The rushed cycle of daily commute, round trips to daycare / school, work responsibilities and housekeeping tasks used to have me round the clock exhausted. With my caffeine as fuel, I powered through priorities and typically burnt out before being able to complete the rest. I mean, how do you do it? How do you possibly work all day then find time for the cooking, cleaning, laundry, cooking, parenting and did I mention – cooking? And what’s more, why is the process of cooking so much work? Hours invested into hauling food home, washing it, cutting it, cooking it, eating it and cleaning everything up for the very little time it takes to enjoy the meal. I went through a period where I consistently depended on take-out to feed my family. I needed to figure out how to make cooking less complicated.
Totally understandable why one would think to source outside help. Personally, I would love the luxury of having these chores done and the time that would then be available to me. The thing is that these services comes at a price and for the budgeting family this is not a sustainable reality. On that note though, I don’t think twice about doing my own laundry or cleaning my house. I actually enjoy knowing that it is done the way I like it. I know that delicate clothing is handled with care and that the house is cleaned to my satisfaction.
So why was it so easy for me to buckle at the thought of cooking and trade it for ordering something to go?
Some of my top reasons why I used to rely so heavily on take-out foods:
- Cooking required preparation, organization, execution and clean-up for Every. Single. Thing. You. Make. As a new mom at the time, I didn’t exactly know how to make time for that.
- It often took hours to prepare dinner for everyone in the house and they either inhaled or threw it away in under 10 minutes.
- I often felt discouraged to cook when realizing an ingredient was missing from the recipe I intended on making
- I didn’t have enough time to make a lot of the recipes I collected
Eventually, consuming take-out for most of my meals started to take its toll:
- It was costing me too way much money and this was stressing me out. There are 5 people in the house and feeding everyone at $10-15 per meal on a regular basis is too expensive for a budgeting family
- I started compromising the quality of food to get a cheaper deal. As the quality of food increases so does the price tag. Next thing you know, your using coupons for fast food at the drive thru
- I was gaining weight and often bloated. So many carbs and ingredients I don’t use at home…for this very reason. I instantly felt sluggish after downing my take-out plate and always felt the need to drown my insides with water.
- Our budget compromised the nutritional density in the food we ordered. What we feed our bodies has a direct impact on the performance of our bodies afterwards. Feeding my body so much take-out was putting my health at risk.
The world of food and nutrition was not new to me. I knew exactly what I was doing to my body and why it had me feeling run down. If I was going to change for the better it started with cooking at home. It was important for me to strategize cooking to be less complicated.
FYI, some benefits to cooking your own food are that you:
- Know everything that went into making it
- Are more likely to make wiser eating choices
- Save so much money!
Believe me when I tell you, this seemingly small step of cooking makes a big difference and it doesn’t have to be complicated. Whether you are discouraged by your skill level, lack of time or the overwhelming feeling that comes with the responsibility of maintaining a kitchen, know that you can do it by simply doing the best you can with what you have. Let me share with you my top tips on making cooking less complicated.
1. Identify your style of cooking.
Reflecting on your style allows you to review and strategize your cooking. What types of dishes do you create? Do you like to try new recipes or do your prefer to stick to what you know? Are you more likely to cook quick and easy or do you take your time with more complex recipes? It’s easy to get lost in a world of ambition.
I once loved clipping all sorts of recipes that look good. Unfortunate thing was I ended up with a bunch of recipes that weren’t realistic to make for my family throughout the week. Whether they called for ingredients that we didn’t necessarily have a palate for or called for methods that were too time consuming.
I began to take note of the style that best fit my daily life. We required meals that could be made fairly quickly, with minimal mess (one-pot stops are a personal favourite). Now, when I browse new recipes, I filter through potential candidates based on my style making is so much easier to pull ideas and plan.
2. Be well equipped.
Preparing food does not have to be such a daunting task. A well-equipped cook has everything they need to do the job efficiently whereas those not equipped will feel short-handed further endorsing the decision not to cook. It start’s with making sure you have everything you need – ingredients to cook and tools to cook them.
Ingredients are great but let’s take a minute to talk tools. The right tool for the job really does make the difference. Ask anyone who has tried to slice a whole loaf of bread with anything other than a serrated knife. There are endless inventions to assist with prepping and cooking food like the famous Airfryer. Most of these are useful but I personally found that too many gadgets meant extra cleaning and maintenance on my part.
Aside from that there is quite a bit of kitchen equipment on deck – each serving a unique purpose. The basics of kitchen tools are a necessity for efficiently cooking a delicious meal. Once I was able to identify the type of meals I make on a regular basis I could research the best tools for the job and it made cooking that much easier.
