THERESA'S FIVE STEPS FOR COOKING FROM THE PANTRY
Where we store our grains and beans for immediate use in the kitchen.
I was talking to a friend about how I use the sunchokes (a perennial vegetable) from our garden, and I mentioned that they are best in a white soup. I was surprised when she asked me to explain what I meant by “white soup.” After all these years of cooking, I considered all soups to be either a white (milk based) or a red (tomato based) soup, and I had forgotten this might not make sense to others. I began to wonder if I had developed my own system of cooking with pantry items without really realizing it. So I'm sharing how I create dishes from the bulk items that I keep in my house, in case it’s not as obvious a cooking method to others as it's become to me.
Influences on My Cooking Style
I should start with my mother. She was a wonderful cook of the traditional meat and potato American style dishes, but unfortunately, I refused to let her teach me when I was growing up. When I finally moved out of the college dorm in my twenties, I subsisted on very few dishes I vaguely remembered from her meals. I didn’t really learn anything else about cooking until I became a vegetarian and needed to know how to get enough protein without eating meat, by creating dishes that have complimentary proteins. Even though I eat meat now, I still base my meals on grains and vegetables, and do not create meat-centered dishes.
My college and grad school cooking was also influenced by being a starving student. I was working part time and getting further into debt with student loans, so there was very little money for food. I distinctly remember a time in grad school when I was having trouble feeding myself. Since my bachelor’s degree was in anthropology I had studied a lot of non-industrialized cultures around the world. I remember asking myself, “How do the other poor people of the world feed themselves?” I immediately realized that they base their meals on various calorie rich staples- such as potatoes, rice, and wheat (which they make into bread or pasta), so I started doing that too.
In graduate school I also developed irritable bowel syndrome, which I can only keep under control if I eat a diet high in fiber and low in fried foods.
These influences have come together in the five steps I use to create a meal:
STEP 1. START WITH A STAPLE
Choose a staple from the pantry. It will provide the most calories in the dish, and depending on what you choose, can also add a large amount of fiber, which can make your stomach feel fuller and will keep your intestines happier.
Staples include:
Influences on My Cooking Style
I should start with my mother. She was a wonderful cook of the traditional meat and potato American style dishes, but unfortunately, I refused to let her teach me when I was growing up. When I finally moved out of the college dorm in my twenties, I subsisted on very few dishes I vaguely remembered from her meals. I didn’t really learn anything else about cooking until I became a vegetarian and needed to know how to get enough protein without eating meat, by creating dishes that have complimentary proteins. Even though I eat meat now, I still base my meals on grains and vegetables, and do not create meat-centered dishes.
My college and grad school cooking was also influenced by being a starving student. I was working part time and getting further into debt with student loans, so there was very little money for food. I distinctly remember a time in grad school when I was having trouble feeding myself. Since my bachelor’s degree was in anthropology I had studied a lot of non-industrialized cultures around the world. I remember asking myself, “How do the other poor people of the world feed themselves?” I immediately realized that they base their meals on various calorie rich staples- such as potatoes, rice, and wheat (which they make into bread or pasta), so I started doing that too.
In graduate school I also developed irritable bowel syndrome, which I can only keep under control if I eat a diet high in fiber and low in fried foods.
These influences have come together in the five steps I use to create a meal:
- Start with a staple (e.g., grains or beans)
- Make a complete protein if you can by combining staples
- Add something to counteract the dryness (e.g., a sauce or spices)
- Add vegetables of at least two colors for texture and nutrition
- Add a little meat if you want to
STEP 1. START WITH A STAPLE
Choose a staple from the pantry. It will provide the most calories in the dish, and depending on what you choose, can also add a large amount of fiber, which can make your stomach feel fuller and will keep your intestines happier.
Staples include:
- Grains: Brown rice is my favorite. We buy it in 25 lb. bags. I usually use 1 1/2 cups of dried grains per dish, so that I have leftovers. We've also found that barley can be used much like rice as a base in many dishes, in addition to being excellent in soup. And finally, we also like bulghur or cracked wheat.
- Beans: I usually choose either a white or red bean to make into a soup, or a black or pinto bean to make into Mexican beans.
- Pasta (made from whole wheat or rice)
- Whole wheat wraps
- Potatoes
- Eggs: I’m adding this because it saved me a lot in grad school. A dozen eggs only cost $1 then, and along with a loaf of bread and some butter, I could make egg sandwiches for 12 meals.
