Automate the Food means cooking/eating with very low effort and as automated as possible. Why is this important? When we eat, the four main factors are cost, health, quality, and time.
https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/ive-optimized-my-health-to-make-my-life-as-long-and-unpleasant-as-possible
The first three are covered by buying high quality items from good value sources and cooking them yourself. This post primarily focuses on the time component, since cooking can be very easy when maximally automated.
I originally wrote this in 2019 because I was getting asked why I keep eating the same thing every day.
This is a lightly edited and updated version of the original post.
Eating Habits
Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs (and apparently also Elizabeth Holmes) are/were known for minimizing decisions and making things simple by wearing the same thing everyday. Some parts of life are meant to be boring and efficient, and I’ve chosen one of those parts to be food, as have some others.
I eat essentially the same breakfast and lunch every day and have a couple of dinner protein variation options. The breakfast part probably doesn’t seem that strange. The “it makes sense to eat the same thing every day” agreement metric probably gradually declines as we get to lunch and dinner.
And then you may be thinking well if you’re going to eat the same thing every day, you should at least enjoy the cooking aspect and experiment with different sauces and spices and things. I agree that having a few small variations is fine, but in general prefer to minimize thinking about these things on a day to day basis.
I’ve already given the clothes analogy above, which I don’t participate in, because I think picking clothes is a very low effort and kind of fun activity, although admit that buying them and thinking about which ones to take with on trips can be time consuming.
Decision-minimization is often ideal in other scenarios too, like:
Working out – It’s hard enough to calculate how many days there are in a week
Picking stocks - Indexes, etc.
Food is a good thing to be consistent about since you have to consume it pretty often. Restaurants are great once in a while, but you usually have no idea what’s going into the food. Delivery fees are through the roof. Big Food has been after us since we were kids with the food pyramid scam and the pushing of sugar-filled trash as “part of a complete breakfast”, and more recently with the seed oil infiltration. It’s time to fight back (yes, in part by shopping at the same places that sell those things, but going into other aisles.)
Automate the Food Principles
1. Eat nearly the same thing every day
2. Avoid manual labor and guesswork as much as possible
3. Simplify the supplies
4. Get groceries delivered or figure out your supermarket routine
5. What about the content of the food?
6. My daily food
7. Other stuff
1. Eat nearly the same thing every day
Eating the same thing for the main meals is surprisingly not very boring and is highly recommended. Maybe do some small variations with snacks and certain meal elements (dinner makes the most sense to make into a fun activity or an out-of-home event), but keep the same structure every day! Picking/cooking your foods is also the best way to ensure that you get the healthiest and best quality.
2. Avoid manual labor and guesswork as much as possible
Before I discovered the hard boiled egg machine, I never knew what I was doing. I’d forget about the eggs more often than not and even when I remembered and timed them fairly well, I frequently had peeling issues. Here is a list of my favorite tools and streamlining ideas:
Hard boiled egg cooker and vegetable steamer: With this hard boiled egg cooker, you put eggs into little slots, fill up a measuring cup to the right level, put the water in, and flip the switch. No waiting for water to boil or forgetting how much time the eggs need to cook for since the machine buzzes very loudly when it’s finished. I cook 12 at a time every few days in the mornings for use in salads. Vegetables can be steamed in the same device! It can fit about 8 oz of most types of vegetables and takes 10ish minutes to steam. Again, just adding a bit of water, loading in the vegetables, and turning it on. I use this for lunch and dinner veg steaming.
Indoor grill: Though this is a bit of a compromise for more premium foods, I am very happy with the chicken breasts produced for breakfast/lunch. I think there’s essentially no easier way to cook protein than to plug in a grill, wait a couple minutes, and just drop the item inside and wait a few more minutes. No flipping, no oil splashing all over, and in the case of chicken breasts, no serious timing issues since slightly overcooked isn’t a big disaster. The one linked is a fully submersible George Foreman grill, which means it’s entirely dishwasher-safe (minus the plug!), an impressive R&D breakthrough.
