Pressures of work, family life, such as the “school run”, transporting children to activities and personal social activities frequently result in families and individuals resorting to ready meals, takeaways and an overindulgence in ultra-processed food (UPF) from a range of sources.
No Over-Complicated Steps
In a thought-provoking and inspirational book, “Donal’s Real Time Recipes“, Donal Skehan, from a range of personal experience, addresses the key issue of reducing cooking becoming a chore in the time-consuming “general madness of life”.
Donal, from his vast practical experience, in addition to his success as an author of cookbooks and regularly featuring on TV programmes such as “Good Morning”, has produced a range of simple recipes to generate the best results and most satisfaction.
This is not a “master chef” cookbook based on time-consuming preparation skills such as marinating, but recipes based on simple, straight-through cooking, with tips to promote “time-reducing” activities. The key strategy is that “while something simmers, you’re prepping the next step”. No over-complicated steps, but recipes for actual life!
“Mindset Changer”
Some busy individuals, Mum and Dad or “Nain” and “Taid”, may well be amazed, or even cynical, regarding Donal’s claims about getting dinner on the table in 30 minutes or less, when they see the wide range of scrumptious dishes he creates. From a personal perspective, as a “lower grade” preparer of “15 minute”, energy boosting “meals” such as omelette and baked beans, tinned mackerel and rice, scrambled eggs and cheese on toast, tinned pilchards and beetroot, this outstanding text has been a “mindset changer”.
The inspirational text will motivate readers to try simple recipes to extend their confidence and develop skills to be more organised in their culinary pursuits. The section on learning to adapt and other confidence-building techniques, including the use of time strategies, such as learning to taste as you go along. In addition, embracing mistakes and “remedying kitchen disasters” are vital strategies for “chefs” at all levels.
The key to Donal’s recipes is that there are no over-complicated steps, and the “real life menus” make practical sense for readers who “eat to live” rather than “live to eat”.
Exhilarating Range of Recipes
A key feature of the “simple recipes” is that they make sense for busy families and individuals by maximising the best use of time in the kitchen to prepare good-quality food. The wide range of “want to eat” recipes is based on six key food areas: chicken, meat, fish and shellfish, as well as “Salad-ish” bowls, pasta, and noodles. The exhilarating range of recipes with helpful advice on preparation will ensure that you will easily solve the question “What’s for dinner?” More importantly, you will create “golden moments” of shared meals that yield real satisfaction, that make the 30 minutes of effort all worthwhile.
Donal Skehan is to be congratulated on an excellent book which addresses key social and health issues of effective use of limited time to prepare food. The range of practical guidance and strategies will enable readers to improve the quality of food consumed by individuals and create an opportunity for family “together” time.
In terms of health and fitness, the 30-minute “real time recipes” create a framework to break away from the tedium of health-destroying over-indulgence and reliance on supermarket fast food, takeaways and factory-made foods frequently classed as ultra-processed (UPF).
We hope you enjoyed reading “Donal’s Real Time Recipes“. Click here for more of John’s book reviews.
Author: John Morris for Love Wrexham Magazine
John is an FA coach. He has worked with young players at Fulham, Chelsea, QPR and Wrexham, promoting resilience, tenacity and self-discipline. He is currently a consultant addressing growth mindsets to promote sports, education, and business performance.
