Tips to Tame the Cooking Madness

About a year ago, I felt I had all my meals under control, with having to cook only once in 2-3 days. And this was even in the pre-covid era, when we would be hosting several gatherings, and I would be having to cook for a lot of those. 

More recently, it seems everyone’s appetite level suddenly took off, that its hard to not cook almost daily. 5 cups of rice is finished in about 2 meals. 4 lbs of red chori that I used to satisfy about 25-30 people for gatherings, (with kanji a.k.a rice soup as a combination) is now gone in 2 meals! (considering my family is now 11 people, I guess it makes sense). Also, not to mention 10 lbs bone-in chicken leg quarters gone in 1.5-2 meals!😬

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So I feel like I’ve been on a hamster wheel with cooking, and even had to purchase oversized pots more suitable for our family size. For me, prep for the cooking itself doesn’t take much time, as I go for simple recipes, and simple methods, and I am blessed to be very fast at cutting/ chopping/ cleaning/washing dishes. But the overall package of having to remember to put out for defrosting, staying around the kitchen area during cooking, as well as all the cleanup afterwards is enough to not want me to have to cook daily….. Especially when I’m on top of another gazillion things, and I only cook to live and not live to cook, haha.

I really needed to get out of this hamster wheel of cooking madness! So I brainstormed some ideas during my quiet time, that I can put into action, some of which I had already been doing. Though I am not a fan of meal planning as I had mentioned in my post here, I have always been a fan of batch meal prepping ahead of time.

I put together these tips for my own benefit, as well as any of you facing similar situations, as anything to do with less time in the kitchen is always a win-win (for most of us, I guess)! I would also love to share how I prep meals for my large family, ahead of time, without being enslaved in the kitchen.

1. Limit portion sizes. I used to be a person who used to let my kids eat however much they want for a meal, especially considering that all of them are on the skinny side. But I started limiting portion sizes, and it’s already working. Usually they go for seconds on meat, but we put a restriction that they can get extra meat only if they get an extra serving of veggies. I have also been encouraging to eat more fruits and veggies on the side than just the main dish. 
2. I was already keeping a list of all the last minute quick-fix dinners that might work in our family. I recently expanded the list by taking some time to look up some recipes. I took some time to figure out the meals that everyone likes and are very quick to make. I keep a list in Trello, so that I can fall back on that when I am brain fatigued trying to think of something. This includes things I can make last minute even without having defrosted anything. And with my Instant pot which is a life saver, I have several dishes on that list. 
3. Don’t belittle sandwiches! Even though the first sandwich that comes to mind is a PBJ, there are endless possibilities of hot/cold sandwiches, paninis, and wraps, very easy to make and satisfying, with different fillings and flavors.
4. Breakfast for dinner is always a winner. In South India, there are some typical breakfast items. I don’t usually make breakfasts complicated. But sometimes I make these dishes for lunch or dinner. When I do, I  prepare a big batch of batter, and use it for 2-3 meals. I also keep several hard boiled eggs in the fridge. A salad with eggs and other accompaniments is quick and balanced. Bacon is another option that can be easily converted to a lunch or dinner, by transforming it into a sandwich. Also, omelettes loaded with vegetables and meat.
5. Keeping a variety of items in the freezer that can be taken out last minute and used to either cook something fast, or eat directly after heating, is a lifesaver. This includes pre-cooked sausage, frozen meatballs, pre-made chapati/ naan, pita bread, flour tortillas.  
6. Likewise, some of the other items I constantly have a supply of are lettuce, potatoes, eggs. These are very versatile when it comes to making variety dishes.
7. Utilize the Instant Pot! The instant pot is a lifesaver when it comes to last minute quick fix meals! I use it a lot in this respect, for cooking beans/lentils (chickpeas, payar), and it is great for making shredded chicken/ pork. One can just dump the frozen chicken breast or frozen ground meat into the Instant Pot, and it is ready in a matter of minutes! You can read all the other reasons I love my Instant Pot, in my post here.
   
   
8. Freezer Cooking -There are several ways that Freezer Cooking can come to the rescue- by freezing whole already cooked meals, prepping ingredients and freezing that can be easily baked later, or cooking portions of meals; and I would like to elaborate below:

