I used to love cooking. I’d spend my lunch break skimming through BBC Good Food for suggestions, picking recipes around what we had in the fridge or writing extensive shopping lists just to make that day’s fancy. I’d head home bags in hand and look forward to the calm of the kitchen. Glass of wine in hand, Dave and I would chop and chat, dissecting the day whilst weaving around each other before collapsing in front of the TV, ready to devour our latest creation.
I can tell you exactly when things changed; we moved house and suddenly our kitchen became a place to be out of necessity rather than somewhere you’d choose to be. With dark brown cabinets, a stained white laminate worktop and a cooker we found for £40 on Facebook, it was always intended as a temporary measure. And that’s when I fell out of love with cooking. Evening meals became a rotation between slow cooker meals and foods from the freezer aisle; nothing too out there, nothing requiring time or finesse, just fast, easy food.
This Summer marked a bit change for us, with the work done on our house, we could finally move back in and have a kitchen to be proud of. Somewhere that we wanted to spend time in, not just cook and go. Finally, a family living space where we could dissect the day, cook and chat and just generally enjoy. There was only one problem… my cooking mojo had gone!
Every meal seems like hard work. I’ve no inspiration and worst, I’ve no time to sit and daydream my meals into life, no time to mooch around Tesco… I’m a working mum to an active toddler, that precious me time is either gone or spent trying desperately to catch up on some sleep!
I’ve decided to try something I always thought of as a bit, well, lazy. I need ideas, I need time, I need easy. So I’m going to try some of the subscription services I keep hearing so much about. Earlier in the year, we had a voucher code for Gousto, and we loved it. We selected a couple of meals we wanted to try, the ingredients turned up fresh on our doorstep and the step by step instructions made it ridiculously easy. We made a Mexican meal which we absolutely loved and a lemon-y chicken one that we decided was a little too lemon filled for our palates. But most importantly, we had fun cooking something new.
In the past we’ve used a subscription curry service which sends through monthly boxes of spice mixes and has allowed us to create some huge, and delicious, banquets. It’s a little much for a week night though and a couple who just want something fast and simple. That’s why my next stop is to check out Simply Cook. Their premise is similar, but simpler. They provide easy-to-follow instructions, spices and flavour mixes and a short shopping list. Promising that I’ll only need to purchase 4-6 items of fresh food to add sounds like a winner to me. I can bribe a toddler in a trolley for that long!
I’m hoping that with a little nudge in the right direction, I can get my cooking mojo back. I miss it and I can’t wait to add some new recipes to my (now somewhat limited) repertoire. I feel like it’s all about confidence with cooking and I’ve lost it over the past few years. On that note, I’m off to reacquaint myself with the cooker, it’s time for a spot of lunch!
Wish me luck!
If you fancy trying Simply Cook, you can find a Simply Cook voucher code here. Be sure to let me know how you get on!
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