The easiest way to cook is to have lots of small bowls for the ingredients. Each ingredient gets measured out into a bowl and put aside. Then when you need it,

The easiest way to cook is to have lots of small bowls for the ingredients. Each ingredient gets measured out into a bowl and put aside. Then when you need it, you dump the bowl into the dish being prepared. This is assumed in all the time estimates, as well. Time spent getting the ingredients into the bowls isn't counted, so if something calls for 3 chopped onions you have to add the peeling & chopping time to get the real prep time.