[atmartins]

Here me out: this sounds like an excuse. If you really want to solve it you could. I did.

I use a wok to cook and it's faster than going to McDonalds. It's slower than a frozen meal but not by much. I don't aim for perfection, rather, most of my meals I try and make healthy. I still love bacon.

In less than 10 minutes you can chop celery, broccoli, tofu, chicken, etc. If it takes longer then solve that problem: better knife, cutting board always handy? Chop faster, fingertips aren't that important.

Turn the wok up to 10,000 degrees and put a little avocado oil in there, throw it all in and stir. Put some low sodium soy sauce and monkfruit sweetener (if you want no sugar, otherwise brown sugar) and a little cornstarch+water too thicken. Ginger, whatever.

Anyway, you can make tons of variants of this dish. Curry, yakisoba, subgum chow mein. Almost all will be 90% vegetables. Do some rice or noodles with them.

Then solve salads. They are fast, easy, and can be delicious if you chop stuff up small and put a lot of variety. Keep trying different things. Watch YouTube videos about it. If you are thinking "I don't like salads" shut up. That's another excuse, there are an infinite number of ways to combine and prepare veggies.

Explore and solve the problem just like a crappy little software app that needs to be built. You just have to want it and be willing to learn.

[adriand]

We lived for a couple weeks in Nicaragua and we hired the sister of the guy who maintained the property to cook for us (an optional service we were quick to agree to). On the first day she cooked a big batch of black beans in a pot. She left the pot on the stove, and would briefly bring to a boil each morning and night, which eliminated the need for refrigeration. With each successive day she’d throw in a few things like green peppers, garlic, etc, and the beans also gradually broke down so the flavour just got better and better. So easy, so nutritious, super convenient…we in the developed world have forgotten so many techniques like this, to our detriment.

[convolvatron]

very much so. i used to cook a couple times a week. big expensive protein. fancy sauces, a bottle of wine, and a nice salad.

strangely, my gall bladder needed to be removed.

while I was waiting for the surgery - it was brown rice and vegetables and maybe a little chicken. now its just brown rice (takes 30 minutes on an induction plate, edible for 48 hours), kimchi, and a little bit of this and that (tinned fish, fried egg, chicken)

I haven't gotten bored of it after 2 years. takes me about 30 minutes a week for cooking and cleaning up. i'm much more fit and I just never have to worry about food anymore.

in the US we're in some kind of highly inconvenient, expensive, and unhealthy minimum. fortunately it wont take much to bump us out into someplace more sane.

[bosie]

I think I am misunderstanding something, how did you cut your cooking/cleaning up time down to 4 minutes a day? And, are you eating the same food every day now?

[convolvatron]

sorry, I just eat a little bit of something and cook rice once every 2 days. yes, I eat largely the same food every day. I assumed that would drive me insane, but I just don't mind it. started squeezing half an avocado into every bowl, and that has been a big upgrade.

[lobocinza]

If it isn't balanced it can lead to health issues on the long term.

[copperx]

Nutrient deficiencies are associated with a longer lifespan, so I'm not sure there's a real reason for concern.

[10u152]

Do you mean that it was always on ? To prevent bacteria you need to keep it above 65c or so to prevent bacteria. Heating it up once a day does kill bacteria but does not remove the toxic byproducts of bacteria which is what actually makes you sick.

[jandrewrogers]

No, they bring it up to temperature once per day. This is common practice around the world and quite safe.

Every time they heat the pot, it sterilizes it. It takes bacteria a significant time to recolonize a sterile pot, and it starts from a sterile state. As long as you re-sterilize (re-heat) it regularly, the bacteria won't have to time to colonize it in a meaningful way.

The downsides of this practice are not safety but the texture of the food, since repeated heating over many days tends to break it down into mush. On the other hand, it is well-known to improve the flavor of some dishes.

[woleium]

One pot weekly cooking. This is how i lived as a student, using only a crock pot.

[pharmakom]

You compared the cooking time to going to McDonald’s but didn’t include the time to go to the shops!

[zdragnar]

Or the cleanup afterwards, which is often the most unpleasant part of actually cooking.

[8note]

If you're cooking well, almost everything is clean by the time you put food on a plate. If you immediately put leftovers away, the cleaning can be 100% done by the time you start eating

[88913527]

It's best to let hot foods cool a little bit before moving them to the refrigerator. They can be so hot that they'll warm up surrounding items, or in the freezer, you might end up actually thawing anything adjacent.

[Auracle]

That really only matters if you’re putting quite a bit of food in the fridge/freezer. Think a large pot of stew. It’s more guidance for restaurants than people at home.

[carlmr]

Exactly, if you know how to cook you do the cleaning while cooking.

It helps keeping things simple, like having a rice cooker, then you only need to concentrate on one pan and cleaning.

[grayfaced]

Most cooking shows or recipes make things too fancy. You can make many recipes with a pan, a spatula, a knife and cutting board. Prep, cook and clean in 10 minutes. Burgers, pasta with homemade sauce, chicken salad.

I can't even walk into mcdonalds and walk out with food that quick.

[rdevsrex]

I agree. The complaint I don't have time seems like a very first world, and honestly very American, problem to have. There is batch prep, online food delivery, and simple one pot meals that can be either done in a slow cooker, or under 20 minutes.

[sammalloy]

Agreed. It’s like anything else, you find and make time. Meal prep is specifically designed for this.

[jliptzin]

It’s true. When I cook I’m usually done faster than it takes to get delivery.

[GekkePrutser]

Your suggestions sound nice if you're a foodie. But as someone with zero interest in cooking it's just horrible having to think about it in the evening.

[sammalloy]

That’s what meal prep is for. You cook once or twice a week and meal prep batches for easy eating.

[GekkePrutser]

Understood but that doesn't solve the problem that I hate cooking :) Whether it's one big batch or not, it's still a super annoying chore.

It's just something that I'd love to outsource just like I don't do my own laundry either. Just for food there's not many healthy takeaway options.

[sammalloy]

I get it. One way you can speed things up is to have hot water on tap (either installed, or a cheap, separate hot water appliance) and then use it for dried items like miso soup packets or oatmeal. Then you can add items to it, like pre-chopped vegetables or fruit.

The time it takes to prepare the chopped veggies and fruit in advance is one thing, but think about the amount of time you are now saving for soups and breakfast items.

This is how I think about things like meal plan tacos and burritos. I spend twenty minutes preparing all the items in containers, pack them in the fridge, and then I have fresh veggie tacos and burritos for four days. All I do is microwave the tortillas.

The salsa and the beans will go bad before anything else, so I make sure to use those up in higher quantities than the other ingredients.

I also like to cook a huge pot of basmati rice, Spanish rice, and rice pilaf in advance, so I can make all sorts of dishes for about three days just by adding the other items listed above. When you get in the habit of this, you’re only really cooking for one hour every four days using the same pre-made ingredients. It’s a huge time saver, so it doesn’t feel like cooking at all.