Cooking? No, not for me!
I was messaged a photo – pasta, tomato sauce and vegan lentil balls, by a friend of mine, and I thought it looked really nice.
When I gave it a LIKE on the pic, I got this response,
” ah ah ah, they are from the shop”
” you should make them, very easy”, I said,
and the reply was,
” I’m too lazy”
… so I sent her a link.
The link to meatless balls pasta dish – just click on the link and you have the recipe. They are sooooo good, and not difficult to make and never any left in the pot when I make them at home.
It made me think about people who find it too much work to cook. For them it is easier to go out and buy their dinner.
I must say that since she was buying vegan food I could not be too critical, but I know she was missing out so much not cooking for herself.
Of course we are all different and some of us really like cooking and others do not. But why???
Why do some people cook and others do not ?
Are they lazy? I do not think so.
They do plenty of other things, so they are not lazy, but somehow they find cooking too much work. Easier to buy a dinner and heat it up at home.
But, of course it will never compare to home cooking.
When you cook yourself the food:- is fresher and you know exactly what was in the food.- there is less salt and is less fat. – there are no preservatives in home cooking… and it is always cheaper.
Often people who do not cook themselves have had a great cook at home; a mother, a father, a grandparent … so they never needed to work at it. I was not so lucky when younger, of course I had a mother who cooked very well, but she made sure we were involved, cooking for a family of 7 was a lot of work. We had our small jobs in the kitchen; washing the lettuce, potatoes, grating the carrots and I guess I learnt a lot by watching her.
I think the key to cooking is just give it a go.
Start by making something relatively easy, and make sure it is something you really like. You may just need to make it twice, this first time it may not be perfect, but try it again. Re-read the recipe, perhaps you did not follow it 100% … it happens to me all the time.
My son is today our Pizza chef. But not long ago he would not cook and he stayed away from the kitchen as much as possible, except to eat. But one day I suggested that he tries making pizza, his favourite food. He must have thought I was totally crazy, but I persisted and he did it once and then on another occasion. Today he actually prides himself on his dough and his sauce.
We have discussions about how well the dough has risen, if the sauce is too strong or needs more garlic. He is completely changed, and he now makes pizza for friends … for a young man, that is impressive.
Many of you will think, how can I ever make pizza myself at home? Make it once or twice to get it right. Once you have it, you will be making pizza every night!
The pizza in the picture was made on a stove top … serious, in a heavy bottom pan, you don’t even need an oven!
You can make it, click here.
What cooking does for me?
from Foodosophy 101 ( opus in the works ) Why I think we should cook for ourselves.
I have mentioned a few things like cost, taste and healthier food but cooking also gives us a wonderful sense of achievement.
I actually think that it is very important for self-esteem and cooking should be part of helping young people feel better about themselves. It should be part of a life-skills course in secondary school.Did you know that there is a ‘science’ called Culinary Therapy – by cooking we are problem solving, we are creative, we are active and the positive energy which comes with the accomplishment is very important … best part of all, we get to eat our work !
Not matter our age, or ones experience of cooking, when we put a piping hot dish on the table and others admire it, we feel great.
And there are some like me … who just love cooking for cooking sake, and I would cook all the time if I could.
Never happier when cooking, especially for others!
What to start with ?
The friend of mine I talked about at the top of the page, she mentioned that it would great to be able to make soup. Well I love eating and making soup, and it is so easy.
So here I am going to share with her ( and you ) this recipe. A light soup full of flavour, to me very Mediterranean.
RECIPEConsumé de Cahersiveen
INGREDIENTS5 or 6 cherry tomatoes – whole3 garlic cloves – left whole1 stick of celery – thinly sliced1/2 carrot – cooked whole or halved4 baby new potatoes1 green onion – thinly sliceda drop of olive oila sprinkling of oreganoa few fresh mint leavesa pinch of salt
METHOD
- Coat the cherry tomatoes and whole garlic cloves in a little olive oil. Put them in a pot on low heat and cook until they have split and have oozed a nice bit of their water.
- Cook the carrot in a one cup of water until soft.
- Cook the baby new potatoes in a cup of water.
- Mix together the tomato and garlic water, the carrot and potato water.
- Add the thinly sliced celery and bring to the boil and simmer.
- Slice the carrot and potato thinly and add to the water
- Add one cup of water … you want a nice wet broth.
- Add the green onion and a little salt. taste to see if it needs more.
- Chop the mint and include them in the soup
- Serve with a big hunk of good Italian bread.
NOTE – to make this more a hearty soup add half a 400g can of cannellini beans – drained and rinsed, approx 1/2 cup. Warm them in the soup for a few minutes before serving.