What's For Dinner?

I need help. A lot of help, especially in the kitchen. Of course, I do know the basics, like fruits and vegetables have a lot more nutritious value than pizza. However, as a working mom juggling a family, home and career, many days I’m at a loss as to what to prepare for a healthy meal.

Thankfully, there are many others in town who know their way around a kitchen and are able to share their knowledge with others. And they know how to transform meal preparation from a chore to a joy — an escape, if you will.

, whose food writing is familiar to Patch readers, not only teaches cooking, but offers coaching. "A cooking coach takes you to the next level, teaching you how to work with new ingredients, use new cooking techniques, choose new recipes," as she explains on her website, Sharing Plate. In addition, Bangia offers counsel on how to set up a kitchen for maximum efficiency, lessons she learned at the French Culinary Institute.

Cooking classes, which can be one-on-one or in groups, offer eager foodies a chance to refine those knife skills or to demonstrate how a good mise en place, the prep work, streamlines preparation.

Who takes these classes? There are many reasons besides trying a new recipe says Bangia. A big one is this: learning to take the stress out of dinner parties and to enjoy the company of guests sharing at meal in your home. 

Maplewood’s Randy Rabney, teacher, chef and founder of The Conscious Plate, loves showing people, especially busy parents just like me, just how easy it is to create simple, yet delicious and healthy meals.

“It can be really easy if you know what you're doing. I want to make it easy for busy people to eat beautiful, delicious and nourishing food regularly,” said Rabney. She offers customized private classes for groups and individuals in their homes and also teaches classes that are open to the public on a frequent basis. “My classes are meant to provide a fun and relaxed environment for people to learn skills to make lasting improvements in the way that they eat,” she said.

She is teaching a class called Fast, Healthy and Delicious Meals for Busy People at the South Orange- Maplewood Adult School on Wednesday, April 6 at 7 p.m.

Amy Klein is a Maplewood mom of four who has always dreamed of being a great cook. Klein recently reached out to Rabney to finally make her dream come true. “I want to see myself as someone who is able to whip up an awesome meal for their family with little effort,” she admits.

West Orange Certified holistic health and nutrition counselor Bernadette Armiento also has a passion for food. Armiento will be teaching a class titled Spring Greens + Grains on March 22 at 7 p.m. and Easy, Delicious Appetizers on April 5 at 7 p.m. Both classes are taught at The Adult School.

“Cooking classes like these are a great way for busy moms — and dads — to get new ideas for putting together healthy, easy dishes in not a lot of time,” said Armiento. One of the best part of the classes is that you get to sample all the foods and take home the recipes, without having cooked yourself! She also teaches in-home classes which would make a great girls night in.

“Sometimes, people just need the confidence of having seen something demonstrated in front of them to know that it can be done or to have the opportunity to ask questions about certain ingredients that they are curious about, but don’t know what to do with,” she said.

Katherine Hilaire of Maplewood is a fan. “She takes away the fret and fear factor in meal preparation, from fretting about what to make and fearing it won't turn out quite right.”

Is cooking a chore or an escape for you?