WELCOME TO THE MADHOUSE

Oh, how my life has changed over the last few years. Gone are the days of spending a day or two preparing for elaborate dinner parties and cooking at random times when I felt like it and just because I could, with ingredients I hunted down in back-street markets and delicatessens.

That was all pre-children – now things are very diferent. I’m a busy mum who has to juggle work, children and all the associated chaos. I live in a madhouse! I’m always pushed for time, but I want to continue cooking food for me, my family and my friends, so it has to be simple, quick to prepare H and easy to shop for – and I know I’m not alone here. Just reading around numerous websites and magazines, and chatting to other parents, it’s obvious that most people fnd cooking for their families a challenge and just plain hard work.

I’ve taken a realistic look at the situations and circumstances that cooking for the whole family entails, and it certainly isn’t as straightforward as just breakfast, lunch and dinner. There are times during the week, for example, when everyone is in such a rush getting to and from work/nursery/school/clubs that leave you feeling like a chef in a fast-food restaurant.

There are those occasions when you have no time to shop at the supermarket, so having a stack of meals in the freezer and ideas to cook from your storecupboard, or using ingredients you grab from your local shop or petrol station (if you are really desperate) are a necessity.

Other situations include those rare social get-togethers where you attempt to cling on to some sort of normality and have friends over for a good old gossipy (made easy) dinner party. And, of course, some great ideas for when you get a bit of quality time with your other half on a Saturday night and want something delicious to eat before you both fall asleep halfway through a flm you’ve rented out.

So to refect that new lifestyle, I have created three main chapters – Monday to Friday Survival, The Busy Weekend and Cling on to Your Social Life.

Monday to Friday Survival is, quite literally, recipes to help you get through the week of racing about and constantly chasing your tail. There are three sections to this chapter. Firstly, The Need for Speed, which is full of recipes that can be prepared and cooked very quickly. I’ll often fnd that I have a 10-minute window to get my kids something to eat before they start rummaging through cupboards for snacks or have a meltdown due to hunger. But it’s not just the kids who need food, fast. Once they’re in bed, my husband and I also need to eat before it’s too late (and we have a meltdown) so there are [ recipes that can be converted from a kids’ meal to a grown-up meal. The second section is Quick Prep – Leave to Cook. Here you’ll see one-pot dishes that require more lengthy cooking times so are perfect to make before school pick-up, or to prepare while I the kids are eating their tea so the meal is ready for us to eat when they’re in bed. Thirdly, Speedy Sweet Treats – so much more fun and interesting than the usual fruit or yogurt options, you’ll fnd delicious choices like Lifesaver Speedy Chocolate Pudding and Fruity Fools with a Hidden Surprise.

So, you’ve survived the week, but as much as you look forward to the weekend, a family house is never a quiet house. Weekends seem to be at least as busy as the weeks and we tend to complicate them by upscaling everything and often trying to ft in more than there’s room for. So The Busy Weekend covers some delicious Breakfasts to give your day a great start. Then there’s a section of Light Bites so you can create easy lunchtime recipes, some of which use the bare minimum for when you’ve not had a chance to visit the supermarket or you’ve forgotten to book your online delivery, including tasty soups and snacks. These include imaginative meals from what you can fnd in the store cupboard.

When you can all sit down together to share a meal, rather than eating in shifts as you tend to during the week, go to The Family Meal options for recipes you’ll all enjoy.

Baking is a fun aspect to the weekend for my family so if you are like me, you might head straight for Baking and Things for a Sweet Tooth to fnd all kinds of cakes to bake together, including a couple of classic birthday cakes. Kids can get involved in many of the recipes in this chapter, which I fnd is good entertainment for them and a great way of getting them to be more experimental in the foods they eat.

Finally, a very important part of the weekend to me is Saturday Night – and the title says it all: Kids Are Banned. If we’re not out (which is certainly less often now we have a family), my husband Phil and I will put more thought and efort into what we eat on a Saturday night so I’ve selected some delicious recipes you can cook together for starters and nibbles to enjoy with a pre-dinner drink, interesting main courses and a couple of desserts for a bit of delightful self-indulgence. These are all still quick and easy to prepare but with far less urgency than on week nights.

The final chapter, Cling on to Your Social Life, is packed with relaxed recipes for when you’re doing some entertaining, many of which can be prepared ahead of time. There are some fabulous drinks and cocktails, nibbles and starters, impressive yet stress-free main courses and sumptuous desserts.

But let’s be practical, you’re not necessarily going to do a full-on dinner party every time you invite people over, so I’ve made sure you can tap in and out of these sections to suit the time you have available and the energy you have left! Something as simple as having friends over for a takeaway can be given a real lift if you start by welcoming them with a cocktail or ofer home-made dips that took just a few minutes to prepare.

Time, however, is not always on your side, so look out for my Lifesavers – fabulous recipes that you can retrieve from your freezer or store cupboard to bring to the rescue when you are at a loss for what to serve. Dotted throughout the book, you’ll fnd recipes like Savoury Crumbs, an amazingly versatile mixture to make up and store in the freezer, plus things like my great cookie dough and I freezer-to-pan salmon marinade.

Making your freezer and store cupboard your friend for life is one of the best things you can do to help you keep control in your madhouse. Having them well stocked will get you out of a hole on numerous occasions. So I’ve made sure there are plenty of recipes you can turn to that simply rely on a few basic ingredients from your store cupboard when you think the cupboard is bare! Plus I’ve added some simple How to Make recipes that are unbelievably easy and quick, but just as delicious as more complicated options.

You’ll soon see that this book is all about being practical with your time, physical energy and the recipes and ingredients you choose. I hate wasting food so a really important part of these recipes is ofering you recipes, tips and creative ideas on what to do with any Leftovers, whether it’s making a lunchbox meal for the next day, creating a whole new meal for the freezer by adding a few additional ingredients, or even making a breakfast cereal out of your weekend baking once it’s past its best – all of which make good use of time. You’ll be amazed at just what you can make out of your leftovers and pop in the freezer for another day. Fill the rest of your freezer with plenty of frozen fruit and veg, ready-prepared pastry, bread, meat and fsh.

My main piece of advice to avoid getting stressed out when cooking is to take a moment and read through the recipes before making them as – if your house is anything like mine – you’re bound to be distracted by someone or something while you are actually cooking. If you don’t have certain ingredients, don’t 1 panic. Try to be relaxed and practical about what ingredients you do have – be creative and substitute.

So, here’s to being the ultimate mum and dad, the best hosts and über partners. Happy juggling and enjoy!