START COOKING AND SAVE MONEY!

Wanna save more money? Then learn to cook your own meals! Learn to cook is one of the top ten tips to save money. With the rise of inflation the world over, what other excuse can you give to NOT learn to cook? Believe me, if you just follow a few simple ways and proper planning, cooking is not a big hassle. Don't like to wash up afterwards? No problem, there are ways to cut down washing-up. The idea is to work smart, not work hard. Read on.......
Here are some tips:

• Do your food buying/marketing once a week. Buy only enough to last you a week of cooking. Buy what is in season or on promotion. If you work a 9-5 job, you might only want to cook only for dinner. Any leftovers can be packed for lunch at the office or for the next meal at the next day. Or maybe it can even be recycled (YES, RECYCLED), to create another dish the next day. You have to be creative here.
• Based on what you have bought, draw up a week's menu of what you want to cook/eat. Bear in mind that your meals have to be balanced ;taking into consideration the food pyramid. As a simple guide, you meal has to consist of a starch/carbohydrate which can be rice, noodles, potatoes or bread, two or more types of vegetables (one of which preferably be green or leafy) and a meat/seafood (for protein). Desserts can be kept simple by just having freshly cut fruits. There are 7 colours of fruits and vegetables, which means they have different nutrients. Try and have all these colours at least once a week so you don't miss out any nutrient for your body!
• Choose easy to cook meals, like stir-frying (for chinese cooking), boiling (soups or stews in a slow-cooker) and pan-frying (for simple western meal).
• Invest in good quality storage containers like Tupperware and kitchen gadgets to cut down the preparation work.
• Since you have already drawn-up your menu for the week, the next step is to pack your meat into the correct portion for the week's cooking. You can even dice/portion them according to the recipe/cooking requirement and marinate them ahead if the method of cooking calls for it.
• Pack them into storage containers (so that they can be washed and reusable) and put them in the chiller section of your fridge (if you decide to cook them within 3 days) or the freezer if you want to keep for longer than 3 days.

On the night before you go to sleep, take a look of your week's menu and decide what you want to cook next day. You can switch around the day's menu with the different day of the week but the idea here is to finish eating what you have bought and replenish your fridge only once a week, thus eliminating the problem of 'that lost packet of meat at the far corner of your freezer' which you hardly recognise or remember. If the meat is in the freezer, take it down to the chiller and let it thaw. The meat should be fully thawed by the time you get back from work the next day. A whole chicken will take about 2 days to be fully thawed in the chiller.

In my next posting, I will write more about the full use of your fridge/freezer, storage and maybe a proposed week's menu for you to try out PLUS the recipes to go with it. Stick around for MORE...

nellmolly-homecooking

Make your Kitchen, your Home Restaurant!

Yes, you can serve good food just like in the restaurants at the comfort of your own home. All you need is proper planning. The key is first to draw up the week's menu and buy your food once a week.

Cut, dice, pack and pre-prepare as much as you can and put everything in the fridge or freezer. Invest in good quality containers for storage and use kitchens gadgets to cut down the work.

Much of the work in whipping up a meal is in the preparation so pre-prepare is the key to speed up the cooking time on the day.

Choose easy-to-cook dishes, bearing in mind the meal must be balanced (meaning, the meal must have starch/carbohydrates, vegetables and meat for protein). Desserts can be made simple by just having freshly-cut fruits.

It is also a good idea to have a ready-cooked serving of a main course stuck in the freezer for last minute guests or you are just too tired to cook after a long day at the office. This is also useful if you have teenage children at home and all you need do is to teach them to use the microwave oven to reheat.

Other than pre-prepare, it is most useful to make your own sauces or paste to make cooking a breeze and tasty. It is not only time saving but also money-saving and tastier minus the additives and preservatives! Did I mention that 'Learn To Cook' is one of the Top 10 Tips to save money? With the rise of inflation it only make sense that we should cook and eat at home. Reserve the visits to restaurants only on special occasions or as a treat. PLUS if you have children, you are showing good example for them to follow when it's their turn to become parents.

While good food brings people together, the dining table in every home is the center of unity. Make an effort to have dinner with your kids everyday, to catch up with them of their day's activities or to announce an important matter over dinner.

Stick around for recipes and great tips for success!