It never hurts to be prepared. This is also true of cooking for yourself or your family. Clever Cooking shows you how to easily plan and prepare nutritious meals free of harmful preservatives, chemicals and additives, not only to ensure your family eats healthily, but to save you some time and money, too! In Clever Cooking, Vickie shares her survival strategy for cooking and eating nutritiously when you lead a busy lifestyle – meal prep. She offers some of her family’s favourite dishes, from soups and stews to oven bakes and one-pan dishes, as well as sauces and ‘flavour starters’, that can be prepared ahead of time, so you can quickly prepare a wholesome meal from scratch on busy nights. What’s more, Vickie knows that all South Africans are faced with the unique challenge of loadshedding, which can disrupt our time in the kitchen. Meal prep is a clever way to work around those annoying blackouts – making wholesome meals in advance, when you have electricity available, is a great way to ensure you and your family can still eat well, even with limited resources.Whether you want a hearty lamb shank bobotie; creamy fish pie; Moroccan meatballs; or chicken, leek and mushroom pies, your family can enjoy healthy and delicious meals every night. And, you’ll be satisfied knowing that by spending time in the kitchen on one day, you’ll be giving yourself a night off in the future! Vickie includes tips for freezing and defrosting food, batch cooking, as well as a sample seven-day meal plan to show how you can combine advance prep with dishes made from scratch on the night.