Cooking for the Ronald McDonald House in 2013!

Cooking the pasta

Last year, our Aspie Insiders cooked for the Ronald McDonald House twice, providing meals to people who greatly needed them. Not only did it offer us a great opportunity to help out in the community, it also helped us hone our cooking skills (specifically when cooking for a large number of people).

Recently, one of our members suggested we do another cooking donation, and so we let the idea roll around in our heads for awhile. Then, armed with some ingredients and recipes, we got to cooking! 

There is a subtle trick to cooking for large groups of people, a trick that is equally important for practically cooking of any kind. That trick is time management, a crucial skill for just about anything a person does in life. Being in a relationship requires time management, being a productive employee requires it... in fact, we use time management from the very moment we get out of bed!

When it comes to cooking, managing time is extremely important, as it keeps us from burning dishes (or serving them under-cooked). Equally important, though, is that time management can help us get the food cooked quickly. With our Ronald McDonald House cooking, we served up some chili mac and cheese, green beans, and cookies. In order to do that in enough time, we started right away. Here are some tips for getting food cooked in a reasonable amount of time:

• Use kitchen timers. If you have a timer, use it! If you don't have a timer, get one! While many cooks know exactly how long it will take for certain foods to be prepared, most people don't. Timers help keep a person on track and will provide you with a reminder when food is almost done.
• Separate your ingredients based on what you're cooking. Before you start, you might want to place your ingredients in different piles based on what you're cooking. For the cooking we did, we placed all the ingredients used for making the chili mac and cheese in one place, then placed green bean materials in another, and so on. This helps if you favor organization in the kitchen.
• Choose recipes with fewer ingredients. The green beans we cooked included garlic, onions, red pepper flakes, and a few other ingredients, all of which had to be prepared properly. If you know that more ingredients will slow you down, seek a recipe on the simpler side, at least until you've mastered the basics.
• Find the time to do something. If you could look inside a successful restaurant's kitchen, you would find a cooking team that doesn't stop. While one thing's cooking, they're preparing something else. Finding "pockets" of time like this will help you make better use of your time. If you're cooking and you find yourself standing around without anything to do, you might be using your time poorly!
• Avoid overdoing it! If you're not an expert at using a cutting knife, take it slow. It's better for you to start out with the basics and move forward from there than it is to force yourself and create a mediocre dish, or even hurt yourself!

Our final product: Chili Mac and Cheese

And... Green Beans!

We used large aluminum pans to store and transport our food.  This in itself was a little tricky since the heavy food had a tendency to stretch the pans.  We gave the food ample support by placing everything in cardboard boxes.  When we picked the food up and moved it, we were careful to keep a hand in the center of the bottom of the pan — otherwise, there's a chance the food will burst through.  We placed all of our food in a single car and drove it that day to the Ronald McDonald House for them to use the next day.

Everyone together now!

AS ALWAYS, THE ASPIE INSIDERS WOULD LOVE TO HEAR ABOUT ANY RECIPES YOU HAVE! LET US KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS IN THE COMMENTS SECTION BELOW!