By Kirsten Serrano
Life throws a lot at us. Folks like you working in health care have had to adapt on the fly. You have likely found wells of flexibility you didn’t know you have.
When we are overwhelmed, it is only natural to look for ways to make things easier. Life in America presents plenty of opportunities to make food uber convenient. The drive through beckons. The microwaveable meal calls our name. We rely on carry-out. I am all for convenience, but too much of it does not do a body good.
It is possible to eat for health and not spend all your time shopping, cooking and cleaning. I think of this as redefining convenience. It’s an informed nimbleness to make a better choice. Food can embrace convenience and health if you tweak your definition of convenience a bit.
There are two things at play when we take a real look at the lure of convenience. One is the time involved. We all lead hectic lives. The other is the comforting embrace of having someone else do the labor. That is the reason we love to go out to a full-service restaurant. It is also the reason that when there is a crisis, the comforting response is often an arrival of casseroles to your doorstep. Let’s take a look at ways to trim back the time prepping food and ways to up the comfort level of food.
Redefining convenience and saving time:
Prepare, prepare, prepare.
- Make a plan. It can just be 3-4 dinners a week to start.
- Order groceries online for pickup or delivery. Huge time saver.
- Prep produce in advance or even outsource the prep.
- As you prep produce, keep in mind that the smaller something is, the faster it will cook. It takes a while to roast a brussel sprout, but it takes just a few minutes to sauté shaved ones. Tools like a food processor and a spiralizer really save time.
- When you cook, make extra. This one simple change will mean dinner is already done on days when you just cannot do one more thing.
Stock your kitchen.
- Buy high-quality marinades, salsas, seasoning packets, sauces and condiments that allow you to quickly prepare a meal that has great flavor.
- Instant, whole food sides:
- Raw veggies like tomato, cucumber, celery, carrots
- Fresh fruit
- Stock your pantry with items like canned tuna/salmon, applesauce, canned beans, pasta, rice, etc. All of these are items that make quick meals.
- Keep some frozen veggies around. Fresh is fantastic, but frozen vegetables are great too and more nutritious than canned ones.
- Keep boiled potatoes and boiled eggs in your fridge. A boiled potato can quickly become a cold or warm salad, hash, or part of a soup or curry. Boiled eggs are a great convenient snack on their own or they can be turned into egg salad or deviled eggs in a jiffy. Combine the eggs and potatoes into traditional potato salad.
Reduce clean up time
- One pot meals like pasta, a sheet pan dinner or a quick skillet meal make clean up easier.
- If you really want to cut down on dishes, use paper plates. It is not the most sustainable choice, but it is a lot better than the packaging that comes with takeout.
- Outsource the clean up. If you cannot do that within your household, maybe you can hire someone to pick up the slack. What you save on takeout might be better spent on some help at home.
Embrace technology
- Gadgets do make a difference. A pressure cooker, air fryer, microwave, and rice cooker really do save time (and your sanity). They can also save on clean up time. I use my combination air fryer/broiler/toaster oven to make about 70% of our meals.
- Look for ways to program convenience. You can program a lot of gadgets to start and stop when you want. My oven allows me to program on and off times. There’s nothing more convenient and comforting than walking into your house and knowing dinner is ready.
When all else fails
- Try out one of the many meal kit delivery options.
- Buy a roast chicken, a salad kit, bread and some fruit. Dinner served.
- See if you can find a local service making fully prepared but still high-quality foods to supplement your cooking. Part of my restaurant’s business model includes running a subscription meal service with our own farm’s produce.
Redefining convenience and increasing comfort:
- Flavor is comforting! Lean into those bottled sauces, marinades and condiments. A chicken breast on its own is boring. A chicken breast topped with a chunky green salsa and a little Cotija cheese is enticing.
- Embrace your comfort foods by loving leftovers and previously prepared foods. Do you have a favorite chili recipe? Make more than you need and freeze some. It will warm you up after a long day. Love lasagna but know it takes too much time to make on a weeknight? Next time you make one, make two instead. Freeze the second (cooked or uncooked) for another day.
- Eat dessert! If knowing you can end your day with a piece of chocolate cake is what you need to motivate you to eat a home cooked meal, go for it.
If you find yourself leaning heavily on takeout, restaurant meals, fast food and the like and you think your health is paying the price, I encourage you to gradually shift to eating home-cooked meals more often. The best place to start is with some basic meal planning and making leftovers. You’ve got this.
