Beware of recipes

Use recipes sparingly. I am anti-recipe because they have a way of sneaking up on you. Suddenly you realize there was something you should have done yesterday, There’s a missing ingredient. You don’t have the required double boiler. You need to convert grams and celsius to ounces and fahrenheit. Or maybe you spent so much energy on the main dish you forgot to make anything to go with it. There’s a good chance that a recipe will end up being more work than you bargained for. Use recipes for very special occasions after you’ve made cooking a hobby.

You do however need a small set simple, flexible and delicious go-to meals that you can make without thinking about it. I’ve got a starter set of meals here that work well for us. You may need to follow these recipes a few times before they are committed to memory. These work well for us because they are simple, they can be easily varied and they lend themselves to implementing the rest of the principles. You can use any meals you like that fit the requirements. 

• Steak night (Tri-tip, Roasted Brussels sprouts and Sweet Potatoes)

• Taco night (Pork, peppers, onions, avocado, tortillas, cheese)

• Mediterranean night (chicken, broc, cauliflower, pita hummus)

• Chili night (Beef, peppers, onions, tomatoes, beans, cheese, tortilla chips, hot sauce)

Recipe outline:

Title, ingredients, mise en place, steps, variations, leftover reuse ideas

Of course - feel free to substitute with your own recipes and meal plans that are simple, easily varied and lend themselves to implementing the rest of the principles.