In their inspirational food podcast, Small Bites, hosts Sonja and Alex Overhiser, the couple behind the acclaimed website A Couple Cooks, pair small bites of food with short form interviews. The podcast explores the stories, ideas, and people behind what we eat, including minimalism in the kitchen with Melissa Coleman, a graphic designer and self-proclaimed minimalist. The show also features well-tested recipes from the couple, including healthy dinner ideas, vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, seafood, chicken, cocktails, and more.
A Couple Cooks is about more than just recipes; they want to help resource your everyday life, whether it’s finding the right coffee maker, understanding emotional eating, or devising how to survive a kitchen. The couple shares whole food vegetarian recipes they cook in their kitchen, and their recipes are made by two real people who work every time. Listeners can listen to fresh weekly recipes, kitchen tips, conversations from their popular blog series Healthy + Whole, and anecdotes behind the scenes in the A Couple Cooks podcast.
The Minimalist Couple is part of their Healthy and Whole series, inspired by a lifelong passion for home cooking and a sustainably healthy lifestyle. The couple’s podcast offers a unique blend of recipes, kitchen tips, and anecdotes to inspire a lifelong passion for home cooking and a sustainably healthy lifestyle.
📹 The Secret to Successful Meal Planning & Cooking at Home (Podcast Ep. 20)
Is the thought of dinnertime stressful and full of overwhelm? Has meal planning failed for you in the past? Listen in as Lauren as …
📹 Ep. 334 | Kitchen Clutter (with @maxlugavere)
Questions answered in this episode: 00:00 What is essential to prepare healthy meals? 04:10 What is a Thermapen? 04:35 Why …
And let’s all get on board with getting the kids, including the boys involved. My son has been involved in meal prep since he was little. Now he’s 21, and he lives at home because he’s in college and we live in an area where rents are ridiculous ($1500 for a bedroom in a shared house). As his “rent,” he’s in charge of the kitchen. My husband and I both work, and our son does all the meal prep and cleanup. Train your sons to be good roomies and future partners!
I went to culinary school and am now a stay at home mom of 3 kids and even I struggle with all the training and tools I have to do all these things. Sometimes we just need some encouragement and a reminder of how to start over with basics. perusal today with my kitchen torn apart from a flood, I can’t wait to get back on track! My oldest is 8 and I’m so encouraged now to involve him more as well.
A great resource is the free Meal Planner pdf from But First, Coffee. First you inventory what you’ve got; develop meals using what you have on hand; then fill in on the shopping list what you need to complete meals for the week. I print an extra shopping list to keep on the side of the fridge to jot down things we need as we run out of them.
Dawn, I think you and Diana are very easy to tell apart. I had friends in college that were twin and I probably made myself work on telling them apart from front and back. I can still remember them each writing me a letter telling me how much it meant to them that I took the time to get to know them separately. I told them that I value them both as individuals and that why I took the time to get to know them each that way.
My mom purposefully didn’t teach me how to cook. When I would ask why not she would say, “You have your whole life to cook, you’ll figure it out. You can read, therefore you can read a recipe.” 🙄 Luckily for me, I did figure it out. I taught myself how to cook and bake from scratch. Now I’ve started teaching my toddlers the basics of scratch cooking.
It could be good to make a list of 8 to 10 meals that you already know how to make. Then look at each recipe or meal at a time and look for swaps to bring in more whole ingredients to replace processed foods. For example: hamburger, helper mix, look for a recipe on how to make this. It’s basically hamburger some kind of pasta and some spices. There might be some tomato sauce as a binder. Those individual ingredients will be cheaper and have far less mystery ingredients than the boxed hamburger helper. One meal at a time you move closer to making from scratch and less reliance on processed foods. I find that it also usually taste better because you can tailor the spices to things that are already familiar to your family.
Wanting a variety can over complicate cooking and meal planning. Working on doing my best to simplify, and what we enjoy put on rotation. Just the other day I made extra rice to be used for another recipe but then realized we have other food that needs to be used up (over planned) so I froze the extra rice and will use it in a soup, or stir fry etc., I hate waste so if I over plan food the freezer is my friend.
