ head of broccoli175 g
2 carrots160 g
1 red pepper160 g
½ red cabbage400 g
4 spring onions60 g
2 handfuls of coriander16 g
1 tsp sesame seeds3 g
2 tbsp peanut butter31.8 g
2 limes, juiced60 g
2 tsp reduced-salt tamari10.6 g
2 tsp runny honey14 g
3 cm piece of fresh ginger15 g
1 clove garlic3 g
1 tsp olive oil4.5 g
Method
Oven to 200C fan. Cut the Tofoo into small cubes, toss in the teaspoon of oil and roast on a lined tray for 20 minutes, turning once, until the edges are golden. It is already pressed, so it goes straight on.
Boil the soba for 4–5 minutes (check the pack), drain, then rinse hard under the cold tap, lifting the noodles with your fingers until the starch is gone and they stop feeling sticky. That rinse is what stops them welding into a block by Wednesday.
Cut the broccoli into small florets and boil them with the edamame for 2 minutes, then drain and cool them under the tap too. Blanched and cold, the broccoli stays bright and crunchy all week.
Dressing: whisk the peanut butter, tamari, lime juice, honey, grated ginger and crushed garlic with 3–4 tbsp warm water until it pours like single cream. Peanut butter thickens as it cools, so err on the thin side.
Shred the red cabbage finely, cut the carrots and pepper into matchsticks, slice the spring onions and chop the coriander.
Toss the noodles in three-quarters of the dressing, then everything else through them with the rest. Scatter over the sesame seeds.
Box it up. Four boxes, all in the fridge: Monday and Wednesday, one each. It is dressed already, so nothing needs adding at school.
One portion485kcal30 gprotein11 gfibre251 mgsodium1219 mgpotassium
Lunch
Red lentil and spinach dal with brown rice
makes 6 boxes · eaten Tuesday, Thursday and Friday
The whole batch
250 g dried red lentils
1 onion150 g
4 cloves garlic12 g
4 cm piece of fresh ginger20 g
2 tsp ground cumin4.2 g
2 tsp ground coriander3.6 g
1 tsp ground turmeric3 g
½ tsp chilli flakes0.9 g
1 tin of chopped tomatoes400 g
1 bag of baby spinach240 g
1 lemon, juiced45 g
1 handful of coriander8 g
1 tbsp olive oil13.5 g
600 g cooked brown rice
Method
Soften the diced onion in the oil for 8 minutes. Add the crushed garlic and the grated ginger, then the cumin, ground coriander, turmeric and chilli flakes, and stir for a minute.
Add the rinsed red lentils, the tinned tomatoes and about a litre of water. Simmer, stirring now and then, for 25 minutes until the lentils have collapsed into a thick purée. Add a splash more water if it catches — it thickens again as it cools.
Meanwhile cook the brown rice, drain it and spread it on a tray so it cools quickly.
Stir the spinach into the dal a handful at a time until it wilts, then the lemon juice and the chopped coriander. Every spice is a single one, so there is no cinnamon hiding anywhere.
Divide the rice between six microwave-safe boxes and ladle the dal alongside it. Leave them to cool with the lids off before they go anywhere.
Box it up. Six boxes. Tuesday's two go in the fridge; Thursday's and Friday's four go straight in the freezer and move down to the fridge the night before.
One portion336kcal15 gprotein9 gfibre49 mgsodium821 mgpotassium
Lunch
Paprika chicken, rice and roast veg boxes
makes 5 boxes · eaten Monday to Friday
The whole batch
10 chicken thigh fillets1000 g
750 g cooked white rice
2 red peppers320 g
2 courgettes400 g
1 red onion150 g
1 head of broccoli350 g
2 tbsp olive oil27 g
2 tsp smoked paprika4.6 g
3 cloves garlic9 g
1 tsp dried oregano1 g
1 lemon, juiced45 g
Method
Oven to 200C fan, two trays. Toss the chicken thighs with the smoked paprika, oregano, crushed garlic, half the lemon juice and a tablespoon of the oil, and lay them out flat on one tray.
Cut the peppers, courgettes and red onion into chunks and the broccoli into florets, and toss them with the other tablespoon of oil on the second tray.
Roast both for 25–30 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through with no pink in the middle and the vegetables are catching at the edges. Squeeze the rest of the lemon over the chicken as it comes out.
