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Cook Smarter, not Harder
Hope everyone reading is doing well in these challenging and unprecedented times. To imagine all the family members under one roof, now for at least 4 weeks has been an interesting experience to say the least. Mixed moments of happiness, satisfaction, sadness, helplessness all together bottled up inside, and exploding outside.
There are several ways to look after ourselves like exercising, meditation, indoor activities, cooking etc. Cooking can be therapeutic for some and a chore (that may or may not be liked) for others.
Well I love to cook. However, the top most challenge in cooking for me is cooking 14 meals for my family in a week. It excludes breakfast because our kids are awake early and first meal is always cereal. Having 14 different kinds of family meals is not easy. I am sure that you have heard all too often in your homes – “we don’t want Rice”, “we had pasta yesterday”, “no vegetables”, “why only potatoes” etc…
I have some tips for your family to try to Cook Smarter, not Harder.
KISS – Keep it Short and Simple
In my kitchen / fridge I have enough Rice, dough for Indian bread or store bought Tortillas. One of those can be transformed with minimal effort in short time.
Plain rice are great with vegetable or lentils curry. Rice can easily be converted to something flavoursome with minimal ingredients like Indian Lemon / Tomato Rice or Chinese Fried Rice as a main meal itself.
Indian breads or store bought Tortillas are great with vegetable curry. Also, wraps can be made with falafel, salad, stir fry etc. Also, by putting pizza sauce and cheese one can transform the tortillas to pizza in no time.
KISS principal is definitely makes life in kitchen easy.
Make “Tin Cans” on your shopping List.
I am big on buying Tin Cans on shopping List. This includes canned Lentils, Kidney beans, corn, chickpeas, mangoes, lychees and the list in endless. Canned Food goes great if you combine with fresh ingredients.
You can easily transform your Quinoa salad by adding in corn and lentils along with fresh apples. Try making hummus, black bean dips in no time to go with vegetable sticks or chips.
Who can say no to Chickpea or Kidney bean curry on Friday nights? I prepare simple base curry by cooking onions, ginger, garlic and tomatoes with cumin, coriander powder & Turmeric powder and blend them to a puree. I portion this base curry according to our family size meals and use it few times a week – for Egg Curry, Lentils/Chickpea or Kidney beans. You can freeze the base curry to use it on a lazy night.
Kids can easily make fruit salad with mango and lychees. You can also add these fruits and some nuts and seeds to your yogurt and make a wholesome breakfast.
Frozen Fruits and Vegetables can make Guilt Free Comforting Food
I love frozen fruits and vegetables. One can cook different meals in no time. I have frozen peas, corn, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach and fruits in my freezer. Also, depending on the local store one can assorted pre made stir fry mix e.g. Chinese, Mediterranean etc.
ne can make simple stir fry vegetable with Rice, Pasta, Noodles or Quinoa. You can have main meals on your table in no time. Combine the frozen vegetables with lentils and make an Indian wrap. Make a noodle soup with stir fry mix. You can add frozen spinach to your curries or if you make bread at home, it takes it to next level of taste.
We all use frozen fruits to make smoothies, how about next time you make “Nice Creams”. Blending different fruits is very healthy dessert for young and old alike in coming warm months. Check on “Nice Cream” photos on google or Instagram and get inspired to make mouth-watering dessert.
These are some of my tips for you to try to reduce stress in the kitchen. Cooking is not a choice we have these days but with simple tweaks and planning you will be crowned Chef in your home kitchen.
Connect with me on Instagram @indianvegcookclass or Facebook @indianvegetariancookingclasszug for meal and recipe ideas.
Great ideas for smart, healthy cooking!
Thank you.