IIFYL: ‘Fit your diet to how you live, not the other way around.’

Whether you’re busy or just lazy like me, there aren’t enough hours in the day to cook a decent meal, even if you’re following the Propane Protocol and only eating 2-4 meals per day.

I have settled into a solution that has completely freed up time spent in food preparation, and saved me money by allowing me to buy frozen groceries instead of fresh, which is considerably cheaper. Now I just buy bags of frozen meat/veg, put it straight in the fridge and eat it over the following days. Another advantage is that it’s encouraged me to eat more vegetables, because they’re no longer a headache to cook.

Two options, neither of which require an oven:

A) Rice cooker.

I mentioned this in 7 things that enhance my life, with overwhelming feedback from people who bought one as a result. I should start selling these door-to-door.

My baby

This thing cooks rice to perfection every time, as well as being able to steam vegetables, meat and curries.

But I’ve now graduated to the even more lazy version:

Rice noodles.

Flickr: 3liz4

Pour hot water over it, leaving 60 seconds to stand. There’s no way you can f**k that up.

These ones are sold cheaply in most supermarkets:

If you’re wondering why these are both rice-based rather than regular noodles/pasta:

A) Lower fat

B) Gluten disregulates my appetite , and may give some readers adverse reactions.

B) The Humble Microwave

My new best friend. You can cook virtually ANYTHING in the microwave, main advantages being that you can cook from frozen, and that there’s no risk of overcooking. I have seen no convincing evidence that microwave cooking has any detrimental effects on health, nor is denaturing of proteins a concern (for example, frying an egg is denaturing the proteins, yet increases its bioavailability).

Jonny recently told me you can cook frozen chicken breast in the microwave. I thought he’d finally lost the plot. Worst case scenario it would turn into some kind of salmonella-monster, best case it would come out tough and rubbery, right?

Nope, tender and juicy:

Breast with mint sauce glaze a la Microwave

Caveat: Apparently due to some mechanism that I won’t pretend to understand, any meat you cook in the microwave needs to be boneless, or it won’t cook. The cartoon above is lying.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6JBWSAdunY

Ideas:

Frozen veg: diced swede, cauliflower, broccoli, sprouts, new potatoes. Add some butter/seasoning to taste.

Meats: Chicken, white fish, turkey, pork

Eggs: Scrambled egg works fine.

Sauces: Marinades, Apple sauce/frozen apples, or just a stock cube dissolved in 30ml water.

Puddings: Many of Ben’s high-protein puddings are made in the microwave

My new laborious cooking routine:

1) Take 400g frozen chicken breast + vegetables out of fridge/freezer, place in microbag or bowl with some seasoning. (<25 sec)

2) Seal microbag or place plate on bowl. (<10 sec)

3) Turn on microwave for approx 13 min depending on weight.

4) Go and read/shower/meditate/prance around outside

5) Return to a moist tender breast. Who doesn’t want that?

Summary:

1) Chicken in the microwave.

2) Rice in the noodle.

3) Smile in the face.