30 Minute Meals - a lifesaver!

30 minute meals have to be a life-saver on most days. Some of the meals we make take 30 minutes from the start of preparation to the finished meal. Beef Stroganoff, for example, is quick to prepare, and offers a sumptuous feast.  Thai Beef Salad is another innovative, but easy meal.

Other meals might take 30 minutes if you have part of the meal prepared ahead - for example, leftover chicken or a batch of Tomato Sauce in the freezer.  Chicken Parmesan, Chickpea Curry or Spaghetti Bolognese could be whipped up in under 20 minutes if you had a quantity of Tomato Sauce at hand.

Be Prepared:

The key is being prepared. Do you find that you are constantly frustrated because you can’t produce the meals that you want to?  You don’t have the correct ingredients at hand? That was me! But juggling a busy schedule and kids has meant that I have had to bring a modicum of order to the way I go about cooking nutritious meals - hence the meal planning scheme we have developed, which means that shopping is organized and there are always ingredients at the ready.  

At the beginning of each month, I devise a Monthly Meal Plan, whereby consideration is given to Main Meals and clever ways to use the leftovers from those meals.  For example, a main meal of Oven Baked Whole Chicken could make an entirely new “leftovers” meal as Easy Chicken Enchiladas.  Similarly, a hearty Beef Stew could make a reappearance a few nights later as a pie, topped with crispy, light puff pastry.  In this case, the Beef Stew took longer to cook than 30 minutes, but the spin-off was that the Beef Pie took under 5 minutes to prepare!

Monthly Meal Planning is seasonal, so you get the benefit of fresh, affordable ingredients.  Quick, easy meals feature strongly in the planning. We cater towards busy people who don’t have hours to prepare meals.

Use your freezer:

Make use of your freezer: batch cook quantities of Tomato Sauce that can be added to Chicken Parmesan or Chickpea Curry. Freeze leftovers for later use: for example leftover topping from Baked Fish with Coriander Parmesan Crust  can be frozen and used for Stuffed Mushrooms.


None of us wants to live our lives in the kitchen.  But, by cooking smart you can have fun whilst producing easy, nutritious meals. The October Meal Plan is a free plan which is now available.