I believe that time spent cooking is never time wasted. Cooking at home is better for your health, your wallet, and the planet! With that being said, there are often times when cooking becomes less enjoyable. When energy is running low, time is short, and motivation thinning out, cooking can become a task that we have to do, rather than an experience we get to enjoy.
The good news is that during these times, there are many tools we can use to make cooking a more enjoyable and exciting experience.
I've previously talked about the power of meal planning, and how it can help you eat healthier, save money, enjoy your meals more, and reduce food waste.
There's another tool that I'd like to share with you which complements meal planning and builds on these benefits: the Daily Dishes Tool.
The Daily Dishes Tool...
When thinking about what meals to cook, how often does your brain go blank and you suddenly can't think of anything? This happens to me a lot. All my brain comes up with is the meal that I had yesterday or one that I have all the time. This is where the daily dishes tool comes in.
Whether you're meal planning at home, or whether you're in the supermarket, this tool allows you to more easily come up with a wider variety of more exciting and interesting dishes. Consequently, you eat a more varied diet, which is healthier, money-saving, and makes cooking even more enjoyable!
In essence, it's a framework for deciding which main meals to cook in the following days/week. In this framework, each day has a specific type of dish. For example, you could designate each day a certain type of meal...
Monday - Stir fry
Tuesday - Curry
Wednesday - Pies
Thursday - One-pan roast
Friday - Pasta
Saturday - Slow cooker
Sunday - Misc
Another way of categorising meals could be by the carbohydrate source...
Monday - Rice
Tuesday - Pasta
Wednesday - Potatoes
Thursday - Carb-free
Friday - Pasta
Saturday - Misc
Sunday - Potatoes
Or by the protein source...
Monday - Legumes
Tuesday - Poultry
Wednesday - Egg/dairy
Thursday - Mycoproteins
Friday - Fish
Saturday - Plant-based meats
Sunday - Pork
Check the end of this article for some expanded examples!
No matter how you group meals, the idea is that specific meals/dishes/ingredients are limited to specific nights. This forces (encourages - it's always okay to deviate) you to eat certain things for your main meals on certain days.
At first, this can seem quite restrictive. Putting rules on what and when you can and can't eat is generally a bad thing.
However, in this scenario, your diet will actually become more diverse and interesting.
By forcing you to eat a certain type of dish on one day, you are forced to think more creatively about the meals you want to eat. It prevents you from falling into the trap of having the same meals over and over again. It will also help you try different kinds of cuisines and dishes, that which you would have otherwise never tried.
How to use the daily dishes tool?
Simply, decide on a framework that you like the sound of. Then plan your meals for the next week, making sure each night's meal fits in the category. Use cookbooks, websites, and social media accounts to investigate the enormity of dishes that you can cook within each of these categories.
This tool can also be useful for when you're at the supermarket without a meal plan and need to quickly think of 5 days worth of different dishes! For example, if you know Monday is curry day, you are limited in the meals you can choose from, and thus it is actually easier to decide on a meal. Whereas if you have to pluck a meal out of thin air, that's when the brain shuts off! So, instead of your brainpower being wasted on choosing a category, it can be spent efficiently on making that meal more interesting.
The best part? By forcing yourself to try new dishes and cuisines, your repertoire of cooking skills will actually increase!
It's important to mention that using this tool doesn't mean you're never allowed to go off-piste and eat the wrong foods on the wrong days. It's simply a framework to help guide your decision-making. Additionally, you don't have to use this tool indefinitely. It can simply be a short-term way to add a little more variety and excitement to your mealtimes. after a month or so once you've learned all those new skills, you can switch up your dishes, or completely drop them and give yourself the freedom again. Then it's ready for you to pick back up should you need it in the future.
What if I don't cook 7 meals a week?
If you're someone who prefers to cook two days worth of meals in one go, and therefore only have 3-4 different meals a week... why not group days into pairs? For example...
Monday & Tuesday - Pasta
Wednesday & Thursday - Rice
Friday & Saturday - Potatoes
Sunday - Leftovers!
Or perhaps...
Monday & Tuesday - Legumes/plant-based meats
Wednesday & Thursday - Egg/dairy
Friday & Saturday - Meat
Sunday - Leftovers!
Have you ever done something similar to this, or have any other ideas/tips to make cooking more exciting? Let me know!
Here are some suggestions of meals to use in the 'meal type' framework with links to recipes:
Monday - Stir fry (seitan & black bean, hoisin duck, tofu, lemon chicken)
Tuesday - Curry (thai green, balti, tikka masala)
Wednesday - Pies (veggie cottage pie, fish pie, spanakopita)
Thursday - One-pan roast (chicken traybake, halloumi & pepper roast)
Saturday - Slow cooker (chilli con carne, chicken casserole)
Sunday - Misc (whatever you want!)
If you want to categorise meals by the carb source, you might want to split pasta, for example, across two days. You'll soon see just how much variety there is within 'pasta'!
Monday - Rice (curry, paella, risotto, jambalaya, sushi)
Tuesday - Pasta (macaroni, linguini, lasagne)
Wednesday - Potatoes (mash, slices, baked)
Thursday - Carb-free?
Friday - Pasta (penne, orzo, ravioli)
Saturday - Misc (pizza, pastry)
Sunday - Potatoes (roast, gnocchi, wedges)
If you categorise by protein, you will soon learn the huge variety of sources at your fingertips - there's more to protein than just chicken!
Monday - Legumes (lentils, chickpeas, beans, peas)
Tuesday - Poultry (chicken, duck, turkey)
Wednesday - Egg/dairy (omelette, quiche, mozzarella, feta)
Thursday - Mycoprotein (quorn mince, quorn nuggets)
Friday - Fish (shellfish, mackerel, cod, prawns)
Saturday - Plant-based meats (seitan, tofu, tempeh)
Sunday - Pork (bacon, sausage, chops)
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