When I got married a few years ago, I had NO experience cooking. I’d look up recipes and would run into their blog all the time! Many of their recipes bring you back to the basics of cooking and are delicious. I’ve never found a recipe of theirs that’s too challenging or disappointing. They are the best and they have helped bring the joy of cooking into my kitchen!
Lately, I’ve felt so empowered to just start with a roux and make homemade Mac and cheese with a good quality pasta. It’s so easy and I don’t even have to measure things. It gets so easy once you know forgiving recipes that you can just eyeball and not get bogged down in every step and measurement. And cutting and peeling get so fast after some practice. It’s so satisfying and easy. I was lucky to also have a from scratch mom that cooked for my large family growing up. She’s a big reason I went on to get my RD. I’m going to have to check out the blog and cookbook. And yay for more awesome, collaborating twin sisters! 🎉🎉
In the late 60s and 70s, a lot of recipes called for packaged items. But as an adult, I’ve always disliked that. If I was going to use a mix, I’ll just use a mix. If I’m pulling out a recipe, I expect to do everything from scratch! Now, I always start with what’s in the fridge. Then I put a list of items I have into Google and boom, lots of options for recipes come up.
Love this idea!! I recently read the book Ultra Pricessed People (also written by a twin: twin doctors from the uk ; the audio book is like conversation!!) I saw it on the diaryofaceo podcast and been seeking ideas to implement it… so this is amazing!! And u shoud Somehow interview the dr twins too!!!
I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. I love perusal your family! (I haven’t watched your brother yet.) I work full time, split shift so I leave at 4am and get home between 5 and 6 at night. My 4 children and husband all cook and each have a night. I wish I had more time to teach them. Any suggestions for the catch 22 of having everyone else cook? As helpful as it is that they cook, I feel like I have no control of what is made.
Why is no one choosing to talk about the genocide and ethnic cleansing happening in Palestine right now? Not to trivialize what you are talking about, I enjoy your articles, but this is the most important issue in the world right now as thousands of Palestinians have died in a little over 60 days, most of whom were innocent children, not to mention all those who have been displaced. Israel needs to be stopped and America needs to stop providing weapons. This is not a war as Palestine has no army, this is a genocide and the world is perusal and doing nothing about it. I find it very inhumane when people remain uneducated about these issues assuming it’s never gonna happen to us. We need people with platforms to raise awareness. I don’t mean to offend, I’m just a Muslim women, wife and mother who is heartbroken over all the bloodshed of my brothers and sisters across the world.
I am moving from Spain to Scotland next month. With 2 children, a labrador and only TWO suitcases! You guys have made this moving process so much easier for me, I will be forever grateful to you Josh and Ryan for introducing minimalism to me, 4 years ago when I first watched your documentary scanning through netflix one evening (surrounded by all that STUFF i used to have)! 4 years later, two documentaries and 4 books later… here I am still living my best minimalist life! Thank you guys.
I always think about this. My partner and I go “anti-shopping” for kitchen gadgets. We walk around the shop enthusing about how great they are and how much space they will take up in our cupboards after we’ve used them once and then go away and spend the money on an activity we enjoy instead. It’s a fun way to remind us that we don’t need these things (especially when I am feeling that I want all the shiny new things) I’m sure the other people in the shop think we are bonkers
Experts may say don’t rinse your meat, but at 60 years old I have been doing it & so did generations before me. Chicken comes in with feathers still on it, little bones, slimy & a bloody mess! Chicken should be rinse bc of that reason alone. I sterilize my counter, sink, utensils & hands well afterwards.
Wow, this was awesome. I didn’t realize all the chemicals I could be consuming because of my kitchen utensils. 🤯 This area is next in my list to tackle. My husband and I moved/downsized and our things we own have become overwhelming. This will help make the minimizing process easier now that I am more aware of the toxins that my family is around. Thank you for sharing!!!
