Brought to you in partnership with Woolworths.
I ran into a friend the other day, ironically at the supermarket as we were unloading our groceries at the checkout, and she was telling me how she was and what she had on her plate. I remarked, flippantly, “You are super mum, seriously!”
She’s one of those mums who always seems to have her stuff together. I’ve overheard her talking to her kids, and she’s always thoughtful and respectful, and I was sure that she probably churned her own butter at home {i.e. the kinda mum that I wish I was more often}.
A few days later a message popped up, and it was from her. She wanted to let me know that she wasn’t super mum and she hoped that she didn’t give off some kinda misconception. She wanted to tell me that she wasn’t perfect. My heart sank a little, not because she wasn’t who I thought she was {she was!} but because she thought that she had to live up to some kinda ideal or perfection. I don’t think anyone is perfect, I think we’re all doing the very best we can. I’ve given up on perfection myself, because it always ends in utter disappointment.
You won’t ever find me churning my own butter, but I used to want to make everything myself lovingly, and do everything to a standard that made me a ‘good mum’. I realised that being a ‘good mum’ simply meant that I was a happy, less-stressed mum {i.e. someone that my kids liked being around}. Over the past year I’ve allowed myself to cut corners, and make life as easy and convenient as possible for the whole family. And if you need permission to do the same, this is it {if you need me to write you a permission slip excusing you from perfection, let me know!}.
So, today I’m showing you how I often cut corners. We can’t get home delivery at home {something I miss about living in Bondi}, but sometimes {often!} I want a meal that I can throw together that tastes amazeballs and doesn’t make me break out in a sweat, kinda what I’d get if I could get takeout. These meals, they’re our new best friend. They take very little time, some took me under 6 minutes to make, and that only really involved 30 seconds of physical work {if you can call tossing a salad in a bowl work}. If I was telling you about these in person, it would be with hand gestures and massive enthusiasm, because these are THAT good, and this is coming from someone who has had an aversion to pre-made meals for many, many years.
So without further ado, I bring you the fastest meals from my own kitchen, with shortcuts thanks to the team at Woolworths {bloody legends!}. It’s a little bit of dinner maths. Take these two things, and turn them into a cracking dinner.
If you only make one of these meals, I beg of you to make this one. It’s a flavour sensation. I know the salad is Thai and the salmon is Vietnamese, but you put those two together, and you get MAGIC. It takes SEVEN MINUTES to make. I made this for my sister about a year ago, and she yelled at me about how good it was {I may have pretended I made the marinade myself, don’t tell her}. Check out this ASIAN SALMON SALAD, and it’s totally gourmet for under twenty bucks.
I am obsessed with these zucchini fritters. OBSESSED. If I’m feeling indulgent I’ll have them with sour cream and sweet chilli sauce, and if I’m feeling less indulgent I’ll add them to a Greek Style Salad Kit and call it dinner. I mean, look at it, and it costs just $10 to throw together.
I make a really good zucchini slice, but this one is actually comparable or better. It’s moist {very important} and tasty {even more important}. This crustless zucchini slice takes 25 minutes in the oven, so you can throw it in, and sit down and check out Instagram while it does all the work. Thank me later.
I must confess, I love a road trip with a drive-thru fried chicken stop. I do. This is better, and my husband will attest to it. You’re meant to cook this Southern Style Chicken in the oven, but I put it in the air-fryer for 12 minutes and it is finger-licking good. I serve it with the American Style Coleslaw, and they are a match made in heaven. Annnnd, it cost under $13 for the whole meal, enough to feed the whole family.
I went to the Woolies head office recently, and got to check out their test kitchen, where they make all these meals, and test them over and over and over again. I’m not usually a fan of butter chicken, but I tasted this Butter Chicken Curry and was converted. It’s really moorish. It takes less than five minutes to make {you couldn’t even get it delivered from your local Indian place in that time!}.
Do you ever wonder who Lorraine is, and how she got a quiche named after her? I do, but never bothered to Google it. Homemade quiche is good. I love a bakery one that takes me 40 minutes to drive to {because I’m fussy} and I’ll drive that distance because the quiche is that good. I taste-tested this Quiche Lorraine on my mum, and she said, “This is better than that one you drive all over town for!” And she’s right. No more gallivanting for quiche anymore for me, this one is right at the local Woolies. Easy.
Do you have a little cheat that you do to make dinner more stress-free? I wanna hear about how you cut corners and win at life. Tell me!
