Time in the Kitchen

We aim to make most things from scratch.  To that end, we spend plenty of time cooking.  Because we love to eat, cooking does not feel like a chore.  Still, I was curious exactly how much time we spend in the kitchen. Like last year's gardening time study, I recorded every person hour in the kitchen this week.  This was a fairly typical week for our three person family with one lunch at a conference, one dinner at friends', one dinner at family, two dinners hosted here, and breakfast and lunch at home every day where not noted. Our menu for last week is here. There were also two 'special' events: sausage making and stock making.  In sum, we spent 12 hours 40 minutes cooking this week.

The breakdown is as such:

Sunday - 10 min. breakfast, 2 hours sausage grinding and stuffing, 15 min. prep dinner at friends.  (We snacked our way through lunch.)

Monday - 10 min. breakfast, 10 min. lunch, 30 min. beans, 20 min. dinner

Tuesday - 20 min. active bread mixing, 60 min. bread baking, 10 min. breakfast, 15 min. lunch prep, 20 min. food saving, 30 min. dinner prep., 15 min. dinner serving.

Wednesday - 10 min. breakfast, 10 min. lunch packing, 30 min. dinner prep, 30 min. making stock, 10 min. loading stock in freezer

Thursday - 10 min. breakfast, 5 min. knife sharpening, 15 min. cookie prep, 20 min. cookies baking, 10 min. lunch prep, 30 min. dinner prep, 30 min. dinner cook

Friday - 10 min. breakfast, 5 min. lunch prep, 5 min. afternoon snack, 30 min. pizza prep, 15 min. bread prep, 15 min. pizza baking, 60 min. bread baking

Saturday - 10 min. breakfast, lunch at volunteer event, 15 min. dinner salad prep (communal dinner with Rachel's parents)

I know that nearly 13 hours sounds like a lot.  For us it is time well spent because we enjoy cooking and eating simple made-from-scratch foods.  We also know that home cooking is healthier than processed food and cheaper than dining at quality restaurants.

Coming later this week: Tips to Save Time Cooking

Finding Time to Cook Fresh Local Foods

Go to the farmer's market...Prepare the ingredients...Cook...Eat...Cleanup...  Serving fresh local foods can be a time consuming process.  With some practice and efficiency, you can eat locally without spending hours a day.  Here are some ideas:

Streamline Purchasing ~ subscribing to a CSA or growing food yourself saves time and transportation resources.  If you do shop the market weekly, make a list and stick to it.

Prepare in Batches ~ Chop ingredients that get used often (like onions and garlic) in large batches and save in the fridge.  Double stock, puree, and sauce recipes and freeze the remainder.  Make extra rice, mashed potatoes, and lentils for reusing in the following night's lunch or dinner.  Double pancake, waffles, stuffed shells, enchiladas, etc. to freeze.  Make one big batch of beans in the pressure cooker and use them in salads, sides, and lunches for the whole week.

Practice ~ Making your first loaf of bread from scratch seems to take all day.  As you bake more often, the process will become so second nature that you suddenly think it takes now time at all.  So it is with other cooking methods.

Cook Simply ~ Every meal does not need to include multiple cooked courses.  In fact, it is often healthier to have simple fresh foods.  Typical dinners at our house include a protein, starch (often baked alongside the protein or leftover from big batch cooking), and fresh salad or fruit.

Make Cooking Fun ~ Put on some music.  Include the kids.  When you re-frame cooking as a hobby instead of a chore, suddenly it becomes easy to carve out more time.

Eat Well ~ We eat together for two - three meals a day.  This is our family reconnection time.  We talk about where the meat comes from, what's fresh from the garden, and the pertinent parts of our day.   Acknowledging the source of our foods creates an atmosphere of reverence and enjoyment.

Cleanup ~ With all the cooking, dirty dishes are endless here.  I myself could use some help keeping up.  The best idea I have is to let go of the feeling that your house must be perfectly clean.   Build in a routine for picking up the clutter and loading/unloading the dishwasher. A lived in house will never and should never look clean all the time.

How do you make time to cook well?

Time in the Garden

Many garden novices seem to be overwhelmed at the time investment in gardening.  I can tell you it doesn't take that much time, but I finally realized I need to quantify it. So last week, I recorded every moment spent in the garden.  I chose mid-August because it is a typically busy time - weeding, watering, planting, and harvesting all call out for attention.   If any time is busier, it might be spring, when beds need to be turned over.

Thursday: 15 minutes harvest + 20 minutes water peach trees (15 minutes idle)

Friday: 75 minutes harvest, tie up tomatoes, remove squash plants, plant beets, water

Saturday: 15 minutes harvest

Sunday: idle

Monday: idle

Tuesday: 45 minutes harvest, disassemble potato box and water

Wednesday: 15 minutes harvest

The grand total is 185 minutes, or 3 hours 5 minutes.  Keep in mind that our garden is ~105 square feet raised beds and ~60 square feet in-ground beds.  Beginning gardeners would likely start with less square footage and therefore could expect to spend less time weekly.

Many people already spend a few hours sitting on the patio or in the backyard during the week.  Imagine adding just a little activity to your routine and being rewarded with tasty produce!