2018 is the year of cooking more at home — these food pros tell us how
Clear the way to homemade dinners and lunches with tips that target our real hurdles
This article was originally published on January 17, 2018.
It's 2018 and you've resolved to order less take-out and make more meals at home. But now, a few weeks in, you may feel like it's not going so well. We get it, we're not here to tell you that making dinner or bringing a lunch to work most of the week is not work. Still, don't quit now, you made that promise for a reason. What we are here to do is help you succeed with tips specific to you. When really look at the roadblocks stopping you, instead of just saying "nope, can not", they may become tangible hurdles you can overcome.
To help you do this, we've reached out to some of Canada's top food bloggers asking them to share ways they make cooking work for them. From being overwhelmed with the planning to having no time to shop, they've got the same problems we do, and they've found some unique ways to overcome them.
We spoke to: Sean Bromilow, the creator of the award-winning blog Diversivore, Julie Miguel, social media influencer and blogger over at Daily Tiramisu, and Lisa Bolton, food writer and blogger over at Food Well Said. Here are their solutions to major hurdles, and how you can make this the year of Vegan Bibimbap, healthy grain bowls or lasagna — made by you.
The hurdle: You're stumped! Meal planning just isn't your thing.
Solution: Don't make "meals", make some vegetables, proteins, and/or starches you love — then mix and match!
Meal planning isn't for everyone and Julie Miguel of Daily Tiramisu is the first to admit it's never worked for her. "I find, especially with little kids, things change so much. I was taking a lot of time to plan, but then the meals wouldn't actually get made," said Miguel. Instead, she breaks mealtime down into three categories: protein, starch and vegetables. She's got a list of favourites in each category and she mixes and matches. She'll pull out protein from the freezer and steam some greens and boil a starch — usually rice or a potato, and if she gets tired of that, she'll mix it up with a pasta midweek.
The hurdle: You do need a plan to stay on track, but planning for the entire week is daunting.
Solution: Plan themes, not recipes or meals.
Planning a whole whack of meals can get overwhelming, so Lisa Bolton of Food Well Said, looks at each meal as a theme. "If I know I cook fish on Tuesdays, I can handle that. Each weekday breakfast gets a theme: Pancake Mondays, French Toast Tuesdays, Waffle Wednesdays, Toast Thursdays & Fruit (and cereal) Fridays. When I make the pancakes on Monday, I make enough for the next Monday, and probably a weekend breakfast too, and voila, I am only making pancakes twice a month," said Bolton. She suggests finding a recipe you love and sticking to it, while finding ways to change it up by swapping ingredients like honey and cinnamon for maple syrup to give your dish a whole new flavour.
The hurdle: You have no time to shop.
Solution: Just make sure your pantry is well-stocked with staples, and try out online grocery shopping for everything else.
While not available in every area, if you do have the option, it may be worth considering. "As much as I like to pick out my own apples and onions, sometimes getting ahead means letting go of the little things," said Bolton. "Whether I get them delivered or simply pull up to the store as they bring them out, I have saved at least 90 minutes per trip. If your town does not have online grocery delivery Bolton suggests still keeping a running shopping list on your phone, organized by sections in the grocery store to maximize efficiency.
Sean Bromilow of Diversivore also suggests stocking your pantry with things you can actually make a full meal out of, not just granola bars and snacks. "If you've got a well-stocked pantry (pasta, passata, olive oil, etc.) all you need are a few bits of produce with a really long shelf-life (onions, garlic)," said Bromilow. An elegant dinner can come together with barely nothing when you're scrambling. For doubters, try this Spaghetti Carbonara.
The hurdle: Your meals are taking way too long and you don't feel you have time to cook.
Solution: Live by these time-saving techniques.
We are alllll so busy, we hear you. Carving out the time to make meals can seem nearly impossible. But the thing is, you might be making it harder and more time-consuming than it needs too, so start by making the whole thing faster. There are some time-saving ways to speed things up, and Bolton shared her favourites to help make things quicker:
- Put produce away clean and ready to use. The time up front saves time in the long run. When you come home from the grocery store, wash and prepare herbs and vegetables. It makes a world of difference when you are trying to throw together a meal and the lettuce is already washed and dried.
- Break out the kettle. Water boils faster in a kettle than it does on the stove. If you are boiling water for pasta or vegetables, fill a kettle and turn it on. Then place the empty pot on the stove over medium heat. Once the kettle boils, pour it into the hot pan – and you will have boiling water in half the time.
- Flatten your meats. Break out the mallet and take out some aggression. Making them thinner allows them to cook much faster plus, if you season them first, it is a great way to infuse flavour fast.
- Spice blends are your friends. Take advantage of pre-mixed spices, natural blends like Chinese Five Spice, Garam Marsala or even an herb blend like Mrs. Dash.
The hurdle: Frankly, cooking intimidates you.
Solution: Start small, commit to way less.
If you're new to cooking, cut yourself some slack. Bolton suggests picking one new skill to learn and branching out from there. Perfect your mashed potatoes or master homemade stock. Or make a list of some of your loved ones' favourite dishes, pick one and learn to make it right. Another option (and they're endless) could be to choose one cookbook to cook through, and commit to making one dinner from it from scratch for the next weeks. "Work your way up," said Bolton. It'll only become easier.
The hurdle: You just don't know how to make food taste good.
Solution: Cook seasonally and shop the bulk section.
It's not you, it's the ingredients. Fresh and in-season food always tastes better, you hear cooks say it on food shows, and it's true. "By choosing ingredients that are in season, you improve your recipe's rate of success at least five-fold," said Bolton. She's a fan of bulk-store shopping because she can buy just the right amount of an ingredient, especially spices and nuts, which tend to go rancid and lose their power if kept in your cupboard too long. Sub-par, by which we mean stale or out of season, ingredients will be tasteless or off, and will bring down your end product and only frustrate you further.
The hurdle: You're a control freak and you want to make everything from scratch.
Solution: Let it go. Go halfway-homemade and give yourself a break.
Even Miguel, pro-trained chef and food expert admits she takes shortcuts in the kitchen because that's what will get dinner on the table these days. And she doesn't beat herself up about it. "I used to make my own broth; now, none of my dinners take more than half an hour," said Miguel." I literally think about dinner at 4:30." Need some good halfway-homemade ideas? Make pierogies with egg roll wrappers or use store-bought pizza dough for some killer homemade 'za. And when you want to get creative? Miguel recommends saving those projects for the weekend. Time management is key when it comes to cooking more.
The hurdle: You want to cook in bulk but not eat the same leftovers every day.
Solution: Make things you can repurpose for new dishes, easily.
While this works especially well with proteins, a little creativity is all you need to repurpose most of the basics. Roast a chicken and use the leftovers in these Chicken Burritos the next day. And if you've still got leftover chicken by the third night, Bromilow suggests turning it into a base for soup. "The possibilities are endless," said Bromilow. "And you actually buy yourself time by having a big component of your meal ready to go ahead of time." If you have a ton of roasted vegetables, you're minutes away from a quick vegetable curry the next night, and a frittata the night after that.
With these solutions clearly laid out, you've got nowhere to go but into the kitchen to whisk those roadblocks away! Below you'll find a few simple recipes to start with. Remember, pick ONE and go from there. You've got this. Here's to making 2018 a more delicious year.
