These cooking rules are more like vague guidelines to make cooking and dealing with food in general, a fun and delicious experience every time. They are a nice reminder, to not take nutrition too seriously, but still be mindful of your eating habits.
When deciding if I want to cook a meal I consider all the parts: ingredient prep, cooking, eating, and cleaning. If I can't commit to the whole process, I'll rather eat a sandwich. Driving around with a sink full of dirty dishes is awful.
Ideally, I only cook meals that take less than 30 minutes to make from start to finish, not including the eating time. I'd rather do something more enjoyable than waste my day in the kitchen.
However, sometimes cooking is a form of relaxation. On those days, I tend to create longer and more complicated meals while binge-watching Youtube or I put my headphones on (music, podcasts, audiobooks) and do meal prep. I even make desserts occasionally.
I don't try the food while I'm cooking. Mostly because it makes me hungrier so it is even harder to wait for it to be done. Secondly, I end up adding more seasoning than needed, which then completely takes over the flavor. I actually like the taste of vegetables, so that's a no for me. But also, I always burn my tongue, and then I can't taste anything anyway. 😝 The first time I taste the meal is when I eat it off the plate.
Herbs are your friend. They add flavor to food and have lots of health benefits. I prefer to buy fresh herbs and use them up quickly, instead of hoarding bottles of dried goods that I won't use in a decade. That's for people that live in houses.
Less is more. When we constantly add too much seasoning, we forget what the food actually tastes like. And over time it can become tasteless to us. That is why I only like to use salt, garlic, Vegeta (herb-salt mix), and occasional taco seasoning.
The dose makes the poison. Too much of anything is bad for us, even water. I try to eat a variety of different ingredients prepared in different ways as much as my current lifestyle allows me to.
Listen to your body. What a cliche right?! If I had a penny for every time I heard an influencer say that... But then I tried it. And you know what, my body really seems to know what it wants and when.
Try to create something new rather than run to the store all the time. Sometimes I am left with a bizarre list of ingredients to make a meal and to be honest, 9 out of 10 times it turns out delicious. And that one time is usually a funny or a disgusting story. 🤣
If you have any cooking suggestions that I should at to my list, please leave a comment. I'm always open to new ideas.
Lara xo