Family kitchen - a daily thriller in the kitchen
1.10.2025
Translation: machine translated
Between chaos and everyday life, the challenge of having to cook for the whole family is often stressful. But between countless guides from "Easy family cooking" to "Ayurveda family cooking", there's enough inspiration to keep you from going completely crazy.
Just a confession: cooking for the whole family in the stressful everyday whirlwind is a pain in the arse! As nice as it can be per se, preparing food in a family context is an almost impossible task that waits day in, day out to drive mums and dads mad.
Cooking for everyone: Why family meals are rarely stress-free
It has to be healthy, of course. It also has to taste good, otherwise no one will eat it and all the cooking will be for nothing. It has to be quick, as time is always in short supply. What's more, it shouldn't put too much strain on the household budget. Oh yes, and then there are any intolerances, special requests and a general aversion to too many vegetables to consider.
So it's high time to get a few sensible little helpers at your side and counteract the daily misery with a well thought-out weekly plan. Let's see if the family kitchen literature lives up to its promise: putting healthy and delicious food on the table for the whole family with little effort, which is then eaten with enthusiasm.
Family cookbooks: will a weekly plan save dinner?
My initial search for recipe books on cooking for the family quickly reveals that I'm obviously not the only one who struggles with this topic. It seems to be a genre in its own right: There are
«Die grüne Familienküche », «SOS Familienküche» or the «Kinderleichte Familienküche»
Also «Familienküche vegetarisch», «Easy Family Kitchen» or - if easy isn't easy enough - «Family Kitchen - super easy!».
The selection of family cookery guides seems inexhaustible - including special topics from the «Ayurveda-Familienküche» to «Familienküche ohne Histamin». I just hope that the advice and recipes included will be a bit more varied than the titles of the books.
Now recipes (including those that are supposedly suitable for families) are no longer in short supply: just enter a keyword in the search bar and you will be flooded with culinary creations and how to prepare them. If that's too much for you to do yourself, you can now simply ask ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and co. for suitable recipes including any special requests or have the entire weekly plan and shopping list spit out for you. So why do we still need a guide in book form?
Because a cookery book offers curated, reliable knowledge without being overwhelmed by countless online hits. It is not a loose, random collection of recipes, but at best comes with background information and well thought-out concepts and provides inspiration in a decelerated, ad-free form.
Planning, shopping, cooking - with pragmatism against helplessness
From the sea of family cookbooks, I picked out two and tested the tips, advice and recipes in everyday life. The family kitchen guide from the consumer advice centre promises what I want: relaxed planning, shopping and cooking. The SOS Family Kitchen from the GU publishing house offers first aid when hunger strikes. I put together a weekly plan for myself and my family from both books, picked out the best tips and advice and then put the recipes to the everyday family test.
You can read about my experiences in detail here:
Family cooking remains exhausting - but inspiration makes it easier
As sceptical as I was, the test phases with the books were successful in the end. I haven't found the one ultimate trick that will enable me to get the family's dream meal on the table every day in just a few minutes from now on. Realistically, however, I have to admit that this was pure utopia anyway.
But: I was able to recall many tricks and tips that make cooking easier. I also tried out a lot of new recipes and got plenty of inspiration. And finally, some of them have even been given the honour of becoming new permanent fixtures in our family recipe collection.
My conclusion: cooking under time pressure for different tastes and needs will always be exhausting. But with inspiration and variety from family cookery guides, it's a lot more fun and I'm rewarded with new discoveries.
Header image: Dariaobymaha/Pexels
Anna Sandner
Senior Editor
Anna.Sandner@galaxus.deScience editor and biologist. I love animals and am fascinated by plants, their abilities and everything you can do with them. That's why my favourite place is always outside - somewhere in nature, preferably in my wild garden.
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