A big component of the homesteading lifestyle is cooking meals from just the basic ingredients. This also happens to be the component I most struggle with. I have yet to find a way to enjoy the act of cooking but, I think that I can improve things greatly by minimizing the time I spend preparing each meal.
When searching online for suggestions on how to better organize our daily meals I often run into a big problem ~ fridge space. Nearly every article and youtube video suggests making large portions of grains, plates of veggies and the like to store in the fridge until needed.
How? (I wonder) can someone achieve more efficiency in the kitchen with only a mini fridge?
Part of the solution is having easy to harvest and easy to use veggies freshly available at a moments notice. For me that means growing leafy greens in the garden just outside the kitchen door.
And also my indoor cultivation of grains & legumes have a major roll to play. I still have a few pounds of these lentils that I grew in the winter garden last year. After soaking them overnight it is easy to get them to sprout, all I need to do is wash them daily. Once sprouted, a grain/legume cooks way way faster than if starting from the dry seed.
Another target on my list of cooking goals is healthy snacks. We live quite a few miles from town and only have bikes for transport. So, buying bread & cheese from the store for each meal is just not practical for my lifestyle. As food prices continue to rise in Argentina I have to decide: do I search out a second job? Or do I work with the ingredients I have on hand: flours, greens, squash, etc. and transform them into delicious, nutritious meals?
As a dedicated homebody, I am definitely leaning towards the second option.
Edit :: I want to jump back in here an include a creator that has really inspired me to get more serious about saving money and making the most of the food I have access to. Here it is: