Tired of home cooking??
While home cooking isn’t dead, it isn’t exactly in great condition either.
For instance, a recent study revealed that a large number of Americans is leaving their ovens, stoves and kitchen countertops untouched a lot more than in the past. As the Washington Post reports, in 2014 less than 60% are actually cooked at home – only three decades before, the percentage was closer to 75%.
So you can clearly see that US citizens are cooking less than before, but what’s the reason behind this?
While the recession can be partially blamed, numerous studies have shown that the disappearance of home cooking in the US is happening on all socio-economic levels. The problem boils down to one simple thing – most people simply don’t feel like they enough time to do their cooking.
Spending as Little Time in the Kitchen as Possible
Now, even if your schedule is really too hectic too cook every day, it doesn’t mean that you have to order food or eat out every single day. In order to spend as little time in the kitchen as possible you need to be efficient. The trick is to cook once a week, and enjoy healthy meals for the next couple of days.
Now, cooking a ton of food once a week may sound like a pain in the neck, but this practice will remove most of the barriers (like low energy, time constraints, etc.) that prevent you from preparing healthy home meals.
How to Prepare Your Meals in Advance
Trust us – preparing meals once a week isn’t really that complicated, but it truly is a skill, so be prepared to pick up a few new skills. But before you even start learning how to find your way around the kitchen, you need to a couple of things first:
Start Shopping Once a Week
First thing first, instead of going out to the supermarket and buying groceries every day, you should start shopping once (or possibly twice a week). Another thing you could do is start using a food delivery service like Home Chef that delivers fresh groceries at your front door on a weekly basis.
Plan the Meals (Gather Recipes)
Next, you should definitely know what foods you’ll eat throughout the week. And while you probably won’t know where to begin (which means you won’t have a lot of meal choices the number of your go-to recipes will surely grow after just a few weeks.
Get the Right Tools and Utensils
Once you start gathering new recipes, it would be wise to start buying the right kitchen equipment, because it will make the actual preparation process much more efficient. Some of the essential kitchen tools include a slow cooker, blender and a microwave, just to name a few.
Cook the Food in Bulk
If you’re living alone, cooking in bulk is not just another time-saver; it’s also a way of turning those “family of four” recipes into meals for the rest of your week. This means that you need to schedule a few hours once a week (or maybe twice, depending on your schedule) to do this.
Home Cooking – the Final Thoughts
Finally, we have to make one thing clear, since you’ll be cooking a ton of food in advance; it would be smart to get a couple of food containers, so you could properly store your meals for later. This will enable you to distribute the food throughout the week.
Admittedly, this is a process, and it may take some time before you get used to it. However, once it becomes just one of your weekly routines, you’ll always have meals waiting for you when you get back home after a long day in the office.
Those were just a couple of things you could do in your spare time to eliminate the hassle of home cooking. So what do you think about our advices? Do you feel like we left out something important? If you have some suggestions of your own, make sure to tell us by leaving a comment bellow.
About TheBlot Magazine Author:
Vanessa Davis is a 32-year-old fitness enthusiast, mother of two and content writer at www.diet.st. She’s originally from Long Island, New York, and when she isn’t cooking up some new health and fitness article, she enjoys doing yoga and figuring out new, delicious organic-based recipes for herself and her kids.
