Most households have a number of basic items in the store cupboard. It's worth keeping pasta, long and short grain rice, some good stock, herbs, tins of tomatoes and tomato puree, dried fruit, eggs, butter, oil, tins of tuna, anchovies and other fish for quick solutions. Using these with some fresh or frozen vegetables can make quick easy meals when you are pushed for time or not in the mood to cook.

An omelette is a fast meal. Sweat an onion and a garlic clove, finely chopped, in a pan containing butter for taste and a little oil to control the temperature. As these begin to cook add some diced peppers, zucchini or any other vegetable you fancy. Stir them so that they don't brown but let them cook thoroughly. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Break an egg for each member of the family into a bowl, add some milk, a little salt and pepper and some fresh chopped herbs if you have them. When the vegetables are almost ready pour in the eggs and pull the setting eggs from the side of the pan to the middle. Cook the omelette to the desired set. Some like is wobbly in the middle but some prefer it well cooked.

While this is cooking, wash some lettuce, slice some tomatoes, chopped shallots, and add any other vegetable you fancy. Make a dressing and toss the salad. Within fifteen minutes you have a quick and tasty meal. Fresh fruit or yoghurts provide a pudding.

Risottos take about twenty minutes. Start by sweating an onion and garlic in some olive oil. Other diced vegetables can be added at this point. Add some short grain rice (arborio or a risotto rice are best) after a few minutes and stir well to coat the rice with oil. When it begins to look transparent add some boiling stock very slowly, just covering the rice. Stir regularly and add more stock as the rice absorbs it. Season with salt and pepper and any herbs you fancy. When the rice is cooked, add a knob of butter, sir it in then turn off the heat. Put a lid on the pan and leave for a few minutes to finish.

While the rice is cooking make some custard. Slice some bananas into a bowl, pour the custard over them. Decorate the top with sprinkles and you have a quick pudding.

A stir fry is always tasty. Slice thinly, onion, garlic, carrot and any other vegetables you have. Make it colorful. Try to keep the sizes similar because they will cook more evenly. Heat a little oil to a high temperature, in a wok if you have one. Add the vegetables one by one and toss to cover with oil. Add salt and pepper. Keep stirring so that nothing burns. Make a sauce with a teaspoon of cornstarch and a little soya sauce, mix well and add a quarter of a pint of water. If you have some frozen shrimps add them to the vegetables to heat through. Add the sauce, stir well and serve.

Ice cream, sorbets, fresh fruit or ready made desserts are easy finishes to the meal.

These meals provides protein, fats, the five vegetable or fruit needed daily and fiber. The carbohydrates are in the vegetables. If you drink water with the meal it is completely nutritionally balanced.

The oil or butter is in small quantities and as it contains the flavors which make the food tasty it is essential as well as necessary for the maintenance of cell walls and other important functions in the body. Fats make you feel full so you eat less, as does the fiber in the vegetables.

The salt is necessary for taste and for the electrolytes in the body.The secret to control weight is not in the ingredients but in the quantities of each portion. Try a smaller portion and if you still feel hungry or unsatisfied have some more. Eating to your appetite and listening to your body's demands ensure you are able to eat well.

Learn more about this author, Rosemary Redfern.
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