I am by no means an expert, BUT I can say that cooking ahead is really working for our family.

Leaving home at 6am and getting back at 6pm means very little time with Aidan, little time as a family – if I’m honest  (the need to just get things ready can also make us kinda snappy, all of us) So cooking ahead means we can go for a walk together or hang out in what would usually be our cooking time.

Then we pop a meal in the oven/microwave and we have home cooked meals without the fuss (well there is fuss, every second Sunday there is a lot of fuss.) But I’m loving it and wanted to share tips with anyone considering this…

Tips to cooking ahead

– Get containers! We are using disposable ones at the moment, because I wanted to see how it goes, if all goes well I am upgrading to freezer/microwave safe bowls, because I don’t like waste (the planet and all) For now my containers are from Mambos

– Work out a menu for the period you are cooking for…we go for two weeks so that is 14meals x 2  (Rob and I) Aidan’s food is still prepared from scratch because #pickyeaterproblems. I am hoping to add meals for him on the next round though.

– Make a note of what you have in the container, on the container, also note when you froze it, so you don’t end up with a dodgy left over casserole at Christmas.

– Try to make meals that can work together and cut down cooking time. For instance, we made pasta with a Bolognese sauce, but also froze some of the Bolognese as a filler for roti…two meals in one go

-Sides can be frozen separately so you can chop and change depending on your moodl…Sooo what will I have with this steamed fish, corn? peas? country crop it is (I buy the small R10 bags of frozen vegetables so I don’t even have to prepare and freeze it myself, I just pop it in the steamer)

– Have a little notebook on the fridge so you can tick of what you have eaten, that way you know what you are working with

Those are my tips, if you have any please don’t hesitate to share

Another time saver is overnight oats, my go to recipe is mixing a table spoon of chia seed with two table spoons on oats then covering it with milk and letting it stand over night. I then eat it with the yogurt of my choice in the morning…I came up with a fun little variation though, carrot cake overnight oats, check it out below and don’t forget to watch our other videos and SUBSCRIBE 🙂