Blasting the heat in this summer is already a huge energy
sucker, but so is cooking on the stovetop! (I know, right?! who’d have
thought.) Thinking about how much cooking goes on in the house each day really
opens one’s eyes to just how much of an energy waster cooking really is. There
isn’t really much any of us can do to stop all that heat from escaping from the
stovetop, but there are a few small tweaks that can be made to cut down of some
energy costs while still providing your home with healthy foods.
Cook with leftovers in mind. Now, of course this isn’t always
going to be possible, but putting meals together ahead of time can save a lot
of time and energy. Cooking a large batch of food all at once will use a little
bit more energy during the process. However, it would take a lot more energy to
cook the same foods 7 times over for each night of the week. Even heating food
up for a few minutes in a small toaster-oven or microwave will use less energy
than cooking on the stovetop.
In addition to saving energy, there are several foods that
are healthy and keep well in the fridge (and may not even need to be
re-heated). Try out some flavorful and vitamin rich grains instead of the same
old pasta. Keep in mind that it takes a lot of heat and thus a lot of energy to heat up boiling water. So,
when you are using water to boil some pasta, rice, or quinoa make sure to
follow the exact measurements on your cooking instructions.