Start cleaning dishes as you cook. This leaves you with only a few at the very end.
me_irl
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I built a habit out of this so when I finish cooking the kitchen is back as I found it, very useful.
also like, what the fuck kinda cooking are these people doing????
when i cook i use like.. 3 pots and pans at most? frying pan, saucepan, and big pot for boiling pasta/potatoes/whatever
takes like 1 minute to handwash holy shit, and if you have a washing machine it's even more a complete non-issue
Making something super basic like waffles or crepes is still gunna be a couple Bowls, measuring cups, utensils and a pan, as well as a bong, downstem and bowl.. Add eggs and bacon make it 2 pans. 8-10 items to wash without plates and utensils to eat with.
Now let's do steak with compound butter, potatoes, and a salad.
Cutting board, skillet, spatula, plate to salt & dehydrate steak. Cup to melt butter, garlic press. Pot for potatoes for mashing, pot for gravy if not using skillet. Spoon for tasting. Salad board, knife and spoons and Bowl to mix salad. 10-15 items and im not even high enough to be hungy enough to eat something this heavy.
so just get some waffle mix if that's an issue for you? Also, baking is not a fair example, because that's fucking baking and everyone knows it's basically home chemistry.
we're just talking about cooking some sort of food, which to me is at its most basic starch, protein, sauce, and ideally some vegetables, which takes 2-3 pans, a spatula, something to stir the sauce with, and probably a strainer for the starch, and of course a plate and utensils. You can cook food without measuring things.
Which all in all takes minutes to wash up.
Trick yourself into thinking you're enjoying the journey too
I love cooking apparently
It's a lot of fun if it's for other people.
Even better when it's also with other people
Some of my favorite parties are when the guest show up at noon and we spend all day cooking, drinking and listening to music.
Then, when we're all hammered around dinner time, we have all this amazing food to eat!
For sure, cooking can be the best. I'd love to cook for me and a couple people on the regular. But cooking professionally would get real tiring real quick.
Big big brain move for life
Hobby cook who likes to experiment accidentally making something that tastes like shit so you don't even get the 10 minutes of pleasure:
That's part of learning. I'd you don't experiment and do crazy shit every once in awhile, you'll never learn what works and what doesn't.
The experimenting part is the best. It's your stomach telling you it's craving something different, and you're trying to figure out how to deliver. It's great.
You either need to learn to eat from the pan(it's a one pan recipe, regardless if it is or not), cook enough for 3 days, or do impromptu fasting( absolutely for health and wellness and not because you don't want to wash dishes)
Dude. Leftovers. Thats like up to a week of food if you make a casserole or a lasagna.
Lasagna can last a week for you? I can finish it in a day or two XD
It actually lasts longer when I'm not living alone. I get embarrassed when someone realizes I just ate 5000 cals in one sitting.
That's why I put everything in the dishwasher. Knives, scissors, sponges, brushes, nonstick pans... if you can't survive the dishwasher then GTFO my kitchen.
Lol. I'm with ya there except for knives. It took me a lifetime to acquire a full set of very nice, very expensive kitchen knives, so I treat them with the respect they deserve.
Reminds me of the many times my dad and i got reemed out by my mother for putting her fancy bullshit thingomawhatsit reverse camshaft hoozlmajig in the dishwasher.
Depressed people, listen, I understand that pile of dishes is symbolically more than a pile of dishes. But trust me, get up now and do it. It will take you 5 minutes and you might even be rewarded with a hit of dopamine. Go now. You can do it; I believe in you.
2 hours!? You need to learn to cook easier meals or bigger portions so you can eat for multiple days. Most of my daily meals take 30 min to prepare. Chek out sorted food on YouTube. They make a big deal out of cooking easy dishes (as well as a lot of other fun challenges for themselves and comedy stuff) They have a few "Chef/normal vs takeout" that you can start watching.
Edit: here's some links you can start with.
