Название: The Yummy Mummy’s Family Handbook
Автор: Liz Fraser
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Секс и семейная психология
isbn: 9780007283248
isbn:
5. Fish. Don’t panic. This isn’t difficult or time-consuming fish. Fish is one of the healthiest things you can eat, and for children it’s just Wonder Food, but it comes with a certain amount of fear, from the ‘Ooooh, no. I couldn’t manage that’ to just not having a clue which fish is which. If bones are an issue then just get a fillet, or practise pulling the skeleton off in one rather fancy move once it’s cooked. For the simplest, quickest fish meal (just don’t tell any celebrity chefs, who will only scoff at such simplicity) just put a whole mackerel or trout or some salmon fillets in the microwave for three or four minutes under a cover, turn them over and do it again while you finish the veg and some couscous, shout at your kids to wash their hands and come down, and pour yourself another glass of Sauvignon Blanc. By the time you’ve asked them three more times and put some cutlery on the table you are serving a healthy, colourful, delicious meal for the whole family. Have a go, see how easy it is, and start buying the real things instead of expensive oily fish pills. Bon appétit!
I am aware that this list borders on the Offensive to My Intelligence, and I am starting to feel Gordon Ramsay breathing fury and contempt down my neck. But I stick with it, knowing that a great many people still cannot think of anything to make for dinner, feel that cooking is an unfathomable challenge and an ordeal, and go to the chippy three nights a week to break up the microwave-meal monotony. Jamie Oliver has done wonders in making healthy cooking seem more manageable, but most people still cling to their three or four ‘safe’ dishes. If these dishes are quick, fresh and healthy then that’s absolutely fine.
Practise, Practise. It does get easier…
How confident you are when the time comes to rustle up something to feed your hungry brood depends entirely on how much time you have spent cracking eggs, peeling potatoes and playing with the electric whisk. No, not in that way…
I remember sharing a flat in college where we took it in turns to cook a big communal meal at the weekends. Apart from separating those who could cook while drunk from those who couldn’t, what really showed up was who had had some previous cooking experience at home and who hadn’t. Those who had were able to rustle up something edible and tasty out of the typical student ingredients on offer with no trouble at all. Those who hadn’t were terrified of the chopping, peeling, stirring and frying and ended up serving something that even slightly-the-worse-for-wear students couldn’t swallow.
If you didn’t have much practice as a child, don’t worry—there is plenty of time to catch up, and the more you get your hands dirty and stop being afraid to try new combinations and techniques, the easier it will be for you, and the more you will pass on to your kids.
Granny knew best: Cheap, healthy cooking tips
It is possible that your granny didn’t know best, and fed your dad on a well-balanced diet of fat, salt and sugar. In my own case this was partly true, but only because of the countries concerned: the Czech national dish is dumplings and fatty sausages washed down with strong beer, and Scotland is famous for having the highest level of heart disease in the world thanks to a diet of all things fatty and sweet, sweet, sweet. Oh, and whiskey.
But let’s pretend that the granny in this house did know best, and was one of many who could cope in times of financial hardship, half-empty shelves and rationing and still manage to feed her family of twelve a healthy meal for less than a fiver (in today’s money) a day. How? Well, once you’ve had plenty of the practice recommended above, and no longer eye your steamer with suspicion or fear the frying pan, you will be able to do at least some of the actual cooking. But the question remains: what, and how?
Here are some top tips that should keep everyone in your household, and your bank balance, in tip-top condition: