Game Planning!

Right, so you now how to shop, how to use a knife and you have all the equipment that you need. So shut up and give us a recipe!

Well, just in case you're really really new here is a little info on how to make your first experience in the kitchen less stressful.

The very first thing you want to do is make sure you have all of the ingredients you're going to need, and that you have the needed equipment. One of the simplest things that a new cook will become anxious about is transferring. 

You start off cooking something in a pan, and as you add more and more ingredients to it you suddenly realize that the pan won't be big enough to finish the recipe. This is no big deal! Just transfer what you're cooking to a larger container and keep chugging along.

This is something you may want to consider before you start. 

If you only have one sauté pan and you have a lot of ingredients to sauté then you'll be cooking in batches. Anticipate this and have bowls at the ready to preserve the various ingredients as you build your recipe. 

Another handy tip in the kitchen has to do with prepping. I find it easier to prep everything before I start to cook. Cut up everything that needs to be cut up, measure it, keep it separate and then when the time comes to use it you won't need to stress out or rush. Cooking is about solving problems before they become problems and taking care of things in advance.

This keeps the whole process nice and orderly.

One final statement before the recipes start has to do with cleaning while you cook. If you're going to be in the kitchen all day and you aren't planning to clean a thing until the very end then you're going to have quite a mess to deal with. You will find that while you're cooking that you have lots of free time to do a few dishes, wipe up the counters, and sweep the floor. In a perfect world you will have a clean kitchen when you finish cooking and only the dishes from the meal to worry about afterwards.

Organize your process. Make sure you have all the ingredients and equipment that you need at hand before you start and you won't have a problem.