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 meal plan and write it on a board in the kitchen, then everyone knows where we stand. I use frozen vegetables a lot, it means no chopping and I can steam them in the microwave, saving precious minutes. I also cook a joint and then use the leftovers for other meals, it means the protein is sorted and it is fast to make into something else.

We all eat together, every day. I find that helps, when the kids are in bed we are done, time for me and no fussing cooking adult meals. It does help that DH and I both like a fish finger once in a while :)

Definitely the slow cooker for me. It means a hot meal is ready just when you need it. And if there's leftovers, which there often is, I freeze individual portion sizes for a home made ready meal whenever it is required.

We have a rough meal plan for each week (we always have 7-8 dinners available,so it isn't mundane like Monday is chicken, Tuesday is curry etc) and they all only take about 20 mins to cook, and we always have half an hour round the table together, every day. No phones, no tablets! Trust me, it works!

I do a lot of batch cooking so we've always got standby meals in the freezer for those nights when you're either too busy or can't be bothered to cook. Luckily all of the family eat the same sort of things so we don't have to cater to different people every meal time.

I try and live by the mantra "I can't change it, so don't worry about it". I've lost so many nights sleep stressing over things I can do nothing about, with age I've learned to step back and relax a bit.

I'm not sure I do manage to reduce the stress level no house when it comes to mealtimes. I do however have some tried and tested meals I can make at the drop of a hat which to make things slightly easier when time is tight. I'd like to say that I batch cook and I'd like to say that I can create a gourmet meal out of nothing but it wouldn't be true. Online shopping is probably my one salvation.

Kids are very picky so they literally live on the same thing every week. As we've got what they will eat down to a tee now dinner time is a whole lot more relaxed and not filled with shouts of 'I'm not eating that!'

That was meant to read "in our house"

Online shopping, sometimes batch cooking stuff like lasagne and then just being a bit organised and eating together where possible rather than a separate children's tea time.

I batch cook meat so that only the veg etc. needs to be cooked. Due to allergies I cook from scratch all the time so am used to it and don't find it stressful. We have always eaten all meals at the table so meals tend to be relaxed and chatty. Planning has always been the key in other areas - clothes ready the night before, anything which has to be taken to work or school left ready in the hall before going to bed etc.

I could never do without my slow cooker. It was a wedding present for my parents over 40 years ago. It has two settings "high" and low" and is that lovely, 70s orange colour. It's also a Godsend. There's nothing more lovely than coming home to tea being ready.

I use the slow cooker so that come dinner time instead of rushing round trying to cook food with grumpy children I can just dish it out.

Instead of yelling up the stairs, use a bell to call everyone to dinner.
Much less stressful!

well i find involving the children in cooking means they try everything and appreciate the effort that goes into making the meal.

i do a buffet style platter for lunches of chopped salad and veg and meats with bread this means everyone can help themselves

i batch cook for work

Love our slow cooker! Makes evenings a lot less stressful as everything can be prepared in the morning

I always make a HUGE amount of everything when I cook which means we can either have it again the following evening (with a bit of a tweak...) or put it in the freezer for another time.

eat most meals together so this is a regular thing. Always give at least 10 minutes notice before sitting down to give everyone a chance to finish what they were doing. and no phones. we watch something on tv that we can all comment on like a quiz

cut corners where possible - simpler meals - prepared ingredients etc

Serving food "family style" at the table engages my children and I am sure they eat more when they have helped serve

Have as much as possible ready the night before - lunches in the fridge or freezer, ready to put in a bag and clothes laid out or ready to pick out of a drawer with no rummaging.

My toddler gets to decide how food gets served to her. Plate or bowl, chopped/sliced/whole, spoon or fork, what size portion. That way she is getting what she's asked for, without actually changing the food being served, so everyone is happy.

Our family have raffle tickets every Sunday and the 'winner' chooses the meals for that week

I cook everything from scratch but when we sit down to eat I know my jobs are done as the rest of the family always clear up. Unspoken rule that everyone keeps as many hands make light work 😀

I plan meals in advance and put it on the planner on the wall so everyone knows what we're having each night so there is no asking what's for tea and we all eat the same food ,each night of the week I make each of My 7 children's favourite meal to keep them all happy

Don't worry that everything has to be perfect all the time. Don't feel guilty for taking shortcuts and making things easy for yourself. Keep a few bags of frozen veg in the freezer (I think peas, sweetcorn, and cabbage are all good) and you are always able to add some vegetables to any meal with no fuss or preparation.