Desperate in the Kitchen???

Desperate in the Kitchen???

You have to cook. You don't know how. You have no extra time or no extra money and you can't mess this up.

Do you have your kitchen equipment? One sharp knife, sturdy so you can use it for multiple things. A cutting board. A peeler. A silicone spatula, you can use to stir food and possibly turn it. A set of silverware for each person eating a meal in the household, plus one if possible. Also a plate or bowl for each person. If I were really desperate I would get a flattish bowl and use it for plates. Look up spaghetti plates online.

Add to this a pan to fry foods, a small sauce pan and a bigger saucepan. One big pan to make sauce or broth. Get the best equipment you can afford. If your pockets are empty, go secondhand. In order of expense, get or borrow from a friend or relative, garage sale, dollar store, or thrift store. You may get your best items from the thrift store or someone getting rid of the item.

To start learning, you can begin with simple recipes and techniques. Watch You-Tube videos. Google simple recipes. Get a beginner cookbook, perhaps even a children's or teenagers cookbook.

If part of your problem is that you are on a special diet, learn to cook basics in that diet. Basics such as potatoes, rice, beans, grilling. If you already grill, foods that are grilled can be cooked in a sturdy pan on top of your stove. When you are just starting, begin with low or medium heat until you get more practice.

Seasoning mixes

Favorite kitchen items:

Yogurt Maker. I love this one because I can make 7 servings. Six for eating and one to make the next batch of yogurt. It also makes consistently thick yogurt.

https://amzn.to/49ZMRhi

Speed up cooking beans or rice, or blanch veggies for freezing or canning. I can cook a roast from frozen to done in less than an hour. Beans from dry to ready to combine in a soup in the same amount of time.

Instant Pot

https://amzn.to/4bj4b1N

Perfect for the one coffee person household. It also travels well and you can make coffee anyplace you can get hot water. I have fresh coffee even in a power outage or when camping.

Aeropress coffee

https://amzn.to/3w4lL

Expensive but extremely good quality. I find this type of trash can a necessity around pets.

Simple Human trash can

https://amzn.to/3wkVy88

Buy organic, buy in bulk, get delivery near where you live, or for a larger fee, have it delivered from Azure Standard. There is a small payment for each person who signs up from my link with no cost to you.

Azure Standard Link

https://www.azurestandard.com/?a_aid=ade78122d3

Cookbooks

The Complete Cooking for Two Cookbook

https://amzn.to/3UjyEGq

How to Cook Everything Mark Bittman

https://amzn.to/3JD1498