Allie Gaunt - The Family Meal Solution: A Flexible and Achievable Approach to Feeding Your Family Each Week

Discover a new way to feed everyone thats designed for real, busy family lives.

Wouldnt it be amazing to feel organised and inspired about the weeks meals, and confident that family members big and small are getting the nourishment they need every day all while not breaking the bank. Is this too much to ask?

The One Handed Cooks dont think so! Try their flexible and thoroughly tested system and recipes, and youll feel in control in your life and kitchen.

Forget a strict meal plan and hours of food prep. The secrets actually lie in making the most of the freezer and slow cooker, preparing multiple meals while youre in the kitchen, being clever with leftovers and embracing fast meals. Individual preferences and common allergies and intolerances are easily catered for too, allowing everyone in the family to eat together.

Thats the meals for this week sorted and the rest!

ONE HANDED COOKS ARE BACK, and so excited to share with you our new book, The Family Meal Solution: A flexible and achievable approach to feeding your family each week . As busy parents ourselves, we were becoming overwhelmed by the daily struggle of feeding our growing families trying to cater to different age groups and food preferences, from babies starting solids to ravenous school-aged children, and also wanting to enjoy flavoursome meals ourselves. We felt the need for a simple and adaptable guide that could help us optimise the pockets of time we had and assist our future selves in those busier moments. We wanted a collection of recipes that were versatile and provided leftovers. We wanted to fill our freezers and have a repertoire of fast meals that we could whip up as needed. Finally, we wanted to stop the expensive top-up shops, increase our veggie intake and offer varied and nutritious meals every week. Is that all too much to ask?

We dont think so. We practised these things with our own families as this book was developed, and we are never going back. While each familys routine is unique, there are similarities we can work with that will give you the confidence and the tools to take back control and simplify feeding the family. This book contains meal-planning guides and hacks, and more than 85 new family-friendly recipes that include baby and toddler notes and allergy/intolerance suggestions, to help you make the most of your time in the kitchen, stock your freezer and save money. All we suggest is that youre careful who you lend it to, as it may never come back!

This book is a practical and flexible guide to help busy families spend less time buying, prepping and cooking food, so they can spend more quality time together. When we asked our online community of busy families what they most wanted help with, answers included spending less time in the kitchen and more time being present with family after a busy day at work or running around; enjoying the meal being eaten instead of always thinking about the next one; and establishing a simple structure to help manage mealtimes, while reducing waste and maximising nutrition. We have found that, instead of spending their weekend cooking for the week ahead, busy parents and carers would rather use the snippets of time they can find to create multiple meals, be it through batch cooking, creating freezer dump bags or cooking meals two ways. For this reason we have created a simple meal-plan formula you can adapt to your own lifestyle ( to help you look at your week as a whole and find those gaps of time. Or, if you arent quite at that point, you will still find little time-saving hacks you can include in your routine to make preparing good food simpler and easier.

As with all changes, those that are smaller are more achievable and easier to maintain than complete overhauls of your routine (or lack thereof). Start slowly and, once youre in the swing of things, add in another change or two. Over time, and with some consistency, these time-saving habits will become second nature.

The chapters in this book can be read and enjoyed on their own or pieced together to create a weekly meal plan. There is no better feeling than helping your future self than opening your fridge after an exhausting day and seeing a veggie grab box that will help fill multiple lunchboxes, or having a simple recipe that shows you exactly what to do with the leftovers in the fridge. We have included all of the trusted tips and tricks that keep us ahead of our week and that will help you stay ahead of yours, too.

Enjoy cooking the wide variety of meals in this book, filling your freezer as you go and adding some delicious fast meals to your weekly rotation. Youll feel in control and set up for success, find it easier to stick to your budget, be able to ensure variety in your familys meals/food intake, and spend your time in the kitchen far more efficiently.

plan and stocktake

Taking stock of your fridge and pantry is a great first step to getting your mealtimes under control. After a big declutter you will find that doing a weekly sweep of your fridge and pantry right before your weekly shop will be all you need to keep on top of them.

pantry and fridge clean, declutter and stocktake

Both pantries and fridges come in all shapes and sizes and need to be well organised to be used effectively.

Aspiring to perfection may be the single thing holding you back, so we suggest starting small by following this simple task list to get on track today.

pantry:

• Some pantries consist of drawers while others have long thin shelves. Look at the space you have and work with it as best you can. Simple, affordable grab-tubs will help you to categorise items.