Freezer cooking

1. Cooking meals ahead and freezing. I totally get that some people don’t like the taste of defrosted ‘fully cooked ahead and frozen’ meals. Our family is fortunately ok with that, so I do keep a small backup of fully cooked meals, (including some chicken curry, chickpeas curry, etc)  
2. For those who don’t like to freeze whole meals, cooking some portions of meals and freezing is another option. Some things that are very versatile to use in various dishes are: cooked boneless chicken, cooked ground meat, cooked shredded chicken/ pork. I keep a stash in the freezer, so that I can easily make variety dishes including pasta or rice dishes, ‘fresh’ (as the pasta or rice portion will be freshly cooked). We usually buy meat(boneless chicken, ground meat, chicken leg quarters etc) in bulk (anywhere from 40 to 80 lb bags). Soon as it’s home, I throw most of the ground meat into my Instant Pot, and freeze in smaller portions in ziplock bags. I also add mild seasonings on the boneless chicken, and bake on trays and freeze in smaller portions. I also cook some chicken in the Instant pot to shred it up later and freeze away. This way, I have cooked meat ready to add to pasta, rice dishes, sandwiches….you name it! This is my most favorite meal prep tip, and a big game-changer.
3. There is also an option to prepare all the components of a meal and freeze in trays or ziplock bags that can later be pulled out, and thrown into the oven or slow cooker as is.  I don’t do this method that often, as we don’t have the freezer space for storing trays of food. But I have been prepping for meatloaves lately and freezing, so that I just need to take it out and bake on the day. 
4. Once in a while, I love to go very authentic on the Indian cooking (usually I do shortcuts). But I don’t like taking the time to do certain parts of it. So I sometimes double up the  prep portion of the recipe, in terms of sautéing or making the coconut paste of Indian curries and freezing. I keep it in a ziplock inside the main packet to freeze. For example, I recently made a ‘pumpkin erissery’, which is a South Indian dish. I grinded extra coconut paste, and kept it in a separate bag inside another ziplock bag with cubed pumpkin, to freeze. This way I don’t have to take out the mixer and wash it, on the day. This is a pic of my dish:)

I just want to share my most recent shopping and cooking experience. As Restaurant Depot is open to the public now, we have been doing our meat purchasing there recently. This week we actually got boneless chicken breasts for $0.89 per pound, and 70% lean ground meat for $1.39 per pound! Soon as we got home, I cooked 40 lbs of the boneless chicken we bought in 4 large trays, with mild seasonings, cut them up and freezed in smaller portions. I also cooked 40lbs of ground meat in 2 trips in both my Instant Pots simultaneously, to freeze. (An 8 quart Instant Pot can cook 10 lbs at a time).  I also prepared 12 lbs of ground meat with all the ingredients needed to make meatloaves in 4 loaf pans, that I can later pull out of the freezer and bake in the oven, ready to go without any further prep. All this only took 2.5 hours including prep time, cooking time, cutting time, time to put into ziplock bags and even washing all the trays!  (Now you can call me supermom! haha). This will now save me hours of cooking time  and mental agony in the future!

Just for ideas, I will mention some of our favorites. I didn’t include any links to recipes, as everyone’s tastes and diets are different, so it is best to take some time from your day, to search for recipes yourself, that suit your family’s tastes and preferences.

Some ideas for meals using pre-cooked ground meat: pasta, rice dishes, chilli,  tacos, quesadillas, burritos

Some ideas for meals using pre-cooked shredded meat:pasta, rice dishes, soup, tacos, quesadillas, sandwiches, wraps, burritos, pizza topping

Some ideas for meals using pre-cooked cubed boneless chicken: pasta, rice dishes, curries, soup, wraps, salads,  sandwiches, pizza topping, tacos

Our freezer stash includes: pre-cooked meatballs, wheat tortillas, flour tortillas

Some of our current favorite quick-fix meals are:

1. Rice and Indian curries. This is our staple, although I end up resorting to quick fix dinners when I’m either short on time/ lazy/forgot to  defrost the meat; and also for a good variety.
2. Pasta- chicken/ ground meat based, meatless (chicken scampi a favorite here)
3. Tacos, quesadillas, burritos using precooked ground meat 
4. Baked chicken recipes- bone in and boneless (lemon pepper, parmesan, etc)
5. Meatball subs using frozen meatballs
6. Chilli recipes (cooking the chilli beans in instant pot)
7. Potato sausage bake 
8. Sandwiches with different flavors of shredded meat (ranch, buffalo, BBQ, etc)
9. Cheese or meat based dip with tortilla chips, and veggies on the side
10. Chappati and curry( chickpea curry goes well- can cook fast in instant pot; egg curry, simple chicken curry). We make homemade chapatis often, but always keep a stash of pre-made chapatis in the freezer.
11. Kanji/ payar- a traditional Kerala recipe….Very simple, and surprisingly one of our kids’ favorite dishes! 
12. Salad bar (boiled eggs, nuts, precooked chicken as protein sources)
13. Pita bread based, naan based or from-scratch pizza. 
14. Other sandwiches- cheese, egg, tuna, 
15. Bacon for meals- used in sandwiches, salads.
16. Soups- potato soup, vegetable soup
17. Sausage with some veggies on the side.
18. Baked fish filet with veggies on the side 

By employing these different tactics, I felt I have been able to jump off the hamster wheel, hooray! (…..well, at least for now🤔). Spending a little time upfront finding easy recipes your family likes, as well as meal prepping ahead of time can really be game changers!