Jill and Kate Chat about Cooking

Kate: So what, you're going to be cooking for yourself, which is more of a challenge. So, if you have a few good cookbooks.

Jill: Simple things.

Kate: Simple but good flavor.

Jill: I could be getting takeout quite a lot. I'm a fairly healthy eater, so I think I will be cooking for myself, but it is kind of hard to get motivated to cook for one person. It's much nicer when you have somebody else to cook for as well, or to cook with, but you know. I'm sure it will be fine. Kate: Just try and eat some vegetables, you know, keep it balanced. I found that a lot of-when I was on my own, I ate a lot of raw vegetables. It was just easier. Raw vegetables with a little bit of salad dressing, or balsamic vinegar, or something like that. That's much easier than trying to cook them, and then you have to wait too, so. Jill: Save dishes-

Kate: Exactly, you save dishes. Back to our earlier topic. You have to think of the big plan. But I did find, when I was living on my own, it was very important to make a plan for dinner before I was really tired and hungry. So plan for it in the morning, or plan for it in the afternoon. You know, "I'm going to stop, I'm going to get this," or "The minute I get home I'm going to put on the rice." You know, I have curry or something like that I made, or leftover, I heat it up, then it's ready. But for me, I cannot think or plan when I'm hungry and tired, so that would mean a bowl of ice cream for dinner. Jill: That sounds like me. I would do that too; some cookies or cake or ice cream. But I'm going to try to avoid that, so I agree. I need to think ahead of time. Often I will-I mean, if I am going to cook, I will-in the morning before I leave for work, or the night before, I will think of what it is I'm going to make and take it out of the freezer, if it's meat that's frozen, and leave it in the fridge so that it's defrosted by the time I get home from work. Because to start at the end of the day, after you've worked all day, to start thinking about what to make for dinner when you're not that excited about making dinner in the first place. You're hungry, you're tired-yeah, I think I would just end up ordering a pizza or just eating some toast and peanut butter, whatever was there. So I think you're definitely right, it's better to plan ahead and you're more likely to eat something nutritious. Kate: And I don't mind leftovers. I quite like leftovers. Leftovers, to me, are-yes, exactly. Batch cooking, cook a lot at one time, and you can freeze some, so there are lovely bonus surprise "money in the bank," as my mother calls them, for some time in the future, plus you have a bonus day tomorrow-no cooking! Jill: That's right. Kate: Reheating is good. That's my attitude. My husband, of course, is a gourmet cook, and he doesn't like leftovers. But then again, he's anxious to cook, and he likes to cook, and he's functional while he's hungry, so our evening is-if we get home at a similar time, I stay out of the way, because I'm not pleasant when I'm hungry. He cooks, and he's not pleasant when he cooks, so it works out well. I go and do something, he cooks, we sit down, eat together. Then we're both very pleasant, and then he can go do something, or watch TV, whatever, and I clean up, because I'm much more civilized after I've eaten. But I can't-he's wonderful. It's a real bonus to have this guy who, half an hour after arriving home, can have good food on the table. He's Chinese, so he cooks with a lot of garlic and ginger and chili sauce. I actually have a good cookbook I can lend you of Chinese food that's very fast, and this is the-what do you say, not guarantee, but I have a-my sister has used it recently, and my sister, as you may know, has three small children. So if she can cook with three small children and not go crazy, it's got to be a good, easy recipe. So I'll lend you this cookbook, it's a Chinese cookbook. Good stuff.

Jill: Great, thanks.