Since lockdown I've been cooking every meal myself; fresh, healthy and from scratch. But I feel like most of my time is revolving around food, whether that be shopping for food, cooking, cleaning up, watching food videos, planning meals or thinking about and looking forward to food. I'm starting to absolutely love food and I haven't eaten this well in a long time but it is consuming far too much of my time.
Maybe I need to get more organised with things and just spend an hour in the mornings getting everything prepared and out of the way so that my day is free for other things.
How are you guys doing and what are your thoughts?
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MintTeaMascara
Healthy BMI
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I've been cooking from scratch for years, MTM and like to keep it simple. I don't follow recipes, I buy a selection of meat, fish, cheese and vegetables, then with eggs, milk and cream I make my meals.
I don't eat breakfast - easy peasy
Lunch is normally salad, omelette, or soup
Dinner is a combination of the above mentioned raw ingredients, sticking to what I know and like.
Prep of veg takes the longest, but I make batches of roasted veg, braised cabbage, sauteed courgette, etc, so that sometimes I can just take them out of the freezer for a quick meal. It certainly doesn't take longer than an hour a day, unless I'm doing big batches of a lot of different things.
I think that's the way I need to go, because I don't want to go back to my old eating habits once all the cafes and restaurants reopen but I want to have the time to be able to fit it into my lifestyle without it becoming stressful.
Yeah step by step I'm definitely going to start incorporating it into my week.. I guess the best thing to do is just keep at it and keep adapting until I'm happy with the routine.
That's understandable I can see how that would give you some freedom in the kitchen.
I want breakfast lunch and dinner out of the way by 10 but I'm not sure that's realistic for me. I think I'm going to try thinking about how I could make batch cooking work for me.
You are doing really well cooking healthy food from scratch. That's definitely the way to go. I think we are all finding our lives revolve around food during the lockdown. There is not much to do but think about the next meal even if we're not hungry.
You idea about preparation is great. If you can get everything ready in the morning then you have the rest of the day to do other things knowing your meals are ready.
As moreless has suggested why not try batch cooking? You are already doing your planning and preparation. You can cook everything for the week on one day and freeze it. Then it's ready when you want it. Good luck
Thank you. Yeah, I hear you.. I guess I've just been irrationally worried.
I've tried freezing food but never manage to take it out of the freezer.. I'm thinking even if I cook for 2, 3 days ahead and keep it in the fridge, that could work as a first step.. I guess I just need to experiment until I find what works for me.
Hi mintTeaMascara, yes I no what you mean I’m quite new to this all, I don’t do much cooking with so much pain I have but my hubby with a bit of my help. What he will do is batch cooks so like tomorrow I’m having roast chicken so he will roast enough for 5 or 6 meals and freeze it same with vegetables it just mean now he doesn’t have to cook each day it’s so much easier plus my portion size has really gone down so one tub can take a full meal. We have a spieler that’s amazing. Just an idea that may help you get some more free time.🌸
I’m not sure if I’ve spelt it right my spelling is not very good. It’s a gadget that to can put vegetables in like say a carrot and you turn the handle and it makes your veg like spaghetti
I’m not sure if I’ve spelt it right my spelling is not very good. It’s a gadget that to can put vegetables in like say a carrot and you turn the handle and it makes your veg like spaghetti
I also cook from scratch. I don’t know how many people you have to cook for but I cook for 2 people. I prepare meals for 4 so I only have to cook on alternate days. Works well and means you can continue to have healthy cooked meals with minimal effort.
I'm cooking for 2 as well but not always enough to carry over to the next day. I think I want to be cooking 2, 3 days a week after reading this thread if I can. I'm sure I'll come up with something that can work where I'll be able to maintain cooking from scratch and having more time. Thanks 😊
Lasagne works well, so does chilli con carne and all sorts of casseroles and braised dishes to use the next day. Most food will keep for two to three days in the fridge if cooled quickly . You could make a huge pot of fresh healthy soup with lots of veggies and this will keep you going for ages if you chill some and freeze some. Hope it goes well for you xx
Also, don’t despise ready prepped frozen veg like onions, peppers, mushrooms etc. ASDA do a range called ‘scratch cook’ (so do other supermarkets ). They are as good as fresh and can save you lots of time.
I did buy some frozen onions and veg for lockdown but honestly I can't wait to finish getting it all used up as I don't eat out of the freezer much and I always end up letting it turn bad and needing to throw loads out. Pre chopped veg might be something I could consider. I'm not sure how much nutrients are lost like that though.
In some cases they are higher in nutrition as they are frozen very quickly from being picked (they are sort of in suspended animation until used). Fresh veg can sit in the shop for a while and then in the fridge for even longer (mine do anyway) and they lose nutrients that way.
Batch cooking is amazing. I've just made a huge vat of chilli, packed with lean mince, beans, peppers, tomatoes... It took me half an hour to prepare and chop ingredients while starting it off, then I left it in the oven for a few hours to cook. I think it's probably about 12 servings and freezes brilliantly. This is just one example but I find it gets quicker and easier with practice. I'm a huge fan of one pot dinners - BBC good food had a book of them that I loved. Plenty of options on their website too.
Also, you don't need to go to town on complex recipes all the time. I'll probably have some poached eggs on toast for lunch. Meals like that give me some relative headspace from planning and preparation!!
Thanks, that sounds lovely. Yeah.. I think I need to at least start experimenting with batch cooking and see how I go. And yeah like with yourself things should get easier with practice.
I love one-pots too, it's pretty much all I used to cook when I did
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