Dealing with food practically

Like it or not, you have got to eat few times per day. Doing whatever requires energy, food is the source of that energy (among some other stuff).

Even if it is messing with your schedule, you would rather do other stuff, the topic is out of your field of interest, you still have got to eat. Ignore, skip it, don't think about it: might work short term, but long term you are not doing yourself a favor — losing money, time, energy, not encouraging a healthy life style.

The food process an average person needs to go through with on a regular basis:

• shop (or grow)
• store
• prepare (defrost, chop, thermal treatment)
• intake (fancy expression for eating)
• tidy
• brush teeth

We want this process to be:

• not expensive (save, invest money)
• smooth (life is short, why spend it more than necessary in the kitchen)
• healthy (eating trash = rubbish energy, eating healthy = feeling good, energized)

Let's dive in:

• meal prep
• chop before storing
• knife sharpener
• food storage units
• if cooking, cook for more meals/people
• use what is in the fridge
• cook vs eating outside (time vs money)
• eating: energy, pleasure, social activity
• tidy before start eating
• liquids in spray
• food tray
• lazy flatmates? have your own gear
• have a plan: daily/weekly food routine
• shop with a grocery list
• buying in bulk
• obsessively comparing the prices

meal prep

Meal prep means thinking ahead, preparing your meal in advance (shop, chop, defrost, cook).

Typical life situation: you get hungry and need to eat ASAP. You are not prepared. What do you do? Pull over at the gas station, splash money for a crappy, 3x overpriced sandwich.

Planning ahead leads to healthier, cheaper, smoother, more nutritious food experiences over the long term.

Meal prep — prepare your meal in advance:

• for the whole week
• for a couple of days
• your next meal
• prepped ingredients

Fridge/freezer space is required.

Cooking for the whole week in advance might be too much to start with, you don't want to spend entire Sunday in the kitchen, right? Some also cry about variety, freshness, blah-blah. Get it ready for 2x as a starter. Eat now, save the other portion for the meal, that causes you the most trouble: either you skip it, or it costs you crazy amount of money.

chop before storing

Soft version of meal prepping: do the groceries, wash and chop the ingredients before storing. That's it. Veggie, meat, bread, cheese, ham, etc. Or even better, if possible, ask in the store to do it for you.

Cutting in advance makes cooking, preparing snacks extremely smooth. It also takes less space in the fridge.

When we were kids, nobody wanted to eat the apples from the garden. Then my father chopped it to pieces, guess what happened?

knife sharpener

Cutting with a knife, that doesn't cut. So annoying, but we all do it. Get the tool, sharpen your main knife routinely every few weeks. According to online knives experts, it should be done every two weeks, though it depends on how often you use them.

Apparently that classic low budget knife sharpener does damage to your knife. For a knife from Ikea, that's OK. Go for more expensive solution, if having a high-tech knife from Japan.

food storage units

• plastic/aluminum wrap
• plastic bags
• zipper bags
• plastic/glass containers
• baskets

Plastic containers are cheaper, lighter to carry around. Glass is healthier, easier to clean.

The problem with (cheap) plastic? When it becomes stressed (like from the heat), it can leach harmful materials into your meal. Or the other way around. Grapes in the container, and you can still smell and taste prepped onion from a couple of days ago. Happened just recently.

To keep ingredients like coffee, cereal, grain inside original packaging or move into (glass) containers? What you might achieve with unified container set:

• better use of space
• more clarity
• easier food level monitoring
• no moths
• compatible with bulk/plastic-free grocery shopping

Label items in the freezer (name, date, quantity), herbs & spices and elsewhere to avoid confusion.

if cooking, cook for more meals/people

Cooking doesn't go without cleaning. Since you are making a mess anyway, at least get few meals out of it. You will be hungry again tomorrow, right?

Same procedure, just throw bigger quantity in the pot. 0,5kg of pasta boils for 10 min, 1kg of pasta also boils 10 min. 2 potatoes in the oven for 40 min or 10.

Cooking for more people also makes sense. Cook once, clean once, feed the whole group.

use what is in the fridge

Practical approach to cooking: use what is in the fridge. Don't make half a day project out of it. You have got better things to do!

Impractical approach: check 10 recipes online, rushing to the store for missing items, blowing a couple of hours behind the kitchen desk, so you can eat it in 10 minutes. Exhausted from the procedure, no energy left to tidy up the mess. After 2h of power nap, hungry again, half of a day gone, and your kitchen looks like Hiroshima in 1945 — typical Sunday cooking with Caci at Dunajska, madre mia!

cook vs eating outside (time vs money)

Cook vs comfortably eating outside? Saving time and energy vs saving money? What has more value?

• if nothing better to do (= watching TV series), cook for yourself, save money
• if you know what to do (= something meaningful), eat outside, buy yourself time

Research for restaurants/canteens with decent prices. Maybe make a deal with a nearby kindergarten/school kitchen, bring your own food containers. Having a once per day fixture of eating outside means much less shopping, storing, cooking, cleaning. It is not only about cooking, you cut off a whole chain of activities. Can make your life flow extremely smooth. Also brings variety to the menu.