30 min cooking battle https://youtu.be/nQi5e0LBz8g?si=B4JRRkIzmMOufTJL
Normal vs takout https://youtu.be/1t1J-bAR3G0?si=t6wS9X64beRKGkKV
Chef vs takeout https://youtu.be/Nie38fRqnbE?si=_SQNo-8ctJAVU_S3
My guy/gal/pal, cooking is fun. I like cooking for two hours. It's just the cleanup I despise. Also, eating the same stuff for more than two days in a row would be hell for me.
Eating the same stuff for more than two days in a row would be hell for me.
Freezer.
Eat one portion, refrigerated one portion (don't have ot eat it the next day. It'll be good for up to a week), freeze the other two.
I make ragú for pasta, eat one portion when it's ready, refrigerate a small jar for another 2 portions, and freeze enough for another ~10 portions.
You can do the same with soups, stews, etc.
Vegetables (root vegetables I guess. Not things like salad) are usually pretty straight forwards: olive oil, salt, pepper, oven, 200C, for 20 minutes. Not worth freezing, but you can refrigerate and things like potatoes and carrots will be just fine for a week.
I enjoy cooking as well so that's good to hear. The washing up part is eased a lot if you get a dishwasher. Even a small tabletop mounted one can be a big help. It's also good for the environment since it uses less water and energy.
About eating the same two days in a row I'll counter that with the use of the freezer or eat offset so make one large portion to divide. Eat something else the day after and then leftovers the day after that. Then its not twice in a row at least.
Or make dishes that can be twisted into different types. A bolognese can be used in a pasta dish one day and tortilla the next and then nachos if you have any left.
Yeah I cook a new thing every week and it's very rare for it to ever take 2 hours. I would have to make multiple things for it to take 2 hours.
I mean, I've just created a cars coloring drawing for my toddler that took an hour, and it was 5 minutes of coloring fun for him. But we've got a nice new drawing on the refrigerator, so we have that going for us
Who says you have to wash the plates? Keep it in for the next time! It'll enhance the flavor. /s
This is why I don’t cook anything fancy.
If I can’t throw together in 2 minutes and toss it in a a cooker unattended until a timer goes off or eat it uncooked, I don’t care enough to make it.
Boring? Sure. I still enjoy my ramen with broccoli and my canned peaches oatmeal.
Canned peaches are something else though.
You make them with cinnamon?
Not yet but that’s a good idea to add!
Depression single parenting - paper plates and disposable plasticware. It allowed me to cook and feed us without the additional piling of dishes on top of everything else. If nothing else, the one pan got washed before cooking again.
Except for me at the end I don’t even feel like eating anymore
10 minutes!? Slow down and enjoy it!
Eating slower also pays off by reducing the chance for acid reflux.
The Conquest Of Bread has a section on communal kitchens which would fix this problem. So chalk another one up to capitalism
Every time I make a meal from Hello Fresh my kitchen looks like a bomb exploded.
I crushed more uber eats food than I should have last night. 50 seconds of ordering.
Only 10x more expensive than home cooking, and 1/4 as healthy!
My arteries were crying out in agony.
I just did this and i hated it yes even the eating.
If you're pressed for time, this cookbook has been great for my family. Basically it's a meal prep day where you prep ingredients (cook the protein, prep veggies), and for 3 different meals you mix some stuff together, throw it in the oven, and boom, a freshly cooked meal in 30 minutes, 20 of which was waiting for the oven.
This is why I still live in my parent's house. I cook and my mom and brother take turns cleaning the dishes.
I never do recipes that take longer than half an hour to prepare. Unless I can eat multiple times from it with the whole family.
Get yourself a dishwasher its an absolute lifesaver.
And the whole cooking thing its one of those few things that anyone can learn (u have chatgpt) and can perfectly taylor to themselves.
Cooking is not a skill or chore its an artform where you are the only contestant and judge.