Messy-less cooking!!!

Fruball

I am losing the will to live where my house is concerned and I desperately need some recipe ideas of meals that don't make much mess!!

I am a good cook either with or without recipes and can make a meal out of almost nothing... however, I can also make a BIG mess out of almost nothing too

It doesn't help that my kitchen is so small and badly designed that even making a sandwich in there makes it look trashed!!!

I have been eating out/takeaways recently as I cba to sort the kitchen but this has to stop... Immediately! I was going to take the DDs to a carvery today, and I still might, but it will be our last.

I love cooking from scratch so please can you give me some ideas for delicious meals that don't make much mess please?!!! Or some mess-saving ideas!!!

I don't mind 'one pot' food but don't always want to use the SC as I am a bit bored of it.

*iluvmymini*

What about traybakes? I have this problem too, as my kitchen is not big enough to swing a hamster in, let alone a cat!

I put chicken, veg, potatoes, whatever I have really, in a roasting pan, sprinkle on spices or herbs, drizzle over oil and pop in to roast. I can then clear the surface up while it's all in the oven, ready to get plates out for serving.

Examples are Chicken and chorizo with peppers.

Chicken, carrots, parsnips and potatoes drizzled with honey.

Sausages, mixed peppers, potatoes.

I am sure that you could use anything really?

freyasmum

Thankfully, it's been sorted now but when I moved in I had about half the width of the hob as my worktop :eek:

It's the good, old tidy up as you go along that'll help you here. It may sound boring, it may sound rubbish but it's brilliant really - and for two reasons:
Firstly, if you peel onto a piece of kitchen roll/old bag/smoething else that it easily transportable and then just shove it in the bin when you're done you've automatically cleaned up the area and have more room to keep working.
Secondly, by the time you're ready to eat you should only have to clean one last pot or so and the plates and cutlery you're just going to use. And if you put it in the sink by the time you're finished eating, it'll have had a nice little soak and be easier to clean

I do sympathise!



ETA: For one-pan meals, you might pick up some ideas from here. Things like stirfries may be also be an option?

But I still think tidy up as you go along would be the best

angeltreats

Definitely clean as you go. When you start cooking, make sure you have a clean teatowel to wipe your hands on, a clean damp cloth, fill the sink with hot soapy water and hang a plastic bag from one of the cupboard door handles. Every time you peel a carrot/spud/whatever, the peelings go straight into the plastic bag (or even have the bin open beside you). Dirty utensils etc go straight into the sink. When whatever you're cooking can be left for a minute or two (say when you're sweating onions or waiting for something to come up to the boil), use the time to wash up whatever you can. Master the art of using your knife to swipe whatever's on your chopping board straight into a pan without spilling it all over the cooker Wipe up any spills as soon as they happen. Put ingredients back into the fridge/cupboard/shelf as soon as you're finished using them.

You'll get the hang of it, honest. I have a much bigger kitchen now than I used to when we lived in London, but I'm so used to working within a tiny space that I still seem to confine myself to one bit of worktop and ignore the rest of it!

rosie383

I agree with tidying as you go along. Makes a huge difference. Another thing that may be good are those roasting bags that you just put your meat/ fish and spices into and then just bung in the oven. No mess at all! (BTW you can get a pack of about 10 for £1 in Asda I think). Then, all you need to do while it's in the oven, is to peel your spuds (onto a bit of paper as Freyasmum said), stick them in a pot on the stove, then stick your veg in a steamer on top of the spuds.
By the time they are all cooked, you have no mess on your worktop, 'cos you will have chucked the paper with the peelings in the bin/ compost heap and you won't even have a messy casserole dish to wash.
I usually wash up the dishes while the dinner is cooking, even in 30 sec bursts between stirring, or whatever.

happy35

i work the same way as Angeltreats, always straight in the bag as I go and then wash or load dishwasher as I go

I have a reasonable sized kitchen now but cooked in a kitchen with benchspace the size of a hob for 5 years

I also fill the pan I cooked in with water and washing up liquid to steep while we are eating so that it is easy to wash when I am ready