Tips for simplifying cooking

[EcstaticMarmalade]

I’m looking for ways to make cooking a bit easier. I have a chronic illness which means I tire easily.

In the past I used to batch cook things a lot to make things simpler, but I find that too tiring now. I can and do often cook double portions, either the full meal or one element to use the next day, but I have tried and failed repeatedly to do much more than that.

I also have autoimmune conditions which are partly managed through diet. That’s fairly complicated but in essence, no gluten, no dairy, no eggs, no red meat, no tomatoes and no onions/garlic as can trigger a flare. This means I can’t easily rely on prepared foods or get a meal kit subscription.

So lately I’ve getting into a bit of a rut based round toasties or something stir fried with rice (either packet or in rice cooker).

Any ideas?

I’m a massive short cut cook but use a lot of tomato and garlic!

Fill the oven when it’s on- sweet potatoes make a change from jacket spuds. Roast veg of any kind.

A goblet and stick blender works well for a single serving of roast veg soup.

Pasta bakes are good- I’ve got a chicken one in the oven at the moment. I don’t precook the pasta. I barely cover it with water then cover it with loads of tasty things and bake for an hour.

Noodles that soak in boiling water to cook, with bean sprouts, cashew nuts and mangetouts blasted in the micro for a few seconds. Drain the noodles and com with soy, ginger, lemongrass- whatever you like.

Pesto is great and doesn’t always have garlic. Brightens up a dull meal.

Chicken breast wrapped in bacon with cheese on top. Served with salad.

OP If you are gluten-free, can you eat/do you like polenta? It's simple to cook and very adaptable. Either a quick creamy (vegan) dish such as here https://biancazapatka.com/en/creamy-vegan-polenta-with-mushrooms-and-spinach/

or baked: https://www.insidetherustickitchen.com/polenta-fries/ (you don't have to involve dairy - you can flavour it with acceptable things for you, including chopped nuts and lots of herbs). I like it served with salad and a sharp lemon/oil dressing.

I did a fried rice at lunch today using carrot batons which I then quickly chopped smaller, tenderstem broccoli that took less than minute to chop and half an aubergine and a large chicken breast (also frozen chopped onion but not an option for you and some chopped garlic) and I used a packet of pre-cooked rice. Whole thing took less than 10 minutes for lunch for me and DH. Combination of quick meal and semi-prepared food. Would that sort of thing help?

I learnt about using tinned potatoes to make roasties in the air fryer on here. It's a game changer for some quick roasties to go with whatever you're eating and NO peeling, precooking etc.

I don't do a lot of batch cooking but I do try to make extra of certain things when I'm making them. eg if I ever make cauliflower cheese, I might make additional portions to freeze. Or just the cheese sauce - it's such a faff to make but we do like a cheese sauce around here so making a batch and freezing is better.

Risotto? It does involve a certain amount of standing but you said you can do about 30 minutes and you could take short rests in between? Swap the traditional onion out for whatever you like - I used some sweet peppers recently in a chicken and butternut risotto and it came out well. If you use pre-prepared butternut or sweet potato for roasting that limits other prep time. Ditto using cooked chicken at the end.

I like dhal and it’s very easy. As long as you are careful with your spices- ginger, turmeric, coriander or whatever blend is safe for you.

and slimming world ready meals are very ‘wholesome’ in terms of recognisable ingredients and no nasties.

I realised my post might suggest that you save cheese sauce and I think you're dairy free. But it was just an example! . Other things we have in our freezer currently are mostly things that I don't think would work for you but hopefully gives you an idea of what I meant by making extra of some things, without the full batch cooking:

Meatballs (rolled, mixed etc, but not cooked)
Scones
Spanakopita (individual portions)
Mashed potato
Chocolate chip cookie dough

I've never done this but I often read in magazines suggestions to freeze chopped herbs - I think the recommendation is to put them in ice trays filled with water? So that could be a useful tip if you like using fresh herbs but don't always want to be chopping them if you're tired.

Herbs freeze just fine. Wash them and drain them well and chop them if you like - though this not necessary if a blender is to be involved in later recipe. Then just pack in plastic bags or sealed tupperware-type boxes. Use from frozen.