STEP 2. MAKE A COMPLETE PROTEIN IF YOU CAN
If you choose either grains or beans as your main staple, you can add other grains or beans to make a complete protein.
Choose any two foods from two separate categories below to have a complete protein:
Tip: If you can’t get two of the above into your main dish, adding wheat bread or a wheat wrap might help.
Recommended combinations:
I tend to use grain and legume combinations because they are lower in fat and higher in fiber than nuts and seeds. Here are my most often used combinations:
You can see that I currently depend on rice a lot. I also really like the taste and texture of cracked wheat and bulghur (which is partially cooked crack wheat), but continue to have widely varied results when I cook it (it often comes out mushy). I have recently started adding 1 cup pearled barley to homemade soups (not the instant kind) and find that it makes it very thick and creamy. I plan to experiment further to see if I can use barley as a base for non-soup dishes.
If you choose either grains or beans as your main staple, you can add other grains or beans to make a complete protein.
Choose any two foods from two separate categories below to have a complete protein:
- Grains: rice, wheat, bulgur, barley, oats, buckwheat
- Legumes: beans, lentils, dried peas, chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans)
- Nuts: peanuts, walnuts, almonds
- Seeds: sunflower seeds, sesame seeds
Tip: If you can’t get two of the above into your main dish, adding wheat bread or a wheat wrap might help.
Recommended combinations:
I tend to use grain and legume combinations because they are lower in fat and higher in fiber than nuts and seeds. Here are my most often used combinations:
- Rice & beans is the classic and can be cooked so many different ways.
- Rice with chickpeas. There’s nothing to say except that I love chickpeas.
- Rice with red lentils. The red lentils have a better taste than the brown lentils and don’t overwhelm the flavor.
You can see that I currently depend on rice a lot. I also really like the taste and texture of cracked wheat and bulghur (which is partially cooked crack wheat), but continue to have widely varied results when I cook it (it often comes out mushy). I have recently started adding 1 cup pearled barley to homemade soups (not the instant kind) and find that it makes it very thick and creamy. I plan to experiment further to see if I can use barley as a base for non-soup dishes.
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STEP 3. ADD SOMETHING TO COUNTER THE DRYNESS:
Plain grains, beans, or other staples are generally not very flavorful alone (chickpeas are the exception for me). I think of this in terms of being too dry. So choose something that will counter act the dryness by adding moistness and/or flavor: Sauce: This is obvious, and all the below suggestions are used to create a sauce to go with your staple, but I add this because it is good to think in terms of what sauces can you keep around that will make your cooking easier. For example, we home can a Peach BBQ Sauce that is really yummy, and great over rice with hamburger or chicken. One year we canned a typical tomato salsa which turned out to be too runny, so I added it to the water when cooking rice and it made a great Spanish rice to go with our Mexican beans. There are plenty of store bought sauces out there, but they are usually high in salt or corn syrup, so I steer clear of those. I am still on the look out for other sauces to can or make myself. |
Homemade peach BBQ sauce goes well with hamburger and chicken.
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Tomatoes: I have racked my brain for anything that compares to the tomato for making sauce, because it is not a perennial plant and takes a lot of work to can, but I have come up with nothing that compares. Because tomatoes are mostly water, they add the needed liquid to counter balance the dryness of the grains or beans. We try to can as much of them as we can in any form: diced, Italian sauce, etc.
Stock: I’m referring to homemade stock here, because the stuff you buy in the store seems to be mostly salt. Generally, if you cook your grains, beans, or soups in stock, it will add lots of flavor. I used to buy a lot of boxed pilafs as the base of my meals, but they are expensive and seem a waste of resources. I always thought the companies should just sell their seasonings separately, because I am perfectly capable of measuring out the grains myself, but don’t know how to duplicate the seasonings. I recently decided to figure out how to make rice pilaf from scratch and was happy to find that you can make it by boiling rice in stock rather than plain water. Bear discovered that adding a couple bay leaves seems to add a wonderful flavor also.
Herbs & Spices: Adding fresh herbs at the end of cooking can add a lot of flavor and color to the dish. Lots of fresh, chopped parsley can enliven any grain dish. Chives work well too. Basil is great with tomato dishes. We love garlic and add it to lots of dishes (usually cooked). I’m still learning how to use the other herbs I grow.
Vinegar: I am experimenting with making homemade vinegars and using them in dishes. So far I’ve found the chive blossom vinegar adds a lovely onion pungency to coleslaw and other dishes. See my instructions for making your own flavored vinegars.
