One of my great passions (besides cooking yummy things) is teaching others how to cook for their own particular dietary needs.  I sometimes do this in person, but let’s be real, in today’s digital society I can coach clients anywhere, from anywhere.  It’s a pretty cool and connected world we live in.  Whether through phone, text, email, youtube videos, or Facetime, I can connect to clients all over the globe and help them each step of the way on their wellness journey. In this post you’ll find my top 5 Tips for Cooking Like a Pro. Enjoy!

Top 5 Tips for Cooking Like a Pro

Take may advice! Throughout my coaching sessions, there are always a few pieces of advice I give my clients, which I want to share with you today!  Hopefully you’ll find them useful, whether you’ve been cooking for decades or just picked up a whisk for the first time yesterday (say it with me: whhhhiiiiisssk).

In this 2-part post, I offer 10 cooking tips to help you become a more proficient and efficient chef in your kitchen!  Today I’ll share with you my top 5 cooking tips, that all the best chefs follow, to help you start cooking like a pro.  The second post will focus on effectively meal prepping for the week.  That one is perfect for the uber busy person who still wants to cook and eat healthy meals.

Ok, on to part 1!

1) Read it from top to bottom

Soooo many cooking mistakes can be avoided when we take the time to read a recipe from beginning to end.  Seriously.

Ever slice a lemon, only to learn later in the recipe that you needed to zest it first? (cue heavy sigh)  Or how about when you needed a very particular ingredient that you didn’t have? (cue facepalm)  And remember that time you realized all those ingredients don’t fit in your crockpot, because it’s a different size than the recipe calls for? (cue angry face) Do yourself a favor: before you do anything else, read a recipe from top to bottom.  It will save you heavy sighs, facepalms, and angry faces 🙂

2) Shop first, cook second

I know, I know, this sounds like an obvious thing.  And no, I’m not trying to insult your intelligence.  What I mean by “shop first, cook second” is that your cooking sessions should be well-timed after your shopping sessions.

For example: If you plan on going to your local farmer’s market on Sunday morning but don’t really have time to cook until the following Saturday, all those fresh ingredients are going to spoil in your fridge.  Utilizing your calendar each week and coordinating your shopping and cooking will allow you to take advantage of your freshest ingredients.  AKA: no more food waste! If finding the time to get to a grocery store is a challenge for you, there are grocery delivery services now that make it very easy to order fresh produce and other products online and have it delivered right to your door.  If you live in Los Angeles or Orange County there is an amazing delivery service out here called Milk and Eggs.  Milk and Eggs works directly with local farms and their produce is fresh and at a competitive price.  You can find out more about Milk and Eggs Grocery Delivery HERE.

3) Dress the part

If you saw me cooking in my kitchen, you’d probably think I look pretty silly.  I wear really dorky specialty shoes and a worn-down apron.  Cooking is messy and usually requires a lot of standing, so dress appropriately.

Step one: put on your most supportive sneakers, ya know, the ones you don’t wear outside of the gym?  The ones with the Dr. Scholl’s inserts in them?  Yah.  Those. Your back and feet will thank you later.  If you want to purchase a supportive anti-fatigue mat for your kitchen floor, I highly recommend it.  Here’s what I use:

Step two: Own a cooking apron.  (I know, super 1950’s housewives-y).  But it will protect your clothes.

Step three:  Hair up/sleeves up.  Obvi.

4) Mise En Place

Pronounced: “MEEZ ahn plahs”, this is a French cooking term that deems you must measure, chop, peel, slice, grate, (etc.) EVERYTHING before you begin cooking.

Invest in a few small glass bowls to hold each ingredient as you prepare it, before the time for cooking comes.  You see the professionals on the cooking channels do this; it’s time you do it too.  AND, I find it helps keep your brain organized and your kitchen tidier.

5) Have fun!

This is a big one!  Put on some great music, bust out a glass of wine (or cup of tea if it’s 9am) and jam away.

Cooking is creative and can be quite therapeutic.  So don’t be afraid to experiment, try new flavors, and add your own personal twist to an old recipe.

If you’re interested in personalized, on-on-one coaching, check out my Health and Wellness Coaching Packages.  You can learn more HERE.