Fitting it all in

We all know how important it is to keep the family fuelled on the right foods, but making time to pack in that all-important goodness is often easier said than done, especially with today’s jam-packed schedules, when parents are wearing more hats and spinning more plates than ever before. As my three children were growing up, I often found myself scrabbling for time to prepare wholesome meals around starting up my business, devising new recipes and managing the kids’ social calendars (which were often busier than mine!). After-school activities, play dates, work commitments, emails and other activities all take a bite out of the amount of time we spend eating together as a family. Cooking for your family is about making memories as well as menus – in years to come the smell of a fish pie could transport your children back to the kitchen table of their youth; the taste of pasta bake or finger lickin’ chicken wings might remind them of post-match muddy knees and toad in the hole may be remembered as a welcome sight after a puddle-splashing Sunday stroll. Though many of us aspire to this level of evocative eating, the reality is that parenting is often more chaos than fine cuisine.