Brought to you by MAGGI.
Are there meals that remind you of your childhood? For me it’s curry sausages, spaghetti bolognese and beef stroganoff. They feel like home, and like comfort food to me. I make them for my family even now, and mix them up a little to suit the kids… and I hope they create those same memories for them as they grow.
My kids are fussy about meat though, and I’ve found there’s no use buying steak or anything for them, and it’s best to just make things with mince. It’s easier for them to chew and I know they’ll eat it. Instead of the normal sliced beef that you might use for beef stroganoff, I change mine up a little to add meatballs in. It’s super easy to do, and really yummy.
This recipe is so easy to use, and the trick is to use the MAGGI Beef Stroganoff recipe base, as it means this meal is made quickly and is packed full of flavour. These bases are full of delicious herbs and spices, and are my number one tip to cut down on prep time – you add them to the meal and you’re ready to go. I make my own meatballs using breadcrumbs, egg and any vegetables I want to hide inside them. You can do the same, or you can buy pre-made meatballs… it depends on how quickly you want to make your meal.
Now, I serve my stroganoff with pasta… but some people prefer rice, others like mash and some just like vegetables. It’s totally up to you. I’m also VERY obsessed with mushrooms. They’re my favourite vegetable, and sometimes I’ll make this without meat and just use loads of mushrooms. Again, do what works for you. I love that with these MAGGI recipe bases you can start with one meal and really switch it up to suit you. You can even cook this in the oven instead of the stove top, and I’d like to personally try it in the slow cooker.
Anything is possible!
BEEF MEATBALL STROGANOFF
INGREDIENTS
500g beef meatballs
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 onion, sliced
1 1/3 cup water
1 MAGGI Beef Stroganoff recipe base
2 cups pasta, cooked
METHOD
1. Heat a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Place the oil in the frying pan, and brown the meatballs for 4 minutes. Place meatballs onto a plate.
2. Place the onion and mushrooms into the frying pan and cook for 2 minutes. Return the meatballs to the pan. Mix the water in a jug with the MAGGI Beef Stroganoff recipe base, and mix to combine. Add to the pan, and stir through. Place lid on the pan and simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Take the pan off the heat, and stir in the sour cream slowly. Serve with pasta, and vegetables if you choose. Enjoy!
I want to make your life easier too, and help with some delicious, tasty and easy recipe ideas. I’ve got MAGGI Recipe Base hamper to giveaway including a $150 Woolworths voucher so you can cook up a storm in your own home. All you have to do is leave a comment below sharing your best tip for making dinnertime easier.
Boring bits: Competition open to Australian residents only. One entry per person. Competition closes October 15th 2017 at 11:59pm. Winner will be judged by Fat Mum Slim.
For me, getting my kids to help with meal preparation is a winner. Not only does it allow me get the meal ready without having to worry about what they are up to in another room, it also means they are more likely to eat the food! Something as simple as chopping mushrooms, potatoes or capsicum can also encourage them to try new things and be more likely to eat what we cook! https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/fa97e5427ecd3f296e335f78804e6d5956e290d499a416f2ec2af7836d86e62a.jpg
Doing as much prep early in the day when my little one’s moods are more predictable makes dinnertime easier for me!
To make dinnner time easier in my house depends on everyone’s attitude lol, I have young kids so I’ll prep veggies during nap time or even cook the entire meal and plate it up and re-heat at dinner time…. or if all fails and falls into a heap at 5.30 I’ll chuck on a ‘paw patrol’ or somewhat of the like and smash it out ready to serve at 6!
It looks so delicious and attractive. Kids will love this meat balls. Thanks for sharing the recipe. 🙂
I always make twice as much and then freeze leftovers. That way we can have a week of no cooking just heating things up.
I buy a pre cooked chicken and make chicken stroganoff. Use some for lunch the next day as well.
Heidi
I plan our dinners a week in advance, making sure that at least two of those meals will provide leftovers on another night (or leftovers which can easily be turned into another meal another night).
Makes it so much easier on those days when we have after school activities or hubs and I are just too tired to think of what to cook.
