5 minutes on an excellent day, 15 minutes on a good day, and an hour on a bad day, lol. i don't use much prepackaged stuff either, as i don't use dairy, eggs, wheat, yeast, sugar, vinegar, msg, and a few other things which i'm intollerant to- which cuts out most of the prepackaged stuff before i start!<br><br><br><br>
i often do 2 variations on meals, as my bf isn't veg*an- but he gets what i get with something added to it, often a quick cheese omlette or canned fish, something quick and relatively 'hands off'. at home i often did 3 or 4 versions, as my bro is on a low carb thing and refuses to go near tofu or anythign hippy looking with a barge pole, mum doesn't like the taste of garlic or many beans, and dad eats meat- but i'm not home now, so they have to fend for themselves, hehehe.<br><br><br><br>
i tend to do what i see as being pretty simple things, and when i cook something properly, i'll make a whole load of it for the freezer, so that at least 2 days a week i just need to let it defrost (during the day in the fridge) then heat it (hence the 5 minute meals).<br><br><br><br>
if i'm chopping veggies, i use a mandolin slicer (v slicer) and it takes about 20 seconds instead of 10 minutes, and the onion doesn't make me cry. i'll also do extra veggies when i have them to hand and have a few minutes spare, and freeze them.<br><br><br><br>
if i'm cooking brown rice, or curry, or lasagne, or chilli, or spag-non-bol, or making soup etc, and it's gonna take around 30+ minutes, i might as well do a vat-load and freeze at least half of it. same with baking. i won't make 6 mini corn breads, if i can make 12, or even 18, in the same amount of time, and freeze half- that really helps cut down the time for me.<br><br><br><br>
i also use the same bases to make multiple things, so i'll make a kind of 6 bean salad, and add corn and french beans and tomato and herbs and spices, but make a whole lot of it, and serve some as part of dinner, then throw some spices and grated carrot/zuccini and brown lentils and potato flour into the spare half, make it into patties, and then i have ready made beanburgers for the next night.<br><br><br><br>
i'll do similar things with lentil and veggie based bolognase, or even curry- add a few quick and different ingredients and flavours (like chopped nuts, seeds, and different spices, and a few more veggies, then make it into burgers, or wrap it in pastry (not so much with the pastry as w/f pastry sucks), or top it in mashed potatoes in cassarole dish, to make a whole new dish- then freeze it (cos eating something with similar flavours 2 days in a row sometimes is boring).<br><br><br><br>
i remember how before i did this, i felt like i was always cooking, but now its so much easier. i even make about a bajillion pancakes, every now and then, then zip lock them in breakfast sized portions, lol- and its so easy to do breakfast now- just plonk them in the microwave in a big wodge for 2 minutes, add some earth balance and peanut butter, and it's done! yey!<br><br><br><br>
basically, i'd recommend: invest in a big freezer, multi-task your ingredients, and make bigger amounts when you cook.
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