Rather than drop one of the million balls you’re juggling, be at peace with having a night off cooking. You don’t need to feel guilty about not preparing a full on meal every night. 

Go a step further and schedule a ‘no cook’ night into your meal plan. 

You might choose, on your no cook night, to eat leftovers or grab a homemade ready meal from the freezer (thank you past me for batch cooking and squirrelling something delicious and nutritious away for future knackered me), or you might just go easy on yourself – beans or cheese on toast or a boiled egg and soldiers with some veg sticks and fruit will do nicely thank you – or perhaps a picnic tea or a sandwich will be all you can muster. 

If your child is at nursery or school then chances are they’ve had their main and hot meal of the day there, add to that the fact that most children have a limited appetite in the evening, you really don’t need to stress about a hot meal.