Meanwhile cook the white rice and spread it on a tray so it cools quickly.
Slice the chicken and divide the rice, the vegetables and the chicken between five boxes, spooning the tray juices over the chicken — that is what keeps it moist when it is reheated. Leave them to cool with the lids off.
Box it up. Five boxes, all Ian's. Monday to Wednesday's go in the fridge; Thursday's and Friday's go straight in the freezer and move down the night before.
One portion560kcal48 gprotein6 gfibre225 mgsodium1201 mgpotassium
The night before, tip 150 g skyr and 60 ml milk onto a jar and stir until no dry oats remain. It should look wetter than you want — the oats drink the rest overnight. Lid on, into the fridge.
In the morning, half a punnet of raspberries and the pistachios, roughly chopped, over the top. Raspberries are the most fragile fruit in the shop, so they go first.
Sprinkle a tablespoon of water over the box, lid ajar, and microwave for 3 minutes, stir, then 1–2 minutes more until it is piping hot all the way through.
Thigh rather than breast on purpose: it stays juicy when it is reheated, where breast dries out the way the tempeh did.
The night before, stir the cocoa and honey into the skyr until it is smooth, and put 60 g frozen cherries on top. They thaw by lunchtime and bleed into it — a Black Forest pot.
Beef, kidney bean and sweet potato chilli with avocado and lime
the rest is kept for Wednesday
Nikki1 portion
Ian1 portion
Makes 4 portions
1 pack of 5% beef mince500 g
1 tin of kidney beans, drained240 g
2½ medium sweet potatoes500 g
1 onion150 g
2 red peppers320 g
1 tin of chopped tomatoes400 g
3 cloves garlic9 g
2 tsp ground cumin4.2 g
2 tsp smoked paprika4.6 g
1 tsp dried oregano1 g
½ tsp chilli flakes0.9 g
1 tsp cocoa powder2.5 g
1 tsp olive oil4.5 g
2 avocados300 g
2 limes, juiced60 g
1 handful of coriander8 g
100 g skyr
Method
Soften the diced onion in the teaspoon of oil for 5 minutes, then add the beef mince and break it up, cooking it hard until it has lost its pink and any liquid has gone.
Add the crushed garlic, the cumin, smoked paprika, oregano, chilli flakes and cocoa, and stir for a minute. The cocoa is what makes it taste slow-cooked.
Add the sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2 cm cubes, the diced peppers, the tinned tomatoes, the drained kidney beans and half a mug of water. Lid on and simmer for 25 minutes, until the sweet potato is tender, then 5 minutes with the lid off to thicken.
Just before serving, halve, stone and dice one avocado and squeeze half a lime over it.
Chilli into bowls — the sweet potato is the carbohydrate, so there is no rice — with the avocado alongside, a spoon of skyr on top in place of soured cream, and the coriander torn over. The other half lime goes on the table in wedges.
Blend the milk, a scoop of whey, the peanut butter, the honey and the hemp seeds. Thirty seconds.
Part of Ian's plan every day, not one of the optional top-ups. It brings about 35 grams of protein and almost no fibre, which is exactly the gap between Nikki's plate and what Ian needs.
One bottle a day for Nikki, with or just after a meal — sterols work by competing with cholesterol for absorption, so they do very little taken on an empty stomach.
2 g of plant sterols a day is the dose the LDL evidence is built on, and one mini drink is that dose. A second bottle adds very little.
The night before, tip 150 g skyr and 60 ml milk onto a jar and stir until no dry oats remain. It should look wetter than you want — the oats drink the rest overnight. Lid on, into the fridge.
In the morning, six strawberries, hulled and quartered, and the hazelnuts, roughly chopped, over the top.
Sprinkle a tablespoon of water over the box, lid ajar, and microwave for 3 minutes, stir, then 1–2 minutes more until it is piping hot all the way through.
Thigh rather than breast on purpose: it stays juicy when it is reheated, where breast dries out the way the tempeh did.
