As David Beckham Shares Harper’s Cooking Skills, 10 Ways To Get Back In The Kitchen With The Kids

Craving Chinese or Indian food? One of the best ways to deal with it (financially as well as satisfying your hunger) is to get on board with fakeaways. Cooking your fave dishes instead of ordering them will give you a huge sense of smugness and achievement. And you won’t have to wait 45 mins for them to arrive. The best part is the calories you’ll save, not to mention lower salt and sugar in your home-made options.

If you’ve lost count of the times you say you don’t have time to cook a large meal, then a slow cooker is the answer. Load it up in the morning, and by the evening, there’s your casserole ready to go. It’s so easy that kids of all ages can help.

Meal delivery services all come with recipes – but it’s likely you’ve got tons of cookbooks at home already, sitting on the kitchen shelf gathering dust and fat particles from the air. Get them down, put your smartphone to one side and get the kids to join in, picking their favourites. We guarantee you’ll be reminded of things you used to love making, and also perhaps inspired to try something new.

Shouting ‘DINNER!’ upstairs when you’ve been cooking alone is not the most inspiring way to cook. Instead, plan a meal where the children can take part, too. Pizzas are one thing, but there’s also stir-fry (max chopping skills for older children), cakes (the best helper gets to lick the bowl) or a good old roast.

This is a biggie for Tom Kerridge in his new show: sit down together to make the dinner table a place of communion. This is where you catch up on your day and your plans. So if it’s slipped off your radar, now’s the time to make sure you sit down and eat as a family. Fancy tablecloth optional.

If the knives are blunt, the wooden spoon is cracked and the roasting tray has seen better days, it’s time for a restock. Grab the kids and head to stores like TKMaxx or your local supermarket for some chef’s essentials at reasonable prices. Choosing the things to cook with will inspire the children; they’ll want to use ‘their spoon’ or ‘their bowl’ if they’ve picked it out themselves.