I agree with not washing any protein because of the danger of cross-contamination. Historically many cultures ( even today) rinse their protein because not only is it a sign of cleanliness ( they use water, sometimes mixed with lemon juice or vinegar), many of their “meats” are from unknown sources, covered in dust, and dirt. In the US, meat and chicken, especially from supermarkets, are washed and sanitized before they get fabricated and wrapped in plastic (no pun intended) for you to buy them! 💚 #askgaby
For the tiny kitchen + cooking question: Mise en Place! It’s a French term that means “putting in place” or “gather.” Every chef lives by this phrase. I have a tiny kitchen and it helps me to gather all the items I will use in a recipe (measure the correct amount out and then put the ingredient away) all before starting to cook. It helps with following a recipe, cleaning as you go and uses your tiny amount of space appropriately. It’s a game changer. When I actually follow this principle it’s amazing how much cleaner my kitchen is afterwards.
I love my cast iron! It’s very non-stick. And I like to joke that I already have an insta-pot. It’s called a Dutch Oven! 😀 I can fry in it, stir fry in it, sautee, roast, braise, and slow-cook, and bake bread. Only thing I can’t really do is pressure-cook in it. That’s alright, I don’t NEED to pressure cook. Now that’s not to say anyone should chuck their insta-pot. If you’ve got it, and it works for you, use it! I just prefer my dutch. It works better for what I do. Do what works for you! <3
I use my air fryer, vitamix, instant pot and bread maker every week, multiple times each… they all help us get rid of a lot of processed foods and reduce plastic packaging. I make bread (no more wrappers), cook and freeze beans, broth, soups, stews in the pressure cooker (and rice); and use the vitamix for nutmilks, smoothies, soups, fruit ices etc… all these together help my family be more waste-free and healthy! If I use a gadget less than weekly, or for one thing only, it’s leaving my kitchen.
I am a minimalist but I don’t think anyone would think that if they look in my kitchen. I spend hours a day cooking, baking, and cleaning in my kitchen. I use a lot of tools, and they all bring me and my family joy and add value. It used to bother me that I couldn’t get rid of more things, but I’m happy with it now. I’ve realized that a minimalist kitchen for me would probably look too cluttered for someone else. However one thing I have really minimized is the food items I buy. I bake bread, make yogurt, cook everything from scratch. No more pre-packaged, processed “food”. Just real ingredients. My family and I feel healthier and happier this way.
Ryan made me laugh when Josh commented about bringing the snacks out…Josh must be hungry. I have an instant pot which replaced my crock pot, steamer, a frying pan, rice cooker, and more. I freed up counter and cupboard space. I weeded out most of my plastic containers. I have heavy steel pans which I love.
I really appreciate his comment on how much of a deterrent having to clean dishes after a meal is. Especially dinner. It’s the end of the day. You are exhausted. The last thing you wanna do is a load of dishes. 🙄 I try to have the dishwasher empty before dinnertime. This helps with loading as you cook. My spouse and I try to do the dishes together. That way, we’re both suffering. 😊
Hahaha no wonder my brother said “old George foreman grille” when he saw it. It works well though 🙂 In Hong Kong they eat chicken which is still is slightly raw so that its not over cooked and dry. Being Brit born I’m scared of it because we are told E-coli is common issue but I’ve eaten chicken in Hong Kong and so far touch wood it’s been all good
Basically I’m down to a electric single hotplate, 2 cast iron skillets with lids, hot water kettles big and small . I never replaced my microwave oven or intant pot when they broke. Utensils = Chopsticks, 3 sizes of cutting knives with cutting board, 2 paddles, 2 sets of silver eating utensils, paper plates and 3 coffee cups. This works for me as I only cook for myself .
Listening to this podcast talking about over buying of food and avoiding food waste. I live in a small town in Mexico where my mindset of shopping has completely changed due to availability. I have to purchase multiple of many things because if I don’t the next time I want/need that product may not be in stock. Being minimal is a struggle for this reason