Life can feel a little bit slower at the weekend. There is less pressure on routine and structure and more time to soak up family snuggles and lazing around. Isn’t it glorious? But what would you say if I told you that one hour of food prep at the weekend could make a huge difference to the way you eat as a family during the week? 

• Slow cooker “bags” are so handy. You simply look up a slow cooker recipe and add all of the ingredients into a large freezer bag. It might be chicken, stock, veg and potatoes for a casserole or chickpeas, veg and spices for a curry for example. Once you’ve added all the ingredients into the bag you can freeze it and simply defrost and tip into the slow cooker before work midweek. The smug factor here is off the charts. You will adore yourself for doing this. 
• Pre-chopping vegetables will take only a couple of minutes but saves so much time when you are in a rush. Having little tubs in the fridge with diced peppers, onions, carrots and courgette, for example, means you can take a handful of what you need and easily add it to a pot or pan for an easy pasta dish, stir-fry or curry.
• When you buy a large packet of chicken fillets or fish for example – separate them into separate bags that have enough for one family meal or portion. The rest can go into the freezer. It means you will only ever take out what you need for one meal’s worth. Having the entire packet looking at you can feel overwhelming. You may also resent having to use it all up the next day when you might have preferred the option of something different. Freezing it in portions gives them a much longer life.
• Cook rice and pasta ahead of time. Did you know that cooked brown rice (there is more fibre in the brown one) will keep well in the fridge for about five days. You can serve with pretty much anything or add it to a pan with egg, vegetables and soy sauce for a tasty egg fried rice dish that will take minutes.
• Having a sauce ready and waiting gives you instant inspiration for a meal during the week. You can add leftover vegetables to a pot or slow cooker with a couple of tins of chopped tomatoes and seasoning for an easy ready-to-use sauce that can be used for pasta or with any meat dish. You can blitz it to disguise hidden vegetables for the kids if needed.
• Roast an extra joint of meat on a Sunday to inspire Monday and Tuesdays dinner. If I roast a chicken on a Sunday evening we will have a chicken pasta bake on Monday and chicken wraps on a Tuesday. You could also do a chicken salad, omelette, enchiladas or quesadillas. There are so many options and most of the work is done for you.
• Boil a tonne of eggs. They will last for days in the fridge and can be really handy for a midweek snacky dinner. You can slice and serve on toast with avocado, make an egg salad to serve with some meat, dice and serve on top of a noodle/rice bowl. Eggs are full of protein and therefore super filling. They can be used as snacks or for lunches if they don’t make the cut at dinner time.