How to get out of the 15 min meal rut

I'm taking some inspirations from r/Cooking and putting some budget spins on their ideas for getting out of the 15min meal rut. <br><br>This is in no particular order, as the best way to avoid the 15min meal rut is to mix things up and have a variety of techniques. <br><br>#1. **Mise en place:** Prep anything that will keep in the fridge for a few days! Chop carrots, celery, and onions. Chop some ginger. Shred some cheese. Chop some cilantro. Chop some garlic! Chop some beets! Everything that will keep for a few days! Then throw it all in a Tupperware container in the fridge. Or freeze it if you know that you'll be using it again. <br><br>#2. **Pick a protein:** Buy a whole chicken, roast it, pull the bones out, and put the meat in a few bags. Throw the bones in the freezer with some of that garlic, ginger, carrots, celery, onions, and cilantro that you did mise en place with. <br><br>#3. **Pick a grain:** Buy a 5lb bag of rice, quinoa, or cornmeal. Use some for supper, store the rest in a Tupperware container. Make some tortillas with that cornmeal and keep it in the fridge. <br><br>#4. **Pick a sauce:** You can turn any grain and protein into a meal with some sauce. A bag of flour, some tomato paste, some chipotle peppers in adobo, some curry powder, and some cumin all go a looong way! Plus some of that bone broth that you simmered with those chicken bones that you froze. Can it and freeze it if you want it for later. Or jar it if you know you'll use it in the next week. <br><br>#5. **Soup:** Soup is the sauce + something simmered in it. Try making a big pot of chili and freezing it in individual portions. Or stew. Or goulash. Or curry. Or chicken soup. Or anything else you can put a sauce into! <br><br>#6. **Stirfry:** If you can stirfry meat and veggies, you can make a meal. Stirfry meat and veggies with some sauce, and you're golden! Stirfry meat and veggies, serve it over rice, and you're golden! Stirfry rice, veggies, and a couple of eggs, and you're golden! <br><br>#7. **Bake your veggies:** If you can put a sauce on your veggies and bake it, you can put a sauce on anything and bake it. Sweet potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, beets, etc. are all prime candidates for sauce and oven. <br><br>#8b. **Roast your veggies:** If you can put your veggies on a baking sheet and put it in the oven, you can put anything on a baking sheet and roast it. Everything else is just throwing together some of the above ingredients and tossing it in the oven, then coming home from work and putting the finishing touches on it. <br><br>#9. **Gravy Train:** If you can make a sauce and put it on meat and veggies, you can make a gravy. If you can make a gravy, you can make soup. If you can make soup, you can make sauce. If you can make sauce, you can make a meal! <br><br>#10. **Experiment!** What tastes good to you? What do you always wish they would serve? Try to make it yourself! <br><br>#11. **Mise en place:** Prep anything that will keep in the fridge for a few days! Chop carrots, celery, and onions. Chop some ginger. Shred some cheese. Chop some cilantro. Chop some garlic! Chop some beets! Everything that will keep for a few days! Then throw it all in a Tupperware container in the fridge. Or freeze it if you know that you'll be using it again. <br><br>#12. **Buy a cookbook:** Can you find any cookbooks that you like at the library? Try experimenting with a few recipes from that. What do you like about them? Can you replace any ingredients with other things that you have on hand? What would you do differently? What do you wish they had done? This is a great thing to do when you're tired of the same old things. This is a great thing to do with a friend or two. This is a great thing to do when you're tired of the kitchen. Can you find any free cookbooks online? Try experimenting with a few recipes from that. What do you like about them? Can you replace any ingredients with other things that you have on hand? What would you do differently? What do you wish they had done? This is a great thing to do when you're tired of the same old things. This is a great thing to do with a friend or two. This is a great thing to do when you're tired of the kitchen. <br><br>#13. **Casseroles!** Casseroles are just grain, veggies, sauce, and protein in a baking dish. Or grain, veggies, and cheese. Or protein and veggies in a sauce. In a baking dish. What do you like in a casserole? What casserole would you like to try making? What do you think you could do differently with a casserole? What do you wish they had done with a casserole? This is a great thing to do when you're tired of the same old things. This is a great thing to do with a friend or two. This is a great thing to do when you're tired of the kitchen. <br><br>#14. **Get out the slow cooker!** You can put a sauce and some protein in it and come home to a ready-to-eat meal. Or you can put some grain, veggies, and cheese in it and come home to a ready-to-eat meal. Or you can put a whole casserole in it and come home to a ready-to-eat meal. Or you can put a whole casserole worth of sauce, veggies, and protein in it and come home to a ready-to-eat meal! <br><br>#15. **Mise en place:** Prep anything that will keep in the fridge for a few days! Chop carrots, celery, and onions. Chop some ginger. Shred some cheese. Chop some cilantro. Chop some garlic! Chop some beets! Everything that will keep for a few days! Then throw it all in a Tupperware container in the fridge. Or freeze it if you know that you'll be using it again. <br><br>#16. **Get out the air fryer!** You can put a sauce and some protein in it and have a ready-to-eat meal. Or you can put some sauce and some veggies in it and have a ready-to-eat meal. Or you can put some sauce and some VEGGIES in it and have a ready-to-eat side dish! Or you can put some sauce and some VEGGIES in it and have a ready-to-eat meal! Or you can put some sauce and some VEGGIES in it and have a ready-to-eat side dish! Or you can put some sauce and some VEGGIES in it and have a ready-to-eat meal! This is a great thing to do when you're tired of the same old things. This is a great thing to do with a friend or two. This is a great thing to do when you're tired of the kitchen. <br><br>&#x200B;