Remove the stress from cooking

With today's tightly packed schedules and family life being more varied and less centralized than ever, even the once-therapeutic art of cooking can be stressful at the best of times.

Universal exposure via the internet to the latest health reports and diet studies (erroneous and sensationalist as well as factual) can mean you must cook something unique for each person at the table. For example, early last year an Italian study showed that cooking vegetables may actually increase the nutrient content -- defying conventional cooking wisdom!

Other research suggests that green tea can be bad for you because of the potentially high concentration of heavy metal elements in them, and because polyphenols (the antioxidant in green tea) can damage liver and kidneys in high doses!

Where can you turn and who can you trust amidst this bombardment of information? Thankfully it's still generally recognised that a varied diet consisting largely of whole foods is the best way to go, so there's no need to focus on the potential downside of any particular individual food. Add to this a little bit of forethought and planning, and cooking it doesn't need to be all that overwhelming.

Top tips for stress-free cooking:

Start early
One guaranteed way to create stress is procrastination. Creating a list is a proven method to get things done, not to mention the great feeling when you tick things off ...

Menus
Plan the entire meal in advance. Completing this task in advance gives you time to change your mind or amend if circumstances or guest numbers change.

Recipes
Find the recipes you want, read them, and read them again. There’s nothing worse than realizing at the last moment you are missing a vital ingredient or pan, or worse, you don’t know how to do it. Check recipes to see if they can be made in advance and frozen or how long they will keep after cooking and so can be prepared a day or two in advance.

Shopping List
Make a master-shopping list of everything you will need. Buy all non-perishable goods in advance. Buy perishable goods a day or two before and refrigerate them.

Don’t try too many new things
This is easily doen - taking on too much in too short a time. Try to be realistic about what is required - a dinner party is not a time to start experimenting with new techniques and recipes!

Delegate
Spreading the tasks amongst friends/family can help in a surprisingly big way. Delegate a few jobs - peeling the potatoes, setting the table, whatever – it will help ease the pressure. You might be surprised at how eager people are to participate.

Clean the oven
If you don't cook that often make sure you give the oven a thorough cleaning. No-one wants a room full of smoke during the meal.

Make Time for You
This is your time as well! Cooking should be an enjoyable experience that gives you a sense of accomplishment - make sure you allow time during or at the end of cooking to chill out a little, get ready or have a drink.

Bon appétit!

Take the stress off ...

Below are a few good links to products that will take the stress out of cooking and even show you lots of insider secrets!

I'll add more as I review them, but in the meantime please feel free to add your own via the comments ...

Links

Hassle-free meal preparation for your family: Dine without Whine will send you your week's shopping list as well as telling you exactly what to do with your purchases. The result? Stress-free shopping AND cooking ...



Recipe Secrets: Hot selling copy cat recipe ebook containing the secret recipes to famous foods. The dishes everyone loves but nobody knows how to make.

Excellent selection of top-selling recipe ebooks: Divine Recipes