You don’t have to peel carrots: Come to think of it, I probably should peel them to add some friction to my consumption. But you really don’t have to peel them. At minimum you can do nothing. Or you could give them a little rub. Or a rinse. If you do feel like peeling them, I like the OXO peeler linked.
A good spatula for making eggs: Apparently a silicone spatula is good for not ruining nonstick pans. I also like how it’s a little flexible and can really move the eggs around easily.
Vegetable chopper: Figure out your tomato/cucumber/pepper/onion ratio (mine is 10/2/2/0.5, note: not huge tomatoes, usually Roma) and get this pro vegetable chopper. Vegetables still have to be cut into smaller slices, but this does the hard work to get them into salad-appropriate sized pieces.
A good nonstick pan: I get sad every time I see a sticky pan. The pain is not worth it! I’m a big fan of the Great Jones Small Fry because it has no rivets and does the nonstick thing very well and has a high rim. I recommend never using above low-medium heat and never dishwashing it. Wirecutter has some good value alternatives here too.
Cook in bulk: I only do this for foods that I don’t mind eating cold, which are currently Israeli salad and hard boiled eggs. The time to cook a chicken breast on an indoor grill is so low and the value from eating it hot off the grill is so high, that I don’t think it’s worth bulk cooking and reheating an item like this.
Rice cooker: Put rice in, wait 60 mins, get perfectly cooked rice out. Can also steam vegetables! Recently I’ve begun washing the rice, which is a little annoying, but does seem to make it taste a lot nicer/cleaner.
Temperature control electric kettle: Eliminate guesswork with 6 temperature presets!
The oven: I only use this for dinner and don’t have any great tips except for lining the pan with foil or parchment paper to make cleanup easier. Also small countertop toaster ovens seem extremely effective for small portions (like a full meal for one or just meat/fish for 2-4).
3. Simplify the supplies
Keep bulk stocks: Minimize supermarket trips and running-out-of-things catastrophes by keeping stocks strong
Scrambled eggs straight into the pan: My biggest efficiency improvement here has been not pre-stirring the eggs in a separate glass or container. Just drop them into the oil in the pan and stir with the spatula! Then keep stirring on a low-medium temperature.
One oil: I use one extra virgin olive oil for everything from cooking eggs to salmon to putting on salads. I try to avoid European ones due to shadiness, so stick with either Israeli or Californian oils (because these are most accessible in places I’ve lived). Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods have their own brands with California olives that are both rated very well by Consumer Reports (though the review is from 2012).
Use frozen vegetables: Frozen vegetables are generally cheaper than fresh and never worrying about expiration is amazing. Freeze in those nutrients! Costco’s frozen organic broccoli and frozen stir fry mix are both fantastic.
Kosher: Meat or dairy, pick one. Literally all of the complication from having a kosher kitchen comes from separating meat and dairy (it has occurred to me that other complications might arise if living with someone who prefers the other option or both options). If you go the meat route and you insist on dairy, uncooked things like candy or chocolate bars are still pretty easy to keep around since they don’t use dishes or cooking instruments (but also don’t keep things like candy or chocolate bars around).
High-rimmed plates: No one wants food spilling off the sides! I recommend at least an inch rim on all plates.
Use frozen meat/fish: The best quality meat and fish that I’ve found have to be ordered in the mail and come frozen already. I have most recently been getting chicken breasts from KOL Foods (Kosher/organic/pastured) and salmon from Tanner’s Alaskan Seafood (wild-caught). Always having something in the freezer is easy to manage – just put in the fridge 1-2 days before you need it. No need to go to the supermarket so often or to risk food going bad in the fridge.
Strong tupperware: For transporting/storing food, I like the plastic Snapware set recommended on The Wirecutter, although it doesn’t seem to include the larger size that was previously in there. I don’t like unnecessarily dealing with glass and my biggest concern is the lids not opening in transit – these seem very secure.
