Share your tips for ways to stress less with HelloFresh - £300 voucher to be won NOW CLOSED

[JustineBMumsnet]

Modern family life can be very busy - and this might mean that otherwise simple tasks like thinking about what to have for dinner or getting out of the door in the morning can become overwhelming or stressful. HelloFresh would like to hear about the tips you have for stressing less, whether this is in the kitchen or elsewhere in your family life.

Here’s what HelloFresh has to say: “HelloFresh is on a mission to help families stress less when it comes to mealtimes with the launch of its new Family Box, offering an all new range of tailor-made family-friendly recipes designed to appeal to kids, teenagers and adults alike and bring variety to dinner time. The HelloFresh Family Box has been created to reduce stress levels and help save parents time and energy. The focus in development has been to make meal planning and preparation as easy as possible, whilst serving meals that guarantee to make family mealtimes delicious, but most importantly totally fuss and hassle-free. Want to give it a try? We've got a special offer for you with 50% off your first two boxes with the code HELLOMUMS.”

Do you have tips that mean sitting down to a family dinner in the evening is an enjoyable rather than hectic experience? Perhaps you’re a pro at making tiny changes to meals so that fussy eaters are catered for? Do you and your family cook together to reduce the stress of preparing an evening meal? Maybe you ensure you’re making time for ‘me-time’ every day so that you can wind down?

Share the ways you #StressLess with HelloFresh below to be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 voucher.

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

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I like the whole family to eat the same meal so adapt it very slightly to suit the 3 year old. For example, I blend bolognaise sauce foe my son so there are no bits and it just coats the pasta but i keep the rest as it is for us. I also keep chillies out of cooking until my son's portion is out and split the risotto at the last minute so I can add wine to ours but not his. I also do a lot of batch cooking so a couple of times a week I just have to gt something out of the freezer.

I meditate every morning, then I find I am more calm around all other family members, when it comes to any task.

Batch cooking here too. I do a huge pan when I'm doing something like bolognaise, curry, chilli, casseroles and freeze portions before I dish up. This stops DH eating 4 or 5 portions just because it's there. Also if I do a stir fry I'll prep large amounts of veg and freeze that.

Oh, hit post too soon. In terms of getting the family around the table, I get the DC involved in choosing meals.

Delegation works for me. We have two meat eaters and two vegatarians. So OH cooks for DS and himself and I cook for DD and me. The only stress is when too many people are cooking in the kitchen at the same time.

I menu plan a fortnight at a time so shopping is easier, I know we are having a balance of foods and it saves the stress of thinking what to cook each night.
I always make double of meals to get easy dinners on days I work.

I have a running meal plan and groceries list on my phone, so I can add things whenever I think of them. I try to batch cook & make double helpings of bolognese/chilli etc so that we eat one & the other gets frozen for a quick meal after swimming or on work nights. I also let the children have their daily TV time just st the point I start cooking, so I'm not trying to supervise them at the same time which really helps me speed through the cooking.

Everyone gets the same meal but with slight adaptations to suit their tastes. No real fussy eaters here. They might not get one of their favourite meals every night but I never ask the DC to eat things I know they don't like. Less stressful for everyone that way.

I have a very loose meal plan for the next week or so but it's in my head and often changed at a moments notice. If we invite a friend round, we decide to go out somewhere last minute, late back from a club or activity or if I'm feeling lazy I will cook something different. I absolutely hate feeling like I have to stick to a plan. Even if it's a plan of my own making!

Despite this we have very little food waste. I will cook something if ingredients are approaching their use by date then freeze for another time.

I focus on the things that I have done, rather than all the things I haven't. Even on the days that I feel like I haven't got anything done, I have always really done loads - just the things we all do each day just to tread water.

I freeze sauces and marinades in an ice cube tray. I can chuck them in last minute then, rather than getting all the ingredients out again. Saves so much time.

Batch cooking works for me. Takes the workload off having to prep and cook meals every single evening. Always shop wisely and don't overstock the fridge with things you wont use and plan ahead for what you need.

Don't care what other people expect or think .

We have (frozen, supermarket) pizza for dinner one night a week to have a night off cooking. Whilst it's in the oven though I usually prep some veg and chuck it all in the slow cooker so the next morning I can quickly tip in some meat and stock etc. Means we feel like we're getting two nights midweek without doing much cooking, and a nice balance of a hearty healthy meal and, errrr pizza!

Slow cooker helps hugely on a couple of days a week.
As some evenings it's just me, I find when I cook for me and my dd (age 4) I do enough for 3/4. I then stick whatever is spare in the fridge/freezer and I use it the following evening on my own or take it to work. Saves the emergency takeaway or buying complete expensive crud at work.

Batch cooking and freezing is key so when you have hectic days you can just pull out something.

Once a week I try to get the girls involved in cooking (usually with something they are not so keen on) to encourage them to try it.

Once a month we make time to have a meal that's a real family affair like making home made pizza or having a homemade curry night with everything out for people to help themselves too

We try to make meals which will last for 2 days, so that on busy days we can just heat up left overs. We also involve the kids as much as possible in the meal prep, it keeps them busy, and means they are more likely to eat the food!

Batch cook and meal plan.
I also try and shop carefully so rather then just buying random stuff I'm actually buying sets of ingredients for meals

I used to do a meal plan & will start doing that again. My 8 year old really needs to get more involved with the cooking as it would help with her fussy eating & that is something I stress about! And I want to invest in a slow cooker

I would stress less if my neighbours' Hello Fresh delivery didn't arrive whilst they were out and the delivery driver didn't bang on the door to ask me to accept it whilst my baby was napping, to be honest!

Once my DDs have decided what they want then they get to watch TV while I prepare it (I daren't risk them being in the kitchen in case of burns because our kitchen is very small) and once it's nearly ready then they come to help wipe the table and lay the cutlery, and wash their hands ready. We stick to the same routine every night. Once sitting down, then we can chat as a family - it's nicce to hear what my DDs have done that day. #StressLess

We use a slow cooker so when it's ready you forget you've done the work! Sitting round the table together is what I love best so even if it's beans & toast one night then tats ok. I don't sweat it

I stress less by making my girls do as much of their own dinner as they can. They're getting older and need to learn to cook for theselves.

The night before we decide what to have for dinner the next day, than I cook, no changes you get what you asked for..

We tend to have fixed meals in the week that fit in with the busy schedule using my slow cooker usually a couple of times a week. We have a spaghetti bolognese night and Fridays tend to be the treat night of mum's homemade chips. Also have a family calendar in the kitchen so know what everyone doing and a noticeboard for any specific shopping/dietary requests.

We try to plan for the week without being too strict re meals for each night to allow ourselves the chance to change our minds - I need the flexibility! So we know we have chicken/mince/potato to use for example but can choose if we make curry/casserole/soup. Dh does most cooking as he enjoys it and I tend to do most washing up. We eat with dc at least once a week and tend to have family over another night a week which means we all sit together. I love it when we do, just often takes more planning and arranging in terms of timing than seems manageable during the week!