|
1
|
Eating Paleo makes a lot of changes to what and how you eat. It removes processed foods, which were quick and easy to eat, and you need to learn new cooking and food preparation skills.
|
||
|
|
|
3
|
I can't just nuke something and swallow it faster than my brain can protest. Food now takes time which makes it harder to be impulsive. It wasn't something that had ever crossed my mind, until I went to nuke some junk food, realized that I had promised to give up the microwave, and then realized I wasn't gonna wait 20 minutes to heat it up in the oven, I didn't want it that bad and wasn't really even hungry anyway. |
||
|
|
|
2
|
I used to have a private cook who cooked very very well - better than any chef in any restaurant. But then I realized that my cooking is still better. I KNOW how much salt I want. I KNOW how I want my meat done. I KNOW what goes into each salad. It might sounds like I am a perfectionist, but nobody can cook or clean better than me. I put so much love and care into this - it's unbelievable. Oh, I need to learn how to lighten up. |
||||||||||||||||||
|
|
0
|
This may sound odd, but cooking and kitchen cleanup is much quicker and easier for me now than it ever was before. Granted, I have always tended to be a from-scratch cook because frozen dinners/Lean Cuisines were so expensive for so little food, plus they tasted awful. And I've never liked most fast food (except for Wendy's, or, when druuunk, Taco Hell), so I wasn't eating it regularly. I also got into the habit of cooking from scratch when I was poor, and never got out of it (even though I don't much enjoy cooking). There's some food prep that is the same--I always ate a lot of green veg, and still do. I still use the same techniques for cooking meat, as well. But every meal used to involve cooking rice, beans, potatoes, or pasta, as well as the veg and protein (which meant an extra pot that needed cleaning). Most meals also included cheese, which had to be grated or sliced (another utensil that needed cleaning). And I ate at least three times a day because I was always goddamned hungry--so even if I reheated leftovers, I still spent a lot of time cooking and cleaning up. Even making a snack of toast with marmalade meant washing a knife and cleaning up crumbs. Since I do IF, I only cook one meal a day now. Most of the time, I only need to dirty one pan to do it, and never more than two, so cleanup is quick. I keep things very simple, and still get to enjoy tasty food. Other benefits? I don't keep finding crumbs everywhere. I don't get weevil/moth/beetle infestations in my kitchen anymore. I also end up with fewer "science projects" growing in the back of my fridge, because, by working with a limited range of fresh ingredients and not cooking huge batches of food at one time, everything tends to get eaten. I also waste a lot less food, now that I've stopped overbuying groceries. And I have a lot more free cabinet space in my tiny, ill-planned kitchen, now that I don't have bags of dried "staples," cans of beans and corn, canned fruit, boxes of cake mix, and things like that crowding my cupboards. So, to answer your questions: I find paleo cooking far less annoying and inconvenient than my old ways. If I had the money to deal with cooking in any other (plausible) way, I would probably have my kitchen remodeled to make working in it and keeping it clean easier--because right now the kitchen's shortcomings are the most difficult thing about cooking. |
|||
|
|
0
|
A question after my own heart! I think it helps if you really like cooking, but I think most people can learn to at least not mind it, if not really like cooking! For me, I hate dishes! I really do. I wish I did not have to do dishes ever!!!!! But...now onto the important stuff. What should every good Paleo-cook/chef/short order slop jocky, etc. have at their beck and call? I'm so glad you asked!
A small, medium, and large frying pan. A small, medium, and large pot for boiling in. Also important, not essential, a large stew pot for all your stew needs. Now the other thing to invest in is spices. My recommendation is not to waste your time on an actual spice rack from Wal-Mart, but go to the spice isle at your local store and look at what they have. You can sometimes buy small shakers of the stuff and try it out to see if you like it or not. Scan some recipies you want to try and get those spices. Expreiment with fresh! Happy Cooking!!!! |
|||
|
|
0
|
I don't like that I really have to plan ahead to make sure I can prepare and serve the healthiest meals for my family and me. I have to get up early on Saturday and go to the Farmers' market and end up deciding what we are eating for the week while I'm there based on what is there, then head to the butcher to get the meat we'll need. I am a happy procrastinator and this forces me to plan ahead, taking me out of my comfort zone, even if it does actually make my life easier! Free of time/money/equipment constraints, I would have a professional refrigerator and a separate freezer to house meats and veggies. I hate only having a few pounds of meat on hand because I don't have the freezer space to house the whole cow and pig I want to have on hand. I would also have an indoor grill with the huge vent so I don't have to fight the dogs for space in front of the outdoor grill. (I grill a lot and they like positioning themselves to get whatever drips on the ground.) |
||
|
|
|
0
|
What do you find is the most annoying about meal/food preparation when eating Paleo? I would say the time it takes to prepare a meal. With cutting and boiling vegetables, cooking the meat and then doing the dishes, a 1 to 2 hours of cooking-eating-cleaning is a lot for a meal that will feed you for 5 hours. This is usually the situation for egg breakfasts or when eating offal. The rest of the time, I make sure to have 3 or 4 portions of leftovers with a big batch of pre-boiled vegetables to eat with my eggs in the morning. This makes the 2 hours it takes a lot more worth it. If you had all the time/money/equipment, how would you want meal preparation to be like? With all the money, I would first buy (all All-Clad of course) a small saucepan, huge stockpot for bone broth, stainless steel frying pan and sauté pan. I'd also buy a Blendtec blender, as well as a hundred other things. With all this equipment, I would like to have a rotation of large jars of 22-hour and calcium-rich bone broth, canned vegetables, sauerkraut/fermented vegetables and homemade jerky. With all this cooking, I would be highly skilled in the kitchen, making meals incredibly tasty and taking 1/10 the time to prepare. |
||
|
|
|
0
|
I've always been a foodie/cook and I truly enjoy spending time in the kitchen. That being said, I don't want to spend ALL my time in the kitchen as I'd like to be outside getting some exercise and Vitamin D. :) I do all of my food prep for the entire week on a single day (either Saturday or Sunday - whichever is rainiest - I live in Seattle). Generally we eat our biggest meal at lunch and sometimes I don't eat dinner (IF) or maybe just grab a 6-8 macadamia nuts or a piece of fruit. I'm one of those people that can eat the same thing every day and not get tired of it - so long as it is delicious enough. :) In order to do this, I spend 4-6 hours in my kitchen (including cleanup with my hubs is doing other projects and doesn't have time to help in the kitchen), but I get all my meals prepared - or at least prepped - for the week, including my favorite snacks - hard boiled eggs. It would guesstimate that it takes me approximately 1.5-2 hours/week for planning my food and shopping for it. So, I guess that makes it approximately 8 hours of time spent preparing healthy food that makes me feel fantastic and healthier than I've ever felt. I don't think 8 hours is too much to spend (minus the few minutes spent peeling eggs and re-heating my main meal). I think prepping everything all at the same time is the way to go. I know some people find eating the same thing every day monotonous, but I think being able to cook with all the coconut oil or lard that I wish makes it fun and ridiculously tasty. :) |
||
|
|
