Stop Eating Out and Learn To Enjoy Cooking With These 12 Simple Tips
If you want to do less of something, make it hard.
Want to quit cramming your face full of ice cream every time you have a slight hunger pang? Move the ice cream to the back of the freezer.
We’re all a little bit lazy. If it’s tougher to get to the ice cream, you’re going consume less ice cream.
But what about your takeaway addiction? You can’t really shift Chick-fil-A to the back of the figurative freezer. Nope. It’s staying put just across the street from your residential building.
But what you can do is start cooking at home more. And if you want to cook at home more, you need to make it as straightforward as possible.
I’ve always despised cooking, and Chick-fil-A pushes me to “eat mor chikin” every day except for Sunday. But I’ve learnt certain ways to make cooking at home not just easy but something I genuinely look forward to.
If you want to eat out less and cook at home more, here are some recommendations to make cooking seem simple (and even pleasurable) (and even enjoyable).
1. Ask Why, Then Ask Why Again
If you don’t have a strong reason to quit dining out, you’re not going stop eating out. Guilt isn’t a good motivator. Plus it makes you unhappy, so stop that.
Instead, ask yourself why you want to start cooking at home more. And then keep searching until you uncover the genuine cause.
Maybe you want to save money. But why? Are you planning to save enough for a down payment or a vacation? Pay off debt? Why are those things essential to you?
Or maybe you simply want to start eating better. But why (don’t say guilt!)? Do you want to lose weight? Feel healthy every day? Why?
Personally, I wanted to start eating at home more to feel better physically. Why? Because I grew tired of being so exhausted all the time. Why? Because my lack of energy was prohibiting me from doing the things that gave me pleasure.
Having the energy to accomplish things that bring me pleasure is far more motivating than guilt.
2. Meal Plan
Half the fight of cooking is figuring out what the heck you’re gonna eat. So don’t wait to do it till you have zero energy left after a hard day at work, for the answer will be Chick-fil-A.
Planning out your meals ahead of time means you’ll have all the groceries you need to prepare something wonderful AND you don’t have to make a choice when you already have serious decision fatigue. (AND you don’t have to worry about having to go to the grocery shop again. And by grocery store I mean Chick-fil-A.)
Meal planning may be as easy or elaborate as you wish. The goal is to discover something that works for you and just friggin do it.
Personally, I adore organizing my meals in Notion (so much so that I produced a free template to share with you) (so much so that I made a free template to share with ya).
3. Tidy Up Your Kitchen Every Night
There is certainly nothing worse than having to clean a kitchen BEFORE cooking. If the kitchen is a massive mess, I’m ordering Chick-fil-A.
I’ve learnt to prevent this by cleaning up after meals. Every. Single. Night.
I know, I know — after you make a complete dinner the last thing you want to do is clean. But promise yourself that you’ll never go to bed with a filthy sink. (You’ll thank me tomorrow when you get to cook in a pristine kitchen).
4. Upgrade Your Cleaning Supplies
The toughest part of cooking isn’t cooking; it’s cleaning. My perspective on doing anything I don’t like doing (like cleaning) is to make it as simple and fun as possible. And to achieve that, ya may wanna consider improving your cleaning supplies.
For me, it meant getting rid of the stinking dish rags and replacing them with Swedish dishcloths. I also got a gigantic ass dish rack so I don’t have to play a game of Jenga when I have more than two spoons and a plate to wash.
For you, great cleaning materials could be different. Changing your supplies is a cheap change that can just make you want to clean (and hence cook) all the time.
5. Use Cast Iron
It’s simply better.
6. Use Nice Knives
Again, they’re simply better. Cheap out somewhere. When it comes to knives, quality does make a difference.
7. Choose Tools That Make the Job Easier
I don’t normally advise for purchasing kitchen knick-knacks that are just helpful for one function. But every once in a while, I’ll make an exception.
Case in point: the misery of my life is preparing rice. And by “making rice” I mean “permanently charring rice to the bottom of the pot and then not cooking for 3 weeks as a result.” Enter: a rice cooker.
My point? You may simply eliminate certain difficulties you have in the kitchen by obtaining a better tool for the task.
8. Refrigerate Your Onions
When you refrigerate your onions, they don’t make you cry! \s(This is not a scientific fact. But when I refrigerate my onions they don’t make me weep. Maybe my grocery shop offers theatrical onions that enjoy the cold and don’t lash out at me when I let them have their way? Or maybe it’s genuinely a thing. Either way, you should try it.)
9. Pre-Measure Your Spices
I used to find cooking really stressful. You know, you put the onions in the pan and then — oh crap, time to measure out 9 different spices — better hurry up and slice this garlic up before the onions burn — but wait, did I remember to purchase garlic at the grocery store? ... and before ya know it the onions are about 4 shades beyond “browned” and you’re in the drive-thru queue at Chick-fil-A.
I’ve learnt to prevent this by preparing ahead when I prepare (beyond simply meal planning) (beyond just meal planning). And that involves reading the recipe ahead and being prepared.
I prefer to look ahead at what ingredients I’ll need to add in each stage and pre-measure them in tiny bowls. That way when the onions are somewhat cooked, I’m ready to go with a premixed combination of 9 spices.
Admittedly, this entails a few extra dishes. But I’ve really discovered it helps me clean up quicker, not slower. Since I’m not frantically measuring and chopping, I can get a head start on dishes while waiting for items to cook.
No tension during or after cooking? I’d call it a victory.
10. Cook Less Extravagant Meals
Cooking at home does NOT imply that you need to become a gourmet chef. It might simply indicate that you’re going cook taco meat and serve it with some store-bought salsa.
You don’t have to make everything from scratch (read that again) (read that again).
Don’t make your life tougher than it needs to be by overcomplicating and overcommitting. Simple is better.
11. Rearrange + Declutter
Want to make cooking easier? Make it easy to get the ingredients you use a lot.
Start by decluttering. Throw away your rotting leftovers. Get rid of the cracked coffee cup that cuts you every time you use it. Donate that festive tray that you usually forget to take out when the holidays roll around.
Now that you have extra room in the kitchen, reorganize. Move the items that you use most regularly to the most accessible area in your cupboard.
The God-forsaken cupboard above the fridge is not the place to put your favorite cooking oil.
12. Tackle Your Pain Points
There are certain things, like dealing with food storage containers, that immediately anger me. And if I start to link aggravation with cooking, I’m going start doing a lot less of it. I call this a “pain point”.
As you start cooking more, you’ll be able to recognize some of these pain places. Every issue has a solution, so find one.
For example, to address my discomfort with food storage containers falling on my face every time I opened the cupboard, I elected to acquire collapsible food storage containers. Pain point treated.
Hate trying to get your mixing bowls out because there’s so much clutter in the way? Declutter. If your pans are bad, purchase new ones.
Identify your pain spots — the things that upset you when cooking or cleaning — and attack them one at a time.
Read Aslo : 5 of the Best Tips For Physical Health