Anything that I can make in one dish in the oven!! My fave is a lamb chop bake – basically potatoes, herbs, chilli, then lamb chops – about 45 minutes!!
I use recipe bases all the time they are so convenient and you do not need to buy the spices separately. I always try and double the mix so I have extra to freeze. I usually serve stroganoff with stir fry beef and pasta but will definitely try your recipe with meatballs looks delicious
I find planning the weeks meals makes life easier. I know i have all ingredients and i dont have to think about what we are having come 5pm. My kids are 8, 6, 4 and 3 so its getting easier but when their hungry they want it now ?
I plan for the week and shop for all the planned meals! The menu goes up on the fridge and all the ingredients are ready to go!
I also start prepping at lunch time if I am home (or on a Sunday arvo) to make dinner time quicker and easier! Winner winner chicken dinner!
I really enjoy cooking, but I don’t like not knowing what to make. I’ve spent countless amounts of time in the past walking through the supermarket trying to come up with what to make.
It made me frustrated and turned me off wanting to cook.
But what I do now is I look for different recipes to try. Just simple meals that don’t need a lot of ingredients etc.
I either borrow cookbooks from the library, look online, flip through my own recipe collection, or even buy recipe books from op-shops!
Once I know what to make, I can then plan by making sure I have the ingredients, as well as do as much prep work as I can during the day. It makes things so much easier in the kitchen!
Leftovers rule! I love anything that I can stretch out into another meal (or more). Think roast lamb one night and lamb burgers or wraps the next. A big pot of chilli can be served with rice one night, nachos the next and enchiladas the next. Good old spag bol makes a yummy baked potato topping or toasted sandwich later in the week. And ALL these things make fantastic quesadillas in the sandwich press that the kids love in their lunchbox.
I love my crock pot! It makes dinnertime so easy.
I use Maggi recipe bases to create a variety of tasty meals for my family several times a week. There are always leftovers for lunch the next day.
One pot wonders always make life easier and I always cook extra – two meals done right there.
I always cook in bulk and freeze. Lasagne and pasta is the best!
Cut up salad veges (carrot, broccoli, cucumber, tomatoes) in containers ready to add to any dinner quickly and easy
I have learnt to love ZIP LOCK BAGS! ❤️ I have set up my fridge with clear sliding draw/containers to help me get through the week without going insane. I cut up my fruit and vegetables into portion sized bags, have a container just for ready to go snacks all pre sorted for the kids to grab and easy dump bag type dinners to create one pot wonders in no time. I leave for work at 4am and don’t get home till 730pm, so life with three kids under 7 can be hard ? With pre cut bags (like mince, beans, vegetables and diced tomatoes for instance) I can throw together a quick and nutritious dinner in less than 30 mins and for days where I know I won’t want to cook, I have slow cooker meals already bagged to throw in the slow cooker for a meal ready to go when we all get home. Zip lock bags from IKEA are the ones I love most! Perfect to orgainise your fridge, to help make meal time easier and their even great for travelling with kids! Storing outfits & labelling for each day so there’s no worrying about what to wear or that it stays fresh and clean in their bags 🙂
My best dinner time tip is to decide in advance what you’re having for dinner. It could be that you meal plan or maybe you just decide the night before what you’ll be making the next day so that you can pull out the meat you need and put it in the fridge to defrost. I also like to put the pantry ingredients out on the kitchen bench in a cute little basket all ready for when I get home from work
Honestly my best tip with four young kids is to cook a nice simple but nutritious meal for the kids to eat earlier and then pack in the spices (or whatever you fancy) for a lovely healthy but delicious meal with your husband (or significant other) later. You won’t spend 3 hours at the table trying to get them to taste it. You can gradually introduce new things and they grow up eventually and try everything at their own rate.
I have two.
~ Let them help cook, mine seem to love eating if they cooked!
~ And pick your battles. They won’t starve themselves, if they’re hungry they’ll eat eventually lol
This looks yum! Can’t wait to try it 🙂
I know me too im excited to try it lol looks yum
Plan ahead what you are going to prepare for dinner, that way you won’t be rushed and will have everything on hand. Most of all, enjoy your creation.
