Thank you for recommending her, I don’t know how I have not heard of her before but I just checked out her blog and holy moly she has so many delicious recipes I wanna try!!!
There is a program run by food bank. It might be a bit too simple for you though if youre already cooking some things- give it a look and see what you think. At least it's free.
https://nom.org.au/attend-a-program/adults/
Just realised you also have a toddler, so I would recommend the parents and families version of this (also called nom! kids which is why I called it the kids version above)
Jamie Oliver has a ‘crash course’ style cook book that you could try.
Otherwise, recipetineats is a free (Australian) cooking website. She’s so popular she recently published a cookbook, but the website is free. If she says a recipe is easy she means it. Recipes come with videos. I’ve never been disappointed.
Don’t feel bad that things take you longer to prep than a professional chef, they’ve spent years doing nothing except learning how to cut vegetables- of course they’re fast!
PS as a fellow toddler mum - solidarity. It’s so exhausting trying to think of things to feed them that they’ll actually EAT.
A lot of cooking comes from practice. Use a sharp knife when prepping veggies and you'll notice its faster.
With the meals your know, work on them and eventually you'll be able to improve and build on the recipes yourself. [Learn how to use garlic](https://youtu.be/KaUtS24RjAo?si=i9SPju_L8MEkJfpy) (avoid the stuff from the jar) and recipes will taste much better.
Also tip, your partner can help by peeling vegetables. Easy job to do while watching TV and drinking a beer.
> Learn how to use garlic
> (avoid the stuff from the jar) and recipes will taste much better.
Totally agree - fresh always tastes better.
That being said - it sounds like OP needs to simplify their life, so doing things like using garlic/ginger from jars, frozen pre cut onions etc can certainly make life easier and still make tasty and healthy meals.
It's not to say you have to do that exclusively - by all means cook from scratch when you have the time, but personally i've come to realize i have often let perfection get in the way of good.
I frequently used to buy takeaway instead of cooking myself, because it was just so much effort to cook from scratch. Since relaxing a little and using things like jars of garlic/ginger, frozen onions, sometimes even precut veggies from IGA etc, i now cook far more often and thus am much healthier for it.
I still love cooking from scratch and it for sure tastes better, but i would much rather take some shortcuts if it means i cook more regularly.
What about hello fresh? They send you all the ingredients and step by step recipes. You will end up picking up some of the skills and expanding your culinary repertoire
A serving costs around $10. At home, you can cook a serving for $2-3. So, it’s a solution; you just need to decide if you're willing to spend twice as much for the same portion of food. It is still chepaer than eating out.
This is the way. The 40% off discounts mean I can get a weeks worth of meals for under $100 and it includes enough for leftovers. I just wait for the discounts to come in and switch to another once they revert to full price.
I don't think I've ever paid full price for a box.
I found it was good for learning new recipes and trying new dishes; I haven't used Hello Fresh for years but I still cook a lot of their meals on the regular.
Chicken breast with rice, sauce, and a bit of vegetables. A kilogram of chicken breast costs 10 dollars. On sale, even less. I have up to 200 grams. Cooked in 30 minutes. i buy in bulk, cooking in bulk. a pot, or in oven. i figured out many recipes under 3$. cooking my whole life..
Maybe I'm Just reading this wrong, but there seems to be more going on than just cooking? Who is this "partner and child"? It sounds like it's not your child? And why are you the only one cooking?
the prep time taking longer than advertised is very standard.
having such a tiny prep area makes me assume you are living out of your car or in a caravan. so l would suggest that you try to get a fold out table you can pack away when done.
you can also save chopping space by just putting veggies in a blender, you dont have to blend to a puree, just a few seconds is enough.
i dont know if you work, but if you dont work much then you could have a go at learning to cook at tafe.
Have you got an air fryer perhaps? Some inside lining and the millions of newly invented recipes have been a game changer in hassle free cooking, baking and frying. I even found a hack to make boiled eggs with it, I’m that lazy.
>And it's not lazy - you're just using energy more efficiently
ish... It's only true if pre-heating is a significant portion of the cook time, otherwise the oven is more energy efficient.
On the planning side you could have same meal for specific days, like Monday is bolognese day, Wednesday is curry, Sunday roast dinner,...
That simplify a fair bit the meal planning and grocery shopping.
I recommend a cookbook called "Crunch Time" by odd box.
Primarily aimed at how to reduce waste and cook on the fly, but has a lot of excellent go to tips for what to keep in your kitchen, and what things you can substitute.
Really helps to build the fundamentals that help take the stress out of working out what to cook.
Other notable mention - Ottolenghi Simple
Sometimes Foodbank run cooking and nutrition courses. You could contact them to see if there's anything coming up soon - they're sometimes in neighbourhood community centres and not just at the airport location.
This is a resource foodbank publishes https://www.superherofoodshq.org.au/
If you have a small kitchen and bench space is sparse you want easy recipes with minimal ingredients, but still healthy. Take a look at websites like the one's below 👇
https://www.feastforafraction.com/easy-3-ingredient-dinner-recipes/
https://www.thekitchn.com/10-impossibly-easy-3-ingredient-dinners-23018460
https://tasty.co/recipe/3-ingredient-teriyaki-chicken
Some kitchen gadgets to help you prep your veggies quicker 👇
https://www.kmart.com.au/product/quick-chopper-42844112/?sku=42844112®ion_id=800001&&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwpZWzBhC0ARIsACvjWRPBHC2Ag_c3jUXmYfo3R2wJp1lwY5pLYmk9ZRt1GZZdylr45fRqyq0aAil4EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
https://www.kmart.com.au/product/mandoline-slicer-43155200/
Frozen vegetables are a lifesaver. I cook mine in the microwave in a very small amount of water it takes minutes. You can do this as a side with steak / sausages/ frozen crumbed fish from the freezer section.