3. Don’t wait to be out of something before replacing it.
This is a big one for me – a pet peeve really. I don’t like being totally out of something in my house, food or anything else for that matter. In professional kitchens, it is common practise to keep an inventory of your ingredients. A list of everything used in the kitchen with an “on-hand” amount required for getting through service. Once there is less than the on-hand amount, a new order is placed to replenish what is needed.
The same can be applied to your kitchen at home. For example, I prefer only 1 trip for groceries a week but a carton of milk only lasts 3 to 4 days. I need 2 to make it through the week. If I go grocery shopping and see that I have less than 2 cartons in the fridge, I make sure to pick it up. Running out of milk before getting more is setting myself up for a stressful situation (especially when baby girl has her bottle on the brain).
My advice would be to take account of the things you use up frequently and get an idea of how often they need to be replenished. As they start to run low, add them to the shopping list so that they can be replaced before running out.
4. Stock up on essential non-perishables.
Non-perishables are items that “do not perish”. In other words they are intended to “not go bad” and remain fit for consumption. Well, they may not die but in my opinion, should definitely be used up in a reasonable amount of time. There are best before dates on non-perishables and while eating something past it’s best before date is still considered safe, the food product does change in texture and taste – declining in quality.
That being said, non-perishables do last long enough that collecting a little stockpile is a smart choice for those who are big on budgeting. When there is a sale on pantry items, it makes sense to buy more than 1 to benefit from the savings. If an item you use all the time is discounted by $5, buying 4 will save you $20. It’s a win-win because you saved $20 on what you know will not go to waste and it will take longer before it’s time to replenish. Take note of which grains, canned goods and other staples you use in your cooking style. Keep an eye on the flyers you browse for sales of these items. You have the potential to save yourself a lot of money by doing this and it creates a stockpile of options for you to cook without having to run out for something.
5. Keep the kitchen clean.
This one is pretty self-explanatory. A kitchen is ready to go when it is clean with everything in its place. Have you ever tried cooking in a messy kitchen? It is extremely overwhelming and most importantly unsanitary. Ensure the sink is cleared of dirty dishes since new ones will accumulate and countertops are sanitized with clear space to work.
6. Organize your cooking and storage space.
A clean kitchen is great but to have it organized with like things grouped together and easily accessible, is what makes cooking a smooth process.
A good way to organize your kitchen is to assign areas for specific tasks and keep all materials close by. Allow me to layout my kitchen as an example. The open counter space is where all of my prep work is done. My knives, cutting board, prep bowls and kitchen towels are all within arms reach. The stove and oven is where majority of cooking is done so that’s where I keep my pots and pans, cooking utensils, oils and seasoning. I also have things like hot pads, muffin trays, parchment and foil paper close by. The sink is where the clean up is done. I have soap, scour pads and other cleaning products. I also have my trash underneath with separate bins for compost, recyclables and garbage.
Now that the kitchen is organized, let’s shine a light on ingredients and food storage. Putting away groceries always take me a bit longer since I like to use this time to keep things organized. Old things in the fridge, freezer and pantry are moved up front and newer items are placed in the back. This is what is known in the food industry as “first in, first out” – super useful for eliminating waste.
7. Plan your meals.
Meal planning is useful to save time and money. Take time to review what to expect for the week ahead. Plan what you’ll eat each day, what ingredients you’ll need to buy and what things can be prepped ahead. Setting aside time in your calendar to grocery shop and get some food prep done is also an all-star move. Cooking isn’t complicated with a plan in place.
Proper planning and purchasing before cooking ensures you have everything you need. It eliminates the daily daunting question of “What do I make for today?” Meal planning reduces impulsive purchases because you have a shopping list that reflects your plan and navigates your purchases, saving you more money than you think. Most importantly, sticking to a plan limits the stress of thinking up things on the fly and lowers the chances of surrendering to take-out.
8. Don’t be afraid to explore.
Sometimes you may not be aware of the options at your fingertips because you haven’t experienced pairing 2 ingredients together. I remember the first time I tried peanut butter with honey. I was a teenager when I first came across this flavour pairing and have used it religiously since. They are 2 key players in a recipe I created for an Asian inspired peanut sauce.
Taste test flavour combinations to explore the possibilities of what fun additions you can add to your meals. Enjoying a bit of variety can go along way and motivate you to pick up the knife and whip up something to eat.
9. Learn new things.
Sticking to what you know can become repetitive or boring. Learning new skills in the kitchen can change that. Let’s say you wanted to make a classic potato salad to go with your dinner but you don’t have mayonnaise. If you have eggs and oil you’re as good gold. Mayo takes a bit of practise to make without having it separate on you but once you’ve done it successfully, you can make it over and over again.
There are YouTube videos out there for almost anything. Investing time in learning a new skill is as easy as typing that skill in the search bar, “how to make mayonnaise”. Pocketing kitchen skills will make cooking less intimidating and complicated. You will be more likely to try a new recipe and may even put a personal twist on it to make it your own.