4 life changing Mummy Hacks for busy women.

By JO ABI

The kitchen has always been my favourite room in our home because it’s the room in which I spend the most time. My husband offered to set up a work desk for me in the study but I declined. My office is the dining table in the kitchen and it couldn’t be more perfect.

The kids are in and out constantly so I can keep tabs on them while I work, cook, clean and watch YouTube videos while drinking coffee and eating some of my hidden chocolate stash. I can work/cook/clean and menu plan all at the same time.

So my children get in on the action as well because if they didn’t, we’d hardly spend any time together. As they get older they can help more and I am living for the day they can prepare meals for the entire family.

Is five too young for them to do that? Yes, yes it is.

 Just as an FYI, you should know that this post is sponsored by Dairylea. But all opinions expressed by the author are 100% authentic and written in her own words.

Here are my four favourite kitchen hacks that lead to reasonably healthy meals and incidental quality time with your kids as well as useful tips on how to keep your chocolate stash secret.

Because once they find it, it’s all over…

Mummy Hack 1: Amateur Menu Plan.

When I was little my mum always stuck to a dinner plan – soup and steak on Monday and Tuesday, Wednesday was pasta, Thursday was chicken, Saturday was our fun day like homemade hotdogs or hamburgers and Sunday was pasta again.

I’d always planned to do the same thing and never gotten around to it until recently.

Now we stick to a strict menu plan for breakfast and dinner and it’s similar to the one I grew up with. Knowing what we are having each week makes everything easier. It also cuts down on complaints from my children when they ask what’s for dinner. They know the schedule. There’s no point asking me what we’re having for dinner unless it’s a Saturday in which case it could be a barbecue, tacos or anything!

And the Mummy Hack part of this brilliant suggestion is that each member of the family gets to choose one of the meals for the week, whether it be breakfast, lunch or dinner. By sitting down as a family and planning your meals, it’s more likely that they’ll a) Want to help with the prep and b) Eat it once it is done.

Mummy Hack 2: Cooking party for one.

One day each week, normally on a Sunday afternoon, I do a big cooking session. I cook a huge batch of spaghetti sauce and put it in the freezer. I crumb steak or chicken for schnitzels and freeze it. I prepare a large batch of pizza dough and then freeze it in plastic sandwich bags. I cut and chop vegetables and store them in plastic sandwich bags or Tupperware for quick use during the week.

The kids get in on the action as well. They like to sample everything I cook just before I pack it away for the week and they also make excellent helpers. From stirring sauces to putting rubbish in the bin to putting lids on Tupperware containers.

Once again, getting your kids involved in the activity in the kitchen means they will develop more respect for food and hopefully eat it when it is served to them, as well as teaching them how to cook, which these days is incredibly important.

Mummy Hack 3: Pantry freezer disguised as a table/extra bench space/cookbook shelf.

I don’t have the time or the energy to shop each week. I tend to do a big, fortnightly shop and then a smaller one.

All the cooking and prepping of dinner foods takes up a lot of freezer space so I highly recommend investing in a pantry freezer to be kept in your garage. That way you can save your kitchen freezer for only the foods you will need for dinner that week. The rest can go in the garage.

I can’t tell you how often our pantry freezer has saved us, especially during the school holidays when popping down to the shops just isn’t possible. During the school holidays it’s not unusual for me to go through three loaves of sliced bread.

And the kids know we’re fully stocked with all their favourites. It can be their job to get whatever is needed.

Mummy Hack 4: Shhhh…Healthy takeaway modified.

There are some nights when we have activities or I work late or I forget to take the meat for that night’s dinner out of the freezer before I head out the door in the morning to do the school run.

We don’t do a regular takeaway night in my home. It’s more of a last-minute rescue that takes place when needed. But we try and keep it as healthy as possible.

Rotisserie chicken from the supermarket with fresh bread, some tomatoes and some nice fruit is always a good choice. Or Asian takeaway with vegies and plain rice. These make up some of our favourite meals and these are the nights I normally get the kids to help clean up because there is less mess and it’s an easy way to teach younger children about helping out.

I’m a big believer in every member of our family helping out with the kitchen activities in some way, shape or form. Then hopefully when they move out of home they are neat, tidy and able to make themselves healthy foods. If they ever eat baked beans every day of the week it will be because they like them, not because they don’t know how to cook!

Do you have any great Mummy Hack ideas? Share them in the form below for your chance to WIN! Also, check out some of the great entries and vote for your favourites on our Facebook page here.

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What are the ‘life-hacking’ secrets to your Mummy success? Share your creative MUMMY HACKS and you could WIN the ULTIMATE MUMMY HACK Holiday – 7 nights in a tropical Queensland resort – thanks to DAIRYLEA. There’s a Kids Club, so you can relax while they’re entertained all day long!  

See mummyhacks.com.au/competition for full details and T&Cs.

Look out in your supermarket for our new yummy cheese range, with nothing artificial added – they’re a simple MUMMY HACK snack that’ll keep a smile on kids’ faces!

DAIRYLEA, the DAIRYLEA device and MUMMY HACK are trade marks of Mondelez International Group used under licence.