How to spend more time with family while Learning to cook
Are you struggling to find the time to spend with friends and family while also cooking good quality food for everyone? If you don’t think you have the energy, time or skills to cook something gorgeous, simple, and healthy, then try this idea out for size.
It’s not a lesson in cooking; it’s a change in mindset that helps you go from newbie cook to a confident and competent cook, one simple, tasty meal at a time. Increasing the complexity as you progress but being practical with the limited time and resources you have.
The article was written almost ten years ago but has the same relevance today. Today is always a good day to start learning to cook.
Benefits
- Perfect introduction to simple cooking
- Learn to upgrade your food
- Adapt as you go
- Pick your own ingredients
- Create time to enjoy with friends and family
Yields:
2/3 Servings
Prep time:
0 hours 10 mins
Total time:
25 mins
The idea is that it’s an incredibly simple meal to cook, but I show you how to upgrade something highly processed to something with added flavour, texture and nutrition. So, I increased the quality and used cheap ingredients that I had available.
You might just stick with this, or, you might change it up as you learn and grow your skills and confidence. Either way, you just take this first step and see where it leads.
Creating time
You may feel like you don’t have enough time to learn something new, and that’s a common feeling that I experience, too. However, I’ve found a way to manage my time effectively by taking advantage of the holiday season. For instance, I’m planning to spend some quality time with my young son by watching a movie together.
To make sure I have enough time later, I’m going to start preparing dinner now using simple and affordable ingredients that I already have. This way, I can experiment with different choices and learn from my mistakes.
By doing so, I’ll be able to make better decisions in the future. This approach doesn’t require much of my time or money, and it enables me to spend time with my family while also learning and improving my skills.
Ingredients
Change the ingredients to what you prefer; the idea is about the way you cook food to maximise flavour and quality.
- instant soup mix
- Frozen prawns
- Rice
- Pearl barley
- Oil
- Leftover Thai green curry sauce
- Film to watch with friends
Keep it simple
All I did was take an instant soup mix and use it as a base to a meal instead of just pouring it into a cup and adding water. Â First, I cooked some prawns in a. Frying pan, then put the cooked prawns aside. I added the rice and pearl barley To the pan juices to coat them in oil, then the soup mix. I quickly tossed them around, then added some water I had boiled. I guessed how much.
I mixed into the prawns the remnants of a jar of Thai green curry and put them in the oven covered on a medium heat.
Then I left everything to mingle while I watched minions with the little one and got his dinner.
I had to check on the fish a few times and add a little water but basically, I got a wonderful thick risotto-like consistency with the soup as a base and the curry standing proudly.
The results
The textures were fantastic, with the rice and barley tender and smooth in texture with a lovely crunch of the prawns.
The point is that I learned because I tried. I was reminded to cook food inside a stock by the gusto cooking hampers my wife has been getting, and each time I have done it, I’ve ended up with really tasty food.
This is the opposite of what I normally do, which is boil the rice and barley separately so it has no flavour and takes flavour away from anything you add it to, which results in more work and more washing up.
We improved the quality of the food by adding prawns and pearl barley, and the curry paste will have a variety of nutrients, too.
See what you can learn
So even though this is ultimately using simple ingredients, the point is to accessorise any meal to see what you can create and what you can learn.
Many people tell me they can’t cook and ask me how I learnt. Now you understand why I answer that I can’t cook either I just keep practising, and eventually, I get better, and I surprise myself and my taste buds.
What will you try?
So you have seen my attempt and heard about what I learned and now it is your turn. Have a think about what you can and would like to cook and let me know how you got on in the comments below. I love to hear what other people try as it gives me even more ideas 🙂
ACT (Learn to invest in you)
This was an example of using an activity as an opportunity to invest in yourself. For best results, match the activity with a relevant course and teacher. See How it works for more.
