All recipes combine easy to store ingredients, are quick to cook, needing minimal gas and water and are satisfying. I have included some to be made at home to take and save cooking when away.

Curried Tuna (4 persons) 1 small can tuna 1 small can mushroom soup 1 tsp curry powder 1 medium can of peas Mix fish and soup in a pan, add curry and drained peas, bring to boil and simmer 15 mins.

Speedy Tuna Noodles (2 persons) 2 oz egg noodles 2 oz chopped spring onions 1 tbsp tomato purée squirt of Jif lemon 2 tsps dried coriander small can of tuna in brine, drained salt & pepper Cook noodles as directed (soak in boiling water 5 mins), mix onions, tomato purée, lemon and coriander; add tuna (do not break up too much); drain noodles and gently stir in fish-mix; season and serve.

French toast and Fried Tomatoes (2 persons) 2 eggs 2 tbsp milk salt & pepper 2 slices bread 1 oz butter 2 tomatoes Beat eggs and milk with s&p, add bread and soak for 5 mins (eggy bread). Fry bread 3 mins each side and remove; keep warm whilst frying tomatoes in butter — 2 mins each side, then serve on top of eggy bread.

Pasta with mushrooms and Pesto sauce (2 persons) 250 g pasta 4 tsps pesto (comes in tubes and keeps for ages) 350 g sliced mushrooms small tub crème fraiche or natural yoghurt Cook pasta as directed; mix crème with pesto, heat gently, add mushrooms, bring slowly to boil and simmer 5 mins. Sit mushroom sauce into drained pasta.

Spaghetti al Pomodoro 3 rashers smoky bacon trimmed of fat red pepper olive oil 1 clove garlic crushed 1 fresh chilli chopped plenty of tomatoes, fresh or tinned, chopped salt & pepper 2 tbsps tomato purée basil and oregano, fresh or dried little lemon juice Chop bacon and pepper, fry gently in olive oil — do not brown. Add garlic and chilli — cook until soft then add toms, seasonings, purée, basil and oregano. Cover and simmer gently 30/40 mins or until reduced to a sauce. Sprinkle with lemon before serving on cooked pasta or spaghetti. (Cook this at home, freezes well, cook pasta on board). Recipe seen in magazine as is the actor Robert Carlyle’s own home sauce — it is marvellous and I haven’t had normal spag bol since!

Pizza Bread Toast bread on one side, spread the other with olive oil, then tomato puree and top with grated cheese and usual herbs — grill until melted.

Apple Cake (cook at home) 5 oz butter 6 oz caster sugar 8 oz sifted self-raising wholemeal or white flour 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp almond essence 2 eggs 3 oz ground almonds 12 oz cored peeled Bramley apples flaked almonds and Demerara sugar to sprinkle Grease 7 or 8 inch round, loose bottomed cake tin. Mix first 7 items together. Put half of mix into tin, pile on apple and cover with remaining mix, sprinkle with Dem sugar and flaked almonds. Bake Mk3/325f/170C on middle shelf for about 90 to 110 minutes. Test with skewer. Recipe seen in latest Trail magazine. I am going to see if slices freeze.

NB I use a lot of Uncle Ben’s ready cooked rice. Comes in cans or now, soft pouches — ready in 2/3 minutes. Also Doll Quick Noodles again ready in 2/3 minutes. The latest Bachelors Saucy Noodles are terrific, particularly the green Thai flavour. Pesto sauce, as mentioned, comes in tubes as well as jars; I prefer the tubes and for a very quick meal just mix it with cooked pasta. Another tube I use is garlic puree as it saves mucking about with garlic. It also comes in jars and is called, in this case, lazy garlic. For sandwiches I use Primula cheese spread — yet another tube, saves washing up as I put it on a slice of bread like toothpaste and squash another slice on top. I must admit I usually warm canned ready meals to serve on rice or pasta and have now found an excellent range in ALDI — good and very cheap.