How to Bundle Cook So You Never Have to Eat Another Junk Food Dinner Again (Really)
How many times have you come home at the end of a long day, wished you had a healthy dinner waiting for you, and, because there wasn’t one, resorted to eating whatever junk was available? Too many times to count?
Well, if you can find 3 hours of free time once during your week, then I want to offer you a solution. In just three hours of steady cooking, you can prepare six to eight separate dishes all at once that can feed you throughout the week. Bundle your cooking, just like you would bundle your errands into one trip, and you will save yourself a ton of extra time and effort in the days that follow. You will also never have to come home from a long day and make do with junk.
So, how do you do this? I’ve got some tips of the trade to share that will help you make bundle cooking a success. Here they are:
Before all else, consult your calendar! Look for a three-hour pocket of time in the coming week when you can devote yourself to just cooking (bonus points if you can make it the same time every week, but you don’t have to). Make sure it’s time when you know you won’t be bothered with outside distractions, and when you will have enough energy to really focus on the task in front of you. This will be your “me time” in the kitchen, your time to Zen out and just play with food.
Some of the cookbooks I drew from on a recent bundle cooking day.
A few days before cooking, gather your recipes! Think about what kinds of food you want to eat. Perhaps there are seasonal vegetables you want to take advantage of, or ingredients in the fridge that you know you need to use up. Perhaps you’ve just got a weird hankering for eggplant (it happens!). Take 15-30 minutes to consult your cookbooks and the internet for the recipes that will incorporate those ingredients, and that when cooked together won’t overstretch your kitchen tool supplies, oven, or stovetop space. You are going to be cooking multiple dishes simultaneously, so it will help to have some recipes that use the oven (ideally at the same temperature), some that use the stovetop or other appliances, and some that are cooked cold.
Make sure you have plenty of storage containers! You aren’t going to be eating all of the dishes you cook the same day, so make sure you have something to keep them all in and that you’ve got room for them in the fridge.
Brown rice, beans, and buckwheat that I soaked the night before for a bundle cooking session.
Gather all the ingredients you need by the night before you cook! Whether you order in your groceries, purchase them in person, or miraculously already have all the ingredients you need at home (for any of you who manage the latter, I salute you), make sure you’ve got them in hand by the night before you cook. This is particularly important if you follow a plant-based or whole food diet and need to soak beans, nuts, or grains for any of your dishes, but it also helps conserve your time and energy for cooking on cooking day. I realize some people L.O.V.E. to shop, but for many of us shopping is exhausting, and it uses up another hour of time that we need to work in the kitchen. So, get the shopping out of the way on a different day. You’ll be happy you did.
Cooking three different kinds of grain at the same time for three separate dishes.
On cooking day, revisit your recipes and create a step-by-step to-do list! Read through all of your recipes carefully. How do the ingredients need to be prepped before they are incorporated into each dish? Can any of the ingredients be prepped at the same time (i.e., can you bundle any of your prep tasks, like chopping or roasting, for multiple recipes)? Do you need to preheat any of your appliances, and if so, when? What will take the longest to cook? You may want to start that before any of your other dishes. What can you leave untended as it cooks while you prepare other things? Are there dishes you want to eat immediately once you are done cooking? Should they be made last? How are you going to time all of the dishes as they cook? Once you’ve got the answers to these questions, write down all the tasks you need to complete over the next three hours in the order in which they need to be completed. Get as granular with the list as you need, and consult it regularly as you cook. If you’re like me, too, you can check each item off as you complete it and get just as much satisfaction from that as any of the food you are making. Yes, I am one of those people.
One of my to-do lists.
Once you start cooking, just cook, and let your to-do list do the thinking for you! By making your step-by-step list, you have gotten the executive function part of the cooking out of the way and can just be in the moment as you roast, chop, stir, and bake. Turn on some music, if you want, and let your senses guide you. Soak up all the tastes and smells and have fun. Keep a glass of water nearby so you can fill up when you need it (the kitchen can get steamy), and take breaks when you need them, but not too long. Try to stay on task as steadily as you can. Make this time in the kitchen a focused meditation. You’ll be surprised how quickly the three hours will go by.
Finally, clean as you go! Nobody wants to finish three hours of cooking just to spend another hour cleaning up. So, while you bundle cook multiple dishes and bundle like tasks together as you cook, my recommendation is that you do not bundle the clean-up. By doing so, you will save time at the end, and in the middle you will keep your sink, countertops, and kitchen tools free for ongoing prep. You may also keep cross-contamination between foods at a minimum (Germs=Yuck!). Therefore, as you cook, take time to wash your pots, pans, cutting boards, and kitchen utensils as you use them, and wipe down your counters regularly. Don’t bust out the heavy counter cleaning chemicals until you are completely done with cooking, but don’t let drips and crumbs linger for long. When you have finished boxing up the last of the food for storage, you will be done-done in the kitchen, not slaving away at the sink.
I bundle cook as often as I can, and it has helped me in so many ways. I have more time to rest up in the evenings. I have more variety in my diet. I always have healthy options for lunch, dinner, and snacks, and because of that almost all the food I put in my body is healthy and tastes fantastic. There really is nothing like a home-cooked meal to make me feel good and feel cared for. Home cooking is the ultimate act of self-nurturing, and when I set aside time just for cooking, I get to forget about the whirlwind around me for a while and just focus, just flow. Even when the rest of my life gets crazy, after three hours of focused cooking I’m calm, relaxed, and happy in the knowledge that (for once) I have accomplished something concrete.
Bundle cooking may bring you a lot of the same benefits, or different ones, but you won’t know what they are until you try it. When you do, it’s important to remember that it will likely take some practice until you really get used to it. Start small at first, maybe cooking only two or three meals at once, and work your way up. When things go south at some point (it wouldn’t be cooking if it didn’t sometimes), that will be an opportunity to learn how to do things differently in future. Over time you will find the bundle cooking process that works best for you and your kitchen. Have fun with it and let me know if you need any additional assistance.