I love to cook but I hate cooking weeknight dinners. What should be a leisurely, pleasurable experience becomes a chore as I wrack my brain to think of something to whip up with the (no doubt spartan because I ran out of time – again – to grocery shop) contents of the fridge.

Add two picky preschoolers into the mix and water torture starts looking like an appealing alternative.

Now, there’s an innovative movement offering a solution to the weeknight meal drag – Jerra mama, Karen Swan, tells us about Mama Bake.

If I was a mother in the 1950’s, I’d be taking a roast dinner, steaming hot from the oven as my husband pulled in the driveway, “Honey, I’m home!” I’d race to the door, high heels clicking, bouncing my hair and re-applying my red lipstick, ready to greet him with a chaste kiss and a martini. My perfect child would be bathed, fed and sleeping soundly in his room, so as not to disturb the adults.

In 2011, I am more likely to be found sitting in the middle of the lounge-room with the contents of every cupboard in the house strewn around me. I haven’t worn heels, had bouncy hair, or worn lipstick in I can’t remember how long. My imperfect child will be bouncing off the walls, covered in food and/or dirt. If anyone needs a martini, it’s me!

Amongst the chaos of life at home with a baby, somewhere around 4pm, the thought, “Oh my God. What am I going to make for dinner?” crosses the minds of mothers everywhere. Call me old fashioned, but I do feel like a bad wife if hubby comes home from work and I’ve done nothing for dinner.

I know it’s crazy, but it makes me feel I’ve achieved something tangible with my day (much like succeeding in getting a load of laundry actually out of the machine and on the line…..where it may stay for another two days, but that’s beside the point!) I truly believe that the evening meal is the cause for most of the tension and stress that is felt in the hours between 4 and 7pm.

There has to be a better way. I’d been following the Mama Bake movement online and on social networking sites, but hadn’t actually got organised enough to hold one myself.

The concept is simple: mamas get together and each cook one big batch meal, which are divided up amongst all at the end. Not only do you share some laughs, tears and sisterhood, you go home with a few nights worth of dinner!

Look deeper, and you’ll find that when you take away the stress of the evening meal, you have more free time in the evenings to connect with your family, or have some much needed down time (like a long shower!)

I put the call out and soon had my fellow ‘mama-sisters’ on board and ready to cook! As the minestrone bubbled on the stove top, and the chicken roasted in the oven, we sat down to lunch, cake and the most important part of the day, offee!

Conversation was easy, and not always about babies! At the end of the day, we each had the next five nights worth of meals done and were already looking forward to our next Mama Bake day.

We so often talk about it taking a village to raise a child, and this is that philosophy in action. It is something our mothers and grandmothers did in the times before home delivery and take away.

Meeting in the heart of someone’s home, with a basket full of fresh food is an amazing way to create community. One of our Mama Bakers is returning to work soon, so we’ll have a big day for her so her freezer is full for that emotional week.

As the founders of Mama Bake say, “I am going to value and take pride in myself as a Mother performing the invaluable task in raising the next generation as well as nurturing my own creative, physical and mental needs with the same priority as I give those of my children. To do that I am going to learn to ask for help when I need it and reciprocate when other Mothers around me need it”.

Don those aprons ladies and create your own Mama Bake group; Long Live the Sisterhood!

Find out more about Mama Bake and join them on facebook.

If you’re interested in having a chat about getting a group started in your neighbourhood, join the Mama Bake Canberra facebook group or  contact Karen at denkar@tpg.com.au