Spanish MasterChef 8 winner Ana Iglesias Panicelli, mother of two girls, has shared her formula for batch cooking - preparing a whole week's food in a few hours. With a price tag of 4.26 euros per portion and seven different recipes, the idea pulls in anyone short on time who still doesn't want to eat the same thing every day.

Seven recipes for two: warm salmon salad, warm salad with egg and vegetables, noodles with prawns, quinoa with sweetcorn and apple, tacos with minced meat, quinoa with chicken and pumpkin, and lentils with ham and vegetables. It isn't pretending to be haute cuisine - but it is well balanced across the week.

The shopping list is done in one go: broccoli, courgette, peppers, pumpkin, carrot, mushrooms, apple, sweetcorn, chicken, minced meat, ham, salmon, prawns, lentils, noodles, quinoa, eggs, tomato sauce, salt, pepper and olive oil. A large part of that the Balkan home cook already has or buys regularly anyway.

Ana's five core lessons: first, the oven is your biggest ally - meat, vegetables and pasta dishes can roast together. Second, proteins should be cut in different shapes so dishes look different. Third, different spice mixes give each dish its own character. Fourth, the same pan gets re-used - it isn't washed between every recipe. Fifth, always keep stock cubes and soy sauce in the cupboard for a fast lift.

Delicate proteins (fish, eggs, seafood) get eaten at the start of the week. Red meat and lentils are saved for the end - they keep better in the fridge. That is logic our grandmothers knew without calling it "batch cooking" - just with less marketing and no hashtags.