Teenage Family Meal Plan 07/09/20

Do you meal plan? I’ve always done a meal planner, but over lockdown I got into the habit of doing both lunches and dinners for the whole family. It was relentless, but I knew that if I didn’t my crew would end up eating toast all day, so I got into the habit of catering for everyone, just to make sure they ate properly. And actually, I loved having us all together every day for lunch. We watched a lot of films and did a lot of virtual quizzes during the pandemic, and our dinners as a result were often …

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Health: Easy Ways to Eat More Fruit and Veg

Before you click away, this is definitely NOT a health food post! I enjoy roast pork, a citrusy Sauvignon, and cheese far too much to ever write a post about diets, and you will never find me advocating a protein bar. But. I know that there are things that make me feel generally better in myself. A daily walk in the fresh air; plenty of water; a few nights a week without alcohol; and a good amount of fruit and vegetables in my diet. The trouble is, when life is hectic, and food often comes in the variety of ‘grab’ …

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Family Food: Review of the Hello Fresh Family Box

Review: the Hello Fresh family box allows adults to spice up a family favourite

Do you sometimes stand in front of the fridge and want to scream? If the worst part of your parenting day comes at dinner time, I have the answer. The new Hello Fresh family box. If you’re anything like me – and let’s be honest: every family needs a bit of help sometimes when it comes to meal times – what was once a pleasurable and relaxing activity has become a daily drudge since you’ve had kids. I’ve been cooking family food for 13 years now, and although in many ways it does get easier (remember cubes of frozen organic …

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A Teatime Kids Favourite with Full-On Flavour but No Added Sugar

Hands up who sometimes ends up tearing their hair out at teatime? We make fabulous meal plans and have wonderful intentions to feed everybody from scratch, don’t we? But inevitably there’s going to come a day (or more!) in the week when you’re shattered, everyone’s hungry right NOW, and you just don’t have it in you to put together an elaborate chickpea and soya bean casserole. Am I right? But you still want to feed your kids something that’s nutritious, not full of rubbish, and that they’ll actually enjoy. My kids have always been fans of spaghetti hoops (though if …

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Could you have Chefs of the Future? Tefal Cook4Me review

Review: The Tefal Cook4Me We’ve been letting the kids loose in the kitchen recently. They’re old enough now to know a few of the basics of preparing food, and both of them are really interested in creating meals, so cooking with the kids is much less stressful than it used to be when they were very young. What’s really made the difference though, is the addition of a new gadget to our kitchen. We’ve been working with Tefal to promote the Cook4Me, showing how easy it is to use by turning over the kitchen to the kids. Looking for more …

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Recipe: Unbelievably Easy Sausage and Bean Stew (Tefal Cook 4 Me)

Recipe: a sausage and bean stew that's so easy the kids can make it

If you follow our social media accounts, it will not have escaped your notice that we have a new kitchen gadget. I have waxed lyrical about the Cook4Me by Tefal, to the extent that several of my online friends have gone straight down to Argos to buy one for themselves. Still others have added the intelligent multicooker to their Christmas list. I’m pretty confident that it will live up to expectation, and very excited to have one to give away today. I’ll be reviewing the Cook4Me fully next week, when you will find out how we got on handing the kitchen over …

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Food: Easy Italian Family Friendly Dinner Party Menu

If you're having a dinner party, and trying to cater for children as well as adults, Italian is a great choice. These little antipasti relishes are perfect on tiny crostini or bruschetta as an appetiser.

  In our family we love to eat. Waiters never get the chance to offer the children’s menu, and always look nonplussed by our kids’ food choices. At the weekends we cook big roast dinners, complete with proper puddings, or attempt marinades for the barbeque. One of my biggest frustrations after we started a family was having to cook simple, plain foods for my children, and then start again with delicious dishes for myself and my husband. As soon as they were able to appreciate something more challenging I started to try and integrate them into our more grown-up meals, …

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Shaking up Mealtimes: HelloFresh Recipe Box Review

Our Hello Fresh recipe box had instructions for quick and easy dishes like this prawn and serrano ham linguine

I have bemoaned many times on the blog quite how dull I find cooking now that I have kids. Not because I don’t enjoy food, or the thrill of creating something tasty that everyone loves. But because that doesn’t always happen, and the process of putting meals on the table day after day becomes more of a chore than a joy. Anything that makes that task easier, and more successful will always get my vote. So I was excited to try the HelloFresh recipe box. We had eight recipes for four people over the course of two weeks. Ample for …

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Food: Zesty Strawberry Mojito Sorbet (recipe)

Combine mint, strawberries, lime and a magic ingredient to get the perfect dessert sorbet for summer

  A frozen strawberry dessert based on the classic cocktail After loving our Strawberry Mojito mocktails, I got a bit excited about what else I could do with the recipe. We may have been a bit over zealous at our local fruit farm this week, and had rather a glut of gorgeous strawberries beginning to soften in the fridge. So, never one to waste food, and bearing in mind that July is national ice cream month, I had the idea for a strawberry mojito sorbet. We have the Smart Scoop ice cream maker from Sage by Heston Blumenthal, and we’ve …

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Mindful Chef Review: Healthy Recipe Box Meals

Mindful Chef recipe box review: a box zingy with fresh vegetables and seasonings

Mindful Chef: the Healthy Recipe Box I don’t often post about food on this blog, but when I do, it’s because I’ve found something that really makes life a little bit better. I’ve talked before about how my love of cooking has diminished since having children. It’s something to do with the endless nature of feeding a family. No sooner is one meal consumed, than another has to be prepared, and the cycle of menu-planning, shopping, prepping, and cleaning up seems to go round too fast for me to ever feel like food is not on my mind. Add to …

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