My tip is to know what the family enjoys eating and work with that by adding or changing ingredients to explore different flavors and serving it all at same time especially with kids then u can enjoy tea together
I usually do the prep on a Sunday and have a roster for the week. Means I have more time with the kids and not thinking what am I going to make tonight!
I try to make meals that are a one pot meal… easy for me and they still taste delicious. Less washing up as well!
Make a large meal and freeze half for another night…
Making extra portions so we have home cooked lunches at work during the week. Saves a LOT of money this way. Also helps to buy prepackaged sauces occasionally to save time and money.
I make extra sauces and maranaides and freeze them for quick dinners. We also cut, prep and portion all our weeks veges so we can just pull them out, steam or bake and VOILA 🙂
I always have a few meals that everyone likes in the freezer for nights when the majority of the house want something different that not everyone likes.
Making extra some nights for the freezer so when you don’t feel like cooking, the family can have ‘freezer surprise’
Planning a weekly menu has saved me so much time & money and just makes it so much easier to plan & prep ahead of time, working around family activities and so on.
i love Cooking a meal that i can have 3/4 times in a row so save cooking more time enjoying life
Clean up as you go, have hot water and cold water in the sink, when you finish a task throw it in the hot to soak and then dip to rinse and place to dry, then you can sit and relax after dinner
I clean up as I go … because NO ONE wants to clean up after dinner on a full tummy! Makes the night much more pleasant. ??
Make enough for leftovers… then your next meal is SUPER DUPER simple!
My best tip for dinnertime is to get your kids to help. They can do a few dishes, set the table, get ingredients out and help prep them, stir the pot, help clean up. All depending on age of course. It is super important to help your kids learn life skills, so win win really!
I make 2-in-1 dinners – I would make the meatball stroganoff (looks and sounds delicious!), but make a double batch of meatballs at once, and save some for spaghetti and meatballs the following night 🙂
Have a set time range for the evening meal. Routine is a good thing for kids and having a set meal time allows them to know when they will be fed. We aim to eat around 5.30pm.
Eat at the table, this allows the meal to be more family focused with all of us sitting around the table and it is conducive to conversation.
Turn off distractions. I love having music on around the house, but even that goes off at meal time, as it can easily distract the children. No devices are to be brought to the table and I also let any phone calls go through to answer service, so that I am not leaving the table and being distracted myself.
Do a weekly menu plan, and a shopping list divided into what you need for each day, so if you go shopping, you just buy what is needed for that day. Saves time and reduces waste.
Pressure Cooker, it produces delicious results in no time at all. Saving not only time, but money on utilities too, and it’s a quick one pot wash up. Winning all round if you ask me. Best thing we ever purchased.
Finding something new & fun for the Week:
Look up recipes, blogs or magazines, I seek
Food thats interesting but not such a stretch
that no one will try it. and takeaways I fetch!
This little bit of inspiration sets the tone
for cooking to be a fun activity,
of the same old meal
being a negativity 😀
Clean up as you go along. You’ll be surprised at how many things actually get reused and it saves a world of time.
Preparation or delegation! On shopping day prep your veggies for the week ahead, ready to use in the crisper, chopped, sliced, diced, ready to go. Of course you can’t do the potatoes because they brown, but a little common sense goes a long way, and seriously saves so much time at dinner time. Either this OR enlist a helper, I like to appoint hubby as my apprentice, the one who peels and cuts up the veggies etc, and the kids, well they’re junior apprentices who get to help with the rubbish, dishes, and putting things away, and I do the cooking, which I don’t mind a bit, but they all see it as such a dreaded chore, so gladly accept their designated duties.
It’s all about the prep! I prepare veggies for 3 days in advance and on the morning thaw out the protein/meat. So when I get home from work dinner will only take 20mins to get on the table which is great when you have two hungry kids wanting to know what’s is for dinner!
I menu plan so those days when we are pressed for time we have something either easy to do or pre-prepared – and always make twice as much.
I let my 4 girls all choose one meal a week that they would like to eat and they have to help me cook that meal that they have chosen. I have found this not only gets them excited for dinners but also teaches them how to cook.
