Alright, so I’ve been meaning to share this for a while. It’s about this whole “recipes with 10 ingredients” kick I got myself onto. It wasn’t some grand culinary experiment, mind you. More like a survival tactic, if I’m being honest.
You see, I was getting so fed up. Every time I’d look up a recipe, it was like a treasure hunt for ingredients I’d use once and then they’d just sit in the back of my cupboard, mocking me. Remember that fancy spice blend I bought for that one dish? Yeah, still there, probably fossilized by now. And don’t even get me started on the grocery bills. It was getting ridiculous.
My Starting Point: The Big Clean Out
So, I decided, enough is enough. I went through my pantry and fridge. What a mess! Half-used jars of who-knows-what, wilted herbs I had good intentions for… it was a culinary graveyard. That’s when I thought, “Okay, new rule: 10 ingredients. Max.” That includes oil, salt, and pepper in my book, because let’s be real, they’re ingredients too.
Initially, I thought, “This is going to be bland. How can you make anything decent with just a handful of things?” My first few attempts were, well, let’s just say they were edible. Barely. I remember trying to make this chicken dish, and it tasted like… chicken. Just chicken. My family looked at me like I’d lost my marbles.
Figuring Things Out: The Nitty-Gritty
But I’m stubborn. I kept at it. I started by really looking at what I was buying. Instead of a dozen different types of vinegar, I stuck to one good one. I focused on getting good quality basics. A decent olive oil, some versatile spices that I actually use regularly. Things like:
- Garlic (a lifesaver, always)
- Onions (ditto)
- Good canned tomatoes
- Lemons (freshness in a pinch!)
I realized pretty quickly that the trick isn’t just counting ingredients; it’s about making those ingredients work hard. An onion isn’t just an onion if you know how to dice it fine for a base, or slice it thin for a quick pickle, or caramelize it for sweetness. It’s all about technique, not just the shopping list.
I started adapting recipes I already knew. Took out the fussy bits. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it was a disaster. I remember this one time I tried to simplify a beef stew… let’s just say it ended up being more of a beef soup, and not in a good way. We had pizza that night.
What I Learned (The Hard Way, Sometimes)
But slowly, things started to click. I found that simpler food often tasted better, fresher. I wasn’t masking flavors with a million different things. And guess what? My grocery bill actually went down. Significantly. And less food waste! That felt really good.
It’s funny, because you see all these fancy cooking shows and blogs with mile-long ingredient lists. Makes you feel like you need a degree in chemistry to make dinner. But honestly, most of the best meals I’ve had, especially when traveling, were super simple. Just good, fresh stuff, put together well.
This whole 10-ingredient thing kind of reminded me of when I tried to learn coding a few years back. Everyone was talking about these massive, complex frameworks. I got so bogged down in trying to learn everything that I learned nothing. Then someone told me to just pick one simple language and build something, anything. And that’s when it started making sense. Same with cooking, I guess. Strip it back to basics.
So yeah, that’s been my little adventure. It’s not like I’m a gourmet chef now, far from it. But cooking feels less like a chore and more like something I can actually manage, even on a busy weeknight. And my pantry is a much happier place. Mostly.
