ADVICE FOR AND FROM MUMS

KITCHEN LIFE & CLEANING  | 

FAMILY TIME

It takes a village to raise kids and survive while doing it! We have a vault of fantastic advice and ideas from fellow mums (and a couple of dads!)  all around South Africa. Over the next couple of months we will share it all.

See what other Melrose Mums say about making kitchen life and cleaning a little easier:

Taryne Eastwood, Welcome Glen
“Cook a balanced meal for your kids, pack it into small or medium plastic containers and freeze them. After a hard days work, you know when you get home, instead of giving them bread or fish fingers, you can pop a tub in the microwave to defrost , taking away the long preparation time.”

Marion Kapp, Denlee
“Use Melrose wedges in white sauce, saves time and tastes good.”

Scheenagh Rabka,  Strubens Valley
“As a single mom of 2 you cannot always split yourself in half or have 'me' time.  To make 'snack' time easier and healthier, I place Melrose cheese wedges, mini-Vienna’s, diced carrots, diced cucumbers and yoghurts in the fridge in clear containers on a level that is easy for them to reach.  In the grocery cupboard I place provita's or crackers at the same level.  Instead of the kids munching on chips and chocolates (which are on the top level), when they are peckish, they can snack on these. 

The best one is Melrose biltong wedges with provitas - delicious and healthy.  I have been encouraging the kids since they were 4 to do this.  They are now 8 & 6 and I get to take a break for 10 minutes (plates and cups are also on an easy to reach level) while they potter around in the kitchen, chat and nibble away at the breakfast nook.  It also encourages a degree of independence in the kids, which works wonders for their self-esteem and 'can -do' attitude.”

Lizel Cloete, Allen Nek
“My child loves lasagne.  I make bulk and freeze individual portions for lunches for him and big portions to enjoy as a family, it freezes well and if you whip up a salad and or a garlic loaf, you have a great meal in very little time.”

Sue Green, Pietermartizburg
‘Instead of freezing things like spaghetti bolognaise  in Tupperware, use a Ziploc bag, as it takes up much less room and frees up your Tupperware.’

Lynda Madden, Bromhof
“When I fold the linen after I've washed it I put all the matching bits into one of the pillowcases before putting it into my linen cupboard, that way I only have to grab one item when it's linen changing time and it saves me scratching about for the matching sheet, duvet, frill and other pillowcases.’

Hayley Pretorius, Pretoria
“While I am busy I tell my child to choose one word, any word he wants and then we talk about that word for ages, for example he chooses a Lion, I then tell him everything I know about lions, what they do and how they do it, their relatives to other felines, etc and he tells me his story about lions.  This is also a way to make up for those evenings which just do not leave time for bedtime story telling or any other pre-bedtime activities.”

Lance Efron, Cape Town
“Keep cleaning supplies in a handy carrying basket to make cleaning convenient, or keep a set in each bathroom as well as the kitchen.”

Denise Simons from Steenberg, Cape Town
“To whiten and brighten my dishes and dishcloths, I add a teaspoon of bleach to my washing up water together with dishwashing liquid.”

Bronwen Smith, Ferndale
“In summer, I keep a citronella candle burning on the kitchen windowsill when I am cooking - it keeps the flies away!”