Colleen Kennedy - 30-Minute Cookbook for Beginners: 100+ Recipes for the Time-Pressed Cook

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ISBN: Print 978-1-64611-699-7 | eBook 978-1-64611-700-0

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TO JOHN, CONNOR, AND SAMANTHA, MY FAVORITE PEOPLE TO COOK WITH AND FOR.

Contents

I have enjoyed cooking for as long as I can remember. Im not sure what excites me mostthinking of something I want to eat, then walking into the kitchen and making it happen; the sense of satisfaction I get when I make something that becomes a new family favorite; or the feeling I get when the food I cook makes others happy. If I had to choose, Id say what I enjoy most about cooking and baking is when it makes others feel happy, satisfied, excited, andmy favoriteloved.

Whenever one of my kids says how good something is as they eat it, my reply is always MWL! MWL means made with love. When you go into the kitchen to make a meal for yourself or for others to enjoy, my advice is to be happy and add a little love. It tastes better!

For those of you who have not yet ventured into the kitchen or think you cant cook, all you need is the desire to cook; the rest will unfold. Find a recipe you want to make, read it through, gather your ingredients, get organized, and have at it. Its really that simple. And the more you cook, the better you will become at it.

This book shows you how to prep your kitchen, gives you organization and shopping tips, and points out some great tools and ingredients every home cook should have to make their time in the kitchen as easy as possible. It also covers all sorts of basics to set you up for success.

All the recipes in this book can be made in 30 minutes or less, and some have just five ingredients or fewer. I hope you will be pleasantly surprised by the dishes you create and that some of my favorite recipes, such as the , become some of your signature dishes, the ones people in your life rave about.

Is everything you make going to be perfect? Nope! Trust me, I have kitchen fails every so ofteneveryone does. But unless you push yourself to move from the mantra of I cant cook to actually exploring cooking, you will never come to see just how easy it can be. If you can read, you can cook.

I hope that as you cook your way through this book, you learn a few tips and tricks, become a more confident home cook, and try a few recipes that are new to you. But most of all, I want you to taste and adjust the recipes to your liking and find where you can put your own spin on things. If you have kids, let them help! Getting them into the kitchen while they are young and letting them helpand sometimes allowing them to take the leadwill not only make them better eaters but also help them grow up to become confident home cooks themselves.

A lot of us think we cant cook. I am here to say, Yes, you can! All you need is a bit of strategic organization, some forethought, a healthy dose of enthusiasm, and practice. In no time, youll be dazzling your family and friends with your tasty creations.

In this chapter, Ill set you up for success by showing you how to prepare your kitchen for efficient, 30-minute cooking, which youll put to good use in the recipes in later chapters. Ill give you tips and tricks on grocery shopping, food storage, and time-saving equipment. In short, Ill give you the confidence you need to start cooking. Youve got this!

Why Faster Is Better

As much as we might like to spend half the day cooking elaborate meals or spend hours at the table lingering over dessert and coffee, that fantasy rarely becomes reality. The truth is that between school, work, activities, and the demands of modern life, our reality is usually all about getting food on the table as efficiently as possible.

However, that efficiency doesnt mean the food you put on the table cant be as delicious as an indulgent holiday feast. At home, many of us approach making meals as a choresomething we need to check off our to-do list. But planning out even a few meals in advance, shopping smarter, and learning a handful of techniques will save you time in the kitchen (and save you money, too). Learning to cookand learning to cook efficientlywill help you avoid relying on other time-saving options such as fast food and heavily processed, often unsatisfying microwavable meals. With a little practice, youll soon start thinking of cooking not as a burden, but as an enjoyable activity. And the less time you spend preparing your meals, the more time you can spend enjoying them with family, friends, and loved ones.