Jo Pratt - Madhouse cookbook: delicious recipes for the busy family kitchen

Jo Pratt

madhouse cookbook

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 prechildrennow things are very different. Im a busy mom who has to juggle work, children and all the associated chaos. I live in a madhouse! Im 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 and easy to shop forand I know Im not alone here. Just reading around numerous websites and magazines, and chatting to other parents, its obvious most people find cooking for their families a challenge and blinkin hard work.

Ive taken a realistic look at the situations and circumstances that cooking for the whole family entails, and it certainly isnt as straightforward as just breakfast, lunch and dinner. There are times during the week, for example, when everyone is in a rush getting to and from work/nursery/school/clubs, that can 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 cupboard staples, or using ingredients you grab from your local store or gas station (if you are really desperate) are a necessity.

Other situations include those rare social get-togethers where you attempt to cling onto 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 movie youve rented.

So, to reflect my new lifestyle, I have created three main chaptersMonday-to-Friday Survival, The Busy Weekend and Cling Onto 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. Ill often find 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 its not just the kids who need food, fast. Once theyre in bed, my husband and I also need to eat before its too late (and we have a meltdown), so there are recipes that can be converted from a kids meal to an adult meal. The second section is Quick PrepLeave to Cook. Here youll find one-pot dishes that require more lengthy cooking times, so they are perfect to make before school pick-up, or to prepare while the kids are eating their supper so the meal is ready for us to eat when theyre in bed. Thirdly, Speedy Sweet Treatsso much more fun and interesting than the usual fruit or yogurt options, youll find delicious choices like Lifesaver Speedy Chocolate Pudding and Fruity Fools with a Hidden Surprise.

So, youve 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 fit in more than theres room for. So The Busy Weekend covers some delicious Breakfasts to give your day a great start. Then theres a section of Light Bites so you can create easy lunchtime recipes, some of which use the bare minimum for when you havent had a chance to visit the supermarket or youve forgotten to book your online delivery, including flavorsome soups and snacks. These include imaginative meals from what you can find in the 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 youll 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 Treats for a Sweet Tooth to find 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 find 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 Nightand the title says it all: Kids Are Banned. If were not out (which is certainly less often now we have a family), my husband Phil and I will put more thought and effort into what we eat on a Saturday night, so Ive selected some delicious recipes you can cook together for appetizers and nibbles to enjoy with a predinner 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 Onto Your Social Life, is packed with relaxed recipes for when youre doing some entertaining, many of which can be prepared ahead of time. There are some fabulous drinks and cocktails, nibbles and appetizers, impressive yet stress-free main courses and sumptuous desserts.

But, lets be practical. Youre not necessarily going to make a full-on dinner party every time you invite people over, so Ive 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 carryout can be given a real lift if you start by offering a cocktail or homemade dips that took just a few minutes to prepare.

Time, however, is not always on your side, so look out for my Lifesaversfabulous recipes you can retrieve from your freezer or cupboard to bring to the rescue when you are at a loss for what to serve. Dotted throughout the book, youll find recipes like Savory Crumbs, an amazingly versatile mixture to make up and store in the freezer, plus other recipes like my great cookie dough and freezer-to-pan salmon marinade.

Making your freezer and cupboards your friends 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, Ive made sure there are plenty of recipes you can turn to that simply rely on a few basic ingredients from your cupboard even when you think the cupboard is bare! Plus Ive added some simple How to Make recipes that are unbelievably easy and quick, but just as delicious as more complicated options