How many times have you said… “I would like to eat better, but I don’t have time”? Surely, several times. And now I ask you, do you want to learn how to manage your time in the kitchen so that your low-histamine diet will turn to be something easy to carry out in your day to day? So let’s go for it. Learn to organize yourself and save time for you!

The batch cooking technique consists of organizing, planning and cooking in advance the different culinary preparations of the week in a single day to save time in the kitchen. Let’s start!

1. Choose the batch cooking that best suits your situation

Depending on the situation in which you find yourself, you can choose to batch cook meals or dinners, or cook those dishes that require more time to prepare and complete them throughout the week with preparations that are made at the moment. It is important to note that if the vegetables and carbohydrates that we want to cook are low in histamine, they can be prepared in advance. However, in the case of proteins, it is better to cook them at the moment or freeze them until they are going to be consumed.

2. Create a base template (pattern menu) for the weekly menu

Based on your situation and the logistics that surround your day, draw this template and think about the days you eat at home or out, if you need to prepare a tupperware to take it with you… For example, taking the Harvard Plate as a model (composed of half of vegetables, a quarter of carbohydrates and another quarter of protein) we can make a list of foods from each food group that are suitable according to the phase of the low-histamine diet in which we are:

• Vegetables: carrot, artichokes, lamb’s lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, leeks, Swiss chard…
• Hydrates: rice, potato, wheat, corn, sweet potato, chickpeas…
• Protein: sole, hake, egg yolk, chicken, beef, pork…

3. Selection of dishes

Think about recipes that appeal to you, foods that you can use in various dishes and that are seasonal, varied cooking techniques to be able to optimize time and not have to wait to cook everything with the same culinary technique, foods that can be frozen… Once you have them, place the different dishes on your menu template. For example:

• Leeks and chard cream (vegetable) and cod (protein) with broad beans (hydrate).
• Couscous (hydrate) with onion, pepper and carrot (vegetables) and chicken (protein).
• Canons and endive salad (vegetables) with brown rice (hydrate) and egg yolk omelette (protein).

4. Write the shopping list

Check what foods you have at home and write down those you need to buy.

5. Cooking it all at once is the key

To optimize time, it is advisable to have all the ingredients that you are going to use prepared, cleaned and cut. Also, starting with foods that require more time to prepare will help you speed up the process.

6. Store food properly

It is important to bear in mind that for food to last in the fridge for more days, it must be stored in glass or adapted plastic containers. Another highly recommended option is to overcook and freeze. Thus, cooking the tupperware of the week, freezing them and defrosting in the fridge the one you are going to eat in the same day would be the best way to do it to prevent histamine from being more and more present. However, it should be noted that it is not recommended to freeze all foods, as they can lose their organoleptic properties (flavor, texture…). For example, this is the case of pasta, potatoes, eggs and cheese, mainly.

So now all that remains is to heat your dishes at the time of consumption and, finished!

Our job, as registered dietitians, is to provide the ingredients and the necessary formula to ensure that together they create harmony, although the patient is the one who must organize himself to prepare the recipe well. As you can see, with good organization you can prepare the week’s meals in one morning or one afternoon. In addition, you avoid food waste, as well as buying pre-cooked foods and you gain peace of mind. Let’s make the lack of time does not prevent you from feeding yourself as your body needs!