This recipe looks amazing, I’ll definitely be trying it! Having 4 kids myself my best tip is try to meet everyone’s tastes. Easier said than done sometimes but I love finding recipes that everyone will enjoy or switching ingredients to suit what we like. It avoids complaints which makes mealtime more enjoyable and saves waste also. We still try new things but maybe say the side dish will be something regular to compliment the new main meal or even just serving like you have done with pasta knowing they like pasta. No one likes wasting time in the kitchen for everyone to not like it so this works for me!
Best tip: Order delivery.
My best meal tip is to make a meal plan for the week. I look at kids activities and what night we need a quick and easy meal and I also look at the weather forecast! It helps our budget, waistlines and works well for a busy sporting household! Must put this meal on the plan for next week!
Get all the family involved! Less work for you, is a chance to connect and makes for some MAGGI-cal memories!
Best Tip – Preparation!!! Prep on weekends so that your week is a smooth ride. I have a lot of maggi noodles on hand and throw them in quick and easy recipes like – Chow Mein, San Choi Bow, it helps recipes to go further when you may have minimal items!
When you know you have a busy day and dinner will be rushed. Pull out the slow cooker cooks our beef strog or lasagne to perfection ?
Let the kids serve up their own meals. And if all else fails, bribe them with dessert lol
Getting premarinated meats and seafood, to rustle up a superb dinner every night within 30 minutes.
Slow cooker! Easiest way to have dinner ready without the 5-6pm rush around with tired kids!
My tip is the slow cooker. I love using Maggi Recipe Bases to create meals in my slow cooker.
Oven bake meals and forget about it until the timer goes off, are how I have survived dinner times. I loathe preparing dinner, so anything that can be baked and salads are where it’s at in my house.
We use weekly meal plans which help make things so much smoother, I also try and do as much prep and cooking in the morning as possible. That way when witching/crazy time strikes dinner is pretty much sorted. It also means that when Hubster gets home we can all head out for a walk in the fresh air.
This I have to try, would be so much cheaper than buying Rump steak and slicing it up…I try and cook up a couple of meals on a Sunday afternoon so that way during the week if we are not home until later there is something ready to go.
Cut up veggies while you’re doing lunch boxes in the morning. Leave them in a pot of water through the day then just switch on in the evening.
When doing the groceries, I chop up a lot of vegies and store in tupperware containers. If the kids feel like some carrots or celery sticks they can help themselves, and saves time for meal prep. If you’re lazy like me, I love to chuck everything in the slow cooker and let it do its thing!
This is great, I had no clue what to make for dinner, and saw this pop up on Facebook so I’ve actually made your Strog Meatballs for the family tonight. Best tip for making dinnertime easy? Follow FatMumSlim who will tell you what to cook. The end.
It might not work for everyone, but with three kids under 5, I make dinner times easier by serving them our dinner leftovers from the night before. It means their dinner is only a microwave minute away when they’re hungry, and hubby and I can still eat (in peace!) after they’re in bed. I find they’re also more open to eating a variety of foods because they’re exposed to what we eat. It won’t work forever but it definitely makes my life easier at the moment!
Prepare for the day, clean away and hope and pray ? haha. I chop up and prep vegetables through the day when I get a chance. I always start with a clean kitchen and clean as I go. And I just hope and pray that what I create is edible and enjoyed. ???
I meal plan and prep in advance. For example when I go shopping I get home and as I’m putting away I prep the veggies and the meats for the week into vacuume sealed bags then label and freeze the meat and store the veggies in the fridge. For example tomorrow nights tea is stir fry chicken so I cut up the chicken add the marinade and freeze cut up the veggies (carrot, broccoli, snow peas what ever I plan to use) put them in a vacuum sealer bag and vac seal label and store tomorrow I just take the meat out defrost in the morning or the night before put it all in cook no prep on the day just cooking ?? it takes me about 45-1hr 1 day a week to prepare 6 days worth of tea that’s so much less stress and more time with the kids in the arvo win win and a healthy tea less take away temptation on those bad days ?