Organic decisions: I’m not sure how beneficial organic is. There is the Dirty Dozen list that suggests that these are the dirtiest wrt pesticides, so we should strictly buy these organic. My rule is to buy organic when possible, especially for eggs/meat/protein. For other things, I usually get organic, but sometimes don’t if the price differential is very large (approx. more than 25% of the non-organic). Maybe I should just get everything organic to simplify the decision-effort.
4. Get food delivered or figure out your supermarket routine
I generally have enjoyed going to supermarkets. It’s the first thing I like to do when visiting a new place/city and the feeling of wide aisles and picking your own produce and wandering around finding new things can be fun. If I had easy access to a quality/good value supermarket and/or farmer’s market, I’d prefer to go to each once/week. There’s no substitute for personally making sure your tomatoes are firm, your grapes are deep red, and that your eggs are uncracked. If not, supermarket delivery is decent with Instacart or Amazon.
My strategy is usually to get supplies for about a full week primarily made up of the core items and then occasionally getting some “special treats” (otherwise known as snacks) based on what’s in season and/or what’s on sale.
I haven’t really touched on costs. I think a good strategy is to spend as much as you can to not have to sacrifice on quality of food, including cutting back on eating out if needed.
5. What about the content of the food?
I find it very easy to have willpower in situations where food doesn’t yet belong to me (in supermarkets or when ordering from them online) and very difficult to have willpower when unhealthy foods are available for immediate eating in my surroundings.
I find it nice to keep the base state under control so that when less healthy situations arise (restaurants, parties, random occurrences of low-percentage chocolate nearby), they can be enjoyed without concern. I’ve also found that I feel better when eating healthier.
I think of healthy as mostly Paleo, i.e., mostly proteins/nuts/seeds/vegetables/olive oil, with some fruit and 85%+ chocolate, and avoiding processed foods and seed oils. I like this strictish definition because it means there’s little guessing about whether an item is in the program or out of the program, but of course this is just one interpretation and maybe I’m (slightly) suffering for naught. For me, it would be impossible to eat healthy if there was junk food at home because it would get eaten within 24 hours and whenever it wasn’t being eaten I’d be thinking about eating it.
Food goals: Try to get everything organic, eggs pastured, meat Kosher and pastured/grass fed, fish wild, EVOO only from California or Israel, and prefer local over distant.
Shoutout to Simon Weber of MinmaxMeals for creating great value bulk-cookable meals on a site with an excellent name.
6. My daily food
I’ve been using za’atar, salt, and pepper as the only seasonings. Someone teach me more. I mostly drink only water, green tea ~once/day average, and occasional alcohol and matcha tea.
Breakfast
4 scrambled eggs: Cooked in extra virgin olive oil with raw sunflower seeds added after plating. I am strongly against getting brown in the eggs (like every hotel omelette station ever).
4 oz chicken breast (not pictured): Cooked on an indoor grill with nothing added
Israeli salad: Chopped up tomatoes/cucumbers/peppers and potentially onions. Important to use yellow or orange peppers so they don’t get confused for tomatoes (red) or taste terrible (green). Top with za’atar and olive oil.
1/2 avocado: Great fat source, but difficult to deal with the erratic quality differences and ripeness issues! Should the avocado be eaten with the vegetables or the eggs? Or both?
Total cooking/prep time is about 5-10 minutes (assuming the salad can be taken from a pre-made bulk container)
Lunch
2 hard boiled eggs: Cooked in bulk and eaten cold except for the luxurious hot egg experience if the 12-egg hard boil is done that day. I enjoy pre-eating the whites and sprinkling the yolks into the salad Salt Bae style. I’m also considering using a hard boiled egg slicer, which gives me nostalgia for when I ate sliced hard boiled eggs at my great grandmother’s nursing home’s salad bar many years ago.
4 oz chicken breast: If taking lunch to go, cook this with the morning breast
1/2 salad bag: Ready to eat salad bags, usually some kind of Romaine mix
1/2 avocado: 2nd half from breakfast
Vegetables: If at home, I always steam about half a bag of frozen vegetables (usually broccoli). This can be done during the breakfast cooking if taking lunch to go, but tends to not taste great cold. Israeli salad is a good alternative.
