How to Simplify Meals and Reduce Stress in the Kitchen

Cooking and enjoying food is one of those beautiful experiences we can have alone, or with others. It’s what brings people together and helps us connect with one another. It can also be an incredible source of stress if you’re the one in the kitchen putting it all together.

Cooking is beautiful. It’s a form of art. It’s also overwhelming - when we complicate it.

In our home, I’m the chef most of the time. As the one preparing meals, I’ve had years of practice, moments of overwhelm, and my fair share of kitchen failures. I’ve learned over time that what helps is when we simplify the way that we eat and the meals we prepare.

Focus on fresh, seasonal, quality ingredients

When we focus our meals on fresh, seasonal, quality ingredients, they shine on their own. They don’t need much to enhance their flavour. They are beautiful as they are.

When tomatoes are in season they are juicy and amazing. Lunch can be as simple as tomato on rye bread, with a slice of feta and a good drizzle of olive oil. Dinner can be as easy as pasta tossed with sautéed mushrooms and thyme, a chicken broth and crumble of creamy chèvre.

Learn what is in season and how to cook it simply, which leads to the next point.

Cook with minimal ingredients - simply

An amazing meal doesn’t need a page long list of ingredients, or hours to prepare. You can have a few quality ingredients and cook something that’s delicious and good for you.

Salmon grilled and served with blanched greens, boiled potatoes and a herb crème fraîche sauce. Chèvre spread over grilled ciabatta and topped with sliced peaches and thyme. Beans roasted in the oven with tomatoes, herbs, garlic, olive oil and a slice of feta.

Quite often we think we need to cook like we are on Masterchef to impress. While it is nice to do that on occasion, there is no real need in order to create a beautiful meal.

Find a handful of recipes you love and learn to do them well

What saves time and stress in the kitchen is when we know a meal well and can cook it without thinking. Over the years I’ve grown very fond of Italian, French and Greek cuisine. I’ve mastered recipes from each cuisine that my family love. When I know I have the ingredients on hand and don’t need to look at a recipe, it makes cooking simpler.

Find recipes you love, practice them and add them to your monthly repertoire of meals.

Have a loose weekly plan in mind for meals

Something I’ve found extremely helpful is to have a loose plan in place when doing meal prep. Some weeks it goes out the window depending on what activities we have on, or how we are all feeling. But most weeks I stick to a fairly consistent meal plan - a chicken meal on Monday and vegetarian pasta on Thursday for example. And then I have a handful of simple family favourites that I rotate throughout the month.

Knowing what I’m preparing ahead of time makes life easier. It’s one less decision to think about.

Prepare ahead of time

This one is especially relevant for when you have guests over. Preparing as much as you can ahead of time will reduce the risk of feeling overwhelmed when you have to pull it all together. Slice vegetables and prepare protein, grate cheese and weigh out ingredients. And have them prepared in the fridge or kitchen counter ready for the meal ahead.

This is something I do for our everyday family meals too. It means I’m not frantically trying to do it all when the kids come home tired and hungry after school.

Simplicity is something that we can bring into so many areas of our lives. And the kitchen and how we prepare and enjoy food is part of that. Quite often less is more. When we focus on quality and keep things simple, we are less likely to resort to packaged or fast food. We are less likely to cook begrudgingly. And more likely to enjoy and appreciate the beauty of eating.