Monday-to-Friday Survival

Five days, 1001 things to do ... work, school, after-school clubs, homework, making sure you watch your favorite TV show, the laundry, the shopping, the cleaning, finishing that best-selling novel, making sure you’ve called your parents to let them know everyone is okay and, of course, cooking and eating (not necessarily in that order).

The ambition of this chapter is to make the cooking and eating part a little bit easier and more enjoyable. The recipes are simple, quick, flavorsome and clever, with tips like how to cook a dish for your children, then convert it into something the adults will enjoy later when the kids are in bed. Even the quantities have been designed with your lifestyle in mind. In The Need for Speed and Speedy Sweet Treats, most of the recipes are for two adult-size portions or four child-size portions, so you can mix and match however it suits you. Plus, of course, they are easy to adjust to make more or less. In the Quick Prep—Leave to Cook section, I’ve made the recipes to serve more portions as they take a little longer to cook, so you have plenty to feed the whole family or extras to freeze for almost instant meals another day.