How many times have you resolved to start cooking your own meals at home yet failed to keep up owing to a hectic schedule? Or how often do you joke that you are an awful cook who can’t manage to cook anything more than a pack of instant noodles? Well, turns out many of us fall in either of the two categories and consequently end up relying on takeaway food or restaurant meals.
Here are five tips that can help you get started in the kitchen and cook healthy meals in just a few minutes.
#1 Start simple: You are no master chef and there’s no hurry to be one either. Start with simple basic meals that don’t involve too many fancy ingredients and you should be off to a good start. Preferably, download a recipes app or keep a good website open that details step-by-step instructions with pictures of easy one pot meals such as khichdi, soups, daliya, etc. Worried your kids and family won’t approve of these simple meals? Trust us when we say that every meal prepared at home is far tastier than any bought from outside – your family is sure to adapt and start loving these simple healthy meals when they see you taking the effort.
#2 Lay out all the ingredients before you start: Rather than fishing around to find ingredients, and measure them in the middle of the cooking part, it’s safer to lay them all out on a slab right at the start. Keep them handy, measured, and get off to a confident start.
#3 One meal at a time: You don’t want to take the entire responsibility of cooking a full day’s meals only to fail out of exhaustion and frustration as you have been used to restaurant takeaways before this. Go slow and start by cooking one meal per week on your own; increase the frequency depending on your time and comfort level. Setting unrealistic goals is sure to overwhelm you with the whole paraphernalia – grocery shopping, menu planning, sorting recipes, etc. Pick up one easy recipe and cook it consistently week after week and by week three or four, you would have likely mastered it.
#4 Plan ahead: When you are a beginner, planning is extremely important. Begin planning for today’s meals last night itself, so you have ample time to shop for ingredients, download recipes that you would be comfortable following, prepare marinade for chicken, fish, and other non-vegetarian dishes, and to pre-chop vegetables so you are ready to roll the next morning. Knowing ahead what to put out on the breakfast table, and what to pack for lunch boxes and snack is a huge load off your shoulders. Once you have the most time consuming activities planned and done, home cooking will turn out to be a breeze.
#5 Don’t let the ‘wasted efforts’ deter you from cooking again: Even experienced cooks have their share of bad days in the kitchen when dishes they prepare get a ‘yuck’ from the family. Acknowledge that you are only starting out and this can happen more often to you. Refrain from setting unrealistic goals – a single home cooked meal per week enjoyed by the family should be your goal – at least in the initial months. Research has proved that kids of families that eat home cooked meals together are healthier, more attentive, and perform better at academics and non-curricular activities.
Meal Delivery Kits to Your Rescue
With so many websites and mobile apps on food and recipes, it’s easy for anyone to get confused on which recipe to follow, the right ingredients, where to get them, etc. making most beginners to stop trying and order restaurant takeaway instead. Well, it doesn’t have to be that way anymore. You can make restaurant style lip smacking gourmet meals at home using our ready to cook meal kits that come with pre-measured ingredients and step-by-step recipe instructions and are super simple to follow. It’s time to kiss goodbye to wastage and unhealthy restaurant food and delight your family with home cooked meals of their choice.
