u/Cursed_Creative

And by invest, I mean things like:

• money
• education
• effort
• prioritizing well-being over other things (real trade-offs)
• etc?

immediate capture of something NOT for today = iOS Notes app note which I will review tomorrow morning over coffee and schedule

immediate capture of something FOR today = alarm

that's it. working great. ymmv.

The biggest thing was prioritizing food which I now had permission to do after receiving the large VISA bill. No one, including myself, was going to argue with me after such a bill.

Resetting kitchen between meals to reduce friction (which inevitably sent me to Chipotle esp if ravenous) at mealtime. After a few days, I realized this was mostly a simple matter of (ensuring the sink was empty enough to accommodate and) soaking my pan (and remembering to do so by setting oven timer for 20 min after meal prep and before eating) after eating to ease cleaning.

Barkeepers friend. Magic powder that makes cleaning steel pan easy which is especially important if, for some reason I can't (or forget to) soak my pan.

Steel pan. Non-negotiable (I do still use my nonstick for eggs) and no-brainer after discovering/testing barkeeper's friend. The biggest thing with the steel pan is that i can cook absolutely anything in it esp acidic things like tomatoes without worry. I also tossed my ceramic pot in favor of a steel pot.

Flavor. The food needed to be at least palatable but if better than takeout all the better. Turns out this is pretty easy with just salt, pepper, garlic powder, butter, cheese and one or two cuisine specific add-ons like oregano for Mediterranean, cumin for mexican, soy sauce for asian, etc.

Emergency fallback. Things like burritos and pasta if I don't have rice or eggs if i don't have meat and bridges between meals like smoothies ended up being plenty to get me through each day.

Anyway, the impetus of this post was that i was cleaning up my notes and thought i'd share with you bc why not:

NOTE: I'm not sure why weird formatting below and tried everything to fix but no dice. This WILL copy and paste decently from here into a text editor though.

To do

Make something w chicken broth

CROSTINI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!	

potential recipes

	find/rotate through recipes using a spice/herb eg cajun spice

	see todo list on phone

	white chicken chili p 136

	p 178 other book

	goat cheese dip w chips

opportunities

	Pre-cook INDIV dishes in advance

	i accidentally did this wed morning for dinner bc i had smoothie instead wed evening so now i have dinner!

General reminders

Remember to ALSO garnish w black pepper

Most of my dishes are veggie agnostic flavor-wise a la louis ck things just cost 'money'

misc

	I can be hungry as proven by colonoscopy prep and past calorie limitation  

	Pre-cook lunch and dinner > fridge > nuke

Recipes

One pot base

	Ingredients

		Chicken, rice, salt, pepper, water, garlic powder, lemon-lime juice

	Variations

		Burrito bowl

Cumin, corn, avocado, tomatoes, pinto/black beans, goat cheese, habanero

		Mediterraneon

Olive oil, veggies, oregano, chick peas (pepper flakes?)

		Name?

Veggies, cannellini beans, onion powder. GREAT!

		Sub pasta/parm into either of the above for pasta dish:

		GREAT (go to?) dinner dish = pinto/black beans, valentina

		BURRITO form of 'GREAT (go to?) dinner dish'

...and can sub eggs/omelette for chicken and cholula for valentina

	Veggies

		Spinach

		mixed

		stir fry

		peas

		broccoli

		corn

		tomatoes

		fresh

AVOCADO

squash/zucchini

red pepper

onion

garlic

tomato

potato

Egg sandwich WITH BUTTER

Chicken fried rice

Chicken omelette

Chicken omelette sandwich WITH BUTTER

Egg/rice omelette



Emergencies

	smoothie

	burrito esp if no rice

	egg sandwich WITH BUTTER

	PB toast

	Rx bar

REFERENCE

=========

FOUNDATION (use on everything)

Salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder

Butter (especially eggs)

Lemon/lime juice (brightens anything)

Heat: cayenne, hot sauce, pepper flakes (transparent -- adds intensity, not identity)

Olive oil

KEY TECHNIQUE: BLOOM YOUR SPICES

Heat oil first, add dry spices, stir 30-60 seconds BEFORE adding anything else

Makes spices punch 2-3x harder

Works especially well with cumin, oregano, paprika

MEDIUM HEAT MAX -- too hot and they burn and go bitter

Stir constantly -- the moment you smell them, add your wet ingredients/veggies

GARLIC POWDER + ONION POWDER = burn-prone (fine powder, no moisture)

	Add these later than other spices, or just add with the vegetables instead

TRANSPARENT vs IDENTITY FLAVORS

Transparent = amplifies the dish without pointing it anywhere (salt, acid, heat, butter, garlic, onion)

Identity = defines the cuisine -- use 1-2 max or things get muddy

CUISINE MAP (identity spices in bold)

Italian/Mediterranean	OREGANO + pepper flakes + olive oil + lemon

Mexican			CUMIN + chili powder + smoked paprika + lime

Indian			CUMIN + CORIANDER + TURMERIC (+ garam masala)

Chinese/stir fry	SOY SAUCE + sesame oil + ginger + sugar

Middle Eastern		CUMIN + CORIANDER + pinch of cinnamon + lemon

BBQ/Southern		SMOKED PAPRIKA + brown sugar + cayenne + worcestershire

Thai			FISH SAUCE + lime + chili + coconut milk

IDENTITY SPICES (pick 1-2 max, add to your foundation)

Mexican		cumin (the key one) + chili powder if you want more depth

Indian		cumin + turmeric (turmeric is the flag)

Mediterranean	oregano (you already do this)

Middle Eastern	cumin + pinch of cinnamon

BBQ		smoked paprika + brown sugar

Stir fry	soy sauce + sesame oil (liquid, not dry)

Thai		fish sauce + lime (replaces soy sauce and lemon)

TWO SPICES WORTH ADDING IF YOU DON'T HAVE THEM

Cumin		unlocks Mexican, Indian, Middle Eastern

Ginger		unlocks all Asian cooking (use powder if not keeping fresh)

UMAMI BOOSTERS (transparent, add depth to anything savory)

Worcestershire sauce -- few dashes

Soy sauce -- small amount, not just for Asian dishes

Smoked paprika -- subtle smokiness, works on almost everything

MSG -- pinch, same effect as above two, totally neutral

YOUR EXISTING DISHES MAPPED TO CUISINES

Olive oil + oregano + chickpeas + pepper flakes = Mediterranean

Pinto/black beans + valentina = Mexican-ish

Chicken fried rice + soy sauce = Chinese

Egg sandwich + butter = foundation-only (let the butter talk)

Corn/avocado/tomato/beans/goat cheese/habanero = Mexican