The OP has said that a great many of the foods we normally rely on for quick meals - me included - are not acceptable. These include:
gluten -no bread or scones or pancakes and no (usual) pasta.
no dairy - no cheeses, yoghurt, butter, milk. Nothing like pesto (which has cheese in it) either
no eggs
limited pulses
no red meat - so this means (presumably) only pork, chicken and fish/shellfish
no onions/garlic/tomatoes

It's a really, really difficult list. The only cuisines that this list sort of fits with are Japanese and Korean. In both, households tend to have a rice cooker. Makes rice for meals totally simple: switched on in advance, it's cooked and ready and waiting. In Korea - don't know about Japan - cooked rice isoften served with fish (sweet and chilli-hot, sometimes) and stir-fried veg/sea veg or, for special occasions stir-fried meat.

I've been thinking and - although I've not tried it - I'd also have a go at buckwheat pankcakes using oat or almond milk and 'aquafarba' or whatever the liquid from tinned chickpeas etc is called.

Instant pot?

I can bung a stew in mine (ready chopped chicken breasts and frozen casserole mix with herbs and stock cubes) and it’s ready in less than an hour and you can walk away from it.

It does pasta bolognaise (everything in one pot) in 10 mins!

But the OP can't eat pasta - unless it's gluten free. And most g/f pasta is based on pulses, and the OP cannot eat many of those, either.

Yes stew and potatoes or rice are possible, but the OP has said that she's not too keen on stew-like textures. This is all really difficult.

I have simple and quick dinners as I don't have the time or patience for hours of chopping etc. So I eat the same 3 meals twice a week plus a roast (as I have more time on Sunday). One day I have chicken thighs (which I use those marinade cook in a bag things - you can get them from normal supermarkets but I like to get mine from Polish shops as they have more interesting flavours) with some salad (chopped iceberg, grated lettuce and red cabbage plus sweetcorn) and a flatbread (I'm sure you cut get those gluten free). I cook 4 thighs and eat two then reheat the others in the microwave the next day and have the same meal again. Another two days I will have sticky rice (you can get microwave ones) with something that just needs to be bunged in the oven like teriyaki chicken or similar and some stirfried veg. The final two days I will have taco salad which is the same salad base as above then I top with beef mince (you can use chicken or turkey mince) cooked in fajita seasoning, grated cheese, salsa and scoop it all up with tortilla chips (you can get these gluten free).

None of these take long and there isn't much chopping etc.

Yep take your point. We actually do ours with GF pasta cos DH is coeliac.

You can do curries, risotto, meat joints in it though. It cooks very quickly and had the benefit that you can put it on and leave it so op could rest

What about something like risotto...I find it absorbing and get into the flow! I know the perception is it's labour intensive, but if you sat on a perching stool at the stove top it could be quite easy, but also rewarding and creative as you can experiment with different herbs and flavour combinations. And baked aranchini balls the next day?

@poetryandwine unfortunately
no dairy, not even clarified butter. I’ve gone through phases of trying to introduce clarified butter. I’d
buy lactic butter to minimise lactose then triple or quadruple clarify it myself to try to get rid of the CMP as I react really badly to that. And it doesn’t work for me, it gives me skin flares and other symptoms. Made several attempts to do that but about five years ago just decided to stop flogging a dead horse.

So I use good quality EVOO for most things, for sweet things and some Asian cookery where a more neutral flavour is needed I use macadamia oil.

@SavBlancTonight thanks, it’s very sweet of you share your ideas. Unfortunately I can’t do garlic, onion or any other allium (so includes leeks, annd even chives/the free part of spring onions which work for some people aren’t really great for me). I can’t do any brassicas (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, rocket). I also can’t have tomatoes. Or dairy.

@nameXname I just wanted to say such a heartfelt thank you for your posts. I feel both seen and heard.

It is really hard because there is so much I have to avoid, and it does strip the core out of a lot of cuisines. There is only so much you can sub without things being unrecognisable. Sometimes that undeniable thing you end up with is very lovely and sometimes it isn’t.

One of the joys of this thread for me has been realising there could be some exploration of Japanese/Korean flavours wouldn’t need a huge amount of adaptation and which utilise cooking techniques that fit my time/energy constraints.

It’s very helpful to have another vote for the remoshka, it does really sound like that might be a new avenue for me.

I do have a wee rice cooker and do really like it. Sometimes even that is a bit too much and then I use jasmine rice from a packet which is ok in a push. Thankfully fewer days are like that now.

