You can buy fresh vegetables, such as carrots, celery, leek and parsley either in large packs or the single piece is so large that it takes months to eat.

Since we do not want to eat the same vegetables 3 days in a row, there are now several ways to avoid that:

1. Mirepoix: You purchase your vegetables as prepacked fresh mirepoix. That does not cost much and includes the most important vegetables.
2. Cut and freeze it: If you buy a large pack, like carrots, process all the vegetables and freeze them pre-portioned.
3. Frozen vegetables: There are usually in great mixes. However, be careful that you shop unseasoned vegetables. They are better for portioning.

Beurre manié is used for thickening sauces and soups, and is easily made ​​within 2 minutes.

• Mix butter and flour in a 1:1 ratio.
• Make balls in the size of cherries and put them on a plate in the freezer for 2 hours.
• If the balls are frozen, they can be stored in a plastic bag in the freezer.

Weight and volume measurements cannot simply be converted 1 to 1 since matter, in our case ingredients have a different density. Meaning that temperature and pressure have a strong influence on volume measurements. However, quantities in recipes are rather  recommendations of the author than absolute.

Caution on ingredients in small quantities (pinch, rotate, TL, …). Their fluctuations are more serious than with high-dose ingredients. Therefore, an extra teaspoon of salt might spoil your soup, but an extra teaspoon of flour in the cake is rarely insignificant.