It’s the end of the summer holidays and the reality of work/school is about to set in. Whilst many people miss their normal routines during the holidays and look forward to being a little more ordered, the first week back can be daunting.

When my children were younger and still at school I used to do some cooking ahead to help make the first week just that little bit easier. For example, I would bake some treats and freeze them for lunches and afternoon tea. I also used to make and freeze some sandwiches to get me through that first week. I used to stock up on fruit including grapes and berries so that the kids could take small containers with a mix of fruits to make those first few days at school special.

This all helped but the time that I found to be most stressful was the evenings. Those first few days back at work can be tiring and if you live in a humid city like we do, your energy levels are really low just at the time when you need to be cooking dinner and dealing with family needs. If you have children they will no doubt come home with requests for new books, pens and clothes etc. and demand to have them by ‘tomorrow’!  What do you really want to do at this point? Jump in the pool or hit the lounge with a cool drink in hand – dreaming about those quiet holiday evenings.

But life is heading back into the fast lane and you have to go with the flow. So here are a few ideas for meals this week that will save you time, give you some leftovers for lunches and hopefully satisfy the whole family.

Chicken Drumsticks

Chicken Drumsticks are really cheap and versatile. We bought a tray of 10-11 last week and they cost $4.50 for the tray. Great value. My quick tip is to marinate the drumsticks in Italian Dressing for about 30 minutes. Use about half a bottle of dressing for 12 drumsticks. Make approximately 2 cups of breadcrumbs or cornflake crumbs (in a blender or a Thermomix) and use these crumbs to coat the marinated chicken. Place in a greased oven tray and cook for about 50-60 minutes on 200 C. Serve with salad. They are great the next day for lunch too! (While the chicken is cooking you can either put your feet up or deal with all those requests from family members…)

Quick Honey Glazed Chicken

This Honey Glaze Recipe can be used with a chicken you cook yourself or with the BBQ chook you picked up at the supermarket on the way home. This chicken is also great for salads or sandwiches for lunch.

Fried Rice

Check out my Indian Fried Rice Recipe for a quick and satisfying meal. This rice is also great the next day for lunch and can be used as a whole meal or as an accompaniment.

Enjoy! You will survive!

 What Next?

We hope you will join us at Helpful by Nature by subscribing to our email list. We would love to hear from you, take your questions and provide answers if we are able.

Until next time,

 

 

Gillian (and Andrew)