270. My Cooking System

<p>Systems save energy. Especially if the system helps you with something you do every day. This is why I have a system for cooking. When you’re hungry, you make bad decisions, such as grabbing the quickest food you can find – which often happens to be unhealthy food. My cooking system ensures I never have to think about what to eat, or how to prepare it. It frees my time and my mind, so I can focus on creating.</p> <p>A little disclaimer before I begin: I’m not suggesting you eat what I eat. I have a <a href= "https://kadavy.net/blog/posts/chronic-lyme-disease/">mysterious chronic illness</a> and am sensitive to damn near everything. This particular diet is optimized for very specific things that apply to me. If you build a system for yourself, you might want to eat something different. The basic principles still apply.</p> <p><strong>Three principles of a cooking system</strong></p> <p>My cooking system is based upon three principles:</p> <ol> <li><strong>Batch what you can</strong></li> </ol> <p>To batch, prepare what you can beforehand. You save time and energy, and – since many of your ingredients are already ready – you have a healthy meal in no time.</p> <p>As I’ll explain in a bit, in my system, I cut and store vegetables beforehand. This is a little extra work up-front than cutting vegetables before any one meal, but over the course of several meals, it’s less time and hassle.</p> <p>You sometimes have to make compromises for the sake of a system. Pre-cut vegetables are ever-so-slightly less tasty and fresh than vegetables you’ve just cut, but cutting in advance is still a net-positive.</p> <ol start="2"> <li><strong>Never run out</strong></li> </ol> <p>A good system prevents emergencies. After a long day, you don’t want to suddenly discover you have no food, or are missing a crucial ingredient. Even if you had the energy to do so, it would be a waste to run to the grocery store. But you probably don’t have that energy, so you’ll probably order delivery – and that delivery food will not be as healthy as