Preparing the food of a meal to be served at the same time.

One of the most difficult things about cooking a meal is having everything ready at the same time.

The first thing you should do is write down the cooking times for each of the items you will be cooking.
(Remember there is some time for preparing the item as well.)

Here is an example:

Roast Beef                      Mashed Potatoes                      Broccoli

Roast Beef will take 20 mins to the pound for med rare…so if you have a 4 lb roast beef it will take you…20 X 4 = 80 mins (then divide by 60 mins for the hourly time) 80 divided by 60 = 1 hr 20 mins. You will also need time to slice up the meat for serving once it is finished. I would say no more than 3 mins. The total time now is 1 hour and 23 mins.

Mashed potatoes…now here is what I was talking about above. You must peel and cut up the potatoes before you cook them so lets say it takes 10 mins to peel and cut up 5 medium potatoes. Now they are ready for cooking.  Then it is going to take about 30 or so minutes to cook the potatoes. Total time will be somewhere around 40 – 45 mins. Next you will need to mash the potatoes, which should only take about 3 – 5 mins. Total time, 50 mins.

The Broccoli is next.  It usually takes about 5 to 10 mins after the broccoli comes to a boil to be cooked. So, depending on your stove, it may take 20+ mins. (You will need to strain the liquid after cooking, but the time is minimal so I am not including it here)

NOTE: Since all these foods will be ready at the same time and is quite impossible to complete all three foods at the same time, I usually allow an extra 5 minutes to go from one to the other to complete. (Leave the Roast Beef out to sit for the time it takes to mash the potatoes, then go back to the meat and slice up. Once that is done strain the Broccoli and you are set!)

We now have all the times we will need to prepare this meal.

Roast Beef  total time-1 hr 23 mins
Mashed Potatoes  total time-50 mins
Frozen Broccoli  total time-20 mins

You would put the Roast Beef in the oven an hour and 23 mins before you want to serve dinner.
You would peel, cut, cook and mash the potatoes 50 mins before you want to serve dinner.
And, you would cook the Broccoli 20 mins before serving dinner.

As you can see, the time for each one will help you to put together all the food so they are ready for serving at the same time.