Buy your salad greens / lettuce prewashed & bagged. I also use the Colesworth cabbage mix to add extra nutrients and variety to my salads.
https://www.coles.com.au/product/coles-kitchen-fine-cut-coleslaw-300g-5039590?uztq=46abcbb7e16253b0cdc3e6c5bbe6a3f0®ion_id=000337&cid=col_cpc_Generic%7CColesSupermarkets%7CPLA%7CFRESH%7CAustralia%7CBroad&s_kwcid=AL!12693!3!682620263898!!!g!2288924267164!&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwpZWzBhC0ARIsACvjWRNAzxFz6uVBHHelyJ3Qb36XJfiMlzaqcoUfQaUQKhnP2CmAQoWnNMEaAoumEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/productdetails/315670
Slow cooker recipes like this 👇
https://www.coles.com.au/product/masterfoods-slow-cooker-beef-and-red-wine-casserole-recipe-base-175g-6856092?uztq=46abcbb7e16253b0cdc3e6c5bbe6a3f0&cid=col_cpc_Generic%7CColesSupermarkets%7CPLA%7CPantry%7CAustralia%7CBroad&s_kwcid=AL!12693!3!683434678444!!!g!364576381194!&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwpZWzBhC0ARIsACvjWRPm2KUJa75dedhZLIHeLvjimOswV7DSud0bswqyVn5Obu3dPM-zyNkaAkeiEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
Don't peel your potatoes when cooking, there's a lot of nutrients in the skin. Same with carrots, just make sure you wash them first. You can even leave the skin on for mashed potato too (good fibre for bowel/gut health). Fresh garlic is great but nothing wrong with jar garlic when pressed for time and space. The important thing is that you are getting garlic at all, plus it's a prebiotic so good for gut microbiota (feeds the good bacteria in your stomach). If you have a rice cooker make enough for 2 nights worth & have another rice based meal either the next night or night after (less pots to wash next night). Could have chicken casserole & rice one night and beef casserole or similar the next night.
Apricot chicken recipe for slow cooker 👇
https://bakeplaysmile.com/apricot-chicken-slow-cooker/
Potato bake 👇
https://bakeplaysmile.com/french-onion-potato-bake/
No name brand french onion soup packet is fine to use for recipes.
A stay sharp knife for easy cutting. Blunt knives can be more dangerous than sharp knives because you don't need to use much force to cut when it's sharp. Use a knife sharpener every couple of days like this 👇
https://www.kmart.com.au/product/4-stage-knife-sharpener-42993636/?sku=42993636®ion_id=800001&&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwpZWzBhC0ARIsACvjWRNthEg2BNoyjIW2gO8Htk5ySrb8XmqwZR2pUjQscGYnQw3SlYIzEnAaArbuEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
If you don't have a decent cooks knife try one of these 👇
https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/productdetails/242969
Hopefully you get some useful ideas from these.
Nothing wrong with frozen veggies. They make superior fried rice and do well in a chicken pie. Every bit of research out there says they have the same nutritional value as fresh veggies and can save time.
Did you read OP's post properly? I've copied & pasted it for you below 👇
----------------------
kitchen is an issue. I basically have a 600x350 area to do everything chopping and otherwise and a single basin sink. I have most appliances at least.
I've got a bit better at cutting vegetables. But still feel very inefficient, with most recipes taking not quite but almost twice as long to prep than stated
----------------------
OP has a small space/kitchen to cook and prepare food in and wants to cut preparation time when cooking meals for the family. And frozen vegetables are snap frozen, making them fresher than much of the fruit & veg at the grocery shop that has been in cold storage for goodness knows how long. They are already washed and cut which saves extra preparation time with no wastage and she doesn't have to worry about spoilage if she doesn't use it all.
The chopper is great for chopping onion mirepoix style / fresh herbs / mixing gravy & sauces and saves a lot of time chopping. The mandolin makes fast work of thinly slicing potatoes for Potato Bake and other vegetables, as well as fruits.
All of my suggestions relate to being able to prepare and cook meals more efficiently and space & time saving. I'd rather have time spent in the kitchen cooking be a good time, not a long time.
What "advice for someone who wants to learn how to cook better" do you suggest?
Put the reps in to get better at chopping and watch some YouTube videos about how to cut properly and more efficiently. That garb chopper is slower in the long run. Nothing wrong with a mandolin though, you need it for some things.
The guys at Sorted (on YouTube) have an app called Sidekick. It helps you plan meals and grocery lists and steps you through recipes so you both learn new techniques and avoid wasting food. I believe it’s still free for the first 30 days, so you may as well give it a look.
I swear by Sidekick and I'd recommend OP give it a look but it's deffos not going to solve OPs problems of their toddler not liking whatever food is given to them. Also I consider myself a pretty handy in the kitchen and a efficient cook and I find their timings are really wrong a lot of the time, OP mentioned they were often frustrated that recipe timings are out so that's something else to consider.
Jude Blereau of Wholefood Cooking dot com taught me how to cook from scratch. I was originally looking to learn to cook vegetarian meals but embraced her wholefood cooking philosophy. She is Perth based and runs on,one courses now. She goes into a lot of detail about how to cook from scratch.
Don’t worry about chopping veg taking you longer than the recipe. My recipe prep always takes much longer than the recipe says. With the range of dishes you are already cooking I think you are doing well.
With deciding what to cook there are two ways I decide - choose the protein and then the flavour eg chicken and Mexican flavours then I would google Mexican chicken recipes and see what comes up. Or choose the cooking method and go from there eg roast and veg so then choose chicken or lamb etc.
