Mums spending years slaving away at the stove.
Mums will spend almost three years of their lives, which equates to 17 days of each year cooking and preparing meals for herself and her family.
And the rise of fussy eaters and different diets is putting even more pressure on modern mums struggling to keep all the family happy.
Despite cooking a staggering 45,990 meals in their lifetime almost 20% of mums say they cook as many as three or more meals on one occasion just to accommodate everyone! But it's the man of the house who might be the hardest to please.
New research shows a quarter of mums normally have to cook a different meal for their husband or partner.
Unsurprisingly, teenagers come a close second on the list due to them being largely fussy eaters or vegetarians, as they have to cook their troublesome teens a different meal to the rest of the family. With over 4 million vegetarians in the UK chances are we will all have to cook for one at some point in our catering lives - and some of us on a very regular basis; according to the survey by Quorn foods, more than 1 in 10 people have at least one vegetarian in their family.
But mums do see cooking as an ideal opportunity to make sure their family eats a healthy, balanced diet. And despite the time involved, half say it's fairly easy to convince their family to eat healthily while only 2% say it is impossible.
Nutritionist and renowned food author Fiona Hunter says about the survey’s findings: “Everyone is interested in eating more healthily now and making changes. What this survey means is that women are spending longer than ever in the kitchen. The average time mid week spent in the kitchen is anything between forty minutes and an hour. It’s a lot of time. It is still mainly mothers -80% of meals are prepared by mums. Men will go into the kitchen but it tends to be at weekends and the sort of cooking they do tends to be a little more exotic and elaborate.”
“I think many people will be surprised with the results about guys The report also revealed that 20% of women said they cooked a different meal for their partner in the evening. It’s not necessarily because they’re faddy though. Sometimes they might be on a special diet if they’ve got cholesterol or because the lady is trying to lose weight, so she cooks something different for her husband. It’s not just faddy eating.”
“One of the things families can do to cut down the amount of meals that mums have to cook in the evening is to sit down at the weekend, get everyone together, and plan a menu for the following week. Choose dishes that everyone will eat and perhaps adapt favourite dishes like chilli con or carne,for instance, lasagne and chicken stir-fry. Try new recipes too from books or newspapers, so you don’t get stuck in a food rut. Get everyone involved in cooking – it helps kids to learn that it can be fun and creative. It also helps them learn about food and the importance of nutrition.”
“For mums who have picky eaters one way round this is to be sneaky and put vegetables into whatever dishes they can. Throw in some peas, sweetcorn or mushrooms into a meal like Spaghetti Bolognese. Many people find it easier eating vegetables as part of a dish rather than having a big pile of broccoli for instance on the side of their plate. Maybe for men who don’t like veggies make them into a vegetable curry or something like that. It’s less off putting.”
“Make sure that you have a healthy immune system this winter by eating well. Plenty of fruit and vegetables – key nutrients that we need during this time are vitamin C and zinc. So get your five a day- citrus fruits like easy peel tangerines and Satsumas to boost your levels.”
Giving some further advice to parents who do cook for their vegetarian children she also counsels: “Vegetarianism is very common amongst teenage girls and we’re all eating less meat. Whereas meat used to be the main focus of a meal for our parents and grandparents, it’s not unusual for a family to eat a meat-free dish now. We don’t think it has to be part of it anymore. It’s really important if you are the mum of a teenage girl who decides to become vegetarian that you encourage them to eat a healthy balanced diet. They have to replace nutrients that they would normally get in meat, like vitamin Bs and iron. They have to make sure that they have lots of other vegetarian foods that supply these nutrients. There are bad and good vegetarian diets – living on jacket potatoes with cheese and beans continuously is a very unhealthy one. So you need to encourage kids to learn more about it, and the vegetarian society are great with this, they have lots of useful information. Also encourage them to eat a varied diet. Use an ingredient like Quorn which is low fat and suitable for veggies - you can use that instead of meat and make a dish for the whole family.”
For more information about Fiona and her recipes, please visit www.quorn.co.uk