cooking

Saving Time With Mass Cooking

by

Around Christmas I was starting to loose my enthusiasm for cooking – which shocks you I know.  Maybe it was as I was trying to relax more, and planning weekly cooking was really just becoming annoying.  I had to balance time, what I had in the freezer, and experimenting.  Worse, one bad experiment would throw off my plans and it’d be back to one of my default quick meals (tofu, fusion salad, or breakfast for dinner if you must know).

At the same time I wanted to plan my cooking.  I didn’t want to waste food.  I wanted to make sure I used my time wisely.  I wanted room to experiment without wrecking my schedule.  Also at some point I might be cooking for a full household again, so I wanted to keep some order.

After doing some research, I came up with a method I’ve been using for a few months that is pretty successful in saving time, making cooking fun, giving me diversity – as well as giving me time to experiment without screwing up my carefully-crafted plans.

The Problem Analyzed

So let’s break the problem into the nutshell.

  • I want to plan my cooking to schedule it.
  • I want to minimize waste.
  • I want cooking to remain fun.
  • I want cooking to be time efficient.
  • I want to experiment without throwing off my plans.
  • I want to scale.

After some brainstorming and research I came up with a method that is basically a mix of cooking ahead, outright experimenting, and – this is interesting – limiting “forced cook” times.  In short, making it both more organized and more fun.

I started cooking ahead.

The Method

So basically what I do, in a nutshell, is cook a mass of main courses every 2 weeks, and then once a week I try an experiment.  Side dishes are taken care of by keeping a mixed selection of fresh and frozen vegetables on hand to use as needed and occasional experiments and making it part of “mass cooking.”  I’d like to scale back my trips to the store but I live in walking distance of one so I’m spoiled.

Now to explain the thing in detail:

  • Every two weeks I cook a diverse series of dishes that are main courses (and maybe a few side dishes), then freeze or refrigerate them.  This is usually 3-5 different mains making about twenty courses (lunches or dinners are interchangeable)  These are “reliable” mains or experiments on things that are already good but may need some tweaking, so I work in a bit of experimentation.
  • I alternate the mains by planning meals for the next day and setting things out in the refrigerator.  This means I do plan meals (and work around any lacks) but do it daily and quickly by basically going “what have I got and what do I want to eat.”  This isn’t a hard-and-fast rule so at times I wing it or miss it, which doesn’t matter – hey someday you just want chili for lunch after all.
  • I check my various foodstuffs as I set meals aside, and keep a list of what I need at the store.
  • About once a week I do an experimental cooking and try something either completely new or a tweak of a dish I’m not sure about.  This isn’t a hard-and-fast rule again, but the idea is to keep experimenting but not be so hard on myself.  So if I skip a week, it’s fine, if I do two it’s fine.
  • I do keep around ingredients for “filler” meals or grab them as I need if I get sick of something.  Usually it’s either one of my salads or Breakfast For Dinner (yogurt, oat bran, and an orange)
  • Sometimes the “experimental cooking” is more a “I’m craving this or want this what the heck” like curry.  Because curry.
  • During the two week period as my reviews, cooking readings, etc. strike me I get ideas for what I want for the next two weeks and write them down.  So far it seems that I literally create a menu by accident – “hey I should do this” or “I miss this” or “damn did I use a lot of tomatoes last time.”  It’s fun as it’s like a brainstorming exercise.
  • * Side dishes are usually some pre-made, or composed of fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables.  I’m the kind of guy who’s happy with some quick-steamed broccoli with lemon juice, carrot sticks, or green beans.
  • I also make snacks as needed – but I think my next step is to make them in a more organized fashion.

How Has It Worked

I’ve done this some nine times and it’s worked really well.

First of all, cooking and planning is much less stressful.  I know I save money, know I’ve always got food, know I’m eating healthy, and know I’m always improving my cooking.  This mixture of bundle-and-do-whenever really is effective.  The only challenge is organizing the block of time (we’re talking 2-3 hours here).

Secondly, I’m actually bored with food less.  Between the mixes of new stuff, stuff leftover from the last time, and experiments it seems it’s actually more interesting.  I think the “cook en masse” plan actually makes me look at my cooking as a whole for two weeks as opposed to a few dishes in a week where I focus on one at a time.

Third, the time management is fantastic.  By doing a lot of cooking at once I save a great deal of time because preparation, cleanup, waiting, etc. are all condensed.  I’m still getting my prep time and coordination down, but it’s getting there – I can start baked beans in the oven, while they cook I start some chili, and while both are cooking I make hummus, etc.

Fourth, it’s adaptable.  I’m not locked into something or finding I’ve just screwed up a experiment and have noting to eat.

Fifth, I can see this scaling easily.  I could jack it up to make more food, or more dishes, or cook for more people as needed.

The benefits are pretty obvious.

Conclusion

This is pretty much a success.  So I’m going to keep doing it.

I do think anyone could adapt this idea, and probably scale it up as well for large timeframes and groups – though in general I find most food doesn’t stay that fresh past a month in the fridge (edible, but less enjoyable).  Also you could scale up to cook more food, but that will obviously add to the timeframe.

– Steven Savage

Why I Eat (Mostly) Vegetarian

by

As most people know I’m a “mostly vegetarian” – I have meat or eggs once or twice a week, for some reason usually in the form of pepperoni or sausage because pizza.  Also because I do like to “keep in touch” with meat on a culinary level, if that makes any sense, though that’s usually when I do some insanely unhealthy thing like trying to make pepperoni pizza dip.

