I have food allergies which require me to eat mostly home-cooked
from-scratch meals, and I have a little system for coping with this:
At any time, I have a menu consisting of meals A, B, ... G (each of
which could be anything I like to eat which freezes well -- usually
entrees without the carbs). Because carbs are easier to cook on a
weekday with almost no trouble.
However the quantities are what I call a triangular queue. This means
I have
A + 2B + 3C + ... + 7G
(meaning I have one entree of recipe A, two entrees of recipe B, up to
seven entrees of recipe G). At this point you can guess the algorithm
for eating -- during any given week, I will eat:
A + B + C + ... + G
(meaning I will eat a different recipe for dinner on each day of the
week). At which point I will have a smaller triangular queue of:
B + 2C + ... + 6G
Then at the weekend, I will batch-cook 7 new entrees of a new recipe H
(which could be recipe A again if I really like it, or something new).
Which brings me "back" to a triangular queue:
B + 2C + 3D + ... + 6G + 7H
It looks too methodical when described in writing, but this allows me
to eat a different thing every day of the week, and yet cook only one
recipe at the end of the week. For me that is a HUGE winner.
My freezer needs to have space for 28 entrees, which works well for
every freezing compartment I have had. It helps to use (almost)
square tupperware containers (instead of circular ones) to maximize
use of freezer space. Each container is just big enough to contain
one meal's entree. And to use postits to label the outside of the
container with the date each item was cooked and which recipe it is.
And try not to keep anything too long but for me two months (the worst
case) has been perfectly fine.
Rather amusing what a programmer will think of in a Kitchen. But hey,
it works :-).
The rest of the advice others have given also applies -- using some
nice cookbooks, finding a pressure cooker, etc, etc. Also watch
youtube cooking videos. There are a gazillion recipes on youtube, and
depending on your taste, you will probably discover some cooks whose
recipes you like and trust, who make many different recipes under some
sort of channel or brand on youtube.
At any time, I have a menu consisting of meals A, B, ... G (each of which could be anything I like to eat which freezes well -- usually entrees without the carbs). Because carbs are easier to cook on a weekday with almost no trouble.
However the quantities are what I call a triangular queue. This means I have
A + 2B + 3C + ... + 7G
(meaning I have one entree of recipe A, two entrees of recipe B, up to seven entrees of recipe G). At this point you can guess the algorithm for eating -- during any given week, I will eat:
A + B + C + ... + G
(meaning I will eat a different recipe for dinner on each day of the week). At which point I will have a smaller triangular queue of:
B + 2C + ... + 6G
Then at the weekend, I will batch-cook 7 new entrees of a new recipe H (which could be recipe A again if I really like it, or something new). Which brings me "back" to a triangular queue:
B + 2C + 3D + ... + 6G + 7H
It looks too methodical when described in writing, but this allows me to eat a different thing every day of the week, and yet cook only one recipe at the end of the week. For me that is a HUGE winner.
My freezer needs to have space for 28 entrees, which works well for every freezing compartment I have had. It helps to use (almost) square tupperware containers (instead of circular ones) to maximize use of freezer space. Each container is just big enough to contain one meal's entree. And to use postits to label the outside of the container with the date each item was cooked and which recipe it is. And try not to keep anything too long but for me two months (the worst case) has been perfectly fine.
Rather amusing what a programmer will think of in a Kitchen. But hey, it works :-).
The rest of the advice others have given also applies -- using some nice cookbooks, finding a pressure cooker, etc, etc. Also watch youtube cooking videos. There are a gazillion recipes on youtube, and depending on your taste, you will probably discover some cooks whose recipes you like and trust, who make many different recipes under some sort of channel or brand on youtube.