Raisins or other dried fruit: I continue to be surprised that adding raisins to grain dishes is really a boost to the flavor. It adds texture and sweetness. Dried apricots are really good too, especially with chicken, peas, and rice. I believe this is a normal addition in Mediterannean cooking.
Sweetener: Also something I don’t use often or in large quantity, but have picked up from various recipes. Adding a bit of honey or sugar can also boost the flavor. It is surprisingly good added to browned hamburger, along with a brown mustard, before you add the hamburger to chili.
Butter/Oil: You don’t want to add a lot of this, of course, because it’s too fattening (generally 100 calories a tablespoon), but sometimes when I come to the end of a concoction and find it doesn’t taste very good, adding fat can save the dish. And sometimes I splurge on buttered pasta because it’s so easy to make.
Cheese: Same thing with cheese, you don’t want to resort to it often because it’s too high in calories, but adding just a little (say 1/4 cup of freshly grated parmesan to a large pot of grains) can really add moisture and flavor.
Yogurt/Mayonnaise: A ratio of 2:1 yogurt to mayonnaise gives a lot of flavor with less fat. This is good for chicken salad, to which you could add rice and chickpeas. I also use it for homemade coleslaw. Add dill and cucumbers to the yogurt/mayonnaise mix for a yummy combination with rice & fish.
Vinegar: I am experimenting with making homemade vinegars and using them in dishes. So far I’ve found the chive blossom vinegar adds a lovely onion pungency to coleslaw and other dishes. See my instructions for making your own flavored vinegars.
Raisins or other dried fruit: I continue to be surprised that adding raisins to grain dishes is really a boost to the flavor. It adds texture and sweetness. Dried apricots are really good too, especially with chicken, peas, and rice. I believe this is a normal addition in Mediterannean cooking.
Sweetener: Also something I don’t use often or in large quantity, but have picked up from various recipes. Adding a bit of honey or sugar can also boost the flavor. It is surprisingly good added to browned hamburger, along with a brown mustard, before you add the hamburger to chili.
Butter/Oil: You don’t want to add a lot of this, of course, because it’s too fattening (generally 100 calories a tablespoon), but sometimes when I come to the end of a concoction and find it doesn’t taste very good, adding fat can save the dish. And sometimes I splurge on buttered pasta because it’s so easy to make.
Cheese: Same thing with cheese, you don’t want to resort to it often because it’s too high in calories, but adding just a little (say 1/4 cup of freshly grated parmesan to a large pot of grains) can really add moisture and flavor.
Yogurt/Mayonnaise: A ratio of 2:1 yogurt to mayonnaise gives a lot of flavor with less fat. This is good for chicken salad, to which you could add rice and chickpeas. I also use it for homemade coleslaw. Add dill and cucumbers to the yogurt/mayonnaise mix for a yummy combination with rice & fish.
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White soup base: add a milk product to the broth of a white bean based soup as the last step. Use milk for lower fat, 1/2 & 1/2 for medium fat, cream for the most fat. I add this to potato, sunchoke (shown at right), or barley based soups.
Red soup base: add a tomato product to the broth- this could be diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato puree, tomato soup, etc. Whatever you have in the pantry will work. I do this with red kidney bean vegetable soups, kidney bean chili with rice or bulgar, or venison vegetable & barley soup. |
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Quick Cooking Options
I do stock some store bought canned goods in my pantry to help make quicker meals. I buy them by the case, so they are still cheaper.
Baked Beans: If you can find a canned baked bean from the store that you are happy with (some have a lot of sugar or salt), it is excellent added to rice. Make sure you add enough that it creates a sauce, such as two 14 oz cans to 2 cups of rice (precooked measurement). Baked beans are made with tomato sauce and sweetener, so it makes sense that they make a great sauce.
Dahl: We have a canned dahl, which is an Indian dish made of lentils, that makes a tasty meal when poured over rice. It’s good with peas and chopped tomatoes, as well as wilted spinach. We have not found a low salt version.
Tomato soup: We also stock a low-salt tomato bisque soup, which can be used as a sauce as described above, and is also great over baked potatoes, or on its own with bread.
I do stock some store bought canned goods in my pantry to help make quicker meals. I buy them by the case, so they are still cheaper.
Baked Beans: If you can find a canned baked bean from the store that you are happy with (some have a lot of sugar or salt), it is excellent added to rice. Make sure you add enough that it creates a sauce, such as two 14 oz cans to 2 cups of rice (precooked measurement). Baked beans are made with tomato sauce and sweetener, so it makes sense that they make a great sauce.