Most of my diet is vegetarian with carefully-chosen milk products (low-fat yogurt).  It’s pretty much been the reason for over 2/3 of my weight loss from when I was 30 lbs over weight (and yes, due to my weird build it was hard to tell until the doctor pointed it out – both sides of my family can wear extra pounds well).  It’s also frankly left me feeling better.

(The rest was calorie control, careful eating, and walking more)

But there’s a lot of reasons I eat vegetarian.

Actually I wanted to discuss them.  I also wanted to discuss them as a “person” because it seems many people have this image of the vegetarian scold.  In my experience that’s an almost entirely-false image, but the idea is still there of some vegetarian being all self-righteous, snippy, and dull.  I think we project those days mom wanted us to eat our broccoli (pro tip for kids – point out to mom there’s many great ways to prepare it!).

So here’s the reasons in no particular order.

It’s Inevitable: Not your most noble point, but the thing is the food industry as we know it has a lot of unsustainable practices, issues with antibiotics, inefficiencies, and so forth.  Which is a shame, because there’s also some amazing technology out there that people forget about that let us do incredible things to raise food.  But in the end meat is pretty inefficient and is associated with some unhealthy practices, so I see it getting pricier and more troublesome, and going mostly vegetarian was getting a jump on an inevitability.

The Environment: Part of “the inevitable” is that a lot of our food practices are really bad for the environment and thus us.  I feel a lot better participating in that less – and I think as noted we’ll have less choice.

It Can Be Healthier – In A Lazy Way:  From everything I can find out you can eat meat and animal products in moderation and be healthy – it just takes a little planning and awareness.  On the other hand I found by going vegetarian made it just plain easier to cut out unhealthy food and opportunities because they’re less likely to be there – so I filled my plate with vegetarian stuff I liked.  Note however that preparing food yourself and being aware of nutritional value is a big part of this.

It’s Healthier – Processing: Also to be honest a lot of the meat industry makes me unsettled.  Between questionable practices, breeding, hormones, and of course misuse of antibiotics, I’m really not trusting a lot of meat right now that isn’t extremely treated and prepared.  Sure I have to be careful with milk and eggs but really, I get concerned.

Expanded Cooking Repertoire: There’s a lot of vegetarian cooking in the world and it’s delicious – but when you’re “meat-centric” you can miss it.  I think a focus on meat in our diets limits our culinary options.  Since I started cooking vegetarian I’ve discovered a much wider range of tastes and interests – some of that due to new experiences, some of that due to nutritional balancing.

The Examination: Going vegetarian made me ask why some things taste good – like a burger, or a steak, and so on.  Switching made me think and learn about what we like and how it tastes.  Another case where going flexitarian or temporarily vegetarian may be educational to people.

It Can Be Cheaper: I found that I save money if I use little to no meat and limited animal products.  It’s actually a bit less than I expected – also I think the gain occurs the more people you cook for.  As I expect costs of meat to go up, I expect the cheapness to be a factor in the future.

It Has Ethical Benefits: I don’t consider eating meat a bad thing; in fact, I don’t want people to give it up completely just due to culinary history and so forth.  But I’m really finding the way we raise meat is disturbing in what it does to animals, the environment, and ourselves.  The inefficiency of the meat industry as it is is something I don’t want to support.  So this feels more ethically appropriate.

It’s a Shock To The System: A switch to vegetarianism or mostly vegetarianism/flexitarianism really makes you think.  Like any dietary shift it can be educational, but as it has other benefits, I’ve found it very enjoyable to shake myself up – and I’m working to do it still with new ingredients or influences.

Ready For a Crisis: I figure if there’s ever a disaster (I do live in an Earthquake zone) it’s easier to know how to rely on vegetables than meat – and hey, there’s canned stuff.  Also if there’s ever a local disaster and I try to help out, I got the cooking skills to lend a hand feeding people.

Ready To Help: Any crises aside, the fact I can cook effective healthy food means it’s great for potlucks, charity events, and so on.

Peace Of Mind: I find that eating vegetarian or mostly so clears up so many issues it gives me more peace of mind.

High Fiber: Look, let’s get down to it.  Eating more vegetables means regularity and better health.  If you’re not thinking about such things, well, juuust wait until you’re older. Just wait.

So those are my reasons.  I hope they give you an idea of why I do what I do and give you some things to think about!

– Steven Savage

Curry Diary 4/27/2014: Milestone Curry #5: Adjusted Garlic and Flour

by

Been awhile since an update on curry?  Well I was revising some of my plans, rechecking some measurements, and getting used to my new cookware (burnt the last batch a bit).

My big findings here were:

  • I doubled the garlic.
  • I tried oatmeal flour, since white flour is do dull, uninteresting, and not even that great nutritionally.

It came out really good!  It’s got a good level of richness, nice and tasty, definite milestone.  I might tone the garlic down just a bit – I want to eat a few more meals with it to really judge it.  I’m not ready to call it complete obviously, but it’s a definite milestone.

I also think the change in flour had a real effect.  Good Japanese Curry is about a kind of richness, and there’s so many choices out there to bring a rich flavor.  In this case I used oatmeal flour, but I wonder about whole wheat flour, besan, and other options.  White flour is just too dull.

So here’s the latest recipe!

Read more