When I first set up my apartment in Lima, Peru, getting a propane delivered to the apartment wasn’t so easy because they spoke so quickly on the phone and my Spanish was not up to that speed. So I learned to conserve gas while cooking so I could prolong how long it would take to get a new gas tank. The propane would be delivered by motorcycle!
I often poach fish, after making a curry or moist sauce for noodles or rice. I put the fish on top of the boiling liquid, turn the heat off and put on a lid. I have learned what thickness works for this method. Also no fish smell!
I often cook veggies this way too if I’m already making soup. Lately I’ve been blanching nettles and drinking the blanching water as a tonic.
I make perfectly boiled eggs with NO ice. I boil refrigerated eggs in water (with a little bit of vinegar because super fresh eggs can be hard to peel) and go for 6 minutes. I take the eggs out and let them finish cooking at room temp for an hour or so before I put cold water over them to peel. I’m not sure how this would work in a restaurant because there can be some inconsistency with a larger thermal mass and eggs in the center being hotter longer than the outside ones but it works well at home for 6-8 eggs
When roasting veggies in the house, especially something forgiving like sweet potatoes, I’ll cut the time almost 10 min short and let the residual heat do the rest. I might go to the store or bakery and come back to take the things out.
Growing up, my family made congee in an insulated thermal “cooker.” You have a pot that you heat up the water/stock and rice in and when it’s at a boil, put the lid on and put the pot inside the insulated “cooker” and let time do the work. We would heat this up at night and by morning have breakfast.
Now I really cook this way all the time, mostly because with two little ones under 4 and making ALL our meals, I am efficient so that I can find time for myself.
And not really cooking, but cooking related, because we do all our dishes by hand, I have found ways to not wash extra things. I store prepped items in the bowls we eat our meal in, so we don’t have anything extra to wash (though I would rinse and not use soap on things that aren’t greasy anyways.
Cheers. LOVE this exploration for all of us who have lived in imbalance of unchecked, un appreciated abundance too long.
LOVE all the ideas, Karen! I have also been doing these things subconsciously but now, all of a sudden, wait…these are really wonderful ideas. WHY don’t we adopt this philosophy more? I do the same things with eggs - why consume more ice than we need?
I love this, Anita! I am a hater of waste also. My mother-in-law was always trying to find ways to save on gas and oven time and I used to pooh-pooh her because I thought those savings were negligible. Now, I have come to realize that every action counts and we all have to do our part. Besides, like you said - it's fun to find new ways to cook that also help conserve energy and food costs! Bring it on - I'm looking forward to this series.
Thanks, Lynn! At one time, I also associated such ideas with stinginess but NOW I realize that we all need to adopt more of such ideas….I also try to do more things than one in the oven!
Anita, this post sings to me!
When I first set up my apartment in Lima, Peru, getting a propane delivered to the apartment wasn’t so easy because they spoke so quickly on the phone and my Spanish was not up to that speed. So I learned to conserve gas while cooking so I could prolong how long it would take to get a new gas tank. The propane would be delivered by motorcycle!
I often poach fish, after making a curry or moist sauce for noodles or rice. I put the fish on top of the boiling liquid, turn the heat off and put on a lid. I have learned what thickness works for this method. Also no fish smell!
I often cook veggies this way too if I’m already making soup. Lately I’ve been blanching nettles and drinking the blanching water as a tonic.
I make perfectly boiled eggs with NO ice. I boil refrigerated eggs in water (with a little bit of vinegar because super fresh eggs can be hard to peel) and go for 6 minutes. I take the eggs out and let them finish cooking at room temp for an hour or so before I put cold water over them to peel. I’m not sure how this would work in a restaurant because there can be some inconsistency with a larger thermal mass and eggs in the center being hotter longer than the outside ones but it works well at home for 6-8 eggs
When roasting veggies in the house, especially something forgiving like sweet potatoes, I’ll cut the time almost 10 min short and let the residual heat do the rest. I might go to the store or bakery and come back to take the things out.
Growing up, my family made congee in an insulated thermal “cooker.” You have a pot that you heat up the water/stock and rice in and when it’s at a boil, put the lid on and put the pot inside the insulated “cooker” and let time do the work. We would heat this up at night and by morning have breakfast.
Now I really cook this way all the time, mostly because with two little ones under 4 and making ALL our meals, I am efficient so that I can find time for myself.
And not really cooking, but cooking related, because we do all our dishes by hand, I have found ways to not wash extra things. I store prepped items in the bowls we eat our meal in, so we don’t have anything extra to wash (though I would rinse and not use soap on things that aren’t greasy anyways.
Cheers. LOVE this exploration for all of us who have lived in imbalance of unchecked, un appreciated abundance too long.
LOVE all the ideas, Karen! I have also been doing these things subconsciously but now, all of a sudden, wait…these are really wonderful ideas. WHY don’t we adopt this philosophy more? I do the same things with eggs - why consume more ice than we need?
I love this, Anita! I am a hater of waste also. My mother-in-law was always trying to find ways to save on gas and oven time and I used to pooh-pooh her because I thought those savings were negligible. Now, I have come to realize that every action counts and we all have to do our part. Besides, like you said - it's fun to find new ways to cook that also help conserve energy and food costs! Bring it on - I'm looking forward to this series.
Thanks, Lynn! At one time, I also associated such ideas with stinginess but NOW I realize that we all need to adopt more of such ideas….I also try to do more things than one in the oven!