Being lazy and feeling lazy are two distinct conditions to me. There are many times when I feel lazy but I still get stuff done. Whereas being lazy just simply means not being productive. 80% of the time, when I eat out it’s because I’m being lazy. The remaining 20% is special events and circumstances, e.g. celebration of some kind, time crunch, etc.
Recently I found myself demotivated and well, feeling lazy. This has much to do with the ongoing soul-sucking job hunt and the wet and cold weather that I should have gotten used to by now. As the “kitchenmaster” of my household I refuse to let my domain be used only to boil water for Josh’s pretentious coffee and reheat take-outs. Feeling lazy I may be, but delicious meals I still must make!
In the past few months I have been making a few of the same dishes in huge quantity that lasted for days or even weeks. Three great dishes come to mind:
- Beef Taco with Chipotle Seasoning
- Pulled Chicken Cooked in Salsa Verde
- Szechuanese Mapo Tofu with Eggplant and Ground Chicken.
I easily made three to five pounds of each of these dishes and alternately ate them all with some eating-out meals weaved in between. To go with the first two dishes, I bought:
- Dozens of tortillas
- Two huge blocks of sharp cheddar cheese that I painstakingly grated
- A whole garden of cilantro
- A cauldron of salsa (I’m too lazy to make it from scratch)
- All the avocadoes Mexico has available
I swear, even though Josh and I were eating beef and chicken tacos every other day (sometimes we made loaded nachos too), we did not grow tired of it. I saved so much time from not having to cook every meal. I had the cheese grated, cilantro chopped, guacamole made and salsa… bought. The idea was to have all the ingredients ready and that Josh would assemble the tacos on his own when he wanted something to eat. Unfortunately, I still ended up putting together the tacos for every meal. Still, every time it was quicker than cooking every meal from scratch.
As for the Mapo Tofu, I cooked tons of rice and put it in the fridge (it’s always advisable to make fresh rice as to not commit Asian blasphemy, but this post is about laziness). When reheating, I would meld the rice and the dish by stirring them both together in a wok or pot. Most times (when I felt lazy) I just microwaved the rice and the tofu dish together in a big bowl covered with plastic wrap. When doing this, tofu dishes must sandwich the rice to ensure the flavor and aroma of the dish are infused with the somewhat mundane rice. Josh grew up eating a lot of tacos while I, rice. Therefore, in this household I have to make sure there is balance in the Force.
According to some people, I always appear to put a lot effort in what I do. The truth is, it’s not about effort. It’s the thought. It’s about efficiency. It’s about cost and benefit. It’s about getting $#!T done well even when I am feeling lazy.