Pork meatballs in a tomato and red pepper sauce with wholewheat pasta
the rest is kept for Thursday
Nikki1 portion, with 80 g wholewheat pasta
Ian1 portion, with 100 g wholewheat pasta
Makes 4 portions
1 pack of 5% pork mince500 g
30 g rolled porridge oats
1 onion150 g
4 cloves garlic12 g
2 tsp dried oregano2 g
1 handful of flat-leaf parsley10 g
1 tsp smoked paprika2.3 g
2 tins of chopped tomatoes800 g
1 red pepper160 g
1 tsp cider vinegar5 g
1 tbsp olive oil13.5 g
1 handful of basil leaves6 g
Method
Grate half the onion into a bowl and add the pork mince, the 30 g of oats, two of the garlic cloves, crushed, one teaspoon of the oregano and the parsley, chopped. Mix with your hands and roll into 20 walnut-sized meatballs. The oats do the job an egg usually would.
Brown the meatballs in half the oil in a wide pan for 6–8 minutes, turning them, then lift them out.
In the same pan soften the other half of the onion, diced, and the sliced pepper in the rest of the oil for 5 minutes. Add the other two garlic cloves, the smoked paprika and the rest of the oregano for a minute, then both tins of tomatoes, the vinegar and half a tin of water.
Simmer for 10 minutes, then put the meatballs back, lid on, for 15 minutes more until they are cooked through. Boil the pasta meanwhile.
Tear half the basil over the plates; the rest is for Thursday.
Blend the milk, a scoop of whey, the peanut butter, the honey and the hemp seeds. Thirty seconds.
Part of Ian's plan every day, not one of the optional top-ups. It brings about 35 grams of protein and almost no fibre, which is exactly the gap between Nikki's plate and what Ian needs.
One bottle a day for Nikki, with or just after a meal — sterols work by competing with cholesterol for absorption, so they do very little taken on an empty stomach.
2 g of plant sterols a day is the dose the LDL evidence is built on, and one mini drink is that dose. A second bottle adds very little.
The night before, tip 150 g skyr and 60 ml milk onto a jar and stir until no dry oats remain. It should look wetter than you want — the oats drink the rest overnight. Lid on, into the fridge.
In the morning, half a punnet of blueberries and the almonds over the top. The last of the fresh berries — Sunday's punnets have three days in them.
Sprinkle a tablespoon of water over the box, lid ajar, and microwave for 3 minutes, stir, then 1–2 minutes more until it is piping hot all the way through.
Thigh rather than breast on purpose: it stays juicy when it is reheated, where breast dries out the way the tempeh did.
Blend the milk, a scoop of whey, the peanut butter, the honey and the hemp seeds. Thirty seconds.
Part of Ian's plan every day, not one of the optional top-ups. It brings about 35 grams of protein and almost no fibre, which is exactly the gap between Nikki's plate and what Ian needs.
One bottle a day for Nikki, with or just after a meal — sterols work by competing with cholesterol for absorption, so they do very little taken on an empty stomach.
2 g of plant sterols a day is the dose the LDL evidence is built on, and one mini drink is that dose. A second bottle adds very little.
The night before, tip 150 g skyr and 60 ml milk onto a jar and stir until no dry oats remain. It should look wetter than you want — the oats drink the rest overnight. Lid on, into the fridge.
In the morning, half a banana sliced over the top and the walnuts crumbled on. Slice it into both jars at once so the other half never sits on the side.
Sprinkle a tablespoon of water over the box, lid ajar, and microwave for 3 minutes, stir, then 1–2 minutes more until it is piping hot all the way through.
Thigh rather than breast on purpose: it stays juicy when it is reheated, where breast dries out the way the tempeh did.
Pork meatballs in a tomato and red pepper sauce with wholewheat pasta
cooked on Tuesday
Nikki1 portion of Tuesday's meatballs, with 80 g wholewheat pasta
Ian1 portion of Tuesday's meatballs, with 100 g wholewheat pasta
On the day
Reheat the meatballs in their sauce in a covered pan, gently, for 10 minutes until they are piping hot all the way through. Kept in the sauce they stay moist — the reason this is the dish that is kept back, rather than anything roasted dry.
Boil fresh pasta, and tear over the rest of the basil.
Blend the milk, a scoop of whey, the peanut butter, the honey and the hemp seeds. Thirty seconds.
Part of Ian's plan every day, not one of the optional top-ups. It brings about 35 grams of protein and almost no fibre, which is exactly the gap between Nikki's plate and what Ian needs.
One bottle a day for Nikki, with or just after a meal — sterols work by competing with cholesterol for absorption, so they do very little taken on an empty stomach.
2 g of plant sterols a day is the dose the LDL evidence is built on, and one mini drink is that dose. A second bottle adds very little.
