• That’s if you’re doing it inefficiently as possible, or are just starting.

    Fill the sink with water and soap and wash up as you cook, and let your cooking pan/pot/whatever soak while you eat so cleanup only takes a few minutes.

    Hell, if you git gud enough, you can cook 2-3 meals in that time period and have food for the whole week.

    Most meals should only take about 30m of actual activity, especially if you choose recipes that are single sheet pan/skillet, or slow cooked.

      • @HelloLemmySup@sh.itjust.works
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        111 months ago

        How can it be not going to the store everyday and meal prep cutting corners on quality and standards?

        Its just being efficient. I go to the store once and I dont meal prep for the week thats boring but do bigger portions so I have food for more than one day.

        Is heating the food from yesterday somehow bad now? People are entitled to their opinion but regeated food that is not old smells and tastes fine sometimes even better like pasta.

        • BeardedBlaze
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          411 months ago

          Lol @ leftovers. Try that in a household of 5 people, 3 of them always hungry teens.

          • @HelloLemmySup@sh.itjust.works
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            -111 months ago

            You just cook more. You plan for it. When you cook a meal you think how much you need to put then put 2x surely it will last 2x the time. Else adjust next time ti even more! The trick is it doesn’t take double the time cooking double the food.

            • BeardedBlaze
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              411 months ago

              You obviously haven’t cooked for the scenario I presented. I’d need another stove/oven.

              • @HelloLemmySup@sh.itjust.works
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                211 months ago

                It depends of the meal but sometimes I use 2 big pans and a big pot to cook if its a lot. Its true a normal sized pan and pot would not work though.

        • @schmidtster@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          No ones said groceries everyday, but 2 hours divided by 7 days is about 20 minutes a day.

          It is efficient, but you won’t have texture in your food, you are absolutely giving up something to save on that time. Even cutting your potatoes and cooking them everyday wouldn’t be the same as cutting and cooking that day. And buying pre prepped is more pricey as well, so you’re spending money to save time.

          Yes, microwaving food isn’t Magic, it destroyed texture and changes to structure in a lot of food as well.

          • @HelloLemmySup@sh.itjust.works
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            -111 months ago

            If time is tight you can buy online. I think you can buy for the work week in 1h. I dont mind to go to the shop on the weekends and be more spontaneous. For me the worst part is the work week as time is actually more tight there.

            Microwaves food doesnt taste as good as freshly cooked but it comes quite close if you cook it the day before.

            Its funny at work we had some voluntary health tests to help people get healthy. The ones cooking healthy meals that get microwaved all the time and do sports all had healthy ranges. The ones complaining about microwaved food being not tasty, having a paladar, you name it and eating fatty food and not working out many had already cholesterol before being 30… Its an anecdote but I think sometimes people like to make things harder than they are. Just make simple food, reheat it, sleep well and train. If you eat healthy and you dont exercise your gonna get bad. Same if you dont sleep and same if you only eat crap or tasty salty sweef fatty food.

            • @schmidtster@lemmy.world
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              11 months ago

              Buying online is more expensive than in store, again giving up something instead of time.

              Not even freshly cooked, a microwaved pizza and one warmed up on a cast iron are two entirely different experiences and time factors. You’re giving something up when you want to save that time, and most of the time it’s just money, but that’s not a solution for everyone.

              • @HelloLemmySup@sh.itjust.works
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                011 months ago

                If you make 70 an hour and takes you 1h to go and delivery is like 10 your saving like 30-40 or something after taxes. If you need to drive mught as well consider the fuel and depreciation of your car. I personally feel it’s faster to go for me as I just walk than to use their websites or apps and have ti wait thogh but its a valid option for some

        • @Sadbutdru@sopuli.xyz
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          211 months ago

          Mate, you’re so right, can’t believe some of the takes on this! If I want to cook something a bit more involved, I nearly always make a big pot and freeze portions. People are complaining about texture, but it’s easy enough to: make a base out of your protein, sauce, spices and seasoning, and the sturdier veggies (eg Bolognese, chilli, curry, random sauce for pasta, their texture won’t suffer noticeably); freeze; then reheat and serve with a freshly cooked relevant carb (pasta, rice, couscous), and some kind of fresh green like salad or steamed broccoli. Or not! If you’re short on time just have your defrosted meal with toast and it’s still 80% as nutritious as a fresh home cooked meal This is coming from someone who worked in kitchens, including moderately fancy ones, for years, so I know how to do the opposite approach too. But now I have two kids, cooking something effortful without planning for leftovers feels like too much of a time-luxury.

        • @schmidtster@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          Soaking dishes is a corner cutting, making multiple meals to microwave or reheat is lowering your quality and standards.

          Single pan dishes have all the same texture, it’s lower quality as well, etc.

          Yes, every suggestion you had is one of those.

          • @Ookami38@sh.itjust.works
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            311 months ago

            What corners do you cut with soaking the dishes? In what universe is doing the same thing you’d be doing anyway, just at the same time as another thing, cutting a corner? Pedants are everywhere in this damn thread lmao

            • @schmidtster@lemmy.world
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              -111 months ago

              You can wreck cooking equipment by soaking them. You just replace it more often and you won’t even put the reason why it’s happening together.

              Doing things correctly while not wrecking stuff is being pedantic according to who?

              • @Ookami38@sh.itjust.works
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                011 months ago

                I’d suggest stop using paper cooking equipment. Cast iron, sure, probably don’t soak it, but you also shouldn’t be using cast iron for things that may need soaking. Anything else, if you wreck it by soaking it… Get better stuff, man.

                • @schmidtster@lemmy.world
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                  11 months ago

                  lol, it’s the cheap stuff you soak since you don’t care about it.

                  If you soak expensive equipment, holy hell you’re just wasting money, buy the cheap stuff and ruin that.

                  Soaking a sheet pan is a great way to get it rusty, soaking any multi material pot can cause water to get places it shouldn’t and expand and break stuff.

                  You don’t soak cooking equipment unless you plan on tossing far sooner than other stuff, sorry. You can water your money replacing equipment every few years while other last decades. It’s a simple concept, time or something else like money, you aren’t saving anything by soaking dishes, despite the lies people perpetuate about soaking. It’s corner cutting that costs you later.

          • How is soaking dishes corner cutting?

            Good food can be reheated and still be good. Meal prep is pretty widely practiced, so there are great recipes out there. And people have been eating leftovers since there have been people.

            I mean, if you’re really bad at cooking I could see those being issues, but that’s why you keep practicing until they aren’t issues.

            • @Ookami38@sh.itjust.works
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              211 months ago

              Guy thinks you gotta cook like at a 5 star restaurant every day, or you’re cutting corners or sacrificing quality lol.