How to Start Cooking Without It Taking Over Your Entire Life
When you’re serious about your fitness goals, the first step is usually getting your nutrition in order. You want to get enough protein to support your muscles , fruits and vegetables for health , carbohydrates for fuel , and total calories that keep you active and your goals without undereating or overeating.
Preparing meals in advance (“meal prep”) really helps with this. Instead of deciding what to eat for lunch, you simply take a container out of the refrigerator and heat up what’s in it. You can’t beat this convenience, and preparation will ensure you stick to your plan. A bodybuilder who eats the stereotypical chicken and broccoli for lunch every day may get bored with the food, but he also knows how much protein he’s getting without even thinking about it. (You will, of course, cook something tastier.)
But cooking has its pitfalls. You might get bored with the food. Or maybe you won’t even get to it and will burn out from the mental and physical effort of preparing a whole week’s worth of food at once. With that in mind, here are some tips for beginners to help make the process easier while maintaining your sanity.
Go to breakfast
Before we start preparing anything, let’s start planning . Most of us thrive on the same breakfast every day, and there’s a good chance you already have a few favorite breakfasts that you can whip up quickly before you’re fully awake.
So, your first step is to come up with a breakfast that fits your macros and is easy to prepare. We’re taking baby steps here, so don’t worry about preparing in advance. Just make sure it’s ready when it’s time for breakfast.
For example, perhaps your breakfast consists of yogurt and fruit. It’s quite simple: buy yogurt and fruit. In the morning you can put them together. Or you can prepare something the night before to take on your way out the door . A smoothie in a jar is ideal: just shake it in the morning and it’s ready to drink. (Don’t use ice, as the ice will melt, but you can use frozen fruit.) Or, alternatively, I like to make the Bircher muesli in two servings at a time, since each one requires half an apple. So on Sunday evening I will prepare the jars for Monday and Tuesday. I’ll make another pair on Tuesday evening.
Save takeout containers
When you start packing dinners and lunches, you’ll need something to put them on. While cute little bento-style Tupperware may look nice, you may decide that you don’t actually need all those divided containers. Or the boxes you buy may not be the right size once you start filling them. Save money and time by choosing one or two types of takeout containers that you’ll have plenty of, and store them whenever you have them. I like flat rectangular and round one liter soup containers .
Once you decide what you like, I admit it is convenient to buy yourself a few containers. Here’s a new pack of 50 rectangular containers that will save you from having to eat 50 take-out meals first. And if, unlike me, you like to pack your lunches bento style, you can purchase divided containers . (I like to dine in a bento format, but figuring out what to fill each compartment is work. It’s much easier to make a one-pot meal that will fill the container itself.)
For greater strength they are made of thicker plastic . I’m too clumsy to be trusted with glass containers, but maybe you aren’t. They’re more expensive than the options above—about $5 each, and the semi-disposable ones are about 50 cents—but they’ll last forever if you take care of them.
When gathering your supplies, don’t forget to bring a marker and masking tape (or fancy labels, if you prefer). Label each meal, even if it’s a simple reminder like “PASTA” or “CHICKEN,” so you can tell your lunches apart. If you are preparing for more than one person to participate, you can also add names.
Prepare one meal at a time
Once you get into the habit of eating a planned breakfast every day, the next step is to choose your second meal. For most of us this will be lunch. This way, the first two meals are taken care of, and you can still plan dinner as you please. (It’s fine if you never get past this stage.)
I also recommend, at least initially, not to plan seven days at a time. Since I work Monday through Friday, I like to prep meals during the week and then prep them on the weekend. (A weekend menu for me usually includes my usual breakfast, some foraging from leftovers, and often a takeout meal or two.)
For your first cooking experience this week, I recommend finding a recipe that makes three servings. Two of these recipes will help you get through the work week, and you’ll have one more left over. You can even alternate between the two meals.
Important food safety tip: Food prepared on Sunday will not be at its best on Saturday. I recommend choosing one of the following strategies:
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On Sunday, prepare one meal and divide it into meals on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday; then on Wednesday night, prepare another three-serving meal for the second half of the week.
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On Sunday, cook both dishes so you can alternate them. Place three meals in the freezer. Then, on Tuesday or Wednesday, take them out of the freezer to begin thawing. If the food is still slightly frosty when you eat it, just microwave it a little longer.
Try the recipe before you commit.
Ready to start preparing your first course? Wait: have you chosen a recipe that you really like ? I’m not asking if it looks good in photos. The ideal meal prep recipe is something that you have not only eaten in the past, but something that you have an idea of how well it reheats.
This means you may want to stay away from recipe sites for now. Pick an old favorite; you can do the experiment later. And if you ever get the urge to make, say, a month’s worth of food on meal prep day, be sure to try this particular recipe in a week’s batch first.
Be lazy
Honestly, this is my most important tip. When I started cooking, I spent my entire Sunday afternoon shopping and cooking. My legs ached and other household chores remained unfinished. No time or effort was saved; it was simply moved.
Since then I have felt better. One of my favorite ways to meal prep is to buy two bags of chimichurri rice from Trader Joe’s and a pound of ground beef, warm each one thoroughly, and mix it together. The job is done in just 15 minutes and I now have four lunches for the week, all of which fit perfectly in one of these round soup containers. Do I care that Mr. Joe gets half the credit for my culinary prowess? I don’t.
Even when cooking from scratch, don’t be fooled by finding ways to increase efficiency. Buy frozen vegetables as they are already chopped. Buy a rice cooker if you eat rice frequently. If you want to use a special homemade sauce or dressing, allow yourself one labor-intensive item and make sure other tasks are easy.
For example, most foods from the animal and plant kingdoms can be thrown onto a baking sheet and roasted. I’ll buy some frozen fish and fresh or frozen vegetables (both very healthy options, sometimes healthier than fresh) and then fry each dish with the appropriate seasonings. (Olive oil and garlic salt are perfect on broccoli or, frankly, any vegetable.) Mayonnaise-marinated chicken tenders are another protein option that goes with anything and can be made in bulk. Thanks to the extra moisture, they warm up beautifully.
You get the idea: make lazy meals, cook no more of them than you’ll actually eat, and pack them into containers you already have. Don’t expect everything to be perfect at first; over time you will improve your workflow.