Fast Cooking School - Lesson 1: How Planning Ahead And Being Organized Can Significantly Reduce Your Cooking Time
We all know: We are living in a hectic time that seems to be against us making our own food. We spend more time at work than ever, our kids need to be taken to their after-school activities, and supper mustn’t be late because everyone is starving or has still got plans for the evening. Not to speak of the washing and cleaning that you need to do, and the ironing that is piling up. What to do? Ready-made meals for the microwave? The pizza service? A menu you quickly pick up on your way home at KFC or McDonalds?
Besides the fact that this is costing you a fortune if you have to feed a family of four, you know it’s not so healthy for them and you would love to give them something better. Like the food you used to make, once upon a time. Well, you can! Cooking has a reputation of being very time-consuming but there are many ways to speed the process up. That’s what this article series is about. It’s going to teach you a number of simple but effective tricks how to cook delicious and healthy meals in less time.
This lesson number one starts right at the beginning: with the first preparations for future meals. It’s about the secrets of planning and shopping, and how your workplace, namely your kitchen should be. The first four tricks I would like to share with you today are:
This is one of the major principles of being organized: proper planning. Once a week, sit down with your recipe collection or your creative mind and work out a menu what you are going to cook during the following week. Write it down so that you won’t forget. Stick it to your fridge or another place where you can easily find it. This will save you the sometimes desperate brooding “What shall I cook tonight?” when supper time is nearing.
It also allows you to fine-tune your meals with your schedule. Leave the more complex meals for days when you are off or someone can help you, and plan quick meals for days where you will have little time to cook. You can even cook in advance when you have time and keep some meals in the freezer for very hectic days, so that you just have to warm the food. Or cook a bulk of food, meaning a bigger amount of the dish you make, and deepfreeze the second portion for later.
Trick #2: Shop weekly
Does that sound familiar: You have just started to cook when you notice that you have run out of salt, or one of the key ingredients is missing. Now you can either do without, which is not always possible. Ever tried to make omelet without eggs? Or you ask a neighbor or rush to the shop and quickly buy what you need.
A weekly shopping tour based on your meal plan for the week can easily prevent that. Again, sit with your recipes and write down everything you need for the meals you plan. Don’t forget to check if any of your “stocked” ingredients like flour, oil or spices is running low. Doing this will ensure that when you start cooking everything you need will be there, ready for use.
Trick #3: Know your kitchen
There is only one way to work effectively in your kitchen: You need to know it. You need to know exactly where you keep your ingredients, tools, pots, dishes etc. Otherwise you will be forever searching. And that will cost you a lot of time.
If your kitchen has not seen much of you for some time, take a couple of moments to familiarize yourself with it again. Also make sure it is organized in a way that makes sense to you. All things you often need, you should put where you can easily reach them. Keep things together that belong together. This strategy of “grouping” makes it easier to remember where everything is.
If you notice, something is not working for you, don’t hesitate - Rearrange your cupboards! A few hours spending on optimizing your kitchen will save you much time searching and digging in all your cooking sessions yet to come.
Trick #4: Keep your workplace clean and tidy
This might sound harsh but it is necessary. No one can really work in a messy kitchen. Where will you find space to work when dirty dishes are piling up everywhere? Besides the fact that you have a high chance that the thing you urgently need first needs to be washed, which is going to take you much longer than just taking it out of the cupboard. So, rather wash your dishes regularly, at least once a day. You might find that after supper is the best time to do it. It will cost you unnecessary time if you first have to tidy up and clean the whole kitchen before you can finally start cooking. By the time you get started, you could already be done.
And think about this: If your kitchen is tidy and everything is where it’s supposed to be, it means you can find your things quickly, and this will obviously allow you to work much faster. And that’s what you want, isn’t it?
I hope these four tricks will get you started on your way to cook yourself. But the story doesn’t end here, this is merely the beginning. Read more fast cooking tips on Elisha's Recipe World!
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