Birds Eye #afterschoolchefs campaign

So a few weeks ago I was invited by Britmums to be part of the #afterschoolchefs campaign.  I was quite excited as David has just started nursery.  I know it's not a main school to start but it's the first step to David's education and it's a big one for both me and David.  It's not a pre-school he's in but he's doing pre-school hours (there are reasons for this but it's too long winded to go into).  Now admittedly I've not had that much of a bad experience with meal planning however doing this campaign made me learn something.  That something was don't forget your vegetables.   I know this is quite easy for some but I normally forget because the fresh vegetables are hidden in the box at the bottom of the fridge or in separate draws in the freezer. 

Now Birds Eye gave me £20 in vouchers.  I was really surprised with what I managed to get with that.  I managed to fill up my chest freezer.  Due to this I was able to pick out vegetables easy with my meals as they were right their in front of my eyes.  So Birds Eye asks what I do to make meal times easier.  Well before I go shopping I like to make a list of stuff I want to eat that week.  I find this easier as when I think of meals I obviously think of ingredients and well that's that.  I also try to make sure I get a mix of fresh and frozen food.  There's nothing worse then reality hitting you and then it takes you forever to cook a meal and you send up eating at like 8pm.  So I always make sure I a few bits and bobs I can put on a bakery tray and pop in the oven.

Another little tip for you mums out there.  This was actual thank to Birds Eye that I thought of this.  Do you ever cook a dinner and go..."Damn I forgot the veg!" just like me?  Then it might be a good time we invested in the Bird Eye steam bags.  With these babies you can pop them in your microwave for a few minutes and hey presto they're  done!  Panic over and the greens are on the plate few!

We had some really good meal times with Birds Eye and I even let David pick out what he wanted from the freezer he had a great time rummaging around.  I think his favourite was the space shapes.  The over all household favourite was the sausage rolls I brought. I brought these to cook them the day before and then to use them as part of lunch or a snack.  Safe to say everyone loved them as I ended up going back to the supermarket and buying some more!

Here are just some of the meals we had I know they look the same but I promise the're not:

We had lots of other yummy meals thanks to Birds Eye and I think I'm going to keep buying the vegetable steam bags there so handy when I forget last minute.  Have you got any tips on how to make meal times easier and how your children get involved?

This post is an entry for #Afterschoolchefs Linky Challenge, sponsored by Birds Eye. Learn more on the Birds Eye Facebook page.