How do you juggle....

[Inanna]

Pixie it's a circus sometimes isn't it?

I have a rule that we all eat together. All meals that we are home for we all sit down together.

We eat dinner between 6-630pm. I cook almost every day during the day. Because I have a large family and I am a single parent I really need to be organised.

I cook double of things like spagetti bolognese. I cook from scratch - the only thing I use in a can is tomatoes/tomato paste. I actually use my slow cooker for spag bog and it's gorgeous. Then the left over (sometimes I make enough for 3 meals) I make into lasagne.

I make chilli con carne the same way in the slow cooker - it is yummo and I freeze the next lot...

That way when you have a blow out day there is always something to haul out of the freezer.
I always make pesto and I freeze that too. Its great to have over pasta with a fresh green salad when you have a busy day too... Or it's easy to fry up some chicken thighs and roast some tiny tomatoes in the oven. Toss the chicken in it and the tomatoes and slice avocado over the top and add shaved parmesan!

I find with freezing it cuts out lots of work - and you all eat better!

I find if the dinner is done that is a big job out of the way. My kids like a religion are in the bath at 5pm. Immy goes to bed at 7pm - the others at 8pm. (DS and DD14 go a bit later)...

I do homework (or kids do!) at about 4.30pm. But of course some days are sport after school, guitar/piano lessons etc etc... It really does get busy.

So yep - cook in the morning or during the day and that saves heaps of stress at the end of the day.