Welcome to Simple Home Edit!

Hi, I'm Nicole, the mum behind Simple Home Edit. I used to be a frazzled home cook, constantly wondering what to make for dinner and spending countless hours, money, and energy in the kitchen. But meal planning changed everything for me, and now I love sharing all my recipes, along with time and energy-saving tips, right here on my website.

I create meals for my family, photograph them, prepare videos showing how I make them, and upload everything here for you to enjoy. I live in Sydney, Australia, with my husband, who loves his lawn and camping, our two gorgeous young children—my biggest fans and harshest critics—and our two Spoodles: Oscar, our senior, and Rose, his "in-your-face" little sister.

At the end of a long day, we all want to sit down to a delicious, comforting meal, but don’t necessarily want to spend hours in the kitchen making it! My favourite meals are those that are fast, achievable, made with simple and low-cost ingredients, which require minimal preparation…and anything I can eat while in slippers with a glass of wine in hand gets extra points!

My website is filled with meals that your whole family will love to eat and, more importantly, that you will love to cook! You will find tips to help make your life easy, including recipes that you can cook once and feed your family twice with, along with recipes suitable for batch-cooking and freezing (ready for when you need them). There are also ideas for meal prepping and food storage, to help you get dinner on table effortlessly and fast on those busy nights where time isn’t your friend but you still want to sit down to a tasty, homecooked meal at the end of your day.

You will find flavoursome, simple recipes, made with familiar, family-friendly flavours, but you’ll also embark on a journey of slowing down, feeling more relaxed and actually enjoying the time spent in your kitchen. There are one-pan wonders, freezer-friendly favourites, meals that are perfect to make ahead of time, and those that are ready in less than 20 minutes. I include loads of options to substitute ingredients (including vegetable subs, because every family is so different!) and you will find variety…because dinners at home can absolutely be as exciting and fun as your local takeout, and I challenge that they can be even better!

Start exploring simple, delicious recipes here now.

I’ve always loved food and used to be an expert at dreaming up amazing meals for my family in the middle of the supermarket aisle. I would impulsively add ingredients to my shopping cart only to get home and find myself throwing out wilted vegetables in the back of the fridge (from last week’s shopping trip!) that I had fully intended using but just didn’t have time to get to. I'd find myself ordering takeout more often than I would like, or eating foods I didn’t really want to be eating, because I was over the never-ending cycle of planning meals, cooking and washing up. I felt like I was drowning in “stuff”. I was spending money I didn't have and found myself unprepared, constantly battling with what to make for dinner.

It was time for change. The next day I began removing the clutter from my home and started meal planning. I saw instant results, which is exciting, because you will see instant results too! I was not only saving money, but I was saving time and felt my stress levels reducing. I found that it was possible to eat delicious, restaurant-quality food in the comfort of my own home, at a fraction of the cost, which is better quality and fresher, all while spending as little time in the kitchen as possible, and more time with my family.

Meal planning is the process of organising your meals ahead of time. It involves choosing recipes and shopping for ingredients in advance to help ease your mental load during the week. Meal planning ends the age-old question: “What’s for dinner?” (we dedicate so much head-space to that question!), stops impulse purchases at the supermarket and helps reduce wastage. It allows us to eat well, save money, gain back time and reduce stress.

There is no one-size-fits-all meal plan and it does not need to be complicated. In fact, the simpler it is, the more achievable and realistic. You will find plenty of meal-plan inspiration and tips throughout the website.

I stick to familiar, family-friendly flavours that use basic pantry ingredients. Once you have those staples, you’ll be able to cook a variety of recipes and cuisines with minimal effort and fuss. I avoid buying ingredients with a whole heap of additives and you’ll find my ingredient preferences linked in most of my recipes. I always take the most “efficient” route possible. I love shortcuts, but never sacrifice flavour! I draw inspiration from my upbringing. Although the budget was tight growing up, Mum was always so resourceful and we ate well. Amazing, traditional European food hit the dining table weekly (my husband jokes that there are three kinds of cabbage at every family get-together, which is absolutely true!). My husband’s background exposed me to incredible Asian flavours and my love for food always has me researching and trying new things.

The true catalyst for my cooking? My kids. Previously, my husband had done all the cooking. But once the kids were born, eating at home became really important to me. Not just from a financial standpoint (because a mortgage and a single income meant change), but because I really wanted my children to grow up in a home where we cook and eat together. I started making recipes from the backs of pasta packets and curry paste jars. I kept the equipment in my kitchen to a bare minimum. I purchased items for my home carefully, I planned my meals…and very quickly my love for cooking – resourcefully – grew.

The Simple Dinner Edit is my debut cookbook. It is a huge part of my personal meal-planning process and I know it will be a big part of yours too, with more than 80 fast, low-cost dinner ideas and loads of time-saving tips. I find it therapeutic sitting with my cookbooks, a cup of tea and my laptop, planning my meals for the week. Secure a copy of your book here.

You can do this.

I am here to help you:

• Make simple and easy recipes that are delicious
• Spend less money on the foods that you don’t really want to be eating (there is a time and place for the takeout joint down the road; it’s just about finding your balance)
• Feel satisfied by knowing exactly what is in the food you’re eating
• Spend less time thinking about what to cook and more time actually cooking it
• Remove the stress from busy weeknights by coming up with a meal plan and sticking to it
• Feel relaxed (you will have an arsenal of core meals to lean into come dinnertime)
• Save money (with no more impulse trips to the supermarket and less waste).

Thank you for being here! So much love and care goes into each and every recipe I share with you. These are real dinners that I prepare for my husband and two young children. I truly understand firsthand how difficult it can be planning, shopping and cooking for ourselves and families. It gives me gives me a great sense of satisfaction and fulfillment being able to share what I have learnt and what I know works. I experiment with new trends so that you don’t have to and am always on the lookout for recipes and time saving tips that are going to make our lives easier. On my socials you’ll often find me sharing what’s cooking. I also love seeing what you’re making – it makes me feel a part of your home and I absolutely love hearing from you, so make sure you drop me a line. You can also rate and leave comments on my recipes. Although I am unable to respond  

Nic x