Busy mums never want to hear that there is one more thing that they need to add to their list of things to get done in a day. At the end of a day it can be a real challenge to get a healthy meal on the table. Here are a few of my tips to help make this easier.

1. Meal planning – if you don’t do anything else on this list, don’t skip this one. I have planned each week’s meals for years and it is the one thing that I would say makes my life easier. Even when I was at university on placement, with 3 teens at home, I depended on my plan a lot. Sometimes the plan doesn’t go according to the order it is in and sometimes some meals get removed for various reasons. But if you decide what the meals are for the week you can at least get something out of the freezer before you leave home in the morning, or the night before. Just this step makes the decision to cook more likely to happen. I plan on running a meal planning workshop soon for mood boosting meals, so keep an eye out for that.
2. Batch cooking – You have likely heard of this and it may seem a bit intimidating. The typical way of doing it is to cook a week’s worth of meals in one day. When I think of it in these terms I want to run the other way! But it doesn’t have to be that complicated. If you are cooking already, consider just making enough for one more meal. You can then choose to have it again the same week or freeze it to create a stash for later. I know that the big batch cooking advocates do a heap of meals in a single afternoon. If this works for you, then it is a great option. Even if batch cooking means doing some of the meal prep for another day such as making a sauce or cutting veggies up, it will all help you make that decision to cook a bit easier. 
3. Pre-cut veggies – Make use of the pre-cut veggies out there. You can get frozen veggies that are ready to go or fresh veggies that are pre-cut. Whatever you prefer, this can be a bit of a time saver. In terms of health benefits there is not much difference between fresh or frozen. Tinned food is a different story. You will be losing some of the vitamins in the water of tinned food. They are still a good option if you don’t have access to fresh or frozen options.
4. Team work – If you have teens in the house, suggest that they cook a meal each week. You can offer to be their kitchen hand to make it a bit easier for them. Get them to put on some of their favourite music and have a dance party in the kitchen while you are cooking. Time to let your hair down and show them a few moves! Not only will it allow you time to have fun with your teen and maybe get a smile out of them, but they will also be learning some very valuable skills (and I’m not talking about your dance moves!). If you feel you lack cooking skills yourself, consider going to a cooking class together or watch a few of the cooking shows available. Jamie Oliver is a great cook to follow, but there are so many options these days, you can take your pick.
5. Meal Kits – Have you tried the meal kit options? These are great options for busy families. The meals are packaged individually with the correct portions. The recipes are often quick and easy to make and delicious! It helps with cooking skills as well. The only thing I noticed when I was trialling them was that they didn’t really have enough veggies. So I would bulk it up with more, which would then mean I had extras serves for lunches. I also wasn’t a big fan of some of the additives they put in there. But that is personal for my family and their needs. I did a review of a couple which you can play below.

Dinnerly Review

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I did this Dinnerly review in 2023. I thought I would share it with you here so you could see what it looks like to cook with Dinnerly and what some of the things to be aware of are.

This meal was for 2 people.

My impression of the meals on offer were that they are mostly quite low on veggies and the healthier options still need  some extra veg added.

Cost wise, you would still be better off buying your own ingredients as you are paying for the service.

The quantity of food fed 3 of us, although I did use all the noodles (the recipe said to use half, which would have been enough for 2), and I added extra veg – capsicum and mushrooms.

This meal cam with 3 chicken thighs and 2 would have been enough for 2 people.

The meal was tasty and the recipe was easy to make. There were a couple of steps I typically would not have bothered with, like caramelising the peanuts and I didn’t bother making the spring onion oil.

There was less packaging and less food than Hello Fresh and Marley Spoon.

If I was to use this service regularly I would always make sure I have extra veggies in the fridge to add to the meals as they don’t provide enough for a healthy balanced meal. I was also doing this with Hello Fresh and Marley Spoon.

In summary, I don’t thing as they are they are healthy enough. But if they reduce the chances of purchasing fast food and eating less healthy meals, while teaching people to cook, then I think they do have a good role to play in bringing healthy food back into the home.