I make “dump bags” for my slow cooker. So we meal prep one day chop it all up into freezer bags, with instructions of how long to cook what temp and anything that needs adding at the end. I.e corn flour for thickening. So I have 14 slow cooker meals frozen ready to go then use the slow cooker to do my cooking so I can spend time with my 4yo & newborn. It’s working well for us. I also do my shopping online who’s got time to browse isles with kids.
My best tip is to use a slow cooker. Put on in the morning and its ready at dinner time. And you have the whole day free.
On the days I work I make dinner the day before, so just have to pop it in the oven when I get home. Also, breakfast for dinner some nights! ??
I cook/prep as much of the evening meal in the morning straight after school drop-off. Makes evenings so much easier!
Meal plan!! I write out exactly what meal we’re having for a week in advance and that way there is no thought needed (and no arguments or questions from the kids “What’s for dinner Muuuumm?” – they just check the list!) It also saves in grocery money as you only buy what you need for the week, and the whole family like to input to write the list!! This week, I’ll be adding Maggi Meatball Stroganoff to the list – thanks so much!! ☺
I prepare all the veggies and protein and let the kids make their own meal – whether it be sushi rolls, tortilla, sandwich, etc. They love it!
Great idea using the meatballs, will habe to try this one.
By far the 2 things that make dinnertime easier for me is meal planning and my Thermomix!
Do as much prep as you can in the morning or throughout the day when things are not so hectic.
Mince + Maggi recipe bases makes for great easy, fast and tasty meals and go perfectly with fresh side salads
Meal plan then prepping. And i get my kids involved then they can see how to its all done
I spend one weekend day washing and prepping veg, marinating meats into oven dishes, and slow cooking meals to freeze. I used to enjoy cooking, but having to do this has taken the joy out if it. I wish my partner cooked but truth be told he hates it, and can’t improvise with what’s seasonal or in the fridge. So actually I would love to win this hamper for him – it might make all our lives that much easier!!
It would have to be, be prepared. On a Sunday I like to get all my ingredients and chop, dice and combine everything I need. I’ll freeze the meals for later in the week and refrigerate the rest. It makes life so much easier and you don’t waste hour wondering what to have and stops you from saying “Let’s just have maccas”! Unless it’s McHappy Day, then you HAVE to have maccas!
Yum, this recipe has my mouth watering!
I make dinner time easier by doubling a recipe and freezing the left overs for another night; two meals for half the effort! I also chop up extra veggies so when the kids inevitably come to me whinging of dire starvation and proclaiming that they just cannot wait 10 minutes for dinner I let them snack on some of the surplus veg. Doesn’t ‘ruin their appetite’ as I just consider it a part of the meal. ?
Preparation is the key! Organising what you would like to make for the week makes dinner time so much easier.
I’m a shift working nurse and my slow cooker is my superhero!
You can cook ANYTHING in the slow cooker and leave it be while sleeping after nights or doing a back to back late finish early start and no body at home starves because I wasn’t home to prepare dinner in time. The slow cooker is my definition of easier dinner times.
Sunday meal planning and prep is what saves me. Making sure that my work days are all covered with either a meal in the oven served with salad or steam veg or a simple one pan-one bowl dinner (like strong+pasta, jacket potatoes)
Having all the ingredients at hand definitely helps as no stress having to battle supermarket in the evenings
I found quick and easy meals with maggi noodles we love them in our stir fry like our honey soy beef or creamy mushroom and chicken stir fry… healthy alternative
Meal planning and weekly grocery shopping with a list! Nothing worse than not knowing what to cook for dinner and having to head to the shops every afternoon – it wastes time and money!
With three kids
I don’t need them to flip their lids
I try to meal plan
And try not to cook in every pan
Spend the morning cooking dinner
Then every evening I’m the winner!
With three kids
I don’t need them to flip their lids
I try to meal plan
And try not to cook in every pan
Spend the morning cooking dinner
Then every evening I’m the winner!
