Chopping, Washing, Cooking, and Cleaning... Repeat

My only complaint about the Mediterranean diet is the amount of time I put into meal planning, meal prepping and cooking.  You should know up front that it is my choice to cook this much.  I could save lots of time and effort if I bought all the fruits and veggies chopped and ready to use.  I could buy hummus, tzatziki and other sauces already made. I could purchase already made soups and stews.

But I don't.

Why?  Several reasons.


1.  It cost much more to purchase the ready to use ingredients and premade meals.  Cost is a factor for us and eating cleaner and fresher does not come cheap, which is sad.  I'm trying to be as cost efficient as possible.

2.  The ready to use products generally are more quantity of each item than I can use before it goes bad.  This didn't use to be a problem when I was cooking for my herd of men, but now that it is just me and the chief of the herd, we don't need as much.

3.  When I prepare the food from scratch I know exactly what is in it.  Not only are we trying to be healthier and eat more cleanly, I have a bushel basket of food allergies.  I have to be very careful.

4. I'm one of those abnormal folks who enjoys cooking... most of the time.

5.  We like to try a range of dishes.  John especially is not much for eating the same thing for several days in a row.  I can cook a nice soup, but after about 3 times eating the same soup in a week, John is ready to move on to something else.

So the bottom line is we like variety and are cheap AND I'm a food freak with allergies.

I confess that not only am I cooking for dinner, I'm also making our lunches and snacks. So you could do this diet without it taking so much effort and time.  As usual, I choose the hard way.