Introduction:
BEING PREPARED to cook dinner makes ALL the difference in how you feel about making a meal. So we plan on using our cooking tips section to discuss things we do to prepare. You may be thinking that preparing can only make cooking more of a chore. But if you will hang in there with us, we hope to convince you it can be your friend. We have found that in the long run, preparation has made cooking dinner easier for us. We are home cooks. Our experience is cooking for family and friends. Nothing more and nothing less. We keep it simple, because that is what we know.
Ricky’s TIP #1: Don’t make more of making dinner than it is. It doesn’t have to be a big deal. If you are one who thinks of cooking dinner as a dreaded chore, maybe we can give you a different perspective.
A few simple recipes, make a week of dinners. The ones you like the most, you can make more often. I had a friend whose mother repeated the same dinner menu, every week. On Monday she made the same meal they had last Monday. There was an every Tuesday meal, every Wednesday meal, and so on. While that approach to planning dinners was a first, and only for me, I have often considered how simple that would be. It certainly makes shopping a lot easier! Ricky and I are certainly not that structured in what we are serving on any given night, but we do know how to keep it simple.
Our feature picture demonstrates our first step in preparing to cook. Getting the necessary ingredients and equipment out. Make sure you have everything you need before you start. And how do you know what you need? Read all about it in our next preparation discussion: Get Ready to Be Ready!