I am a person who loves to cook and is absolutely crazy for food. There are lots of people in this world who hate cooking, and there are also people in this world who only eat for sustenance; food just isn’t their jam (pun 10000% intended). That’s a perfectly fine experience, it just happens not to be mine. I am constantly thinking about my next meal with great anticipation. For me, this is all part of the fun and enjoyment, which is why the system works for me. Your mileage will vary! No judgement!
My own personal guidance system, listed in no particular order...
What part of the production process is this?
I read an article in the New York Times Health section a couple of years ago about the effect that eating within a 12-hour window has on the metabolism, and after some obviously-not-very-scientific experimentation, discovered that it really works for me when it comes to maintaining or losing weight, and inversely, can really directly contribute to my own weight gain. As with everything, this may not be true for you. Don’t @me with your well-actuallys... do what feels right for you.
When I’m in rehearsal mode, I am up at 6:45am, out the door at 8:15am, at the rehearsal studio by 9am, breaking for lunch at ~2pm, leaving the studio by 7pm, and home by 8pm. If I eat breakfast at 7:30am, that means a couple of things... I will have to go probably 6½ hours between full meals, and I will automatically be breaking my own 12-hour window rule by eating dinner after I get home. This means that I’m going to plan for a protein-heavy breakfast, a substantial morning snack, a delicious lunch that will be the heaviest meal I’ll eat all day, a quality afternoon snack, and a very, very, very light dinner; I can’t go to bed with an empty stomach, so I’ll prepare something with high-impact flavor and texture but a low calorie/sugar count.
When I’m in 10-out-of-12 mode, I am usually up before dawn, home after midnight, and on my feet for most of the day, so all caloric and 12-hour window bets are off, but I try to focus on big flavors, filling food with a high protein content. I do also try to stop eating by 9pm because otherwise sleep can be elusive, no matter how tired I may be. I’ll be eating breakfast at home, but snacks, lunch, and dinner are all at the theater.
When I’m in show mode, I can sleep 'til 9:30am on a matinee or rehearsal day, and not set an alarm on a one evening show day! I’m out the door at 11 or 11:30am depending on my call time for the former, and sometime between 4-5:30pm depending on my call time for the latter. So it’s sometimes lunch and dinner at the theater, sometimes just lunch, and sometimes just dinner. No matter what, I'm able to cook a fresh hot breakfast once I’m in show mode, and I may not need to pre-prepare any snacks. I try to make a dinner that can be eaten early-ish and sustain me late so that I can avoid snacking when I get home sometime between 11:30pm and midnight. (But, in all honesty, I usually snack when I get home.)
I’m lactose intolerant!
Fun fact: lactose-intolerance can look like many things. To get graphic for a minute: it gives me the most painful diarrhea imaginable (I say this having had salmonella). But it could be worse, because I’m also the kind of lactose intolerant person that has a decent-ish lactose limit, so I can handle hard cheeses, certain processed ricottas, certain yogurts, commercially-produced ice cream, and so on. I cook with Lactaid products, but I don't depend on the pills because it feels too risky. I know what brand and style of sour cream works with my tummy chemistry. I eat soft cheeses in the comfort and privacy of my own home. Etc. The last thing I need is a digestive emergency at work; believe me... it has happened, it was mortifying, and it still haunts me.
Vitamins, minerals, and protein!
Am I eating enough fruits and vegetables? Am I getting enough calcium? (My mom has osteoarthritis, plus I have a pin in my heel holding a fracture together, so this is a real thing I think about constantly.) Am I close to my period, so does my body want extra iron? My brain seems to work faster when I'm eating a lot of protein... am I getting enough of that?
Do I love this food?
I love most food, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE soup, vinegar, hot sauce, cheese (I KNOW!), fennel, dark chocolate, citrus, basil, brussels sprouts, and mushrooms, to name of few of my favorite things. Obviously, a recipe that includes any or ideally several of any of these favorite things is going to be of very high value for me.
Calorie content!
I have a Fitbit (see? new tools are great to add to the overall arsenal!), and use the Fitbit Food Log tools fairly religiously. Within the desktop dashboard interface, I use the “create a meal” feature to input the ingredients of any new-to-me recipe that I’m considering adding to my meal prep routine and use that nutritional info to determine how many meals it breaks down to in a calorically responsible way, and whether that’s workable for my needs. If it’s something I want to make but it’s too much or too little food, I’ll look into freezing some portions for a later date, or scaling it.
