Daily Cooking

This section goes throught the simple steps of cooking and eating.

A routine makes working in a busy shared kitchen easier. Let's get cooking!

There is a temptation to work through a recipe and start cooking before you have finished preparing. If you are experienced and know how long things take, it may make sense to put the rice on while you are chopping onions. If you are less experienced, you will end up with rice boiling dry, while you search for an ingredient, work surfaced covered in half chopped onions, and bags of flour and probably your flat mate will come in and want to use the same space at the same time.

For beginners we recommend working in stages and clearing as you go. Choose what works for you.

Prepare

Get out all the ingredients you need. Put herbs and spices into a saucer, measure out ingredients. Remove the right number of tins from the cupboard or eggs from the fridge. Put away bags, jars and ingredients that you don't need.

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Peel and chop vegetables and when you are finished throw the peelings in the bin and wipe down chopping boards or knives or peelers.

You are now in a clean kitchen, with everything away and all the prepared ingredients to start cooking.

Cook

There is not so much to say on this, except follow the instructions!

If you get some time, while things are cooking you might see if there is any further cleaning or washing up that can be done.

Also get together what you will need to serve and eat.

Eat

We presume you have this pretty much covered.

Do make sure you have turned the cooker off, and enjoy your food!

Clear

Clearing involves:

Emptying pans of leftover food and storing it.

going back to the kitchen with your dirty crockery.

Loading plates and plans into the dishwasher or washing them up.

Clearing down any surfaces.

As you leave, take a look back. Is everything really away? Have you left the kitchen as you found it or - better still - as you would like to find it?

We appreciate that what we have written may sound obvious or even patronising, but it is amazing how quickly dirty cups build up, things left in rooms go off or spill. Cooking something simple becomes a chore, because there is a mountain of rubbish to clear before you can even start. It can be easier to skip the meal or grab some crisps.

For some, this is how the cycle of apathy, poor eating, and mental negativity starts. Be positive. Eat Well!

And don't forget our food safety checklist!

This food safety checklist is based on the World Heath Organisation advice and provides five keys to safe food handling. The five keys being cleanliness, separation of raw and cooked food, thorough cooking, safe storage and using safe ingredients.

Food Safety Checklist