Australian celebrity chef Julie Goodwin knows a few things about good food.

Food that takes hours of preparation, food that is constantly stirred and tested with fingers dipped.

But even a chef like Goodwin believes in the power of the cheat meal.

Not the ‘high-calorie’ meal dieters sometimes use as a reward. We’re talking the kind of dish you can whip together in ten-seconds flat with the phone under your ear.

Listen to Julie Goodwin spruik her two go-to meals on I Don’t Know How She Does It. 

The 46-year-old told podcast host Alissa Warren about two of her favourite cheat meals in the latest episode of I Don’t Know How She Does It.

“I would have to say the quick easy for me… well, one is a creamy bake-in pasta, so just toss the pasta and it takes two minutes to make the sauce,” she said.

“Dinner done and they’re always happy with that but it’s not an every night meal.”

A post shared by Julie Goodwin (@_juliegoodwin) on Sep 9, 2015 at 4:24am PDT

The mother-of-three said her second go-to was a simple chicken laksa using ingredients from her garden.

“Chicken laksa is another one that is really fast and simple to do. And we grow the stuff in the backyard, I’ve got the kaffir lime leaves, I’ve got the lemongrass, I’ve got the thai chillies,” she said.

Goodwin admitted the family wasn’t above calling the local pizza place for a last-minute dinner.

“Sometimes, I just say, ‘order yourselves a pizza tonight.'” she said.

A post shared by Julie Goodwin (@_juliegoodwin) on May 7, 2015 at 5:25pm PDT

The cookbook author also shared how the dinner table was a screen-free zone for her three children and their partners.

“They know not to bring their phones to the table or anything like that,” she said.

Goodwin’s reasoning was that it took away from her favourite part of the day: family time. We couldn’t agree more.

You can hear more about how Goodwin manages to do it all by listening to her full interview in the podcast below. 

You can buy any book mentioned on our podcasts from iBooks at apple.co/mamamia, where you can also subscribe to all our other shows in one place.