The smart tech taking the heavy lifting out of dinner

What’s the hardest question you had to answer today? For many Australians, “What are we having for dinner?” takes the top spot. In fact, a recent LG survey found that 60 per cent of Australians think planning and preparing meals is the number-one contributor to their mental load at home.

Between pleasing picky toddlers, managing competing requests and indulging adult tastebuds, it’s not hard to understand why so many of us find dinnertime so exhausting. While planning meals in advance can help reduce nightly decision fatigue, even meal prep comes with a long list of decisions. You still need to choose what to eat, which recipes to follow, what to chop, cook or freeze, and then find time to do it all.

For Lydia, 37, a high school teacher and mum of two, the biggest hurdle to meal planning is not knowing what her kids will feel like come evening. “I try to think about what they’ve eaten and how their nutrition is stacking up for the day,” she says. “I always like to keep my options open for how to top up their protein, dairy or extra veg before the day is done.”

To avoid dramas at mealtimes, Lydia keeps her kitchen well-stocked with staples she knows her young children like. "This includes pasta and rice, grated cheese, a range of veggies, frozen beef mince and chicken breasts and thighs,” she says.

Smarter tech, lighter mental load

In addition to keeping pantry staples and fresh or frozen produce on hand, intelligent infrastructure like LG’s smart kitchen innovations can also help minimise mealtime decisions and free up your mind for what matters.

When paired with a compatible LG Induction Cooktop, the LG T-Shape Rangehood with ThinQ Auto automatically adjusts extraction speeds to match your active cooking settings. With four levels of quiet, powerful suction, the rangehood works in the background to keep your space free of unwanted fumes and odours so you can keep the kitchen conversation flowing.

Boasting 6-in-1 cooking modes, the LG InstaView 9 Series Full Steam Oven allows you to cook like a pro without crowding your counter. Seamlessly switch between convection oven, steam cooking, air fryer, air sous vide, dehydrator and pizza mode, then knock twice on the glass to check your meal without letting heat escape. Clean-up is easier than ever thanks to LG’s Blue EasyClean technology, which uses steam to lift grime and stubborn spills in just 10 minutes.

Enjoying an afternoon stroll or settling in for family movie night? Use the LG ThinQ app to monitor your oven, preheat and adjust cooking settings remotely.

Tackling the mental load at home rarely comes down to one massive lifestyle change; it’s about small, smart efficiencies that add up. By automating the minor cooking decisions and tedious maintenance tasks, LG’s kitchen innovations help lighten the load, leaving you with one less thing to manage at the end of a long day.

Free up your mind for what matters most. With LG, Life’s Good.