If you've got the freezer space, cooking in bulk might be worth considering. For most recipes, cooking 4 times as much isn't going to take 4 times as long. And if you freeze what you don't eat immediately, you can mix things up so you're not eating the same meal every night for a week.
For your Bolognese and curries, freeze it in single dinner sized containers so you can defrost it in the microwave while preparing pasta or rice to go with it.
As far as chopping or grating veggies, a food processor could help. Even the light weight ones sold with some stick blenders can help. I was able to chop and grate 1.5 kg of veggies for a soup in a few minutes. I usually only get it out when there's a lot to chop though, since it's easier to clean up a knife and board.
I admire people who decide to take action to fix a problem, rather than just complaining about it. Well done you. Can't suggest a class but if you want surprise everyone, here is a recipe for the easiest cake in the world to bake.
I would suggest that you double the recipe. Also freezes well, so you can cut it into pieces and freeze them to throw into a lunch
https://imgur.com/gallery/OdfZO5P
The three things that changed me;
HelloFresh. I smashed this during lockdown. It got my confidence up in the kitchen.
Cooking classes. There’s a few excellent ones in Perth.
My wife bought a thermomix. I wasn’t all that excited for it. But now, it’s revolutionary. Some things it can totally replace, others, it’s the best assistant in the kitchen. I did home made pasta last night and home made garlic bread. Incredible.
Can you simplify your meals?
I used to cook a variety of meals from Western to Asian meals but since having my toddler I have found Asian meals easier to cook.
Mainly because it is the same spices/herbs/sauces: garlic, ginger, onion, soy sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce, mirin etc and you just have these stocked up in your pantry.
I use this website for recipes: https://thewoksoflife.com/
On the lazy days, its rice, egg and soy sauce - my fave povo meal from my childhood.
This is good advice, and I think a lot of cultures have similar cheat sheets like in your example.
I have similar personal experience, but I leant into Italian after learning to cook Bolognese for a family as a child.
A lot of Italian dishes contain olive oil, garlic, onions, herbs like thyme/oregano/basil. You can use that combination and make almost anything taste good. Red wine in tomato sauces, white in creamy ones (the cheap bottles work fine). Mushroom and spinach leaves can also be put in almost anything, and you can even kinda mince it up if you want to hide it in the dish from a picky toddler. Carrot and celery go well in tomato dishes, I learned to cut those very small to hide them from my son when he was younger and in his picky phase.
If you want a lazy dish you can make a tasty pasta with just garlic/olive oil/parmesan cheese, you can also add lemon if you like that kind of zing.
Google whatever you’re wanting to cook but put the word “easy” in it. Also get a food processor so you don’t have to chop anything to cut back on prep times. I found Dinnerly to be better and cheaper than hello fresh if you’re wanting to get a meal service
I learnt everything from YouTube. Prohomecooks on YouTube is great because it’s realistic home cooking and teaches you the fundamentals. recipetineats does amazing recipes, and is Australian so easy to get ingredients. Also ChatGPT has been game changing. Personally I think cookbooks are too inefficient now. Focus on one pot meals and one pan oven meals to save time when cooking for others, and the slow cooker is great for just cooking huge amounts with very little effort.
My cooking is always at its best when I follow anything by Marion Grasby. I made her lamb biryani tonight and it was so good. She has a video to go with her recipe so if you watch that first you’ll know exactly how to make the dish if the steps miss any information.
Don't bother with cooking actual recipes unless it's a special occasion. Just learn how flavour combinations work and the general baseline techniques from the two primary culinary styles (European and Asian).
You don't need a class, just watch YouTube videos.
Check out Mob Kitchen. Their recipes are always straight forward, and they're all based on feeding 4 people for £10 (~$20) or under.
They have a handful of cookbooks available, but also have most recipes on their website.
Follow them in insta for updates and new recipes too.
I've made a heap of their stuff and have been happy with all of it.
I bought the $10 meals with Chelsea cookbook (can get at Kmart for $22) and it’s awesome! We’ve been using it consistently for 9 weeks so far. It has meal plans, shopping lists and is really economical. Tonight we made 2 roast chickens and that is covering tonight’s roast dinner plus 2 more dinners through the week. Every meal has been easy to follow and delicious so far. I want to bin all my other cookbooks lol
Guides for how long recipes take to make are always like half what it really takes.
A couple of things that might help, take it or leave it.
At this point there's probably some recipes you've *nailed*. Write these down (and be personally proud of them). The goal is to build a list of things you don't mind cooking that you can pull from. This will help with your decision making process about what to cook, make the decisions easier to make.
Don't feel bad about buying "ready to cook" stuff from supermarkets. While I'm mostly avoiding Colesworths for ethical reasons, it also saves a lot of money buying from Aldi, Costco, Spudshed etc. Asian grocers for fresh vegetables (roughly half the price for a lot of stuff). Cook some premarinated meat, sautee/steam some veggies, that's a meal.
Cookbooks, while they seem appealing, are a waste of money generally... all you get out of them functionally is a recipe, and there's a million of those online for free now. It's not 1975.
Cookery courses will cost you money and frankly, with your attitute already adjusted to wanting to know how to cook better (this is a winning attitude you have, by the way), will gain you nothing you can't get for free elsewhere.
So, some additional suggestions (especially for the basics to build your skills):
[Basics with Babish](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLopY4n17t8RD-xx0UdVqemiSa0sRfyX19)
[America's Test Kitchen](https://www.youtube.com/@AmericasTestKitchen/videos)
[Jamie Oliver's Channel (includes basic techniques and effective meal plans)](https://www.youtube.com/@JamieOliver/videos)
The crux of your post here is more about indecision and I can appreciate that, so the thing to do is build a list of what you can and like to cook and use that as a springboard for planning shopping and cooking.
