Cooking Made FUN and Easy
For all of us lazy, solo, tired, under-motivated, or wannabe chefs.
5/30/20232 min read
Keep a Well-Stocked Pantry: I like to have minced garlic, chopped frozen veggies, and a variety of dried herbs and spices on hand.
Pro-Tip: You can use apps or websites like SuperCook for free inspiration and recipes with the ingredients you already have. You can narrow your search by choosing the main ingredient or cultural inspiration you'd like to try.
Shortcuts that are solid trade-offs, save more time, and don’t lose quality (see recommendations below!):
One-Pot or Sheet Pan Meals: Easy way to streamline cooking and minimize clean-up. Win-Win! These meals involve cooking all the ingredients together in a single pot or baking sheet, making them convenient and time-saving.
Embrace Slow Cookers or Instant Pots: These genius hacks simplify the process and prevent over-or-under cooking.
Use kitchen scissors to cut things like green onions instead of chopping! So easy!
Store bought frozen pre-chopped onions and minced garlic to avoid tears and bonus: you won't smell like garlic for days!
Oddly satisfying steps that you may just enjoy:
Shaving carrots
Bonus: easy to do and looks like you’re cooking from “scratch” HA!
Caramelizing onions
Translation: cooking onions slowly over low heat;
Bonus: Simple and smells amazing with very little effort
Quality sharp knives glide so effortlessly chopping becomes meditative!
Cutting a bell pepper hassle-free and with the least amount of chops!
(See Gordon Ramsay video here)
Simple adds with major flavor:
Zesting a lemon - smells amazing, adds freshness, and easy! You can't go wrong with this zester for ~$10
Pre-chop bell peppers and green onions (see easy "how-to" cheats above) and store in freezer to have on hand for months!
Add texture with bell peppers or aromatics like onions, garlic, citrus.
A pinch of salt brings out all the other flavors.
Don't forget that we eat first with our eyes, so add color!
Kitchen Gadget Recommendations: Invest in these time-saving items to speed up prep work and simplify:
Sharp Kitchen Scissors
Food processors - this one is my fave electric food processors under $25 and dishwasher safe!
Instant Pot (7-in-1 for $80 for 3 Quarts or 10-in-1 for $130 for 6 Quarts)
Aluminum Baking Sheets (Pro-tip: Use parchment paper to simplify clean-up and avoid toxins from non-stick pans
Safety hacks:
Prevent a steam burn – blow the steam out and away with your mouth. This causes the steam to move out just far enough to avoid your hands/arms. (Pro-tip: This trick works when you pull items from the oven too!)
Meat thermometer - a must for preventing over-or-under cooking with this highly-rated option!
Guilty-Pleasure Bonus:
Drink wine while you cook! It increases metabolism for about 70-90 minutes. Scientists found that resveratrol, (a polyphenol found in red wine) can help transform stubborn white fat into burnable brown fat. A separate study at Harvard found a link between wine and weight loss. And moderate wine drinking increases longevity, reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