Besides doing up a meal plan so you know what you’ll be cooking each day, One pot meals are so easy and my go to. Just chuck all the ingredients in the crock pot, turn it on and come dinner time you’re all good to go…
Besides doing up a meal plan so you know what you’ll be cooking each day, One pot meals are so easy and my go to. Just chuck all the ingredients in the crock pot, turn it on and come dinner time you’re all good to go…
Prep vegies/meat whatever you may be cooking during the day when kids happily playing or napping. Then pull out of fridge when time to cook. I had a late airport run to drop friend friend off on thurs, put all vegies in steamer and told my 20yr old son “I’ll txt you when leaving shop (grabbed cooked chook on way home) so you can turn steamer on. Anyhoo i called to see if anyone needed stuff and he took that as turn on now…… yep i arrived 1HR LATER . Water boiled dry and burnt steamed vegies. We had chook sangas ??
I find dinner is (a little) less stressful if I can prep it earlier in the day and throw everything in the oven when the time comes. I also have easy meals on hand with batches of different pasta sauces in the freezer which I can throw with some pasta or gnocchi for quick, easy, healthy dinners ?
2 words… Pressure cooker… Quick easy and yummy meals
Slow cooker recipes – do all the hard work in the morning when you have more energy then leave and forget until dinner time. Simply serve and eat when you’re most stressed rather than the other way around.
I do a big cookup of meals and freeze them for work nights. I also cook a meal for that night and one to freeze. I haven’t had stroganoff in ages, craving it now!
With 7 mouths to feed my number one tip is to meal prep earlier in the day.
Afternoons are crazy in our house with 5 kids from 9 months to 16 years old.
I find I’m a much calmer mum and actually enjoy cooking if everything is prepped and ready to go when it’s time to cook.
Everyone has to pitch in, even Miss 7. It may be slow and painful now (an far quicker to do myself) but once she can do it confidently it will save me heaps of time and set her up for when she finally leaves home (at 108 because she is forbidden to move out earlier)
1. Open bottle of wine.
2. Begin drinking wine.
3. Get your partner to cook dinner.
4. Finish bottle of wine.
I dont know if dinner time is easy in my house, with two little boys, who are super fussy eaters. The only thing that seems to work in getting them to try my meals, is to threaten to take away screen time! lol
It’s a terribly boring answer but a sanity saver: Meal planning all the way!
Prep in advance, have freezer meals ready to go and know which days I’m really going to have the least amount of ‘farks’ left for dinner.
I cook things that are quick and easy and sometimes use my slow cooker, anything to make my evening run smoother I’m ok with
It’s just me and my 15 month old twin girls at dinnertime. So I can eat my meal at the same time I tend to do dinners they can feed themselves, things they can pick up and eat or that will stick to a spoon or fork (they’re still hopeless at cutlery).
My best tip for making dinner time easier is to get the kids involved. Firstly by having a say in the choice of meal and secondly, by helping with the meal prep. I love cooking with my kids ❤
One pot meals save on washing up. Simply throw uncooked pasta (or rice) into meat/sauce mix and heat until cooked. The pasta absorbs the sauce flavour and tastes delicious!
Prep. Prep. Prep.
Meal plan. Plan around after school activities.
Click and collect.
Simple meals for weekdays.
Rotate kids favs for optimum dinnertime pleasure.
Music. Dance. Sing. Wine.
My best tip to make dinner time easier is to feed the beasts I mean the kids at 4pm and then they get a snack of fruit or yoghurt at about 6pm. They are starving ravenous animals after school and my husband works nights so I feed them early and then I can get them into bed early. On the weekends my husband cooks. I find cooking dinner such a repetitive task so I like to bulk cook as well so I can stretch the meal over a few nights. I love beef stroganoff but never thought to do it with meatballs! Will have to give the Maggi base a go
Preparation!!! Have everything ready before you cook! Also a slow cooker makes it sooooo easy too!
I often cook dinner the night before needed when the kids are in bed and I can prep in peace watching my fave tv show. I find meals like spag bol and stroganoff taste even better the next day!
Deconstructed dinners mean less stress, less pressure, and a more relaxed family meantime. I serve a lean protein, some form of carb and a mixture of little veggie plates in the middle of the table – kids pick what they want and how much they want.
My ‘job’ is to plate up a healthy variety of food, their ‘job’ is to choose which of these foods to eat and how much.