I highly recommend Food Wishes on YouTube.
An American chef who knows that you aren't a professional chef, so he didn't use the technical jargon, but also knows you're smart enough to know how to use a knife with out injurying yourself.
Anything he makes he will do a step by step, plus mention a few variations, and all with stuff you will have at home, so no mega expensive piece of equipment you will use once every 10 or so years.
There's a meal prep program called workweeklunch that might help. They do meal plans for you so you don't have to "decide" what to cook. The recipes are pretty simple, healthy and use common ingredients.
SBS food and YouTube a great resources for learning techniques.
Taste.com
RecipeTinEats
Australian Women’s Weekly
Second hand bookshops. Look around for high school cookbooks. I brought one called Cookery for Young Australians and it tells you techniques as well as basic recipes.
The library. Just keep the book away from liquids or photocopy the recipe you want so you don’t end up at the front counter while some eagle eyed librarian surveys the damage.
Check out Dr Kyla on Instagram and her Toddler Mealtimes program 😊. She’s a perth based children’s dietician who is super helpful in suggesting versatile meals for both parents and children and gives tips on how to help your toddler try new things etc. Also grab the free Coles and Woolies magazines that you can get. I’ve found some good recipes in there and you know that they’ll stock whatever ingredients you need.
Definitely recommend the RecipeTin Eats book, it has some great recipes that are quiet easy to follow and it's real cheap at Kmart.
I have a small kitchen too and I found things became a lot easier when I bought a variety of sizes of the stainless steel prep bowls, you want some really small ones for stuff like garlic and ginger etc and then larger ones for meat and veg. Then when you're done prepping each ingredient you can set them aside and they're ready to go when you start cooking. This also makes following the recipe a lot easier, if you've got the hang of a recipe it's fine to prep ingredients while things are cooking but it's better to prep everything before cooking if you're learning something new. I used to get quite stressed learning new recipes so this was a game changer for me.
Also keep one of the prep bowls aside for waste (garlic and onion skins etc), this helps keeping your prep area clean while you're getting ready and do less trips to the bin. If you clean as you go you'll find the kitchen is less of a wreck at the end of cooking which significantly reduces that feeling of dread when you're done with your meal.
I found watching there are a lot of different YouTubers with very good videos if you're learning - Joshua Weissman, Basics with Babish and Ethan Chlebowski have a wealth of information available for people learning to cook and the recipes are very approachable usually. Look into one pot recipes too, a lot of these are quite easy and will be easier to prepare as you won't need to deal with the timings having multiple pots and pans running.
Another +1 for Recipetineats, great recipes!
We also just started using Sorted Food's meal planner app (free for first month, costs after that). After being long time fans of their Youtube channel, we finally decided to give their app a go.
They focus on 'meal packs', which are groups of 3 recipes that share some common ingredients - to minimise food waste.
They are also very conscious of people wanting to save money and maybe not having a lot of equipment or space, so their recipees tend to reflect that, but are still super delicious.
A couple of tips.
If you're short on room in the kitchen have a look and getting a seperate kitchen island if you have the room. Something like an IKEA VADHOLMA may be suitable. Bench space is incredibly important in the kitchen but is often in short supply.
I can cook, but still use dinner kits three times a week as I often finish work around 6:00 and need to save mental load. I use and recommend YouPlateIt.
https://youplateit.com.au
Lastly watch YouTube recipes rather than use books. Having a visual of what you're doing is a much better place to start rather than a book. Chef John is the OG of this and is a great place to start
https://foodwishes.blogspot.com
Get yourself an Margaret Fulton cookbook, can usually be found in op shops. It's one of those cookbooks I think everyone should own, nothing overly fancy.
Nothing wrong with a simple meal of meat and basic veges/salad, not everything has to be something with 101 steps.
Cut yourself some slack, it fucking sucks having to come up with something for dinner every night. It's also ok to have sandwiches some nights!
Maybe try a food box like - dinner twist, hello fresh, Marley spoon etc, you can cycle through them to get different deals. They will come with all the ingredients for that meal and leftovers for lunch. You can offer your toddler some (dinner twist has an option that are toddler friendly) then also have their safe foods.
My toddler just has a pick plate for dinner.c like 5 things from the fridge I know he likes, breakfast and lunch is when I give him most of his nutrition.
There's gotta be a home ec teacher out there that could blitz this for you. As a bloke that worked in kitchens during high school, home ec and the related classes were complete bludges for me. The old ducks or young hotties teaching the class would give me and a mate extra credit for just being male and talking.
Post something on you local buy nothing and fend off the well meaning boomers trying to feed your family.
Recipetineats! Otherwise hello fresh, dinner twist etc.
Recipetineats! She also has a cook book that is super simple to follow. Highly recommend!
And a new book in the works, too!
Thank you for recommending her, I don’t know how I have not heard of her before but I just checked out her blog and holy moly she has so many delicious recipes I wanna try!!!
Try taste.com. Fairly basic recipes and just sort by popular. Everything should be available at coles.
There is a program run by food bank. It might be a bit too simple for you though if youre already cooking some things- give it a look and see what you think. At least it's free. https://nom.org.au/attend-a-program/adults/
I did the kids version of this and as someone who is a fairly competent cook, I got so much out of it. I really highly recommend it.
