Thread by @JedKolko

Alright everyone who just bought a ton of groceries and might not be used to planning and prepping most meals: I shop and cook this way all the time.

Some personal tips for saving time, not wasting food, and not getting bored with home meals.

1/

Cooked vegetables often stay longer than fresh. Cook down piles of sliced mushrooms, or greens, or onions, with some salt and olive oil. They'll stay good in your fridge for a week or two and can be used as ingredients in lots of things.

2/

Freeze things. Chop up several bunches of scallions; chop up peeled garlic; chop up fresh hot peppers -- all these can go in freezer bags and then you take what you need.
Freeze broth, heavy cream, or coconut milk in ice cube trays so you have small amounts on hand.

3/

Some grains and cooked vegetables freeze, too. Cooked quinoa is fine after being frozen and thawed. Same with cooked-down sliced mushrooms, caramelized onions, and most mushy vegetables. Freezing hurts texture more than taste, so textureless things freeze well.

4/

Lots of meals can be combinations of what you have already cooked. Many of my meals are pasta or grains with already-cooked vegetables, with eggs (any style) on top or a bit of meat mixed in.

5/

And @CiaoSamin is totally right: salt, acid, and fat do wonders. Mix in a bit of butter, olive oil, or bacon grease; use enough salt, soy sauce, or fish sauce; and don't forget lemon, lime, or vinegar.

6/

Put stuff on top, especially crunchy stuff. Peanuts, packaged fried onions, crumbled potato chips -- on grains, pasta, eggs, whatever.

7/

I cook all the time, usually won't spend more than 15 minutes at a time, and rarely look at recipes with more than 5-ish ingredients. Cook stuff down; freeze stuff; combine stuff; and don't forget salt/acid/fat.

8/

I'm an economist. My only professional food experience was a 3-month barista stint in 1992 and few short cooking videos. So this is about being efficient and getting food on the table, not about cooking for sport or glory.

And I'd love your advice and tips, too!

9/end