The Hob Hub

Autumn; the leaves change, the days get shorter, the house gets cosier and most importantly the kids go back to school and all hell breaks loose. Around now we crave relaxed family time, away from school and work.

It’s not all bad news though, with the changing leaves and ripening of the fruit there’s plenty to get the whole family involved with. We’ve pulled together what we think are the 5 best activities to keep the kids busy this Autumn, from hiking to baking we’re going to give you plenty to choose from whether rain or shine.

Best for stir frying but also great for curries, stews, shallow frying, steaming and even smoking, a quality wok will fast become your companion in the kitchen.

Everyone loves a stir fry, but how about putting a new spin on flavour? Inspired by the Hello Fresh Flavour Generator, we’ve put together three fresh wok recipes.

With rising temperatures and the long school break ahead, Summertime can be full of nostalgic memories of Summers gone by when we were kids.

Prestige has been at the heart of the home for 75 Summers and we have some great childhood British Summer memories including big hair, wildly colourful clothes and great musical ballads!

 A fascinating look at how the kitchen has evolved through the decades from 1950’s to present day. Looking at the home, family life, eating habits, diet and cultural influences in a world where changing technology and economy has influenced the kitchen lifestyle, decade after decade.

Here at Prestige, we understand that there are several things you take into consideration when buying kitchen appliances, cookware and interior wares. Our choice of housewares, whether it’s in the kitchen, lounge or bedroom, has always been influenced by the current trends of that time, for example, earthy tones in the 60’s and 70’s, use of granite and marble work surfaces in the 90’s and 00’s, and the open plan living of present day kitchens.

A Selection of trends even come back around as a pastiche, or nod to previous decades, such as the resurgence of retro inspired housewares originating back to the 50’s and 60’s.

Prestige has been at the heart of the home for over 75 years, and were one of the first to revolutionise the kitchen favourite; pressure cooker, something which we have continued to reinvent through the generations to offer you complete safety and peace of mind when using a Prestige pressure cooker.

Generations and families have trusted in Prestige and made it a kitchen tradition, passed down the generations for a lifetime of confident and adventurous cooking.

So why has Prestige been a key component to kitchens through the decades? Because we have exceeded customer’s expectations with products that stand up to day-to-day challenges of a busy family kitchen, and help prepare tasty meals, whilst always airing a nod to the trends of each decade throughout our time.

Because we are keen to embrace the themes of kitchens past, and know how inspirational our surrounds were growing up, we have put together a fun kitchen timeline highlighting our obsession with neon colours in the 50’s, the over-kill of orange and brown in the 60’s and use of wooden kitchen units and doors in the later years. To present day where we are more conscious of our planet, and EVERYTHING must be ‘green’.

Take a look at our Kitchen Through the Decades timeline and see if you can spot your childhood kitchen style. Let the timeline remind you how styles of the kitchen have changed over the last 60 years, from small pokey spaces with one use; cooking, to an open plan sociable area where the whole family is invited to enjoy and experience the kitchen - the heart of the home.

If you recognise any of the themes featured in our kitchen timeline, we’d love to hear! Share our timeline on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and tell us what resonates most with you!

With life’s constraints limiting any chance of ‘spare’ time for most of us, it’s hard to imagine taking 30-minutes to yourself to just sit back and relax. Here at Prestige, we understand that it’s incredibly important to take time to yourself, often away from the everyday chores like cooking and cleaning, and really allowing yourself to take some spare time to spend either relaxing or with the family.

Life is pretty busy when you’re raising a family often leaving little quality time together. During the week can be some of the busiest times; with all intentions of cooking up a delicious meal for your family, once you’ve done the school run, taken the kids to swimming or other activities, the idea of cooking something hearty and healthy seems a distant memory, and all you want to do is put something into the oven and walk away. There’s a number of techniques designed to help you cut down cooking times, such as batch cooking, buying pre-peeled vegetables and using a pressure cooker. Cooking a meal from scratch can seem impossible in the week, however we’ve recently launched a new range of cookware cleverly designed to help you get some of that precious time back - every single day. Prism features faster heating non-stick coating meaning meals cook quicker and healthier as there is no or little need for oil. Our research has found that the average family spends as much as 45 minutes on meal preparation. This can be difficult when you’re juggling the school run, work, homework, chores and other activities. Retaining heat to make cooking faster, our new Prism pans are easy to clean also saving time on the washing up after. View more benefits of the Prism range here. (link to Prism video) We’ve put together some tasty – and healthy – recipes to try with our Prism pans. Taking just 15 minutes to prepare, they give you half an hour back each day. The King Prawn Thai Curry recipe makes for a quick, easy and super tasty ‘fakeaway’ on a Friday night (you can easily add chicken instead). Or whip up a Spanish omelette in just 15 minutes before the school run, for healthy lasting energy throughout the morning.

