Tuesday Talk: One Pot Meals

Okay so if you have been around here a while you know that I am kind of obsessed with One Pot Meals. Which is why I thought it would be the perfect topic for today’s Tuesday Talk. I am at working my way to 100 one pot meal recipes here on this blog (you can see my running list here) so today I am going to talk about how I got here and why you should be obsessed with one pot meals as well!

Okay so here is my back story, in college and I have moved into my own apartment (no more dorm food) and I realize I need to actually cook for myself. Now, I was still fine with eating frozen meals, mac and cheese and chicken nuggets but I was also cooking quite frequently for Miguel as well and those things just weren’t sustainable meals. I was getting pretty hungry too so I decided I needed to learn how to cook real meals. Which is when I turned to Pinterest to try and find some new (and easy!) recipes.

There were quite a few kitchen fails in my first attempts to start cooking and there were also a lot of supplements of spaghetti and boxed meals but I was trying to get a dinner on the table every night in an attempt to not have to eat out and save money. However, we quickly got bored of the boxed and frozen meals and were also more aware that we probably shouldn’t be eating so much processed food. But I LOVED the ease of these simple meals that usually were quick and required minimal clean up. 

So I since I was still in school, I started making more casseroles and dishes I could make ahead or put in the crockpot. These took a lot of prep time (and dishes to wash) sometimes but I managed. My cooking skills were getting much better as well! By my senior year I was cooking home cooked meals every night. But I was still spending quite a bit of time preparing and cleaning up after a lot of these meals.

Then, slowly, things started to click. I came across a couple of these “one pot meals” and started incorporating them into my meal plans. I quickly fell in love. Add in starting to work full time when I didn’t have morning to prep make ahead meals, one pot recipes became my lifesaver. I could work all day and come home and cook quick and easy recipes and only have to wash ONE POT. I had time to cook nice family meals and eat them with my now husband and still have time to relax and do other things in the evenings.

I started making everything I could into one pot meals. Mostly pasta dishes and casseroles I could convert to be made in one pot. This made my life so much easier. I quickly started branching out and finding more ways to do things “one pot” and mixing up my ingredients so we had new flavors and textures.

Now, I don’t make a one pot meal every night because there are things we like to eat that just don’t make sense in one pot format but I have at least 1-2 every week and maybe sometimes more. All of the recipes I post are just our normal dinners I cook every night and I will have no problem getting to 100 (maybe more) and I am so excited.

If you have never tried the “One Pot Lifestyle” then I encourage you to make one of mine or find some on Pinterest to try. You will want to make one every night.

Here’s a recap of why I love one pot meals so much:
-Quick and fast!
-Easy and simple: especially dump and go!
-You save time on clean up with only one pan/pot to clean!
-So easy to get balanced and warm home cooked meals on the table for your family:
I try to include a protein, veggie and whole grain in every meal I make.

In college I went from burning chicken the first time I made it in a skillet to creating and posting recipes to share with you all here on this blog and I love it! It may sound weird but I have a passion for making one pot meals and I hope you found some inspiration too.

Whether you are a college student who, like me, is struggling to learn how to cook. Or a busy Mom who wants fast and easy dinners or a 20 something in the workforce trying to meal plan for themselves, one pot meals are the way to go!

Check out my running list here. I also pin all of my recipes to my Pinterest.

Thanks for catching up!