Saturday with Stacey Solomon: Joe’s roast potatoes are always a crowd pleaser

Stacey Solomon. Picture: Ulla Nyeman for Primark

05.30

I’m an early riser. I get up at around 5 or 6 o’clock. The first thing I do is feed our dogs, Peanut and Teddy, and take them on their walk. Then it’s letting the chickens and ducks out, plus watering the plants and vegetables in the garden.

I’ll have breakfast — I can’t wait for brunch as I’m starving as soon as I get up! I’ll eat anything I can get my hands on. That’s usually porridge, eggs, or toast. After that, the kids are up and getting them ready for the day begins.

08.00

I exercise on a Saturday before we start taking kids to their clubs. I always drag myself into doing it but feel so much better when I’m done.

Saturday is club day for the kids, so, like lots of parents, me and my husband Joe are pretty much taxi drivers for our kids and their hobbies. Our youngest son Rex has tennis, our daughters Rose and Belle have dance, and my 13-year-old Leighton has football.

12.00

I’ll usually have lunch between 12 and 1 o’clock and I genuinely love a salad so whatever I’ve got in the fridge goes into it with some kind of protein like chicken, fish, or prawns.

13.30

Stacey Solomon. Picture: Ulla Nyeman for Primark

By the time we get everyone back from their clubs, it’s time to get the kids their lunch. I usually make a ‘mouldy veg soup’ which is tastier than it sounds. It’s basically all the veggies at the bottom of the fridge which need to be eaten before the week ahead. I put it all in a pot with a bit of stock and make a big batch of it for everyone.

14.30

If the weather’s good, we love being out in the garden all day. That could be making a fire together, going on the zip line, fishing in the duck pond or chopping wood for the fire. We just try to be outdoors the whole day. I absolutely love being in the garden — we’re growing loads of vegetables and now have a beehive at Pickle Cottage which I’m so excited about.

I always spend my weekends low key but I also have a busy social life. I just bring my social life to the house — our house is always filled with friends and family coming over. We love eating at home and both me and Joe love cooking.

All our family come to our house every single Sunday for a roast — Joe’s roast potatoes are always a crowd pleaser — and we often host Friday night dinners at ours as well.

19.00

The little ones will go to bed at about 7 or 8 o’clock and that’s when we try to have some downtime. Joe will go to the gym and I’ll sit and watch Friends or something I’ve seen a thousand million times before. Rewatching a series like that just helps me to switch off.

Then after the kids go to sleep, me and Joe will try to catch up on whatever we’re watching together. At the moment, that’s MobLand with Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan, and Helen Mirren. It comes out every Sunday, but we watch a week behind on Saturdays because we’re too tired to watch at the end of the weekend.

20.00

Stacey Solomon. Picture: Ulla Nyeman for Primark

I don’t go to many events — I’m a real home girl. There’s maybe a handful of award ceremonies that might be on at the weekend, but if there’s any opportunity to stay at home, I will.

A lot of my work is filming up and down the country, so I love getting to have nights in with the family. I’m not a big drinker — I’m more likely to have tea on a Saturday night than wine.

I’m not in my spontaneous era right now — our Saturdays are pretty much planned out for us with all the kids’ activities. And, quite frankly, because we’ve got five kids, animals to care for and a garden to tend to, there’s not much else we can fit in. I think when I’m retired and everyone’s moved out, I’ll see where the day takes me.

21.00

Before bed it’s my beauty routine, then something to relax... that’s usually reading a book, listening to a podcast or sleep stories which I love. Joe always laughs at me because I go to bed between the hours of 8 and 10 o’clock.

22.00

I really can’t stay up past 10 o’clock... I just can’t! So, by the time I’ve crawled into the bed that’s it — I’m that person who is asleep within five seconds of their head hitting the pillow. Joe often says he’ll be chatting away to me and two minutes later I’m snoring.

I’ve got one of those rings that tells you how much you sleep. I get between seven and nine hours a night and I fall asleep within six to 10 minutes. I literally can’t help but fall asleep. It’s one of my biggest talents actually...

• Stacey Solomon is a TV presenter, author, mum of five and ambassador for Primark. The new Stacey Solomon kidswear collection is available in stores nationwide now. primark.com