Total cooking/prep time is about 10-15 minutes, with the vegetables being the limiting factor
Topped with olive oil (If eating at the office, keep a bottle of on site so you don’t have to commute with the risk of an oil explosion)
I find it very efficient to eat this with hands, but that should definitely not be done in public and probably not even admitted in a public blog space
Dinner
8 oz salmon fillet (occasionally alternative meat (like 4 chicken legs or a steak or lamb)) or fish (like tuna or other fish fillet) with a bit of salt and/or pepper. Salmon broiled or baked in the oven is a great option, but I’ve also sometimes been using the grill in cases of laziness.
Vegetables: Steam half a bag of frozen vegetables. Costco’s stir fry vegetable mix is the best I’ve seen.
Rice: I eat rice on Friday nights and occasionally on other days, especially if it’s been a relatively intense workout/general day. I hate the cleanup value of cooking rice in a pot. Alternatives are microwaveable bags, boilable bags, and rice cookers. If at home I always use a rice cooker even though the standard cooking time is 60 minutes. The rice cooker can be left completely unattended and keeps the rice warm for 12-24 hours.
Total cooking/prep time is about 10-15 minutes, longer if including oven heat-up time and rice cooking time
Snacks that I like
Nuts: I like raw almonds and Brazil nuts. I try to avoid the carb-heavy ones like cashews since almonds are better anyway.
Carrots: My addiction. I think these are the perfect snack. Maybe too perfect. I can only stop when I see my face turning orange.
85%+ dark chocolate: Apparently the minimum acceptable level health-wise, which makes sense because it has about the minimum level of taste-acceptability as well. I did an overly complicated computation (that I have basically never actually considered when consuming chocolate) that concluded that I should eat this only when avocado is not available. I like TAZA 85% disks since they’re dairy-free and apparently have relatively low lead/cadmium.
Green tea. Does this count as a snack?
Healthy fruit (berries): Good snack/dessert option/carrot alternative. I usually get when on sale or frozen.
Less healthy fruit (apples, bananas, grapes, oranges): Good for post/during-workout situations
Soup/bone broth: Great for snack or 1st lunch/dinner course
Missing anything good or useful? Lmk
7. Other stuff
I’ve considered intermittent fasting and Keto. Keto is definitely intriguing, but I’ve seen mixed reviews and it seems very challenging to stick to, even if eating only vegetables as the carb source. I like the idea of applying intermittent fasting when it comes up naturally. Like when traveling with little access to reasonable food or when a dinner or breakfast meal is randomly skipped. It seems like a 16-hour fast window and 8-hour eating window is pretty optimal, though not sure how strong the benefits are. I also like the idea of fasting on Jewish fast days not really for religious reasons, but just as a way to force occasional fasts.
Why is this the area of my life that I seem to be most consistent? Probably because I’ve accepted that this is like 80% ideal and haven’t tried to do some absurd optimization to try to make it perfect. That said, I have recently been made aware of issues with chicken and eggs due to the diets of the birds that could make these high in polyunsaturated fats.
What about restaurants?
I went through a phase of being into restaurants, but now find that I prefer the norm to be eating a high quality meal at home, and to let randomness dictate when restaurants happen (and the randomness will generally not be led by myself). I think for most people, this will happen plenty (family/friend events, celebration meals, meals when traveling, etc.).
The thing about restaurants is they take more time, are way more expensive, and the food is almost always lower quality than my recommendations above, even if at a fine dining restaurant. Not to mention the risk of seed oils (or worse, sauces and flavor) contaminating your food.
In terms of food, restaurants make sense when you can get unique items and items that are cooked very well. Paying $20 for scrambled eggs or a random salad is bad value of time and money!
When in situations without access to a kitchen, I think an optimal choice for value/health is high quality supermarkets. Rotisserie chickens are some of the best value in existence and the premade food counters often have healthy options with all ingredients listed.