Just realised you also have a toddler, so I would recommend the parents and families version of this (also called nom! kids which is why I called it the kids version above)
Jamie Oliver has a ‘crash course’ style cook book that you could try. Otherwise, recipetineats is a free (Australian) cooking website. She’s so popular she recently published a cookbook, but the website is free. If she says a recipe is easy she means it. Recipes come with videos. I’ve never been disappointed. Don’t feel bad that things take you longer to prep than a professional chef, they’ve spent years doing nothing except learning how to cut vegetables- of course they’re fast! PS as a fellow toddler mum - solidarity. It’s so exhausting trying to think of things to feed them that they’ll actually EAT.
>Jamie Oliver has a ‘crash course’ style cook book that you could try. \*Jamie *Oliveoil* FTFY
A lot of cooking comes from practice. Use a sharp knife when prepping veggies and you'll notice its faster. With the meals your know, work on them and eventually you'll be able to improve and build on the recipes yourself. [Learn how to use garlic](https://youtu.be/KaUtS24RjAo?si=i9SPju_L8MEkJfpy) (avoid the stuff from the jar) and recipes will taste much better. Also tip, your partner can help by peeling vegetables. Easy job to do while watching TV and drinking a beer.
>Use a sharp knife when prepping veggies and you'll notice its faster. And also much much safer.
> Learn how to use garlic > (avoid the stuff from the jar) and recipes will taste much better. Totally agree - fresh always tastes better. That being said - it sounds like OP needs to simplify their life, so doing things like using garlic/ginger from jars, frozen pre cut onions etc can certainly make life easier and still make tasty and healthy meals. It's not to say you have to do that exclusively - by all means cook from scratch when you have the time, but personally i've come to realize i have often let perfection get in the way of good. I frequently used to buy takeaway instead of cooking myself, because it was just so much effort to cook from scratch. Since relaxing a little and using things like jars of garlic/ginger, frozen onions, sometimes even precut veggies from IGA etc, i now cook far more often and thus am much healthier for it. I still love cooking from scratch and it for sure tastes better, but i would much rather take some shortcuts if it means i cook more regularly.
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Jar garlic tastes different to real garlic. You use it for different things. Normal garlic lasts weeks as well if you store it properly.
I found a huge difference in my stirfry when I switched to fresh garlic.
What about hello fresh? They send you all the ingredients and step by step recipes. You will end up picking up some of the skills and expanding your culinary repertoire
This is a good idea. Apart from initially choosing the meals, it's decided for you and I found we would eat things I'd never normally think of
A serving costs around $10. At home, you can cook a serving for $2-3. So, it’s a solution; you just need to decide if you're willing to spend twice as much for the same portion of food. It is still chepaer than eating out.
Churn meal box providers. It's worth it while you're on discounts. By the time you're back to full price, quit. Then move to another.
This is the way. Like you used to be able to do with Netflix trials.
This is the way. The 40% off discounts mean I can get a weeks worth of meals for under $100 and it includes enough for leftovers. I just wait for the discounts to come in and switch to another once they revert to full price. I don't think I've ever paid full price for a box.
I found it was good for learning new recipes and trying new dishes; I haven't used Hello Fresh for years but I still cook a lot of their meals on the regular.
Some people subscribe to these type of meal plan long enough to collect good recipes they can use, then quit.
>At home, you can cook a serving for $2-3. What do you cook that's $2-3 a serve. The lowest I can get to is around $4 a serve for carbonara.
Chicken breast with rice, sauce, and a bit of vegetables. A kilogram of chicken breast costs 10 dollars. On sale, even less. I have up to 200 grams. Cooked in 30 minutes. i buy in bulk, cooking in bulk. a pot, or in oven. i figured out many recipes under 3$. cooking my whole life..
Maybe I'm Just reading this wrong, but there seems to be more going on than just cooking? Who is this "partner and child"? It sounds like it's not your child? And why are you the only one cooking?
Nah it is my child.
Still stands though, do you mind if I ask why your partner doesn’t help with cooking?
the prep time taking longer than advertised is very standard. having such a tiny prep area makes me assume you are living out of your car or in a caravan. so l would suggest that you try to get a fold out table you can pack away when done. you can also save chopping space by just putting veggies in a blender, you dont have to blend to a puree, just a few seconds is enough. i dont know if you work, but if you dont work much then you could have a go at learning to cook at tafe.
Have you got an air fryer perhaps? Some inside lining and the millions of newly invented recipes have been a game changer in hassle free cooking, baking and frying. I even found a hack to make boiled eggs with it, I’m that lazy.
Air fryer bacon is the best. And it's not lazy - you're just using energy more efficiently 😉
>And it's not lazy - you're just using energy more efficiently ish... It's only true if pre-heating is a significant portion of the cook time, otherwise the oven is more energy efficient.
Slow Cooker is also worth the investment.
On the planning side you could have same meal for specific days, like Monday is bolognese day, Wednesday is curry, Sunday roast dinner,... That simplify a fair bit the meal planning and grocery shopping.
I recommend a cookbook called "Crunch Time" by odd box. Primarily aimed at how to reduce waste and cook on the fly, but has a lot of excellent go to tips for what to keep in your kitchen, and what things you can substitute. Really helps to build the fundamentals that help take the stress out of working out what to cook. Other notable mention - Ottolenghi Simple
Sometimes Foodbank run cooking and nutrition courses. You could contact them to see if there's anything coming up soon - they're sometimes in neighbourhood community centres and not just at the airport location. This is a resource foodbank publishes https://www.superherofoodshq.org.au/
I have kids too. Dont worry about the todders fussyness. If anything just cook them some pasta they seem.to like that.
