How much time do you spend preparing meals on weekdays?

On Sundays, I prepare almost all the meals in 1h30. In phase 1, I cut all the vegetables needed for all the meals of the week. In phase 2, I move on to cooking the different menus. I then let it cool and place everything in the fridge or freezer. Then, during the week, when you get home, all you have to do is reheat (or cook what is left to cook, for example meat or fish that you prefer to cook at the last moment). And during that time, I have time to give baths, do homework,... 

Me, I only plan 3 menus because I always leave myself a day for leftovers and I sometimes cook more than what we eat, so I also have dishes in the freezer. And then on weekends, I take more time to cook "pleasure".

I also make a snack on Sunday and then another on Wednesday (and I always make too many that I put in the freezer so if I don't have time on a Wednesday, I take out what I have in the freezer). 

Some people prefer not to cook everything in advance and therefore they can limit themselves to cutting and preparing everything to only have to cook the same evening (we already save cutting time).

So it's true that you have to ask yourself to think about the menus and the shopping list but, in the end, it's a time saver. With this technique, you save time because you cook several meals at once and the week, you only have to reheat. It's also more economical because, by planning your menus, you optimize your shopping, you waste less (if you open, for example, a butternut that you wouldn't use in its entirety for a recipe, you can use the rest for a another recipe and then if you don't plan your menus in advance, when you get home, you say to yourself "I would eat that", but you're not sure you have what it takes so in doubt you buy when you already have what you need at home,…).

In general, on Sundays you are more relaxed, you can include the children, they can help you. And then we can do it as a couple, it can be a good time together, we chat.

Do your children eat everything?

They don't like everything, but they taste everything and they eat like us.

If they don't like a food, I let them taste it from time to time in different forms (mixed, in tapenade, in pieces, in very small pieces) to get them used to it. But it's about 2-3 specific foods that they really don't like. Even if they tell me "I don't like it" when they come to the table, they eat everything.

Do you include your children in the kitchen?

If they want, they are welcome to help me. They have always been on the workbench; all babies was relaxing on the work surface, and then sitting next to me.

They handle the utensils, the knives, the peelers, they weigh, they start the appliances,… I am not giving the sharpest knives, but it is important that they learn to handle them. My 3 year old son peels the potatoes, cuts the carrots,...

They eat better when they've cooked with me before. They arrive in a positive mood for the tasting.

A favorite recipe?

I am the queen of pesto revisited with any vegetable (butternut, carrot, broccoli + basil). The butternut pesto, you can put it on a lasagna, on pasta, a gratin of shells, … 

On her blog, Meggan shares her recipes as well as a monthly batch cooking e-book in which she details the different steps for the preparation of the week's menus, in an intuitive and aesthetic way.

👉 Find all of Meggan's recipes on her blog where you can download ses e-book batchcooking, and follow her on Instagram.