Am I going to get bored?
I’ve figured out that 4 times in a single week, a lunch or full dinner (in 10 out of 12s, or show mode) won’t bore me, but 6 times in a single week, it will. I can eat the same breakfast or light dinner (in rehearsal mode) for a week, but then I can’t repeat it for at least a couple of weeks without ruining the experience for myself. I also avoid repeating main ingredients in any given week. This is the version of variety that is, for me, indefinitely sustainable in a manageable way.
Is there a fridge? Is there a microwave?
Some studios have neither. Some studios have one but not both of the above. Sometimes the line for the microwave is going to be half an hour long; sometimes I discover I'll have it all to myself. Some theaters only have a mini fridge for props. These are two big variables to have to factor into my planning. If needed, I can prep all meals that are stable for a while unrefrigerated (or with an icepack in my lunch bag) and are damn tasty at room temperature.
How complicated is the recipe?
In rehearsal mode, I can make soups, calzones, casseroles, braises, fresh bread, etc and still have time left in the day for the other necessary chores plus cuddle time with my dog who has patiently pined for my company all week, as I have for his. In 10 out of 12 mode, I am probably bringing work home on the day off, or sometimes going two weeks without a day off, so I’ll be leaning on previously-frozen food and quickly prepped things like kitchen-sink salads, grain bowls, and sandwiches. In show mode, I can make things like fresh pasta, macarons, and seafood because I have the time for a multi-step process that doesn't allow multitasking, plus I’ll be eating some of my full lunches or dinners at home on real dishes - luxury!
Speaking of seafood... does my food stink?
There is a human decency factor! A person can’t just go heating up seafood, broccoli, or cabbage in a shared space! I’m not a monster!
What do I have lying around?
Bulk buying is cheap buying. For example, it’s obviously more cost effective to buy the bunch of parsley for $1.99 instead of the single serving container of it for $1.50... that’s good home economics. But to make it actually worth my while instead of wasteful, I keep track of the stuff that’s sitting in the fridge and plan to use it up before it spoils. I can keep herbs alive for 2 or 3 weeks (depending on how fresh they were when I bought them). Cheese can sit for a couple of weeks when wrapped properly. Lactaid milk is actually good for a month after opening (joke’s on you, regular milk drinkers!). And so on. Plus, I generally scale pasta recipes so that I’m eating at most 2-3oz of dry pasta per meal, which means I’m often checking my cupboard and saying to myself “hey, use up that macaroni before you go buying penne.” A lot of my recipe modifications involve using what I have on hand, instead of buying something else.
What time of year is it?
I have long-ago stopped being surprised when my “on this day” memories on Facebook tell me that on this date sometime in my posting history, I made the exact dish that I also made two days ago. My cravings cycle seasonally, and if I’m going to enjoy my food, it of course has to feed those cravings. Winters are for chili, soup, and braised things. Summers are for vegetable risotto and things on the grill. You get it.
Finally, a note on where I’m looking for recipes:
I look everywhere. Occasionally, I make something up but more often I'm modifying someone else's recipe in a way that works better for me for any number of reasons. I’m a member of a couple of recipe exchange groups with friends on Facebook. I poke my friends who post great photos of great food on Instagram and ask them for the recipe. I subscribe to Food & Wine as an actual physical magazine that comes in the mail. I subscribe to the RSS feeds for Food52.com, SeriousEats.com, SmittenKitchen.com (she is amazing!), and the New York Times Health and Food sections; sometimes the RSS articles expire after 30 days before I get to them, but they’re there for me when I have time for them. I have the Epicurious, Food Network, and All Recipes apps on my phone, plus Food52’s (Not)Recipe app, which I regularly look to for inspiration. I talk to people in my real life!! Plus, I have a library of actual physical cookbooks! I used to travel with most of them when I was on tour (my roadbox was heavy); halfway through my time on the road, I got my first Kindle, scanned all of my favorite recipes, shipped my cookbooks home, and loaded up that first generation Kindle with over one thousand PDFs. Now, I have all of those PDFs plus about a thousand more in Dropbox folder organized by chef/source, so that it’s searchable and accessible from whatever device I prefer in the moment.