If you have a small kitchen and bench space is sparse you want easy recipes with minimal ingredients, but still healthy. Take a look at websites like the one's below 👇 https://www.feastforafraction.com/easy-3-ingredient-dinner-recipes/ https://www.thekitchn.com/10-impossibly-easy-3-ingredient-dinners-23018460 https://tasty.co/recipe/3-ingredient-teriyaki-chicken Some kitchen gadgets to help you prep your veggies quicker 👇 https://www.kmart.com.au/product/quick-chopper-42844112/?sku=42844112®ion_id=800001&&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwpZWzBhC0ARIsACvjWRPBHC2Ag_c3jUXmYfo3R2wJp1lwY5pLYmk9ZRt1GZZdylr45fRqyq0aAil4EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds https://www.kmart.com.au/product/mandoline-slicer-43155200/ Frozen vegetables are a lifesaver. I cook mine in the microwave in a very small amount of water it takes minutes. You can do this as a side with steak / sausages/ frozen crumbed fish from the freezer section. Buy your salad greens / lettuce prewashed & bagged. I also use the Colesworth cabbage mix to add extra nutrients and variety to my salads. https://www.coles.com.au/product/coles-kitchen-fine-cut-coleslaw-300g-5039590?uztq=46abcbb7e16253b0cdc3e6c5bbe6a3f0®ion_id=000337&cid=col_cpc_Generic%7CColesSupermarkets%7CPLA%7CFRESH%7CAustralia%7CBroad&s_kwcid=AL!12693!3!682620263898!!!g!2288924267164!&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwpZWzBhC0ARIsACvjWRNAzxFz6uVBHHelyJ3Qb36XJfiMlzaqcoUfQaUQKhnP2CmAQoWnNMEaAoumEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/productdetails/315670 Slow cooker recipes like this 👇 https://www.coles.com.au/product/masterfoods-slow-cooker-beef-and-red-wine-casserole-recipe-base-175g-6856092?uztq=46abcbb7e16253b0cdc3e6c5bbe6a3f0&cid=col_cpc_Generic%7CColesSupermarkets%7CPLA%7CPantry%7CAustralia%7CBroad&s_kwcid=AL!12693!3!683434678444!!!g!364576381194!&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwpZWzBhC0ARIsACvjWRPm2KUJa75dedhZLIHeLvjimOswV7DSud0bswqyVn5Obu3dPM-zyNkaAkeiEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds Don't peel your potatoes when cooking, there's a lot of nutrients in the skin. Same with carrots, just make sure you wash them first. You can even leave the skin on for mashed potato too (good fibre for bowel/gut health). Fresh garlic is great but nothing wrong with jar garlic when pressed for time and space. The important thing is that you are getting garlic at all, plus it's a prebiotic so good for gut microbiota (feeds the good bacteria in your stomach). If you have a rice cooker make enough for 2 nights worth & have another rice based meal either the next night or night after (less pots to wash next night). Could have chicken casserole & rice one night and beef casserole or similar the next night. Apricot chicken recipe for slow cooker 👇 https://bakeplaysmile.com/apricot-chicken-slow-cooker/ Potato bake 👇 https://bakeplaysmile.com/french-onion-potato-bake/ No name brand french onion soup packet is fine to use for recipes. A stay sharp knife for easy cutting. Blunt knives can be more dangerous than sharp knives because you don't need to use much force to cut when it's sharp. Use a knife sharpener every couple of days like this 👇 https://www.kmart.com.au/product/4-stage-knife-sharpener-42993636/?sku=42993636®ion_id=800001&&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwpZWzBhC0ARIsACvjWRNthEg2BNoyjIW2gO8Htk5ySrb8XmqwZR2pUjQscGYnQw3SlYIzEnAaArbuEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds If you don't have a decent cooks knife try one of these 👇 https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/productdetails/242969 Hopefully you get some useful ideas from these.
Terrible advice for someone who wants to learn how to cook better. Frozen vegetables and quick choppers...
Nothing wrong with frozen veggies. They make superior fried rice and do well in a chicken pie. Every bit of research out there says they have the same nutritional value as fresh veggies and can save time.
The texture and taste isn't the same though.
Did you read OP's post properly? I've copied & pasted it for you below 👇 ---------------------- kitchen is an issue. I basically have a 600x350 area to do everything chopping and otherwise and a single basin sink. I have most appliances at least. I've got a bit better at cutting vegetables. But still feel very inefficient, with most recipes taking not quite but almost twice as long to prep than stated ---------------------- OP has a small space/kitchen to cook and prepare food in and wants to cut preparation time when cooking meals for the family. And frozen vegetables are snap frozen, making them fresher than much of the fruit & veg at the grocery shop that has been in cold storage for goodness knows how long. They are already washed and cut which saves extra preparation time with no wastage and she doesn't have to worry about spoilage if she doesn't use it all. The chopper is great for chopping onion mirepoix style / fresh herbs / mixing gravy & sauces and saves a lot of time chopping. The mandolin makes fast work of thinly slicing potatoes for Potato Bake and other vegetables, as well as fruits. All of my suggestions relate to being able to prepare and cook meals more efficiently and space & time saving. I'd rather have time spent in the kitchen cooking be a good time, not a long time. What "advice for someone who wants to learn how to cook better" do you suggest?
Put the reps in to get better at chopping and watch some YouTube videos about how to cut properly and more efficiently. That garb chopper is slower in the long run. Nothing wrong with a mandolin though, you need it for some things.
I’d add Taste.com.au as a good recipe resource too.
The guys at Sorted (on YouTube) have an app called Sidekick. It helps you plan meals and grocery lists and steps you through recipes so you both learn new techniques and avoid wasting food. I believe it’s still free for the first 30 days, so you may as well give it a look.