Polenta is something I have never tried to make so that’s an idea I will try.

I do make pancakes sometimes with a flour blend that includes buckwheat. I use almond or hazelnut milk and some aquafaba as you say. Can’t be too often as I have to be sparing with pulses but a welcome variation when possible.

Again, thank you for seeing the whole picture and making me feel seen/heard. I was starting to struggle a bit.

Jamie Oliver has a recipe book and each recipe only has 5 ingredients. That might work for you?

@SpaceOP that kind of fried rice using packet rice is a staple for me. Yestersay I had one made with thinly sliced carrot and courgette with seabass. It’s something I really enjoy and it is possible to ring the changes. Risotto I have to be careful with (see below)

@Richtea67 Risotto is a tricky one. Risotto rice has a lot of amylopectin, a type of starch which I don’t tolerate too well in large amounts or eaten frequently. I tend to stick to jasmine rice as this is higher in amylose, a type of starch I tolerate a lot better. So risotto is a thing I make infrequently (similarly rice pudding- I make one with almond milk, rose water and vanilla).

@WishesPromised I just googled that and there are about 100 of those recipes online on his site! I’ll take a look for some inspiration, thank you

I’m sorry you have such restrictions- I have a chronic illness so was keen to help but got stuck on the garlic and tomato I use most and missed the gluten!

Can you think in terms of Buddha bowls, with small servings of several things, to increase the variety?

I love beetroot, sweetcorn, nuts, bean sprouts, pea sprouts, water chestnuts, chicken, ham, tofu an bacon as my ‘tasty bits’, with some basic salad stuff of your choice. Carrot, celery, lettuce etc.

I also like peanut butter on celery.
Rice noodles with sesame seed oil.

Chicken thighs cooked dry in a slow cooker till they are jammy are good.

Noodle pots? M&S/Ocado do a small bag of mixed veg of which can be cooked in microwave in the bag itself. Plus you can get gluten-free miso paste

Tamal Ray’s healthy lunch recipes: noodle pots and dal with flatbreads | Food | The Guardian

You can add things to the rice cooker either as part of a rice dish or you can put things like fish in a foil parcel.

You could cook, say one foil parcel with white fish and a second with salmon to eat later / the next day.

Frozen veg can also be added to the rice as you are cooking it, I'm thinking peas and sweetcorn if you are OK with them.

@pickledandpuzzled @Borek
Just added some thin rice noodles to this week’s order to try some of these ideas. I used to use them in stir fries but had totally forgotten about them.

@sashh those are really good ideas, especially the fish. I eat both trout and seabass regularly. I usually cook two pieces at a time but I hadn’t thought of doing two kinds at once. That really could make my life a lot easier.

I just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone on this thread who has helped me. Not just for your ideas but for the support.

The challenges my illnesses have given me with food had had a much bigger effect on me emotionally than I realised til I started this thread.

I just kind of soldiered on, taking on one change at a time and didn’t realise how quite much everything had gotten me down.

Over the years I’d gotten practical help with individual things from specialist blogs and subreddits but it was quite compartmentalised. And actually a lot of my difficulties are that there are a lot of different angles to this.

I also had never managed to articulate the sense of loss I felt over my ability to cook for myself and others and connect through food. It was really emotional realising that aspect to it.

So again, thank you because the ability to speak about it in it’s totality, receive support and ideas (and recognition/validation that it’s really hard), has put me in a much, much better frame of mind about food than I have been in for years.

The last few days have really, really helped me. Thank you.

Have you tried ginger paste from the Indian bit of the supermarket? I use the garlic and ginger version but they do ginger on its own, if that's safe for you.

I've not tried it yet but have been reading a lot about things you can put in a rice cooker with rice that makes it a bit more exciting. (Also mine makes porridge if that is in any way your bag).

@EcstaticMarmalade I'm glad you like the idea, I wasn't sure it was heading in to batch cooking recipes.

Obviously it doesn't have to be fish, chicken would work, if you are OK with that.

Through using Gousto, I've got a selection of 10 min recipes. When I'm not using Gousto I use the recipe cards to meal plan and then shop online with. It makes meal planning easier and I know I have all the ingredients for a quick but tasty meal. Favourites are a quick bean chilli and a carbonara. It helps to buy some prepared food, like frozen onions and garlic paste.