I am not a registered dietician or culinary chef. I have no baking skills and never worked in a restaurant or bar. I recommend following these people, who turned my angst in the kitchen into meditative joy.
If your algorithm is feeling icky and you are tired of paying for half-assed cookbooks where every recipe tastes bad, you’ve come to the right place. I will save you roughly 5 years and countless hours. I started with no experience, corrected the frustrating errors and missing steps in recipes, selected equipment that actually works, and taste-tested recipes to find the best. It doesn’t get a shout-out unless I like cooking it more than one time.
(Not a sponsored post. There is no affiliation or partnership with any of the accounts mentioned.)
Eat With Chloe
Pro Tips, Ninja Knife Skills
Easy to follow kitchen hacks from professional culinary experience. I’ve been cooking rice and pasta wrong this whole time. Cutting bell peppers and onion doesn’t have to suck or make me cry.
All-Around All-Star, Variety of Diets, Efficient Use of Ingredients
I started testing out Jenn Eats Good recipes about 3 years ago. Her blog was still a side gig before Good Morning America and all the glossy staged photos. If you want to get the most out of your budget, this system works. She has a variety of protein, offers gluten free and vegetarian options, and stacks the meals so that all your ingredients get used up. Substitution suggestions are also included. No waste or complicated ingredients. If you like a system you don’t have to overthink, you can purchase full color planning guides each month on her Substack. I didn’t love every recipe and had to make modifications due to errors and omissions on the blog. The recipes always took 2-3x as long to prep and cook, measurements never matched product labels, the actual checkout price was always 2-3x over her stated budget (Greater Boston vs Greater Nashville). But I will post updated instructions to my favorite dishes.
If you are a freezer queen, this is for you. Are you single and don’t want to eat the same thing all week? Hate the depressing, flavorless microwave meals? Here you go! Learn to make your own single serve dinners.
The silicone is not great. Be careful if you have autoimmune issues or allergies to the silicone family (any compound ending in -cone). Avoid transfering food to plastic bags. But I love a good organizational system. As someone who spends the day on the road without a kitchen, and often skips meals, the lunchbox that cooks food is pretty cool.
The Best for Contractors: LunchEAZE. No outlet needed, battery operated with a built in timer (program when you’d like to eat), built-in separate compartment for keeping cold drinks and sides. Of course the one I liked the best is the most expensive option, ranging from $129.95 USD to $249.95 USD.
BUT Buy it nice or buy it twice– replacing cheaper products actually costs more longterm. A review of knock-off brands can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtw5no0hoFk
For the Office Ice Queens: Hot Logic. $39.95 USD. You must choose whether you want an AC or DC car adapter. It doesn’t have a timer or adjustable temperature gauge. It can take anywhere between 40 minutes to 2 hrs to heat. It works well with the Souper Cubes square and rectangle ceramic dishes. It’s best suited for desk jobs. Another option with adjustable temperature is the Sabot Heat, if you can find one in-stock.
The Mile High Companion: Hot Bento $75.99 USD. While the marketing says it’s airline safe for carry on bags and not prohibited by TSA, gate security in each airport has the final say. Throwing away $76 is not a risk everyone can take. The Hot Bento claims to reach 165 degrees Fahrenheit in 15 minutes. It comes with a rechargeable lithium battery and sleek stainless steel compartment. Note that it only heats room temp or refrigerated items- NOT frozen.
The Best for Office Gigs: Crock-Pot Go $52.99 USD or Crock-Pot Lunch $29.95 USD. You want to heat soup or chili at your desk? You want some style and class as a modern lady whose grandma paved the way so you could work through lunch? This is your pick. The compact roundness doesn’t suit all meals but the colors are stylish. Both have limited power sources (AC) which doesn’t work for offsite jobs or camping.
The Budget Bestie: Travelisimo. Coming in under $35 USD with both AC and DC adapters, it’s the least expensive-yet-reliable option. However, it is not attractive to look at and mostly made of plastic (ew).
If you consistently cook vegan or vegetarian meals, you probably have everything for this. For me, the recipes were a bit more time consuming and wasteful. I don’t like needing to buy something weird like miso paste for one dish. You could probably scale down the ingredients for smaller servings but the recipes are best served within a day or two.
Grow BAE 