On a warmer evening, you may want to cook a meal which is lighter but still full of delicious flavours and only takes 15 minutes to cook! Our Green pesto pasta recipe hits the spot perfectly! Whilst the Creamy garlic mushrooms recipe provides the perfect starter or accompaniment dish!

With our Prism recipes and pans you will save 30 minutes each day. 30 minutes is a great amount of free time to use for any activity you might not usually think of… What could you do with 30 minutes’ spare every day? The benefits gained from spending regular, quality time together are well reported. Reports suggest that this can lead to stronger bonds, improved performance and behaviour in school and less stress for the whole family. Here are a few 30-minute quality time suggestions: 1. Board games – whether you’re a Scrabble or Ludo fan, board games can be a welcome relief from screens.

2. Cuddle on the sofa – this simple act can really help with relaxation bringing families closer.

3. Read to or with the kids – it’s a perfect way to unwind.

4. Enjoy a short walk after dinner – the fresh air and time out of the car and away from household chores will give you time to catch up – you’ll all sleep better too!

5. Take time to eat together – a report published by Working Families found that only 29% of families eat together at least once a day. Spending just 15 minutes cooking frees up time for dinner at a leisurely pace.

6. Spend 30 minutes a day learning a language either using podcasts, an app or good old fashioned books!

7. Write a journal or start a blog! Or use your time to motivate your future plans, for example you could write a bucket list of things you would like to do!

8. Take a nap or practice meditation to calm your mood and allow for a moment to reflect and contemplate.

Cooking doesn’t have to be a chore with the new Prism pans. Try one of our 15 minute recipes here and see what you can do with an extra 30 minutes every day! Let us know how you would spend your extra 30 minutes on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for a chance to win a ‘My Moment’ hamper worth £200 including a Luxury Lindt chocolate box, Espa shower gel and scrub, large Yankee candle plus 3 of the brand-new Prism fry pans!

Weekdays can be hectic and getting home from work or the school run, the last thing you want to do is spend precious family time pre-occupied in the kitchen. Getting organised and spending an hour or so on a weekend, preparing the week’s meals, can mean that all that’s left to do is to reheat and serve. The team here at Prestige have put our heads together to give you six top tips for successful batch cooking.

It’s all about the one-pot Clever batch cooking does not involve spending your entire Sunday slaving away in the kitchen. The key is to choose recipes that can be left to bubble away on the hob or that you can leave in the oven and forget about for a couple of hours. Pasta bakes, casseroles, pies, curries and mince-based dishes are a good starting point, and you’ll find lots more tasty batch cooking recipes on the Prestige blog.

Plan ahead Trips to the supermarket always take longer than you anticipate, and who wants to spend precious time on a weekend in a queue? Spending a few minutes planning meals for the week ahead, and ordering your food shop online can save you loads of time. It gives you chance to consider what you really need without getting distracted by deals, so can actually save you money too. Meal planning boards, or jotting down in a notebook when you’re having what can help you stay organised, and save you from many a last-minute dash to the shops.

Frozen diced veg Onions tend to be the base of most tasty dishes, but dicing them up can be a laborious task. Frozen diced onions can be added straight to a hot pan, and soften much quicker than fresh, so speed up your cooking. Buying frozen and diced from the supermarket, or spending a few minutes dicing up onions, mincing garlic, and chopping veggies in bulk, then freezing in bags, can save a huge amount of time in the long-run.

Keep on top of what you have Dig deep in the freezer and see what you actually have in there on a regular basis. Get rid of anything you won’t use and make room for your batch cooked goodies. Stock up on tupperware (big and small), freezer bags and labels, and base your meal planning around ingredients you already have to save some cash.

Bulk out your batch cooking Batch cooking dishes like Shepherd's Pie and casseroles does not have to mean buying loads of meat, which we all know can be expensive. With careful planning, you can actually buy less and better quality meat from sustainable and ethical suppliers. Beans, lentils, quorn or soya mince are much cheaper alternatives that bulk out dishes, have a similar texture and take on flavour easily. Try adding frozen quorn mince to your bolognaise to get an extra couple of portions, and see if anyone notices it.

Waste not, want not Bananas going black in the bowl? Rogue carrots at the bottom of the veg drawer going soft at the ends? Fresh herbs wilting away in the fridge? Salvage what you can. Roughly chop, place in a bag and freeze. Frozen fruit can be added to smoothies, frozen random bits of veg can be used for stock, blended up into sauces (a great idea if you have veg-phobic kids) or added to one-pots. Fresh herbs get an extended lease of life if you portion them in an ice cube tray and cover with olive oil before freezing.

Do you batch cook? How do you keep organised with your meal planning? We’d love to know your tips so please share them below for other readers. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for more handy hints.