The night before, tip 150 g skyr and 60 ml milk onto a jar and stir until no dry oats remain. It should look wetter than you want — the oats drink the rest overnight. Lid on, into the fridge.
Stir 80 g frozen mango in with the skyr the night before — it thaws into the oats overnight and loosens them. Pumpkin seeds over the top in the morning.
Sprinkle a tablespoon of water over the box, lid ajar, and microwave for 3 minutes, stir, then 1–2 minutes more until it is piping hot all the way through.
Thigh rather than breast on purpose: it stays juicy when it is reheated, where breast dries out the way the tempeh did.
Spiced cod tacos with avocado, red cabbage slaw and lime
cooked for the two of you
Nikki1 portion, with 3 wholemeal mini tortillas
Ian1 portion, with 5 wholemeal mini tortillas
For the two of you
2 cod loins250 g
1 tsp ground cumin2.1 g
1 tsp smoked paprika2.3 g
1 tsp olive oil4.5 g
½ red cabbage400 g
1 carrot80 g
2 spring onions30 g
1 lime, juiced30 g
1 handful of coriander8 g
100 g skyr
1 avocado150 g
½ red chilli7.5 g
Method
The cod comes out of the freezer on Thursday night and thaws in the fridge.
Slaw: shred the red cabbage finely, grate the carrot, slice the spring onions and toss them with half the lime juice.
Stir the rest of the lime juice into the skyr. Halve, stone and slice the avocado, and slice the chilli thinly.
Rub the cod with the oil, cumin and smoked paprika and fry it for 3–4 minutes a side, until it flakes. Warm the tortillas in a dry pan for 20 seconds each.
Flake the cod into the tortillas with the slaw, the avocado, a spoon of the lime skyr, the chilli and the coriander. Buy this avocado firm on Sunday; it will be ripe by Friday.
Blend the milk, a scoop of whey, the peanut butter, the honey and the hemp seeds. Thirty seconds.
Part of Ian's plan every day, not one of the optional top-ups. It brings about 35 grams of protein and almost no fibre, which is exactly the gap between Nikki's plate and what Ian needs.
One bottle a day for Nikki, with or just after a meal — sterols work by competing with cholesterol for absorption, so they do very little taken on an empty stomach.
2 g of plant sterols a day is the dose the LDL evidence is built on, and one mini drink is that dose. A second bottle adds very little.
Cook 50 g dry brown rice — about 150 g once cooked: 150 g for Ian.
Cook the brown rice on Friday night while the tacos are on, spread it out to cool, and fridge it — fried rice wants cold rice. Take the prawns out of the freezer at the same time and let them thaw in the fridge.
Heat the oil in a wok until it shimmers. Stir-fry the diced pepper and the whites of the spring onions for 2 minutes, then the garlic and grated ginger for 30 seconds.
Add the prawns and cook for 2 minutes until they turn pink, then the rice and the peas. Keep it moving for 4–5 minutes until the rice is hot through and starting to crisp.
Tamari and lime juice over, the green tops of the spring onions on top. Ready ten minutes after you get off the bike.
Blend the milk, a scoop of whey, the peanut butter, the honey and the hemp seeds. Thirty seconds.
Part of Ian's plan every day, not one of the optional top-ups. It brings about 35 grams of protein and almost no fibre, which is exactly the gap between Nikki's plate and what Ian needs.
One bottle a day for Nikki, with or just after a meal — sterols work by competing with cholesterol for absorption, so they do very little taken on an empty stomach.
2 g of plant sterols a day is the dose the LDL evidence is built on, and one mini drink is that dose. A second bottle adds very little.
Wholemeal toast with herby skyr, tomatoes and chives
Nikki1 portion
Ian1 portion, with 2 slices of wholemeal bread
Each
2 slices of wholemeal bread80 g
150 g skyr
1 tomato85 g
1 tsp chopped chives1 g
½ tsp olive oil2.2 g
1 tsp pumpkin seeds3 g
Method
Stir the chives and plenty of black pepper into the skyr — thick and tangy, like labneh. Toast the bread, spread it thickly, slice the tomato over, and finish with a thread of oil and the pumpkin seeds.