Dahl: We have a canned dahl, which is an Indian dish made of lentils, that makes a tasty meal when poured over rice. It’s good with peas and chopped tomatoes, as well as wilted spinach. We have not found a low salt version.
Tomato soup: We also stock a low-salt tomato bisque soup, which can be used as a sauce as described above, and is also great over baked potatoes, or on its own with bread.
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STEP 4. ADD VEGETABLES OF AT LEAST TWO COLORS
for texture and nutrition When Bear cooks, he often skips this step, but then the meal seems incomplete to me. It is less visually appealing and a lot less healthy. Vegetables will add all the good vitamins we need. I try to add at least two colors of vegetables, usually red and green, which helps the visual appeal of the dish tremendously, and according to one article I read, ensures a better balance of vitamins. I look through whatever fresh, frozen, or dried vegetables I have and add what seems most compatible with the dish I’m making. I have rarely managed to choose things that don’t taste good together, and the more types of vegetables I add, the better the taste seems to be. The dish in the skillet to the right is ground hamburger with our homemade peach BBQ sauce, which alone would be a dull brownish color. Adding the red and yellow peppers, green peas, and spinach make the dish much more visually appealing and tasty. Later I add it to the rice cooking in the back pot. |
That's rice cooking in the back pot, and ground meat with colorful veggies in the front skillet.
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Green Vegetables
Adding a fresh, leafy green also seems to help a lot with the flavor:
Frozen peas or green beans can be added to the grains when you begin cooking them. They add a lot of color and solid texture without overwhelming the taste of anything else.
Steamed broccoli and brussel sprouts are other favorites. Make sure you don’t overcook them. When they are still a brilliant green but just soft enough to eat, they still retain their best flavor.
Non-green Vegetables
Summer Tomatoes: In the summer, I always add tomatoes. They look great and add a lot of juice to the dish. Fresh red peppers also seem to go well with everything and add a great sweet taste. Sauted or broiled summer squash (or zucchini) also adds color and flavor.
Winter Carrots: In the Winter, I add color with carrots to most white soups, roasts, or stews. I also freeze red peppers and use that for my added color.
Corn: I don’t use this a lot because I find that corn tends to overwhelm a dish and makes most dishes drier, except that it goes very well with potatoes. Some types of corn are considered a grain, but I have thus far found mixed information about this.
Onions: I add onions or leeks to everything. I can’t get enough of them. If you have the time to cook them very slowly on a low temperature for almost a half hour, they turn a light brown and carmelize, which means they become very sweet. This can be a major part of the flavor in the dish.
Tip: If you hate cutting vegetables, make sure that you have a really, really sharp knife. Chopping or slicing with a dull knife is a total misery. When I cook at other people’s houses, I bring my own knife.
Adding a fresh, leafy green also seems to help a lot with the flavor:
- Stir in chopped up swiss chard or spinach after the dish is done- the remaining heat will wilt it a bit, but not so much that the fresh flavor is lost.
- Wild lamb's quarters grows well in our yard with very little help, and the leaves (mature or young) make a great spinach substitute and taste wonderful.
- Kale also works well, but needs to be cooked more, so sauté it in a little oil in a separate pan and add at the end, or cook it longer in soups. Kale can also be frozen and added to soups in the Winter.
- Cabbage also adds a lot of texture and flavor. I usually sauté it for longer than kale until it is soft.
- Fresh chopped parsley isn't just a garnish- it can be the main (and wonderful) flavor in a dish if there is a lot of it and it's now overpowered by other vegetables. Note that you can eat the parsley stems too- they taste the same as the leaves- and it makes it easier to prepare if you don't have to remove the leaves from the stems.
Frozen peas or green beans can be added to the grains when you begin cooking them. They add a lot of color and solid texture without overwhelming the taste of anything else.
Steamed broccoli and brussel sprouts are other favorites. Make sure you don’t overcook them. When they are still a brilliant green but just soft enough to eat, they still retain their best flavor.
Non-green Vegetables
Summer Tomatoes: In the summer, I always add tomatoes. They look great and add a lot of juice to the dish. Fresh red peppers also seem to go well with everything and add a great sweet taste. Sauted or broiled summer squash (or zucchini) also adds color and flavor.
Winter Carrots: In the Winter, I add color with carrots to most white soups, roasts, or stews. I also freeze red peppers and use that for my added color.
