This post contains affiliate links to Amazon and other companies that will reward me monetarily or otherwise when you use them to make qualifying purchases. For more information please refer to my disclaimer page. Thank you for your support.

I have a confession to make.   I am a lazy chef.  There, I’ve said it! 

And I really believe it to be true. The question is, “What makes me a lazy chef?”

It’s not that I’m a lazy person.  I’m not.   I’m always doing something, always working on something.  I work hard and I like to play hard.  It is how I was raised and it’s how I try to raise my kids.

And it’s not that I don’t cook.  I have eight kids.  Get real, of course, I cook. My family usually gets homecooked meals too.  I just think it’s important.  So yes, I cook…all the time.

And, it’s not that I hate to cook.  I don’t.  It may not be my favorite thing to do.  To be sure, I’d much rather be canoeing down a river in the mountains or reading a book on the beach.  Yet, there is definitely a certain satisfaction in seeing my loved ones enjoy the meal that I’ve prepared for them.  I do like to know that they are eating well.

Still, I’m a lazy chef. 

What do I mean?

You may ask what I mean then.

Simply, I like to make cooking as easy on myself as possible.  If there is a time-saving gadget, I want it.  If there is a machine that will simplify the process, all I can say is yes, please.  Can I cook once and eat two or three times from that?  Yeah baby, let’s go!

Some may say this just makes sense.  I obviously think so.  But I know those people who enjoy the process of cooking so much that they would never consider using say…a bread machine.  An Instantpot would be completely out of the question.  And an egg cooker…that probably breaks all the rules. 

But being a lazy chef, I say use it all!!!

Neither would these people make up a big batch of muffin mix so you can just throw in a few more ingredients to save time.  Or cook a giant pot of soup and eat off of it for a weekend…how outrageous!!

Why not?

But being a lazy chef, I say, “Why not?”

So, what are some things that I do and gadgets I use to make it easier on myself?

Glad you asked. 

With this post, I’m going to share some of the things I do.  Next time I will share some of my favorite gadgets.

To begin with, if I can cook big, I do it.  With a family my size, I have always had to double a recipe just to have enough food.  At some point, I realized that I could triple, or even quadruple the recipe and have leftovers.  Aren’t leftovers grand?  Especially if you plan the meal with the intent of it lasting for a couple of more meals.

This is also a money-saving technique.  I will add just a bit more meat and a lot more sauce or broth or vegetables.  As long as you spice it up correctly it works just fine.

Three for One

Tweak this a bit with something like spaghetti sauce.  You can make a giant pot of sauce one night.  The next night eat spaghetti bake.  Then, use what’s left to make lasagna.  Three meals out of one big pot of spaghetti sauce!

Cooking big not only will save you time but also make that nickel squeal!

Another time and money-saving technique I use is to cook large quantities of meat at one time and then freeze it.  If you are going to have a couple of meals that use browned hamburger, cook what you need all at once.  Then separate it according to how much each recipe calls for and freeze it. When it’s time to make those tacos or spaghetti sauce, you already have the first step done.  Add chopped onion and garlic to the meat before you cook it for a bit more flavor.

You can do the same thing with chicken.  With chicken, I cook it in a roaster or an InstantPot.

I first learned to do this with a book called Dinner’s in the Freezer written by Jill Bond. The basic idea behind books like this one is to cook big one time a week or month.  Then you can add different ingredients to it and get several different meals.  Again, you save time and money.

Mix it up

One of my favorite things to do is to make mixes.  I have a book, Make-A-Mix
Cookbook, which I absolutely love.  In this book, you will find recipes for all kinds of mixes. You can premix these for muffins, biscuits, pancakes, sweetbreads, rolls, and more.

There are some really neat cookbooks that you can use to get ideas on how to
creatively do this.  Some books are quite health-conscious.  Others are easy on the budget.

Get Organized

If you want to be super organized and take it all a step further, try one of the Dinner’s in the Freezer books.  The idea behind these books is basically the same.  However, instead of just making a mix, you will actually prepare the majority of the meal and freeze it.  For those of you who like things organized and precise, this is the way to go.  It is a ton of work on the weekend you cook. But you basically have your meals laid out and prepared for you for the rest of the month.

Needless to say, this makes a lazy chef like myself quite happy!

If you are new at feeding a family or just want to make life easier for yourself, know that there is really nothing wrong with being a lazy chef.   You don’t always have to do things the hard way for them to be done well.

As I said, I’m still laying out home-cooked meals for my family on a regular basis.  To be sure, they eat good!