FAMILY: Home Cooked Meals for the whole Family made Easy with Gousto

*Advertorial Content - Gifted Items

Meal planning, food shopping, preparations and the time taken thinking of all of this does seem endless sometimes. Prior to children I would love going food shopping; taking my time to browse the shelves and fill my trolley with all the delicious food. However, since becoming a parent that enjoyment has pretty much disappeared, as it now becomes more of a supermarket sweep experience with the addition of two little children demanding attention, snacks, drinks etc. Gousto is a recipe box service that delivers fresh ingredients and recipe cards straight to your door, making parents life easier when it comes to still having home cooked meals each day. 

RECIPE: Spiced Quorn and Potato Traybake

This was one of those meals I didn't think much of prior to making it, yet it ended up being one of my new favourite meals. It's so simple to prepare, easy to make a meat and vegetarian version (my husband eats meat and I'm a vegetarian), seriously flavoursome and the leftovers are even better. Roasting tin meals are perfect for mid-week dinners because there's minimal washing up, anything that reduces washing up is a winner with me.

FAMILY: Cooking Nutritious Meals with the Nutribaby(+)

Life as a family of four is busy at the best of times, so cooking fresh, healthy meals isn't always easy. This is made even more complicated due to the fact that my husband eats meat, I'm a vegetarian, Isabella is a toddler needing low sugar/salt and Poppy is about to start weaning. That's up to four different meals that need cooking, so finding tips and tricks to make life easier is important. Babymoov have recently launched a product that does exactly that, meet the Nutribaby(+)* (£139.99). An easy-to-use kitchen appliance that makes cooking food for the whole family a whole lot easier!

RECIPE: Bulgur Wheat and Sweet Potato Salad

It may be autumn, usually the season for warming soups and hearty meals, but why can't a salad be both warming and hearty? A lot of people are trying to eat healthily at this time of year and this salad makes a delicious lunch on-the-go or flavourful dinner. I like eating this salad while the bulgur wheat and sweet potato are still slightly warm, as it feels so much more comforting. Though if you're having this on-the-go you probably want to wait until they're cooled because they'll wilt the spinach leaves otherwise. There are a variety of textures, flavours and the warming cumin adds a delicious twist.

LUNCH INSPIRATION: Pea and Mint Soup Recipe

Lunch can be one of my favourite meals of the day, but getting stuck in a sandwich rut can be so boring. While I was at work I would have the same sandwich every single day, not exactly an exciting varied diet. So when I headed off on maternity leave I made it my mission to make lunch time more interesting, not just for me but for Isabella too. I know we're in summer, but I'm more of a soup than salad fan so have been making a whole bunch of different soups. Pea and Mint is not only a classic, but also perfect for summer because it is refreshing and light. My version is nothing ground breaking, just a quick flavourful recipe that can be made in a big batch to freeze or enjoyed straight away. I made a big batch to pop in the freezer prior to giving birth, so I knew that Isabella and I had a healthy homemade lunch option for when little one arrived.

ONE JAR OF DOLMIO: 15 Meal Ideas

Meal planning has been such a positive change in our family life. Don't get me wrong it can be a bit of a hassle thinking up new healthy meals, but with companies like Dolmio making it easier it is certainly the way forward. We have got into a routine of cooking up a large batch meal on a Sunday evening and then having it throughout the first part of the week. My husband and I both work for the first half of the week, so there is minimal time to be cooking from scratch every night. However, cooking a large batch of something means we can have different home cooked meals every night.

RECIPE: Warming Halloumi and Vegetable Bake

What did the cheese say when it looked in the mirror? HALLOUMI! Sorry for the cheesy joke...I couldn't help myself. Halloumi has fast become my favourite cheese (probably thanks to Nandos!), but up until recently I haven't been very adventurous with cooking it at home. Aside from grilled tomatoes and halloumi I don't really cook 'main meals' with it. That's how this meal came about - it's a 'clear the fridge out' kind of meal, as well as being a nice centre piece for a dinner party. You can swap and change the vegetables in the base in accordance to what you need to use up - don't you love meals like that? Onto the recipe...