I wrote about how I want to get things more on track for my monthly challenge this month. A big part of that is getting my food back on track because I know I haven’t been doing that great lately. I’m not doing as bad as I could, but that’s not an excuse to start working on it again.
Part of getting my food on track is working on cooking more. I know I need to do this. I’ve known for years that I need to do this. But it’s always been something really hard for me to do. I don’t know why it’s been a struggle, but I do know that part of it is because I have always felt like cooking was a big production or had to be something that felt fancy or extravagant. Maybe this is because when I lived in an apartment between my freshman and sophomore years of college cooking was a big production. I was in an apartment with 3 roommates (they were all about to be seniors in college and one of the girls just wasn’t staying in LA for the summer) and none of us cooked that much. And when we did, it was like we had a little dinner party for all of us. I remember cooking a few times and making really nice meals that took me a long time to prepare. So maybe since that was my first experience cooking for myself, I got into that mindset that cooking means fancy.
But I know that it doesn’t have to be like that. I’m working on finding things that are basic that I can make but still taste good. Especially things that don’t necessarily require recipes because then it’s more likely that it will just be stuff I already have in my house. But I’ve also started to think more about what I keep in my house and what can make cooking easier. And I know that some of these shortcuts are pretty lazy, but if it’s what gets me to cook, I should be ok with it.
One lazy shortcut I’ve been using is having frozen veggies that steam in the bag they are in. I know I could buy the veggies fresh, cut them up, and steam them in the microwave or on the stove and it’s would be cheaper. But I also know that I won’t necessarily do that. So having easy frozen veggies helps. For example, the other night I made a turkey burger (just the patty and that was frozen too). I microwaved from frozen broccoli and then made a brown butter and lemon sauce for the veggies (this is how my mom usually makes broccoli and I love it). I know it’s a healthy and easy meal that I can make but for a long time, I felt guilty that I just didn’t buy some fresh broccoli to steam. But I am working on getting over that guilt.
I also found a shortcut to try to make breakfasts. I found these little cups that have cheese and veggies in them and you just add an egg or two and microwave them. It’s not an omelet, but more like a scramble with different things in it. I know I could buy those veggies and cheese, prepare them, and make this from scratch at home; but again, I don’t know if I’d do that. And while this isn’t the cheapest way to do it, it’s not too horrible and I think the expense is worth it. Especially if I don’t get delivery food as often because that will save me money.
So I’ve started to think about those meal kits you can get. I’ve never used them, but maybe this is the shortcut I need in order to get cooking more. I have to look into them more, but I know for some of them they have 2 servings in each meal, so that’s not too bad. And if I did that once or twice a week, that’s a lot of meals that I would be cooking. I know it’s not exactly cooking from scratch, but it’s better than delivery food or microwave meals.
For a long time, I’ve thought about cooking as an all or nothing thing. If I wasn’t making it all from scratch, I might as well not bother. But I’m working on accepting the idea that it doesn’t have to be that way and hopefully I can find a solution that will help me cook more. And whether or not that includes using shortcuts, cooking is what I know I need to do more.
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