Prep all your veggies and protein before you start cooking, as a nanny I always prep whilst the kids are sleeping so it makes witching hour less stressful!
I love to make double portions and use the ‘leftovers’ to make a new meal. Eg mix together leftover veges and/or meat through fresh spaghetti with a pesto and cheese or by using leftover chicken bake and adding spinach in puff pastry for free form pies. Saves time, tastes like a whole new meal and becomes really cost effective too.
Slow cookers are great time savers & Maggi bases are great additions to a slow cooked meal. Pop it all in & let the slow cooker do the work
My tip for making dinner time easy is to clean up the kitchen/dinner prep as I go, so I’m not hit with such a big clean up on a full tummy of Maggi goodness after dinner.
Weekly meal planning, I find it easier to prepare myself to cook dinner if I have everything planned out.
I try and do a double batch of a dish from time to time for the freezer. That way I have something ready to go to make dinnertime easier on those overwhelming nights 🙂
I try to prepare something early in the day that can be finished off later. Often I do this early before work while making school lunches etc. I find it impossible to prepare everything during witching hour!
Using my slow cooker makes dinner so simple. Whether it’s a winter warming soup or casserole, cooking a whole chicken for summer salads, or cooking a yummy quiche or even a cake, it makes cooking so simple. I love my slow cooker!
Definitely use slow cooker put ingredients in set timer and off to do other things. Best invention.
Make the meal the end-point. Get everyone involved in preparation. They are much more likely to eat it if they have contributed, they learn life skills, and it is wonderful time together.
Meal planning makes everything so much easier ?
Keep Maggi staples always at hand,
Let the kids help you cook, mine are huge Maggi fans!
My tip for making dinner time easier is to pre prep anything you can in the morning and then when dinner time comes you just need to either heat or cook!
Choose a shopping day and make a shopping list.
A lot of friends who seemed to have success in meal planning shopped very purposefully. They looked at their recipes and made a shopping list. Dinner time will then become a daily dream
Being planned makes life easier! Meal planning helps me stay in budget, helps waistline and helps my sanity!!!
I make dinnertime easier, by letting the kids help me and be involved. Maggi recipe bases, make this a breeze. They are so Simple and easy to do that I never have to worry about something not turning out. Dinnertime is a lovely time of day in our home
I shop at Woolies on a Friday (my day off) and then do a bulk prep/cook over the weekend for the following week. It’s so much easier coming in from work and not have to start a whole meal from scratch!!!
I love this idea. You’re a winner. Please let me know your address and I’ll get your prize to you. xx
I precook our meals for the week using a few favourite Maggi recipe bases for lots of flavour. They freeze & reheat well. And hubby doesn’t have to wait until I get home from work to have his dinner.
Menu plan! Menu plan! Menu plan!
We have after school activities 3 nights a week so I plan the easy quick meals for those nights. Who am I kidding? They are all easy quick meals!!!!!!
I like planning meals and making a shopping list for the following week before I shop, including a few Maggi Meal Bases. For the nights that I work, I’ll use my slow cooker and a Maggi Meal Base to create a hearty meal for my family.
Slow cooker is def my saviour. When hubby broke our last one I cried – literally. Then went & bought a bigger one to do more meals in!
Dump Meals!
I prep ziplock bags with all the ingrediants for a slow cook meal & then freeze.
The day before out of the freezer into the fridge, next day “dump” in the crockpot.
You’ll be amazed how easy things can get if you teach the kids to get excited about cooking.
When you can find recipes as easy as this, it makes it easy for the little ones to cook up something yummy and nutritious! 😀
On the weekend, take some time to plan the meals for the week, make a list of all the ingredients you need, and then shop for them in one hit, so they are on hand when needed. No last minute trips to Woolies for missing ingredients!
Casseroles are great, just toss everything in and cook, no need to keep an eye on it, just stir occasionally.
Being a single mum… my best tip for making dinner time easier is an ipad. No… Not to cook haha 😛
The thing I could never do without is…. my SLOW COOKER.
Just throw everything in. Set and forget til tea time. More time to spend with my family.