Cooking can be an excellent way to unwind after a long day at work. However, it can wreak havoc on your schedule if you don’t plan.
Eating healthy can be a challenge for anyone, but it’s even more challenging to be a busy person with a full-time job, a family, and other commitments.
That’s why the number one tip for making healthy eating easier is to plan. The key to cooking for busy people is to focus on quick, easy, and healthy recipes. While it may sound like an impossible task, I promise that you can do it.
If you slow down, even for a short while, and plan out a week’s worth of meals, you’re more likely to follow your plan and eat better.
One of the main reasons why many people end up ordering takeout food is not timing conflicts but instead since it is inconvenient to cook.
Perhaps your kitchen is too small, or it is poorly arranged. Whatever the reason, cooking delicious and healthy food doesn’t need to be particularly difficult.
It can all be remedied by using the correct tools for the job and having a good organization.
Before getting into the tools themselves, it is wise to mention some tips to get your kitchen arranged and in order.
Why Keep Your Kitchen In Order
Kitchen organization is an essential aspect of cooking. It keeps all the contents in the kitchen and ensures that the food is stored in perfect conditions.
A well-organized kitchen is vital while cooking as it helps you find the ingredients and kitchen utensils and saves a lot of time.
By keeping your kitchen clean and tidy, you will create a space to be comfortable cooking your own food.
So now that’s out of the way, let’s move onto the tools themselves.
Instant Pot
An Instant Pot is similar in many ways to a slow cooker, but so much more.
You can cook a massive assortment of foods in one, and it takes the place of several other devices. If you possess an Instant Pot, you can forgo having to buy the following:
- Pressure cooker
- Slow cooker
- Rice cooker
- Yogurt maker (check if the model you want has this feature)
- Steamer
- Warmer
As you can see, the amount of things that it can replace is incredible. If you are wondering what exactly you can cook, this easy recipe from corriecooks.com shows you how versatile they indeed are.
Skillet Set
A cast-iron skillet is an excellent investment if you are looking to buy a skillet set because cast iron provides superior heat retention and will last a lifetime.
When cooked properly, cast-iron skillets are non-stick and add tremendous flavor to anything you cook.
If your budget can extend to getting a full set of different sizes. This is important so that you can cook several other parts of a dish simultaneously, thus becoming far more efficient.
Kitchen Knife Set
Every chef needs a quality knife set, and if you are looking to learn how to start making your meals, you will want to know what knives you need in a kitchen.
There are many different styles, shapes, and sizes of knives that can be used for almost anything you want to cook, from making jam to cutting steak.
When you are looking at what knives you need in a kitchen, you should take the time to consider the difference between a fixed blade and an adjustable blade.
If you are buying a full set, you will receive a multitude of different knives, but I will go through the main three that you will regularly use for the sake of this article.
Chef’s knife
This particular knife is the bread and butter of your kitchen and most likely the one you will use the most often.
It can be used for chopping, dicing, mincing, and slicing and can be used in various ways to prepare and cook a variety of different foods.
To stay sharp, a chef’s knife should be hand washed and dried when you are finished using it, and it should be stored in a kitchen knife block so that it doesn’t get damaged.
Paring knife
The blade is usually relatively thin and is ideal for peeling fruits and vegetables, mincing herbs, and other small or intricate kitchen tasks.
Serrated Knife
A serrated knife is a type of knife that has very sharp, saw-like serrations on its blade. Because of their unique shape, serrated knives are perfect for cutting things like tomatoes and bread, where a smooth blade can slide right off the surface.
Summary
Many people have hectic lives these days and are unable to find time to make nutritious food.
However, by investing in a few simple tools such as those mentioned here, you will find that cooking becomes a far more straightforward task and one that you will learn to enjoy.