Honey–ginger tofu with broccoli, pak choi, edamame and rice
cooked for the two of you
Nikki1 portion, with 150 g cooked brown rice
Ian1 portion, with 300 g cooked brown rice
For the two of you
1 block of Tofoo280 g
½ head of broccoli175 g
2 heads of pak choi250 g
100 g frozen edamame beans
2 tsp runny honey14 g
3 cm piece of fresh ginger15 g
2 cloves garlic6 g
1 lime, juiced30 g
½ red chilli7.5 g
1 tsp sesame seeds3 g
2 tsp oil9 g
Method
Cook 150 g dry brown rice — about 450 g once cooked: 150 g for Nikki, 300 g for Ian.
Put the rice on first.
Cut the Tofoo into cubes and fry it in the oil in a wide pan for 8–10 minutes, turning, until golden on most sides. It is pressed already, so it crisps without any fuss.
Push the tofu to one side, add the broccoli florets, the edamame and a splash of water, lid on for 3 minutes, then the halved pak choi for 2 minutes more.
Mix the honey, the grated ginger, the crushed garlic, the lime juice and the sliced chilli, pour it into the pan and toss for a minute until it turns sticky.
Over the rice, with the sesame seeds on top. Twenty minutes, on the evening of the prep session. No tamari: the lime and ginger carry it, and the week's sodium is kept for the soba and the fried rice.
Blend the milk, a scoop of whey, the peanut butter, the honey and the hemp seeds. Thirty seconds.
Part of Ian's plan every day, not one of the optional top-ups. It brings about 35 grams of protein and almost no fibre, which is exactly the gap between Nikki's plate and what Ian needs.
One bottle a day for Nikki, with or just after a meal — sterols work by competing with cholesterol for absorption, so they do very little taken on an empty stomach.
2 g of plant sterols a day is the dose the LDL evidence is built on, and one mini drink is that dose. A second bottle adds very little.
Ian's meals, the weekday chicken box, the extras beside them and the afternoon shake are the plan, and every figure on this page is checked against them. Everything below is on top of that and none of it is compulsory. Training is down at the moment, so some days will want the lot and some days none of it. Each one is priced so you can add what you fancy and still know where the day landed. The rate against each is what the shopping list assumes.
Top-upIan only
Latte
suggested 5 × a week
Per portion
175 ml whole milk180.2 g
Method
A double shot with steamed whole milk. At this size it fits without pushing the saturated fat anywhere awkward.
One portion110kcal6 gprotein0 gfibre78 mgsodium238 mgpotassium
Top-upIan only
Evening milk shake
suggested 3 × a week
Per portion
400 ml semi-skimmed milk412 g
1 banana120 g
1 tbsp peanut butter15.9 g
1½ tsp runny honey10.5 g
Method
Blend the milk, one whole banana, the peanut butter and the honey with a handful of ice.
A whole banana rather than half of one: this is an optional drink, and half a banana left on the side is exactly what the plan is trying to avoid.
If the day has run short on protein, a scoop of whey puts about 20 g back.
One portion407kcal19 gprotein4 gfibre186 mgsodium1142 mgpotassium
Top-upIan only
Scrambled eggs on sourdough with cheddar
suggested 2 × a week
Per portion
2 medium eggs100 g
20 g mature cheddar
1 slice of sourdough40 g
1 tsp olive oil4.5 g
1 spring onion15 g
Method
Two eggs beaten with black pepper, no milk. Cook them low and slow in the oil and pull the pan off the heat while they still look underdone — they set on the way to the plate.
Grate the cheddar in at the very end so it melts rather than cooks. On a toasted slice of sourdough, spring onion over.
Ian's meal only. Nikki's egg allergy means the pan, spatula and board want washing before they touch her food, and the same goes for the knife if it has been near the eggs.
One portion368kcal21 gprotein2 gfibre451 mgsodium225 mgpotassium
Taken at those rates the menu averages 358 kcal and 18 g of protein a day on top of the plan, taking Ian's 2,300–2,600 kcal core up to about 2,826 kcal on the days it is all eaten. Skipping the lot is fine; the core clears the targets on its own.
56 different plants
The target is 30 a week between you. Counting distinct species — herbs, spices, seeds and wholegrains all count, and each one appears in something actually eaten this week.
Quantities are what the week actually uses, summed from every portion of every meal, then converted into what you would put in a trolley. One shop, on Sunday. The fish goes straight into the freezer when you get home. The sweet potatoes and two of the three avocados are left over from last week, so take them off the list. Tick as you go — the ticks are remembered on this device until you clear them.
