Quick and Easy Cooking

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Cooking can be a challenge regardless of your dietary preferences.  Whether you’re vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free or a meat lover.  Daily meal planning and preparation require effort, especially for solo dwellers.  Personally, I found it much simpler to plan meals when my kids were still at home.  Cooking for one often leads to taking shortcuts, like ordering takeaway, preparing quick dishes like eggs on toast, or whipping up some pasts.  While these options are convenient, and there’s nothing wrong with them.  However, if you’re feeding a family on a budget, cooking for yourself and a partner, or simply dining solo, food preparation is the key to maintaining a healthy and cost-effective lifestyle.

Meal base for Vegan, Vegetarian or Gluten-free

The recipe I’m excited to share with you serves as a versatile base that forms the foundation to many great meal options.  This base is a gem.  It can be easily transformed into vegan, vegetarian or gluten-free options.  As I write this article, I’ve only just prepared the recipe and am eagerly anticipating enjoying it for dinner tonight.   Anyone can enjoy delicious and nutritious meals at home.  With creativity and planning, regardless of culinary preferences this base recipe is a winner.

I use my Australian Red Curry in this recipe.

Prepping is the key to quick and easy meal that are also cost effective

Setting aside a few hours during the weekend.  Plan, shop and cook meals for the next week.  Put away some for further weeks or when guests pop in.  Preparation and organising your time to do this is the key.  This will help ease the burden of trying to figure out on a daily basis what to have for dinner that night.  Especially if you’re working, I get it, been there done that. Cooking for a family can be really tricky, especially if you have picky eaters.   An enthusiastic teenager who has just become vegetarian provides its own challenges.  I know how much the cook of the family tries so hard to please, because actually that is part of what cookings about.  Cooking a great meal with love and making everyone happy and healthy.  Most chefs will always say the same thing, that they love to cook so that customers can enjoy their food.  Its such a giving thing, working with your hands and your heart.

Experimenting with flavours can make meals very exciting

The key to prepare versatile, quick and easy meals that are cost effective is to purchase ingredients that can be used in multiple dishes.   Roasted vegetables, cooked grains and if you love pickling or preserving do that too.

Keep your storage containers at hand, sometimes containers such as ice-cream containers can be reused, whatever works for you.  Having the right sized container to hold enough in the fridge or freezer for the nightly meal is important. Too big a container can take up too much space!  Labelling the containers with contents and dates make it an easy grab.  In the cafe, as in most cafes and restaurants we use masking tape to write dates on.  The tape comes off easily after use ready for the next refill.

Be Bold and Brave with your Cooking

Be bold and brave with your cooking. If you work with a base recipe its a good way to start.    Once you know and understand that recipe then you can change it to suit your needs.

Experimenting with new recipes and flavour combinations keeps meals exciting and satisfying.  I’ve always discovered a lot of joy in exploring different cuisines and cooking techniques.   Broaden your culinary skills while maintaining a nutritionally balanced diet.

Make meal prepping a regular part of your routine.  It not only saves time and reduces food waste, meals became much more cost effective.  With a little planning and effort, anyone can overcome the challenges of cooking delicious, wholesome meals every day.

I’m going to keep adding great, quick and easy meal bases over the next few weeks.  But I’d love to hear from you too,  great ideas to share, I’d really love to hear about them.