When it comes to heart-warming food, hemlagat (Swedish for ‘home made’) is always best. And with many of us at home more these days due to the many challenges this year’s has served up, it’s the perfect opportunity to embrace more home cooking and enjoy the delicious results!
As always at kikki.K, whenever we want to learn more about something, we ask the experts in that field – which is why we’ve collated some wonderful tips and resources on everyday cooking from some of our favourite foodies and chefs from all over the world – Lisa Lemke, Dan Churchill, Deliciously Ella, Dr Megan Rossi and Jasmine Hemsley – for you to devour below.
IMPROVING YOUR EVERYDAY COOKING WITH LISA LEMKE
One of our favourite Swedish chefs, Lisa Lemke believes cooking should be simple, humble, fun and make people come together. We couldn’t agree more, and so we asked Lisa to share some ideas for improving your everyday cooking at home. Here are her top tips!
1| Keep things simple, but delicious.
The one thing everyone can do to improve their everyday cooking is to make it easier! Don’t overwork your cooking, choose good groceries instead and let them do their magic when you don’t have much time to spend in the kitchen. And it is always a good idea to cook extra so you have a plan for the day after as well. You don’t have to serve the exact same dish as yesterday, but those leftovers could be a good start for an omelette, pasta, soup or something like that. Save the more complicated dishes for when you have time on your side!
2| Plan ahead and keep an open mind
When I’m going to shop groceries I always start by checking what’s in my own kitchen. What do I actually already have in my freezer, fridge and pantry? And then I make some rough plans from this and try to keep an open mind when I get to the store. What looks best today among the veggies, the meat and so on? Take some time in the store and shop for a couple of days (and remember to plan for the leftovers!) instead of shopping in a stress every second day and maybe ending up buying stuff you already have at home.
3| Have a go-to dish
Pasta puttanesca is a favourite both in time and flavour in our family, and it’s so convenient that you pretty much always can make sure to have everything you need at home It’s like a back-up-dinner! Another quick favourite is soup made from snow peas. You can do it the French way just with some garlic, onion, a dash of white wine (or vinegar or lemon if you don’t have wine at home) stock and some cream. Quick, easy and so yummy!
4| Get creative to feed your family on a budget
My number one tip for feeding a family on a budget is to focus on the veggies! And as I said before, plan for leftovers and most of all – use them! We are throwing away far too much food and the best way to do something about your kitchen budget is to stop putting food in the bin. Use your leftovers and be a bit creative, it doesn’t have to be boring eating leftovers!
5| Clearly label and store your leftovers
Invest in some good see-through jars and containers for the fridge and make plans for them. Don’t just save the ice cream-boxes or yoghurt-buckets where you forget your leftovers (because you can’t see what’s inside and then you forget it). I also always have either bags or containers in the freezer for when I get small pieces of fish or meat leftover. They are perfect for either fish soup or fish burgers, or Bolognese or a stew! Another smart idea is to have a container for leftovers in the fridge which you mark for a certain destination, example ‘frittata or omelette’, ‘Bolognese’, ‘pie’ and so on. Then, you can put in small bits and pieces which you get over from dinner. Like a small piece of cheese, a bunch of olives, a couple of boiled potatoes, a small piece of sausage and maybe some onion and peppers that you fried for last night’s fish dish. They will be the perfect start for a really nice pizza, pie, omelette or frittata! And by storing them in one and same container (and marked with a ‘use before date’) you lower the risk of forgetting about them before they go to waste.
Discover heart-warming recipes you can cook at home in Lisa’s cookbooks below:
EVERYDAY HEALTHY EATING WITH DAN CHURCHILL
One of our favourite Aussie Chefs (and podcast guests) is the lovely Dan Churchill. You may remember Dan from his time as a MasterChef contestant, or perhaps you’ve read one of his best-selling cook books, Dude Food, The Healthy Cook or Surfing the Menu? For simple, healthy meals you can whip up at home, be sure to check out Dan’s online recipes and cookbooks. Tasty, easy-to-prepare food that’s good for you – yes please!
EXPLORE DAN’S ONLINE RECIPES AND COOKBOOKS BELOW:
Plant-based Deliciousness with Deliciously Ella
One of our first inspiring podcast guests and long-term friend of kikki.K is Ella Mills. Ella developed Deliciously Ella – the leading plant-based food company, and health and lifestyle brand – while she was still at university in 2012. What began as a personal recipe blog is now a global brand helping people all over the world to make healthy changes to their eating habits.
EXPLORE ELLA’S ONLINE RECIPES AND COOKBOOKS BELOW:
BOOST YOUR GUT HEALTH WITH DR MEGAN ROSSI
Another of our wonderful podcast guests, the lovely Dr Megan Rossi or The Gut Health Doctor as she is more commonly known, is revolutionising the way we approach health and wellness by encouraging us all to look after our gut health. After all, looking after your gut is one of the most effective ways to enhance your overall health and wellbeing – and Megan has plenty of wonderful tips and simple, healthy recipes to help us all, and our gut!
EXPLORE THE GUT HEALTH DOCTOR’s ONLINE RECIPES AND BOOK BELOW:
REcipes for mind, body & balance with jasmine hemsley
We love Jasmine Hemsley (another one of our inspiring podcast guests) and her passion for eating well to feel happier, healthier and more energised. Jasmine believes in conscious, healthy and joyful living, drawing from the depth of Eastern wisdom and holistic philosophies of health, and marrying that with the latest cutting-edge technology and developments in Western wellbeing. If you’re looking for recipes to help you nourish your mind, body and soul, her simple recipes are perfect, and are thoughtfully curated to take you on a delicious journey of self-exploration.
DISCOVER JASMINE’S ONLINE RECIPES AND BOOK BELOW:
Hopefully you’ve discovered some more ‘hemlagat’ recipe and cooking ideas you can try out at home. And if you’re feeling inspired, be sure to explore our kikki.K Recipe and Meal Planning Essentials online now.
And, if you’re looking for even more recipes to try, don’t forget to check out our Recipes Category on our blog as well! And please share your creations with us using #kikkiKLove