Fruit and veg
the week uses 8 red peppers
the week uses 4 onions
the week uses 2½ medium sweet potatoes
the week uses 4 bananas
the week uses 3 avocados
the week uses 2 courgettes
the week uses 1½ packs of fine green beans
the week uses 1 bag of baby spinach
juiced — about 30 ml a lime · the week uses 6½ limes, juiced
the week uses 1 apple
the week uses 1 punnet of blueberries
the week uses 1 punnet of raspberries
the week uses 10 spring onions
the week uses 1 orange
juiced — about 45 ml a lemon · the week uses 2½ lemons, juiced
the week uses 22 cloves
the week uses 12 cm piece
the week uses 5 handfuls of coriander
the week uses 2 handfuls of flat-leaf parsley
the week uses 6 g
the week uses about 1½ tbsp
Chilled
the week uses 4.0 kg
about 2 pints per litre
the week uses 2 blocks of Tofoo
the week uses 7 Benecol drinks
Fish and meat
the week uses 1 bag of frozen raw king prawns
Freezer
Cupboard
no added salt · the week uses 2.0 kg
dry weight — it roughly triples when cooked
dry weight — it roughly two-and-a-half-times when cooked
the week uses 9 slices of wholemeal bread
no added salt; 240 g drained per tin · the week uses 240 g
no added salt; 240 g drained per tin · the week uses 240 g
the week uses 8 wholemeal mini tortillas
the week uses a 200 g pack of soba noodles
the week uses about 10 tbsp
the week uses about 7½ tbsp
the week uses 2 medjool dates
the week uses about 1½ tbsp
the week uses about 2½ tbsp
the week uses about 1½ tbsp
the week uses 2 tsp
the week uses about 1 tbsp
the week uses about 1½ tbsp
the week uses 2 tsp
the week uses 1 tsp
the week uses 1 tsp
the week uses ½ tsp
The top-up shelf · optional
The optional extras, quantified at the rate suggested on the menu and listed apart from the main shop because skipping them should not waste food. Everything here keeps. Where an item is already on the list above, this is the amount to add to it.
about 2 pints per litre
lattes only, 175 ml each
the week uses 3 bananas
the week uses 4 medium eggs
the week uses 2 slices of sourdough
the week uses about 3 tbsp
a small block is plenty
the week uses about 1½ tbsp
the week uses 2 spring onions
Store cupboard items — oil, spices, pastes and nut butters — are listed as one jar or bottle each. Check what you already have before the shop rather than buying seven of them.
Where the numbers come from
Generic ingredients resolve to a pinned USDA FoodData Central id (SR Legacy and Foundation Foods, downloaded in full rather than queried, so the figures are reproducible offline). Pulses use the no-added-salt or cooked-without-salt entries, which is what a rinsed UK tin actually gives you. A handful of items are not in FoodData Central and carry label-sourced figures instead — worth checking against your own packs:
Arla skyr natural 0% fat — product label, Arla Skyr Natural (verify against your pot)
Soba noodles, dry (Clearspring) — Open Food Facts, Clearspring Japanese buckwheat noodles 200 g (5021554987949) for the macros, fibre and salt (0.03 g). Check the pack: many soba brands salt the dough and run near 800 mg sodium per 100 g. Potassium, calcium and iron are FDC 168906 (soba, dry).
White sourdough loaf — typical UK bakery sourdough label — the single biggest sodium item in the plan
Benecol yoghurt drink (67.5 ml bottle) — Open Food Facts, Benecol yoghurt drink — potassium and calcium are not published, so both are counted as zero here (a small under-count)
Tofoo Naked tofu — The Tofoo Co. Naked Tofu pack label (280 g block) for the macros — it is pressed, so nearly twice as dense as the FDC entry. Sodium from the label's 0.06 g salt. The label carries no micronutrients: potassium and iron are FDC 172448 (firm tofu) scaled by the protein ratio 16.5/9.04, and calcium is left at that entry's figure unscaled because Tofoo is nigari-set rather than calcium-set.
Unflavoured/vanilla whey concentrate — typical whey concentrate label (verify against your tub)
Sodium figures assume no salt is added at the table or in cooking.
Across the week, Nikki's biggest sources are skyr (1,081 mg), reduced-salt tamari (593 mg), wholemeal mini tortillas (555 mg) and wholemeal bread (546 mg) — the rest is spread thinly across everything else.