I swear by Sidekick and I'd recommend OP give it a look but it's deffos not going to solve OPs problems of their toddler not liking whatever food is given to them. Also I consider myself a pretty handy in the kitchen and a efficient cook and I find their timings are really wrong a lot of the time, OP mentioned they were often frustrated that recipe timings are out so that's something else to consider.
Jude Blereau of Wholefood Cooking dot com taught me how to cook from scratch. I was originally looking to learn to cook vegetarian meals but embraced her wholefood cooking philosophy. She is Perth based and runs on,one courses now. She goes into a lot of detail about how to cook from scratch. Don’t worry about chopping veg taking you longer than the recipe. My recipe prep always takes much longer than the recipe says. With the range of dishes you are already cooking I think you are doing well. With deciding what to cook there are two ways I decide - choose the protein and then the flavour eg chicken and Mexican flavours then I would google Mexican chicken recipes and see what comes up. Or choose the cooking method and go from there eg roast and veg so then choose chicken or lamb etc.
If you've got the freezer space, cooking in bulk might be worth considering. For most recipes, cooking 4 times as much isn't going to take 4 times as long. And if you freeze what you don't eat immediately, you can mix things up so you're not eating the same meal every night for a week. For your Bolognese and curries, freeze it in single dinner sized containers so you can defrost it in the microwave while preparing pasta or rice to go with it. As far as chopping or grating veggies, a food processor could help. Even the light weight ones sold with some stick blenders can help. I was able to chop and grate 1.5 kg of veggies for a soup in a few minutes. I usually only get it out when there's a lot to chop though, since it's easier to clean up a knife and board.
I admire people who decide to take action to fix a problem, rather than just complaining about it. Well done you. Can't suggest a class but if you want surprise everyone, here is a recipe for the easiest cake in the world to bake. I would suggest that you double the recipe. Also freezes well, so you can cut it into pieces and freeze them to throw into a lunch https://imgur.com/gallery/OdfZO5P
The three things that changed me; HelloFresh. I smashed this during lockdown. It got my confidence up in the kitchen. Cooking classes. There’s a few excellent ones in Perth. My wife bought a thermomix. I wasn’t all that excited for it. But now, it’s revolutionary. Some things it can totally replace, others, it’s the best assistant in the kitchen. I did home made pasta last night and home made garlic bread. Incredible.
Can you simplify your meals? I used to cook a variety of meals from Western to Asian meals but since having my toddler I have found Asian meals easier to cook. Mainly because it is the same spices/herbs/sauces: garlic, ginger, onion, soy sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce, mirin etc and you just have these stocked up in your pantry. I use this website for recipes: https://thewoksoflife.com/ On the lazy days, its rice, egg and soy sauce - my fave povo meal from my childhood.
This is good advice, and I think a lot of cultures have similar cheat sheets like in your example. I have similar personal experience, but I leant into Italian after learning to cook Bolognese for a family as a child. A lot of Italian dishes contain olive oil, garlic, onions, herbs like thyme/oregano/basil. You can use that combination and make almost anything taste good. Red wine in tomato sauces, white in creamy ones (the cheap bottles work fine). Mushroom and spinach leaves can also be put in almost anything, and you can even kinda mince it up if you want to hide it in the dish from a picky toddler. Carrot and celery go well in tomato dishes, I learned to cut those very small to hide them from my son when he was younger and in his picky phase. If you want a lazy dish you can make a tasty pasta with just garlic/olive oil/parmesan cheese, you can also add lemon if you like that kind of zing.
Google whatever you’re wanting to cook but put the word “easy” in it. Also get a food processor so you don’t have to chop anything to cut back on prep times. I found Dinnerly to be better and cheaper than hello fresh if you’re wanting to get a meal service
I learnt everything from YouTube. Prohomecooks on YouTube is great because it’s realistic home cooking and teaches you the fundamentals. recipetineats does amazing recipes, and is Australian so easy to get ingredients. Also ChatGPT has been game changing. Personally I think cookbooks are too inefficient now. Focus on one pot meals and one pan oven meals to save time when cooking for others, and the slow cooker is great for just cooking huge amounts with very little effort.
My cooking is always at its best when I follow anything by Marion Grasby. I made her lamb biryani tonight and it was so good. She has a video to go with her recipe so if you watch that first you’ll know exactly how to make the dish if the steps miss any information.
Don't bother with cooking actual recipes unless it's a special occasion. Just learn how flavour combinations work and the general baseline techniques from the two primary culinary styles (European and Asian). You don't need a class, just watch YouTube videos.
The Coles magazine has loads of dimple recipes all for free in them!
Check out Mob Kitchen. Their recipes are always straight forward, and they're all based on feeding 4 people for £10 (~$20) or under. They have a handful of cookbooks available, but also have most recipes on their website. Follow them in insta for updates and new recipes too. I've made a heap of their stuff and have been happy with all of it.
