Cooking for a Busy Family
Families are so busy these days, it's difficult to find
enough time for cooking. Most of the time it's much easier
just to grab a prepackaged, processed meal that's already
cooked or to buy something from the local fast food joint.
All you have to do is throw something in the microwave,
open a container or eat in the car. But cooking your own
food is a much healthier alternative - and it can save you
money too.
If you plan ahead cooking doesn't have to eat away at your
time. You can make almost anything without sacrificing a
whole evening. For instance, instead of buying cornbread
pre-made, make it yourself. It only takes 5 minutes to
prepare and twenty minutes to bake. If you think about it,
prepackaged corn bread mix is simply flour, corn meal and
baking powder. You can do that on your own - and then all
you have to do is add milk, eggs, salt and sugar. Pour
into a greased pan or muffin tin and before you know it,
you have homemade corn bread.
Why not impress with a pudding, because there's nothing to
it! Break eggs into milk and stir on the stove top for
quarter of an hour. This is a custard recipe as well -
drop the same batter into ovenproof cups and bake until
set!
Ethnic cooking can be just as easy, and it adds a bit of
spice to the everyday! Chinese cooking is something you
might want to try, for instance. Many Chinese dishes can
be made in 5 minutes or less. The only difficult part is
finding all the ingredients at a grocery store. But if you
locate a good grocer who sells the items you need,
everything else will go smoothly. Try stir-frying chopped
vegetables and meat. Add spices and other condiments
and you're done!
We all know that in truth a full working week means it's
easy to be discouraged from cooking at the end of each
day - even more so if you have a good number of fast food
places offering convenience and speed. But maybe the time
has come that you've had enough deep pan pleasure and are
up for something new. Here are a few things you could try
out:
Make use of herbs and spices. If you're concerned that
introducing new flavors to home cooked dishes might mean
the family don't enjoy the meal, then introduce herbs and
spices carefully and gradually. Don't be too concerned
about it, when the spice is right your loved ones will be
thrilled and be demanding your cooking in future. You
could start out by adding the classic garlic and oregano
to pasta - it never fails.
Eggy omelets love a sprinkle of parmesan and a little
tarragon, simply cooked fish is great with cilantro, and
cinnamon is the perfect partner to shallow fried yellow
squashes and zucchini, all salads benefit from leaves of
fresh basil.
Marinate your meat. This is a simple tip that goes a long
way. Before you leave for work, just remember to place the
meat you will be cooking for dinner in a marinade - and
put it in the fridge. At dinnertime, cook it in the oven
or broil it on the barbecue. Yummy!
Author Rebecca Calderent's love of cooking started at
home, becoming part of her working life when she started
http://www.ranchcooking.com Ranch Cooking,
a great online resource for anyone learning to cook.
Rebecca shares more tips and advice at
http://www.ranchcooking.com/articlecooking/
Chef2Chef News Desk