Corn: I don’t use this a lot because I find that corn tends to overwhelm a dish and makes most dishes drier, except that it goes very well with potatoes. Some types of corn are considered a grain, but I have thus far found mixed information about this.
Onions: I add onions or leeks to everything. I can’t get enough of them. If you have the time to cook them very slowly on a low temperature for almost a half hour, they turn a light brown and carmelize, which means they become very sweet. This can be a major part of the flavor in the dish.
Tip: If you hate cutting vegetables, make sure that you have a really, really sharp knife. Chopping or slicing with a dull knife is a total misery. When I cook at other people’s houses, I bring my own knife.
STEP 5. ADD A LITTLE MEAT IF YOU WANT TO
Bear has never been a vegetarian, although now that he’s lived with my cooking for so long he is happy eating a lot of vegetarian dishes. In the beginning of our relationship, though, I got into the habit of adding a little meat to my dishes to satisfy him, and I still do it for the flavor.
Meat is of course a complete protein, so you don’t need to think about complementary proteins among your grains and beans as much if you add a little meat. However, Americans generally get too much protein, along with the fat and cholesterol, by eating more meat than they need. I remember reading once that a daily serving of meat should generally not be bigger than your palm. I try to keep that in mind.
I’ve added meat different ways over the years, depending on what I’ve been able to buy at the grocery store:
These methods generally add enough meat so that you get some of it every few bites.
Bear has never been a vegetarian, although now that he’s lived with my cooking for so long he is happy eating a lot of vegetarian dishes. In the beginning of our relationship, though, I got into the habit of adding a little meat to my dishes to satisfy him, and I still do it for the flavor.
Meat is of course a complete protein, so you don’t need to think about complementary proteins among your grains and beans as much if you add a little meat. However, Americans generally get too much protein, along with the fat and cholesterol, by eating more meat than they need. I remember reading once that a daily serving of meat should generally not be bigger than your palm. I try to keep that in mind.
I’ve added meat different ways over the years, depending on what I’ve been able to buy at the grocery store:
- Turkey bacon: Fry a few slices of turkey bacon, tear into about 1” pieces and stir into the meal. This is great with baked beans and rice.
- Organic, flavored sausages or hot dogs: Our grocery store used to sell organic sausages/hot dogs that we could afford. They came in several flavors, such as garlic and herb, or Cajun spicy. I would cook two hotdogs, slice thinly, and stir into grain dishes.
- Ground meat: We are lucky enough to be able to buy a lot of ground lamb and beef from nearby farms. We get it frozen in 1 lb packages, which I cook separately and add to my grains. If the dish needs flavor, I spice the ground meat with a couple squirts of Bragg's amino acids (a soy sauce substitute), a couple tablespoons of honey (or more), and a lot of fresh or dried marjoram. Bear made some great ground lamb that he seasoned with a tblsp of cracked coriander seeds and a few cloves of garlic.
- Meat in chunks: Any meat can also be cut into small chunks, cooked separately, and added. We also get chunks of lamb meat from the butcher. You can also do this with stew meat. I’ve add chopped up chicken from cage-free sources.
- Canned venison: A friend of ours introduced us to canned venison and we love it. He helps us pressure can it (he says it’s the same you pressure can any meat), which results in tender chunks of meat in its own gravy, ready to eat straight out of the jar.
These methods generally add enough meat so that you get some of it every few bites.
Rice, turkey sausage & tomato soup, and cabbage, before being combined into the finished dish.
EXAMPLE COMBINATIONS:
Here are the main ingredients of some sample combinations that follow the above five steps and work well together. Generally, I choose a base and decide what “sauce” will combat the dryness, then add veggies and meat as available.
- Rice, tomato soup, cabbage, hamburger or ground sausage
- Rice cooked in stock & onions. Remove from heat and add fresh chopped tomatoes, an entire large bunch of fresh, chopped parsley, and either a few tablespoons of butter or a little shredded parmesan cheese. Add a large amount of steamed green & wax beans. (This dish will taste good only to people whose palettes are used to subtle, fresh flavors.)
- Rice, Peach BBQ sauce, hamburger, onions, peas, red & green peppers.
- Rice, chickpeas, chicken, brocolli, with either Peach BBQ sauce or a curry.
- Rice, canned venison (which makes its own brown sauce), frozen red & green peppers, onions, spinach.
- Rice, baked beans, summer squash. Additions: onions, spinach, parsley.
- Rice, white beans, parmesan cheese, chopped tomatoes, swiss chard.
