Classic Trouble — No Space and Picky Eaters

The next makeover in Real Simple’s October 2011 issue is “I’m Struggling with Limited Space and Limited Palates,” which is called “Cooking for Picky Eaters in a Tiny Kitchen” on the website. Maybe they just have better headline writers on the website? Regardless, Brook Easton is a working mom with two small boys, a small kitchen, and wasn’t taught how to cook anything but Mac and Cheese and Hamburger Helper growing up. So Real Simple’s solutions give her some basics that will appeal to kids and help her get the most out of her tiny kitchen.

Getting organized is probably the best thing that you can do for a Classic or Fun. Everyone loves it, but it’s crucial to get a Classic or Fun to be able to function at all, let alone properly. So getting Brook containers for her power bars that were just stacked on the counter top or getting her a Lazy-Susan to put her spices all in one place, or a shelf organizer for her dishes so they weren’t stack precariously upon each other is frankly half the battle and helpful to all types. Easy access makes it easier for anyone to cook.

Real Simple also has advice on how to get your kids to try new things — slowly and with some trickery — and also how to dress up frozen vegetables and a quick cooking plan that involves stove-top cooking of chicken, steak, pork, lamb shops, shrimp, etc. with slightly more involved make ahead sides like orzo-cucumber salad, white bean salad and brown rice pilaf.

This seems to be good advice for any personality type who is harried, but it didn’t appeal to me. I don’t know if it’s a personality type thing or what, but I’d much rather roast something and leave it, then have to stay at attention at the stove. My gut is telling me that this solution is best for Classics and Funs who don’t mind working at the stove for a solid 30 minutes as they are more interested in the experiential side of cooking that the stove-top gives to them.