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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pre planned menus, then we all know where we are at and who likes what.

I have two preschool children so my tips are based on young eaters.
Eat together as a family every night (where possible) around a table. No technology at the table.
Include children in buying and preparing food as much as possible, I like to discuss a product's provenance and eat seasonally as much as we can. Anything through the post is VERY exciting... so online shops, organic vegetable boxes and ingredients/recipe based food boxes help create excitement for the dinner time!
Include 'safe' food I know my daughter will like, especially when trying new things. For example having a side of steamed peas and carrots when trying a new risotto.
If my 3 year old gets restless I have pens and paper left at the side of the table, this ensures she stays in her seat and often comes back to her food later.

So much going on with everyone that time for us all to sit down and eat together is at a premium. We have a rule though that at least once midweek we are all together and at least once on the weekend as well.

Batch cooking and meal planning here too. Also i have two really good waters so meals are usually enjoyable. We eat at the table and being organised just send to make everything easier.

I do lots of batch cooking at weekends. I prepare the dinner for the next night after I have eaten the day before. So it's ready in 10-15 mins after getting in from work, as we are all rushing out to different clubs.

I have a wipe clean board that we do meal planning on every week. The whole family gets a say so I don't accept complaints in the week! We try to stick to the same meal time and I get everyone involved in the food prep, which seems to get even the fussy one to try new foods.

Always do a menu and batch cook takes away the stress

slow cooke and busy days
leaving notes out on the worktop are little miracle for leaving instructions or need to do if you go out.
using the pinger on the oven to tell the kids its time to put veg on if I have to nip and do something
start the meal and then have kids help with the veg etc.
the one who cooks doesn't wash or lay the table
get the kids involved out of both help and just getting them cooking and doing stuff together.
try our best to eat the meal together.doesnt matter if the tv Is on etc it just means more being together.
asking a the start of the day what evening plans are so we aren't suddenly left short when they aren't home!
text messages to pick stuff up on way home from work :)
if we know we are having salad do it early and keep in fridge
don't buy smaller pack.often the bigger value ones are cheaper and so just cook it all then have it slightly altered over consecutive next days or lunches.
try and get homework done sooner rather than later.as the evening comes along the less likely the more excuses come about doing it.
use the kettle for the water for the pans.
put veggies in with pasta.
don't stress.start from the off with both eating together,not being fussy over foods.not cooking separate.youngsters will do as they are told!

let the kids help prepare, makes meal time more enjoyable

Batch cooking is the way to make everything less stressful. I pick a relatively quiet day once a week and make loads of meals which I then freeze so my freezer always has a nice home cooked meal in it for those nights when I have had a busy day and can't be bothered to cook from scratch.
Also the best way of getting my fussy eaters to eat veggies is to grate it in to things like pasta sauces and lasagne etc. They never even know they are eating it.

Menu plan and buy things "prepped".

We all know that meal times , no phones, no laptops np tv, but talk especially what are going to do and what we have done

I always plan and shop for several days in advance, as my DH & I both work.

The DC can vote for particular meals, but they all have the same- it is too time consuming and wasteful to prepare different meals.

I bought a chest freezer, which ensures I always have a back up and can freeze left overs, or reduced items.

I love to create my own original recipes which are quick & easy to prepare & cook & very healthy & tasty too. Most of my recipes take less than an hour to prepare & cook.

Meal planning is key in our house. I also try to double the amount I'm cooking if it is something like chilli, bolognese, curry, pie filling etc then freeze half flat in freezer bags (takes up less space and defrosts faster).

I make sure the meals are planned beforehand, so much less hassle! :)

Start young with children getting them to the table for the family meal so it becomes the norm. We don't make special meals for fussy or picky eaters they are asked to try the food on the plate and eat as much as they can and then can top up on bread rolls etc or whatever accompanies the meal. It works well for us they are trying new things but not forced to eat the whole thing if they don't like it but also sends a message.

Batch cooking helps.
My stress levels were not helped by our new freezer full of runner beans from the garden breaking down the day we went on holiday.

far too many more important things to stress about than mealtimes - this is always 'my peaceful' time getting the evening meal prepared, whilst kids do their homework

We always plan our meals for the whole week on a saturday so we know what to buy in the supermarket & not over spend..
I cook several joints of meat on a sunday for the week ahead, (it's a great way to grab some fresh meat sarnies on the go & work) with all the left over veg i make a quiche, which the grandchildren absolutely love, plus they don't realise there's veg in there! lol

We also have a house code lol, that who's ever home first starts preparing any veg etc., then we all join in :)

As I'm normally the first home I try to prepare the evening meal, so that when the rest of the family arrive back they can have their tea not long after. This makes life much easier as I'm not hassled with the "I'm starving" line and we get to spend time together sat down as a family, before after school activities etc.

I now refuse to use any pot, glass or cooking utensil that can not go in the dishwasher. Make sure it's empty before starting on dinner so all the mess can go away straight away.

Meal plan and put a list on the fridge door so DH can fucking know not to take say, all the smoked salmon for breakfast, then not mentioning so I'll have everything ready for smoked salmon pasta and only at the last second see it's all gone.

We are still adapting to DHs new job which means he's not home to have dinner with the kids, it's far too late to keep them going, so making two dinners or trying to stick to things that reheat easily is a bit trying. and I'm getting fat from eating with the kids and then having seconds when DH comes home

if you have a spare few hours during a weekend, pre cook meals such as bolognese, lasagne, cottage pies and bulk freeze so that eating of an evening after a busy day can be stress free and you can devote your time to the family

Prepping ahead for the week helps immensely it gives me and my other half more time to relax after a long days work.

Prepare at the weekends what you will have during the week, saves time and energy.