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Laundry is pretty simple. You may not like doing it, but you know what to do. You get the dirty clothes, put them in the washer, add soap, wash, dry, fold, put away. Simple. Done. The world of food is a much wider, more complex and varied world. It’s full of options. Eat at home or eat out? Make pasta or a casserole or soup? Be vegetarian or eat meat? Have potato chips or a baked potato? Vinaigrette or Ranch? Grilled or fried? Gourmet or home cooking? Cheddar or mozzarella? Pizza or panini?

You can get lost in there. Here’s a little guide to overcoming kitchen complexity, keeping your food life simple, and avoiding chef burn-out.

1. Get back to the basics.
Processed foods can be very convenient, but sometimes it takes just as much time to prepare a meal from processed food as it does from the basic ingredients. If you’re depending on recipes that call for a lot of processed ingredients, you are limiting what you can make from the food you have available in your kitchen. You forget one ingredient, and the whole recipe falls apart.
Try making a move back to basic food. It’s better for you, first. It tastes better, second. And it’s infinitely more flexible than anything processed.
Slowly reduce the amount of processed, convenience food that you buy. Start purchasing the whole-food, original counterpart rather than the packaged version.

2. Use repetition as a tool.
Coming up with something for dinner, and then breakfast, and then lunch, and then doing it all again… It wears you out. Variety is great, but it’s not always needed. Build up a repertoire of some family favorites, and repeat without concern as often as you’d like. If your family starts complaning about eating the same soup five nights in a row, tell them they can fix dinner tomorrow night.
Have one or two options for breakfast, not three or four. Make a special breakfast on a lazy weekend morning; stick to basics the rest of the time. Buy enough pitas, bread, and fillings to make sandwiches and filled pitas for lunch every day. You can switch it up next week.
Have a regular pasta night, veggie night, and leftover night. Food that we know and like is comforting and satisfying, and it’s easy to keep the ingredients on hand.

3. Keep a good pantry.
Supply your pantry with good basic ingredients. Keep all the necessary baking items on hand, a good selection of canned or dried beans, some tomato paste or sauce, rice, pasta, other grains you enjoy, essential spices, and the other ingredients that you use frequently. Add a few extra gourmet items to spice up your salad or quiche. Take stock of your pantry before your regular shopping trip and refresh your supplies as needed.

4. Keep a fresh refrigerator.
The only thing more discouraging to a cook than an empty refrigerator is a messy one, crammed full of mushy fruit, old vegetables, and unidentifiable bits of previous meals. It’s inspiring to open up the refrigerator door and see shiny, pretty shelves, a drawer full of fresh fruit, a stack of crisp celery and carrots, a bright red cabbage and perfect mushrooms, a few containers of recent goodies, and the essential condiments. There are the ingredients for an appetizing meal.
Do yourself a big favor and keep your refrigerator clean and freshly stocked. You can do this with a weekly trip to the grocery store. You can get even fresher if you make daily stops at the produce market on the way home. Two essential habits for keeping your refrigerator, and its contents, appealing: first, keep it clean and neat by regularly throwing out old gunk (compost when you can) and wiping down shelves; second, don’t over buy on your fresh produce. Buy a week’s worth only, if you do a weekly trip. Buy a day’s worth, only, if you stop by every evening.

5. Know your suppliers.
Even your huge, chain-linked grocery store is full of real people. Maybe you don’t have a local farmer or a great market nearby; you have a produce manager, though, and he can help you make the best choices while you’re shopping. Strike up a conversation next time you’re shopping for food. Ask questions. Get advice. Get to know the people who stock the food you’re buying, and you’ll be able to make better decisions when you purchase. You’ll also be building your community, fostering friendships, and helping other people know that their jobs are worthwhile.

6. Set up routines.
Routines are powerful forces. Set up a good routine, and it can carry you through even the sludgiest of days. Put routines in place for the essential food tasks you have to perform on a regular basis, such as planning a menu, making a grocery list, shopping for groceries, making lunches, baking, and preparing vegetables. For the tasks you really find distasteful, plan a reward into your routine. If you hate menu planning, then take your notebook and your cookbook to the corner cafe, enjoy your favorite drink and pastry, and do your menu planning surrounded by the sounds of your community. When you’re through, you can enjoy chatting or flipping through a new magazine. You might also be able to trade off with your spouse or older children on certain tasks. Hand over your grocery list and take over another job instead. You’ll get a break from the mundane, and your family will appreciate the time and energy involved in gathering that food they consume so quickly.