Getting a delivery is even faster, easier, more comfortable option. But costly: cash and environmental wise (delivery packages = tons of trash).

eating: energy, pleasure, social activity

Is the food nutritious but doesn't taste the best? That's alright: in the first row, you eat for the energy, not for pleasure. The main point is not about enjoying as it was kind of a sport or a hobby, but about receiving the energy for life.

Don't complicate, don't be picky. Enjoy your meal, if it is good. Even if it is not, get done with it, move on to things that actually matter.

Meeting with someone? Why not do it over the meal. Killing two tasks in one go.

Avoid dining with French. They are more concerned about the rules and how you behave at the table than having a nice and relaxed meal.

tidy before start eating

One of the best food hacks ever: before making your first bite, clean up the kitchen and all the gear. No soaking, no "leave it for later" garbage: leave the plate with your food on, do all the rest.

1. people become lazy after getting full
2. it is easier to do the dishes while still hot, you don't need to scrub it like a maniac

My flatmate Clement aka DJ Marlem in Cranfield, he knew how to move efficiently in the kitchen. It was like watching a ballerina dancing. When he left the kitchen, it was only his plate with the food on, leaving no mess behind.

liquids in spray

Having liquids in spray aka dish detergent, cooking oil, cleaning stuff can be extremely practical. Easy, fast, might use less liquid on the long run.

food tray

You like eating outside of the kitchen? Use a food tray. No crumbs, easier to carry (plate, bowl, glass, cup, etc).

lazy flatmates? have your own gear

Living with flatmates, family members, who don't fancy doing the dishes? They will always do it later, but you need that pot now?

Have your own cooking gear: bring it in your basket, do your thing, take it with you.

have a plan: daily/weekly food routine

When, where, how to shop/cook/eat?

• to do grocery shopping once per week, several times per week?
• online, with your car, bike?
• the smaller store next door — more expensive, or the supermarket far away but super cheap?
• mega supermarket with tons of choices or semi/smaller size store with decent amount of product choices?
• buying directly from the farmer, plastic-free grocery shopping?
• how much space available to stock up: fridge, freezer, shelf, rack?
• kitchen always available or you share and want to avoid busy hours?

My weekly shopping plan:
Monday, Wednesday, Friday, with the bicycle and the big bag, in the afternoon, just before getting home. Smaller, semi-sized market, a couple of hundred meters away.

It is close, not the cheapest one, but convenient to stop by bike. Handy because it is not too big: quickly in, quickly out, not overwhelmed by tons of product choices. 3x per week strategy: high frequent but a quicker/less load stop, I don't kill my back and the bike, discounts on Wednesday and Friday, works well with my limited fridge space.

My daily food plan:

• morning: coffee, no food; snacks ready in case of emergency: banana, a spoon of peanut butter, nuts, dark chocolate
• before noon: breakfast aka eggs with whatever is (pre-chopped) in the fridge; take fruit/veggie snacks when going outside aka banana, apple, carrot, broccoli
• 2-3pm: self-service canteen lunch (fast — it is on my way, decent price, can take leftovers, brings variety to my menu, less grocery logistics, less kitchen time)
• afternoon: coffee, Nutella; prepare for later: cereal with cottage cheese, skyr, yogurt, fruit, peanut butter, etc.
• evening: quick, simple bite aka tuna, humus, cheese, any leftovers? might skip it, but then usually hungry, when going to sleep; clean all the cups, plates, food containers, that are hanging around somewhere on the desk

Looks like I am eating 5x per day: high frequency, smaller meals. Eating less frequent, bigger meals sounds practical in terms of logistics, but tiring for your body. It is difficult to function after a huge meal, your body is too busy with digesting. Power nap?

If I was meal prepping, I could undercut the canteen lunch. Would save some money, but would have to invest more time into food dealing, which means less time for writing, creating of frlan.xyz!? Hmm.

Weekends are more cooking oriented. Well, does baking frozen pizza in the oven count? Hehe. What often lands on the menu: chicken, pasta, salad, some protein powder after workout. Or burek behind the corner if I get swept away by time. Hehe 2.

shop with a grocery list

• cheaper (less random/unnecessary products in the basket)
• easy, fast & brainless (turn off your brain, just follow the list)

Have the items on the list in the same order as they are organized at your local store. Focus on protein, fruit/veggie, healthy carbs & fats. Avoid sugar, processed food, soda.

My grocery list:

The list has evolved, until few years ago it was just Domaćica, Jaffa & Cola.

Kitchen stuff:

Bathroom stuff:

buying in bulk

Separate list for bulk purchases? Make a trip once/few times per year and stock up? Elaine's advice (with many others) from her book Simplify Your Life.

Less trips, lower price on quantity, less packaging materials. Not for those with limited space.

obsessively comparing the prices

You got the best deals from several stores, checked all the catalogs, clipped and used all the coupons, didn't get ripped off for a cent. Congratulations, you are operating like a pensioner!

Is it worth the effort & time to go that into detail to save a couple of bucks!?

Sure, check the prices, grab the opportunity, take more if you see a discount on your product. But don't go nuts analyzing! You are already going cheap, you are in a supermarket, you are not dining in a fancy restaurant.

Get the groceries from your list, forget about price micro-comparing and get out! Invest that excessive time and energy towards becoming a doctor, businessman, lawyer, engineer, producer, clown, traveler, influencer or whatever the fuck you want to be.