Advice From a Lazy Cook

I’m sure it’s no surprise to you by now when I say I don’t like cooking. The truth is I detest all household chores, and that’s why I make my life, my home and my housework as simple as possible.

So, when it comes to cooking, I will always look for the quickest, easiest, most cost-efficient way to get a nutritious meal on the table while also generating the least amount of washing up. I've become pretty good at it and have even written a book called ‘The Laziest Cookbook ever’.

If you have enough money to do so, you can avoid cooking and washing up by eating out every night or buying pre-prepared meals. That’s pretty unrealistic for most people though, including me because I’m on a tight budget, but there are lots of other ways around it.

Meals don’t always have to be a lot of effort. There are a huge variety of one-pot meals or meals that are just as delicious eaten cold. You can always cook a larger amount than needed and freeze portions for those nights when you just don’t have the energy.

One of the things I try to avoid as much as possible is using metal cookware. I don’t like using my stove - in fact I lived for several years in a house that had no stove - and I dread washing the pots and pans afterwards.



I have a convection microwave oven that comfortably cooks just about everything from a casserole or soup to a steak. I’d rather wipe out a microwave oven than clean a stove top. I know there is some controversy around the safety of microwave ovens, but according to the World Health Organisation they are perfectly safe if used the right way.

I use oven-proof glass cookware (see the article ‘My No-plastic Kitchen’) which is so much easier and more pleasant to clean than chunky metal pots.

I always lightly oil my containers or spray them with cooking spray so that nothing sticks.

I have some single serve sized bowls and containers that are attractive enough to cook and serve in the same container, hence less washing up.

Most of the meals I cook are ‘one-dish’ meals. If I do cook a meat-and-three-veg meal, I’ll usually cook the meat first and put it aside in foil, then cook the vegetables in the same container.



There are many times when I don’t feel like cooking meat but enjoy having it with my meal. For these occasions I buy deli meats like sliced silverside beef or pork when it’s on special and freeze it in meal-sized portions (a few slices). At meal time I simply defrost and warm as many of the portions as I need and serve them with vegetables.

For some meals I use frozen pre-cut vegetables which also saves washing knives, chopping board and colander.

Where there’s a will there’s a way – in other words, if you hate cooking and washing up as much as I do you can be pretty creative in finding ways around it.


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