Plus a recipe for pizza-flavoured muffins and some praise for the humble apron 

Plus: the joys of potato starch - a miracle ingredient for crispy coatings and golden colour

"To get my kids to eat a full dinner, I have it ready the minute they get home from school. We used to wait until my husband got in from work for a sit-down meal."

"A hearty and comforting meal can offer a vital buffer from the reality of trying to scrimp around the sharp edges of financial difficulty."

"...focus less on stuff, and more on people and spending time with them. The most precious commodity you will have is time, there is never enough of it..."

"It all comes back to that discretionary income; the money we have left over after paying the bills. There is less of it to go around these days, so I have had to become more inventive with our parties."

"The summer berries are finally beginning to ripen and it is all hands on deck in our house to harvest and preserve some of our favourite crops."

"As a full-time work-from-home parent, I have made so many micro and macro decisions during my day that what to cook for dinner is too much to think about - otherwise known as decision fatigue."

"While it might not sound very thrilling, it's a good idea to audit the household finances regularly."

"As the schools wind up and the annual award ceremonies and celebrations for diligent students are handed out, take some time for a pat on the back for making it this far in the school year. We got there."