1. Meal Planning: Plan your meals for the week ahead of time to streamline grocery shopping and preparation.
2. Prep Ahead: Chop vegetables, marinate chicken and prepare sauces in advance to save time during cooking.
3. One-Pot Meals: Choose recipes that require one pot or pan to minimise clean-up and cooking time.
4. Use a Slow Cooker or Instant Pot: These appliances cook meals while you’re busy with other tasks, saving time and effort.
5. Sheet-Pan Dinners: Cook everything on a sheet pan in the oven for quick and easy clean-up.
6. Batch Cooking: Cook larger portions and freeze leftovers for future meals that can be quickly reheated.
7. Utilise Convenience Foods: Pre-cut vegetables, canned beans, and pre-cooked grains speed up meal preparation.
8. Simplify Recipes: To reduce time in the kitchen, choose recipes with fewer ingredients and straightforward cooking techniques.
9. Delegate Tasks: Get family members involved in meal prep to divide tasks and make cooking collaborative and fun!
10. Clean as You Go: Wash dishes, wipe counters, and tidy up as you cook to minimise post-dinner clean-up time.

• Superfoods: Elevate your dishes by adding nutrient-dense superfoods like quinoa, kale, or chia seeds. These ingredients can boost health benefits while staying true to the heart of the original recipe!
• Add exotic flavours: Infuse classic recipes with spices and flavours from other cuisines. Sumac, star anise or harissa can really make old classics pop!
• New techniques: Use modern cooking techniques such as sous-vide, hibachi or air frying to make classic recipes faster to prepare.
• Swap ingredients: Use coconut milk instead of cream for a lighter, dairy-free option, or swap out white rice with cauliflower rice for a low-carb option.
• Make it look good: Use vibrant garnishes, pretty serving dishes, and creative arrangements to make the food look as good as it tastes!

Stocking your pantry for winter, a.k.a. comfort food season, requires careful planning to ensure you have everything you need to create hearty and satisfying meals without doing a store run in the cold.

Here are our top tips to help you stock effectively:

1. Bulk Staples: Purchase bulk quantities of staple ingredients like rice, pasta, quinoa, beans, and lentils. These items have long shelf lives and can serve as the foundation for many comforting dishes such as soups, stews, and casseroles.
2. Broths and Stocks: Keep your pantry stocked with various broths and stocks, including chicken, beef, vegetable, and bone broth. These flavourful bases are essential for making soups, sauces, and stews.
3. Herbs and Spices: Invest in herbs and spices to add depth and flavour to your winter dishes. Include the essentials in your pantry, like garlic-, onion- and chilli powder, oregano, thyme, rosemary, cinnamon and nutmeg.
4. Frozen Produce: Stock your freezer with your favourite chicken cuts, fruits and vegetables for nutritious options throughout winter. Frozen produce is just as healthy as fresh and can be used in various dishes, including smoothies, soups, stews and stir-fries.
5. Baking Essentials: Don’t forget baking essentials such as flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and cocoa powder. You can bake homemade bread, muffins, cookies, and other comforting treats with these ingredients.
6. Comfort Food Indulgences: Treat yourself to indulgent pantry items like chocolate chips, marshmallows, pancake mixes, and gourmet sauces or condiments. These items can elevate your comfort food dishes and make them feel extra special.

Autumn Picnic: Plan a cosy outdoor picnic. Pack her favourite seasonal treats, warm beverages, and homemade chicken soup in a thermos.

DIY Spa Day: Create an at-home spa experience for Mom with autumn-themed treatments, such as cinnamon-infused massages and warm baths with essential oils. Set the mood with candles and soothing music.

Cooking Class: Enroll in a virtual or in-person cooking class together. Learn how to make new dishes like curries and roasts. Enjoy the process of cooking together and savouring the delicious results.

Nature Walk: Take Mom on a leisurely nature walk through a local park or nature reserve to reconnect.

Scenic Drive: Plan a scenic drive through the countryside or along a picturesque route known for its autumn foliage. Pack a picnic or visit a quaint café to admire the seasonal beauty together.

1. Go for gloves: Protect your hands from the oils that can cause skin irritation and burning sensations. Wear a pair of disposable gloves while chopping, deseeding, or handling chillies.
2. Open a window: Chilli peppers can pack a punch and release severe heat into the air. Ensure the kitchen is well-ventilated when chopping chillies.
3. Don’t touch: Seriously, don’t do it! Capsaicin oils can still linger even after you’ve washed your hands. Be careful not to touch your face, especially your eyes and other sensitive areas.
4. Tame the heat levels: If you want to tone down the heat, scrape out the seeds and the fiery membrane – where most capsaicin oil lies. If the heat is still too much, add dairy products like milk, yoghurt, or sour cream to the recipe to help neutralise the spiciness.
5. Use a special board: Using a separate cutting board for chilli peppers prevents cross-contamination. This will ensure that any capsaicin residue doesn’t transfer to other ingredients or utensils while cooking.

1. Don’t fear the unexpected guest at your door – simply bulk a meal quickly by adding grains or potatoes to meats and chickpeas to vegetable dishes.
2. An extra layer of mashed potatoes, a side of quinoa or throwing a little orzo into a recipe can make it feed a larger-than-usual crowd.
3. Ensure the pantry is stocked with a few snack platter heroes such as biscuits, crackers, chips, chutneys and jams.  This way, you can whip up a welcoming nibble for any spontaneous visits.

1. Get your meat out of the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for 20-30 minutes before you braai, allowing the fibres to warm up and relax. This also prevents the slight drop in grill temperature that occurs when cold meat is placed on it, making for faster cooking and juicier meat!
2. Build your braai as you usually do, and when the first flames have died down, but the coals are still alive, rake the hot coals to one side. This creates a hot zone and a slightly cooler zone within the braai.
3. Start the chicken pieces over the hot zone of the fire. Turn the pieces every three to four minutes, taking care to baste every time you. After about 15 minutes, shift the thighs over to the cooler section of the braai as the skin starts to darken.

1. Buy Astral chicken and enjoy great South African chicken every day.
2. Visit a farmer’s market or local tuck shop to buy fresh produce.
3. Order online or gift locally produced food products to friends and family.
4. Leave a review on social media to promote local suppliers.

1. Chop vegetables for stews and curries uniformly to ensure they take the same time to cook.

2. Use a pressure cooker to save on cooking time but lose none of the flavours.

3. Start stove-top or in the oven and complete the cooking using a Wonderbag.

4. Double-up your recipe to ensure that there are leftovers for the next day.

5. Use chicken in stews and curries instead of beef, as it cooks faster.