Her Simple Home Edit account rocketed Nicole Maguire into international Instagram and Tik Tok fame

In this age of influencers, what cuts through the noise and constant stream of images and inspiration, to turn a home cook (who wanted to simplify her life and regain her sanity) into a social media sensation, that now has over three million devoted followers on Instagram and Tik Tok.

For Nicole Maguire it turns out helping her followers with the age-old question of “what’s for dinner?” was the answer.

Born out of a growing frustration when trying to decide what to eat every single night, her Simple Home Edit account has been a godsend for many.

It wasn’t ever that Nicole didn’t love food . . . it’s just with changing circumstances, their household was down to just her husband Heath’s income following the birth of their two children, and whilst still paying off a hefty mortgage, there wasn’t a lot of surplus money for eating out or extravagant meals.

She’d find herself racing up and down the supermarket aisles envisioning in her head what she’d like to make for dinner, grabbing all the things she thought she’d need to stock up on, only to arrive home to discover she already had many of those ingredients, and often in multiple quantities.

Sound familiar? I’m sure we’re all guilty of that in some way.

So, Nicole decided she needed to make some changes.

Changes that would ultimately save her time and money, not to mention add to the quality of her life with a lot less stress.

She trialled new systems in her kitchen, and pantry to minimise how much “stuff” she had.

For example, the drawers that used to be jam packed with endless fry pans, saucepans of all different sizes, and griddles have now been replaced with just a couple of multipurpose pots.

They can be used for anything — frying, grilling, or slow cooking and can easily transfer from cooktop to the oven, to the dishwasher.

One drawer is home to her spice rack, all neatly lined up in labelled glass jars so you can keep track of when anything is getting low.

Her pantry is a thing of beauty.

Old massive Moccona Jars, that were given to her as a gift when she moved out of home — long since stripped of their coffee labels, now store all of her dry goods: Flours, Sugars, Cornflour, Oats, Rice, Polenta etc.

The next shelf down has more glass jars, this time filled with a whole range of nuts, split peas, desiccated coconut, flax seed and marshmallows.

There are a series of clearly labelled baskets that contain jars, sauces, canned goods, pasta’s, snacks, dry staples, even filled with everything you need for baking.

There are also wire baskets that house garlic, onions and potatoes.

Don’t even get me started on her fridge . . . I came away so envious of its organisation.

There’d be no chance of discovering a long-lost soggy vegetable in the back of a crisper here.

Again, everything has its place.

Healthy snacks and drinks are at eye level for the kids, and chopped up veggies and various meats and seafood are all displayed in either glass containers or see through reusable storage bags.

But the real genius behind all of this, is the preparation that goes into her weekly meal planning. This has now become a family decision.

Nicole, Heath and their children all have input into what they’ll eat for each night of the week, so there’s never any complaining on the day.

Once agreed upon, lists are made and checked off with what they already have at home — so ultimately rather than impulse shopping and grabbing anything and everything that takes their fancy when they hit the shops — they only purchase what they actually need.

Her weekly shop has come down from an average of $400 a week to $150.00.

A couple of hours well spent on a Sunday means that the veggie prep for the entire week is accomplished.

Oh, and it also helps that all of Nicole’s budget-friendly, healthy and nutritious meals are ridiculously delicious.

Her first cookbook, The Simple Dinner Edit, sold out instantly, with readers loving not only the recipes, but also her tips for storing and using left overs.

Her next cookbook is in the works and should be ready for release around October.

But the real charm of Nicole is her honesty and authenticity. She shares not only tips and ideas for her followers but discusses frankly whatever pops into her mind — which means you often burst out laughing at an observation or comment that she makes.

She is an incredibly positive individual, and as a result the community that she has built up responds in kind.

If you haven’t discovered her already, catch her on Better Homes and Gardens tonight at 7pm on Channel 7. Her Bang Bang Prawn Taco’s are not to be missed!