- Rice with a sauce of yogurt & chopped dill, with whatever vegetables are in season.
- Barley, ground lamb, sauteed mushrooms, onions, green beans, lots of chopped parsley.
- Bulghur or cracked wheat can be cooked with the same seasonings that are used to make baked beans (tomato sauce/ketchup, honey, mustard), and it good with chickpeas and zuchinni.
- Mexican beans & Spanish rice (I make Spanish rice by boiling 1 1/2 c brown rice, 3 cups water, and two pints jars of homemade salsa).
- Chili- kidney beans, bulghur or rice (cooked separately), tomato sauce, hamburger (bulgur makes an excellent hamburger substitute)
- Wheat wrap, with small amount of cream cheese spread on it, add sautéed onions, green & red peppers.
- Wheat wrap, with a small amount of spicy hot cheese, and a bit of almost any leftover grain dish, and lettuce or other greens.
- Baked potatoes seem to be good with anything over the top of them, such as spaghetti sauce, chili, dahl, sautéed red & green onions. This doesn’t add much protein, but it’s a simple meal if you remember to put the potatoes in the oven. Eat the skin to get more fiber.
Barley with Ground Lamb, Green Beans, and Mushrooms
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Boston Baked Bulghur with Zuchinni
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I recently rediscovered a cookbook that has probably been sitting on my bookshelves for 20 years, that is a treasure trove of recipes made from various grains. It inspired the two above dishes and I highly recommend it if it's still available:
The Book of Whole Grains: The Grain-by-Grain Guide to Cooking, Growing, and Grinding Whole Cereals, Nuts, Peas, and Beans by Marlene Anne Bumgarner 1976, ISBN 0-312-92411-9 |
OTHER SUGGESTIONS
Consider Writing Down Your Favorite Combinations
When you begin making combinations from what you have in your pantry, you might want to write down the ones you like, as I did when I started cooking this way. It’s easier to forget a good recipe than you think.
Consider Writing Down Your Favorite Combinations
When you begin making combinations from what you have in your pantry, you might want to write down the ones you like, as I did when I started cooking this way. It’s easier to forget a good recipe than you think.
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Add a Side Salad
This is a quick way to add a lot of taste, vitamins, and variety to a meal. In Summer, we make salads from fresh lettuce, often with edible flowers from the garden (such as calendula petals). We also make different cucumber salads, such as one with tomatoes, slices of red onions, fresh basil, and red wine vinegar; or another with sliced onions, chopped dill and a white sauce (made of yogurt and mayonnaise, vinegar, and dill relish). In Fall we eat a lot of homemade coleslaw, from sliced cabbage and the white sauce described in the last paragraph. Click to see recipes for some of our side salads and our homemade salad dressings. |
Cucumber, tomato, and basil salad.
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How Do I Find the Time to Cook from Scratch?
First, I should say that I like to cook. Since we have to eat every day and I can’t hire anyone to do it for me, it has always made sense to me that I should find a way to enjoy cooking. I consider it both magical and spiritual. Magical, because it is creation- I am combining ingredients to create something that is more than just the parts, something that is healthy and tasty and nourishes my loved ones on more than just the physical level. Spiritual, because I do not avoid the fact that other beings die in order to feed us, be they plant or animal. I don’t remember who said that cooking is that which makes palatable the exchange of life energy between two beings. I want to respect the life energy that I am taking from others to nourish myself. |
So that is to say that I like being in the kitchen, and even look forward to it. It’s still a lot of hard work, though, and can definitely tire me out. Not to mention that cooking from scratch can take up most of a week night. So I do most of my cooking on the weekends. Usually on Sunday mornings I will cook one or two main dishes at a time, divide one into small glass bowls to take for lunches (above), and keep the other for dinners. I have never had any problem with eating the same dish several days in a row, as long as it is tasty to begin with. We also have a huge salad bowl with a lid, so I can make a big salad that will last well into the week.
It may sound really difficult to cook two or three dishes at once, but I was surprised to realize that it doesn’t seem that way to me. This is probably because I am usually cooking similar dishes that follow the method above. It’s easy to chop a few more veggies when you’ve already started doing it for your first dish.
It may sound really difficult to cook two or three dishes at once, but I was surprised to realize that it doesn’t seem that way to me. This is probably because I am usually cooking similar dishes that follow the method above. It’s easy to chop a few more veggies when you’ve already started doing it for your first dish.
Happy Pantry Cooking!
Our full pantry for longer term storage, which we built in 2013 in an unused section of hallway.