Though, at 14, 12 and 9 they are not only helping but gaining confidence in cooking ‘themselves’ so we have a lot of simple favourites of late in the form of side dishes that will go with most meals like corn fritters or zuchinni slice. I taught TJ how to make chicken patties and he insists on home made chicken burgers once a week now that he makes himself (with some reminders about what next lol)

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Luckily my kids love risotto as its one of my favourite dishes to eat (not so much cook as it takes time – but worth it in the end with empty bowls!).

We also love stews in winter – one pot wonders, gotta love that!

In summer – we love BBQs as its quick and easy and we love eating up in the fort.

Their favourite is also my homemade sausage rolls – leftovers are great cold for lunch the next day. It has sausage mince, grated carrots, zucchini and cheese, dash of worcestershire sauce, tomato sauce and ground nutmeg … its really delish!

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I have a 5-year-old and a 3.5-year-old (both girls), and I am 23 weeks pregnant and also a Coeliac, which somewhat complicates menu planning, but on another level, means we eat virtually no takeaway or pre-packaged food as it’s all got gluten in it. My kids are pretty good eaters – the 5 year old is better than the little one – and mealtimes are generally quite unstressy UNLESS someone is trying it on, or we are in a big hurry (my kids like langorous dinners accompanied by reading of chapter books, which normally I’m more than happy to accomodate -it’s great downtime / family time).

On to the meals! We have several reliable family favourites (including a couple that overlap with yours – “fried” rice and beef stroganoff), so I’ll just choose 5 at random to get the ball rolling:

1. Risotto
My children (and my husband) adore risotto, and I have found a really easy, tasty oven-baked recipe that I use at least once a fortnight. You can put any combination of vegetables or chicken you like in it, but my family’s favourite is pumpkin, sweet corn & bacon.

2. Chicken & leek pie
I make this from Stephanie Alexander’s recipe in the Cook’s Companion but substitute gluten-free shortcrust pastry. It isn’t a really quick dinner but isn’t fiddly and can be made the day before. I serve it with green beans and steamed carrots & potatoes and the children adore it passionately.

3. Shepherd’s pie
I know this is a bog-standard Australian meal but it’s amazing how much taste, variety and goodness you can pack into one dish! I use lamb mince whenever I can instead of beef, and usually the filling has mushrooms, broccoli, carrots, peas, corn, zucchini, and sometimes kidney beans in it. Again, it isn’t quick to cook (but very quick to prepare), but it reheats beautifully.

4.Lasagne
I use a brilliant recipe that I saw at Exclusively Food (http://www.exclusivelyfood.com.au/2007/12/beef-lasagne-recipe.html). It makes 2 full dinners for my crew plus two work lunches for the husband, and everyone loves it.

5. “Pink & orange” fish & chips
This is what my kids call it when I make steamed salmon, marinaded in lemon & lime juice from our fruit trees, and serve it with an oven-baked mixture of cubed seasoned potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots and pumpkin (I put steamed green beans & broccolini on the side, which the little one does her best to studiously ignore They absolutely adore this and although salmon is not cheap, I try to serve it once a fortnight as it’s such a treat for us all.

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