“I don’t have time to cook”
You’ve heard it. You’ve even probably said it yourself. Not having enough time to cook properly has become an increasingly common excuse as people become seemingly busier and busier. Along with a busier life, alternatives like UberEats and Takeaway give people more and more reasons not to cook themselves. Though you save some money because you’re likely getting fast food, which is cheaper than most take-out, you’re still not saving that much time. Between driving to the nearest fast food joint, ordering, waiting in line, and then driving back, you’re likely still spending about 30 minutes on the entire process.
But when we think about this sentence: aren’t terms like “busy” and “not enough time” kind of relative? For one individual, being “busy” might mean working a nine to five job, then working another part-time job afterward, and finally, a blissful arrival at home at 9 or 10 p.m. For others, it might mean heading to work at 10 p.m., getting off at 6 a.m., sleeping for most of the day and then doing it all over again. And for the third set of people, it might mean not going to your standard nine to five job at all but working from home or taking care of kids.
So, if being “busy” means something different for everybody, how is it possible that people from many different walks of life simply don’t have the time to cook? Maybe not having enough time really isn’t the issue at all, but rather, cooking healthy meals on a regular basis just doesn’t seem like enough of a priority. Compared to tasks related to jobs, school, or childcare and so on…
So, here’s what everything comes down to: the problem is likely not that you don’t have enough time, but a lot of the social myths of cooking have gotten to you too. Cooking doesn’t have to be hard or time-consuming, and you don’t have to cook every single day in order to eat healthy meals. And, it’s still possible to eat healthy even when you don’t have time to cook with a few simple tricks like meal-prepping or buying pre-cut vegetables or fruits if needed.
Most importantly, the key to having time to cook is keeping your top priority—your health—in mind. It’s not about doing the impossible and hoping to magically add more hours to the day—it’s about changing what you do with the hours you already have. Remember: you probably have more time than you think.
The full series, containing all recipes will be available on PDF and E-Book at the end of semester.