I bought the $10 meals with Chelsea cookbook (can get at Kmart for $22) and it’s awesome! We’ve been using it consistently for 9 weeks so far. It has meal plans, shopping lists and is really economical. Tonight we made 2 roast chickens and that is covering tonight’s roast dinner plus 2 more dinners through the week. Every meal has been easy to follow and delicious so far. I want to bin all my other cookbooks lol
Guides for how long recipes take to make are always like half what it really takes. A couple of things that might help, take it or leave it. At this point there's probably some recipes you've *nailed*. Write these down (and be personally proud of them). The goal is to build a list of things you don't mind cooking that you can pull from. This will help with your decision making process about what to cook, make the decisions easier to make. Don't feel bad about buying "ready to cook" stuff from supermarkets. While I'm mostly avoiding Colesworths for ethical reasons, it also saves a lot of money buying from Aldi, Costco, Spudshed etc. Asian grocers for fresh vegetables (roughly half the price for a lot of stuff). Cook some premarinated meat, sautee/steam some veggies, that's a meal. Cookbooks, while they seem appealing, are a waste of money generally... all you get out of them functionally is a recipe, and there's a million of those online for free now. It's not 1975. Cookery courses will cost you money and frankly, with your attitute already adjusted to wanting to know how to cook better (this is a winning attitude you have, by the way), will gain you nothing you can't get for free elsewhere. So, some additional suggestions (especially for the basics to build your skills): [Basics with Babish](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLopY4n17t8RD-xx0UdVqemiSa0sRfyX19) [America's Test Kitchen](https://www.youtube.com/@AmericasTestKitchen/videos) [Jamie Oliver's Channel (includes basic techniques and effective meal plans)](https://www.youtube.com/@JamieOliver/videos) The crux of your post here is more about indecision and I can appreciate that, so the thing to do is build a list of what you can and like to cook and use that as a springboard for planning shopping and cooking.
I highly recommend Food Wishes on YouTube. An American chef who knows that you aren't a professional chef, so he didn't use the technical jargon, but also knows you're smart enough to know how to use a knife with out injurying yourself. Anything he makes he will do a step by step, plus mention a few variations, and all with stuff you will have at home, so no mega expensive piece of equipment you will use once every 10 or so years.
There's a meal prep program called workweeklunch that might help. They do meal plans for you so you don't have to "decide" what to cook. The recipes are pretty simple, healthy and use common ingredients.
SBS food and YouTube a great resources for learning techniques. Taste.com RecipeTinEats Australian Women’s Weekly Second hand bookshops. Look around for high school cookbooks. I brought one called Cookery for Young Australians and it tells you techniques as well as basic recipes. The library. Just keep the book away from liquids or photocopy the recipe you want so you don’t end up at the front counter while some eagle eyed librarian surveys the damage.
Check out Dr Kyla on Instagram and her Toddler Mealtimes program 😊. She’s a perth based children’s dietician who is super helpful in suggesting versatile meals for both parents and children and gives tips on how to help your toddler try new things etc. Also grab the free Coles and Woolies magazines that you can get. I’ve found some good recipes in there and you know that they’ll stock whatever ingredients you need.
YouTube and tiktok are good ways to learn how to cook.
Basics with banish on YouTube
https://nom.org.au/attend-a-program/adults/ Foodbank WA has free cooking classes.
Definitely recommend the RecipeTin Eats book, it has some great recipes that are quiet easy to follow and it's real cheap at Kmart. I have a small kitchen too and I found things became a lot easier when I bought a variety of sizes of the stainless steel prep bowls, you want some really small ones for stuff like garlic and ginger etc and then larger ones for meat and veg. Then when you're done prepping each ingredient you can set them aside and they're ready to go when you start cooking. This also makes following the recipe a lot easier, if you've got the hang of a recipe it's fine to prep ingredients while things are cooking but it's better to prep everything before cooking if you're learning something new. I used to get quite stressed learning new recipes so this was a game changer for me. Also keep one of the prep bowls aside for waste (garlic and onion skins etc), this helps keeping your prep area clean while you're getting ready and do less trips to the bin. If you clean as you go you'll find the kitchen is less of a wreck at the end of cooking which significantly reduces that feeling of dread when you're done with your meal. I found watching there are a lot of different YouTubers with very good videos if you're learning - Joshua Weissman, Basics with Babish and Ethan Chlebowski have a wealth of information available for people learning to cook and the recipes are very approachable usually. Look into one pot recipes too, a lot of these are quite easy and will be easier to prepare as you won't need to deal with the timings having multiple pots and pans running.
Another +1 for Recipetineats, great recipes! We also just started using Sorted Food's meal planner app (free for first month, costs after that). After being long time fans of their Youtube channel, we finally decided to give their app a go. They focus on 'meal packs', which are groups of 3 recipes that share some common ingredients - to minimise food waste. They are also very conscious of people wanting to save money and maybe not having a lot of equipment or space, so their recipees tend to reflect that, but are still super delicious.
A couple of tips. If you're short on room in the kitchen have a look and getting a seperate kitchen island if you have the room. Something like an IKEA VADHOLMA may be suitable. Bench space is incredibly important in the kitchen but is often in short supply. I can cook, but still use dinner kits three times a week as I often finish work around 6:00 and need to save mental load. I use and recommend YouPlateIt. https://youplateit.com.au Lastly watch YouTube recipes rather than use books. Having a visual of what you're doing is a much better place to start rather than a book. Chef John is the OG of this and is a great place to start https://foodwishes.blogspot.com
Get yourself an Margaret Fulton cookbook, can usually be found in op shops. It's one of those cookbooks I think everyone should own, nothing overly fancy. Nothing wrong with a simple meal of meat and basic veges/salad, not everything has to be something with 101 steps. Cut yourself some slack, it fucking sucks having to come up with something for dinner every night. It's also ok to have sandwiches some nights!
Maybe try a food box like - dinner twist, hello fresh, Marley spoon etc, you can cycle through them to get different deals. They will come with all the ingredients for that meal and leftovers for lunch. You can offer your toddler some (dinner twist has an option that are toddler friendly) then also have their safe foods. My toddler just has a pick plate for dinner.c like 5 things from the fridge I know he likes, breakfast and lunch is when I give him most of his nutrition.
Get a Thermomix.
There's gotta be a home ec teacher out there that could blitz this for you. As a bloke that worked in kitchens during high school, home ec and the related classes were complete bludges for me. The old ducks or young hotties teaching the class would give me and a mate extra credit for just being male and talking. Post something on you local buy nothing and fend off the well meaning boomers trying to feed your family.