Tips For Cooking For A Family
Cooking for a family can be tedious to say the least, I mean c'mon do they ever stop eating?!
But it can also be very rewarding - you are in charge of nourishing your family! Bringing a smile to their faces, when they eat something homemade - something YOU made, can truly bring joy!
So here are some things that I have found helpful when cooking for my family...
1) Make it yourself
Cooking things from scratch - homemade - is not only cheaper but healthier. So learn to cook. Start small, try out new recipes and see how your family responds. You might be pleasantly surprised.
2) Cook in batches
I find when I make cupcakes, cookies, pizza or bread, curries and pasta sauces, it's just as easy to make 2 quantities as it is to make one - so cook double. Then, if you have had a house full of sick people, or just have had a long day, you can still put a homemade treat in a lunchbox, or a home cooked nutritious meal on the table.
3) The freezer is your friend!
When you make extra quantities of a meal or a cake, or have leftovers from a dinner you have made - freeze it! Even if it's one portion, you or someone else can eat it for lunch.
4) Keep a staples cupboard
I always, and I mean ALWAYS, have flour (plain and self raising), pasta, rice, sugar, shredded coconut, cocoa powder, powdered milk - just to mention a few on hand. These staples are great if I cannot get to a supermarket because we are all sick or the weather makes it too hard to leave the house (not such a problem in Adelaide, but really who wants to go shopping on a 42degree day)!
It means that I can always rustle something up for dinner or a late night snack!
5) Grow your own
If you can, either by putting in a garden bed or by having a few pots, start to grow your own food. Salad greens, and herbs are a great place to start. Fruit trees can all but look after themselves, and can produce an abundance of food for your family. So check the climate in your area and plant what is good for your area - these plants will grow the best. (For what to plant in a temperate climate click on our garden link above).
6) Preserve
Learning to preserve food has become one of my favourite things to do! In all seriousness I find so much joy in bottling peaches, or making jam, and it's so contagious that my family join in each time I'm doing it!
Sterilising is key to preserving food, but read up on the internet or follow some of our recipes (in the eat & drink recipes tab above), your local council can also send out a current sterilising instructions document.
I find preserving most rewarding when it is food we have grown ourselves, because it's free! I end up with bottles and bottles of food to see us through the year!
7) What would mum / grandma have done?
This might sound strange but think back to your parents, your grandparents, your great grandparents. Most had large families. How did they cook? What recipes have been passed down? How did they stretch their $$ to feed their families?
I find that they got creative. Simple meals can be changed ever so slightly to crete a whole new meal altogether. Cupcakes for instance, make half the batch chocolate and half vanilla and mix them together for something the family will love. Add a little curry power to left over savoury mince, or put leftover chicken or curries into a pie! These things all save time and money!
So there you have it my friends, these are some of the things that I do when cooking for our family. You really will find that you begin to enjoy cooking for your family, learning new things, and asking relatives for recipes. Preserving. Freezing. The options are almost endless, but the fun is finding new things that you and your family love.
Let us know what your family does?
But it can also be very rewarding - you are in charge of nourishing your family! Bringing a smile to their faces, when they eat something homemade - something YOU made, can truly bring joy!
So here are some things that I have found helpful when cooking for my family...
1) Make it yourself
Cooking things from scratch - homemade - is not only cheaper but healthier. So learn to cook. Start small, try out new recipes and see how your family responds. You might be pleasantly surprised.
2) Cook in batches
I find when I make cupcakes, cookies, pizza or bread, curries and pasta sauces, it's just as easy to make 2 quantities as it is to make one - so cook double. Then, if you have had a house full of sick people, or just have had a long day, you can still put a homemade treat in a lunchbox, or a home cooked nutritious meal on the table.
3) The freezer is your friend!
When you make extra quantities of a meal or a cake, or have leftovers from a dinner you have made - freeze it! Even if it's one portion, you or someone else can eat it for lunch.
4) Keep a staples cupboard
I always, and I mean ALWAYS, have flour (plain and self raising), pasta, rice, sugar, shredded coconut, cocoa powder, powdered milk - just to mention a few on hand. These staples are great if I cannot get to a supermarket because we are all sick or the weather makes it too hard to leave the house (not such a problem in Adelaide, but really who wants to go shopping on a 42degree day)!
It means that I can always rustle something up for dinner or a late night snack!
5) Grow your own
If you can, either by putting in a garden bed or by having a few pots, start to grow your own food. Salad greens, and herbs are a great place to start. Fruit trees can all but look after themselves, and can produce an abundance of food for your family. So check the climate in your area and plant what is good for your area - these plants will grow the best. (For what to plant in a temperate climate click on our garden link above).
6) Preserve
Learning to preserve food has become one of my favourite things to do! In all seriousness I find so much joy in bottling peaches, or making jam, and it's so contagious that my family join in each time I'm doing it!
Sterilising is key to preserving food, but read up on the internet or follow some of our recipes (in the eat & drink recipes tab above), your local council can also send out a current sterilising instructions document.
I find preserving most rewarding when it is food we have grown ourselves, because it's free! I end up with bottles and bottles of food to see us through the year!
7) What would mum / grandma have done?
This might sound strange but think back to your parents, your grandparents, your great grandparents. Most had large families. How did they cook? What recipes have been passed down? How did they stretch their $$ to feed their families?
I find that they got creative. Simple meals can be changed ever so slightly to crete a whole new meal altogether. Cupcakes for instance, make half the batch chocolate and half vanilla and mix them together for something the family will love. Add a little curry power to left over savoury mince, or put leftover chicken or curries into a pie! These things all save time and money!
So there you have it my friends, these are some of the things that I do when cooking for our family. You really will find that you begin to enjoy cooking for your family, learning new things, and asking relatives for recipes. Preserving. Freezing. The options are almost endless, but the fun is finding new things that you and your family love.
Let us know what your family does?
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