1. A variety of reasons. The result of a tasty, nutritious meal is probably the main motivator, followed by challenge factor (I push myself to cook a somewhat wide variety of dishes), followed by cost. I pay for quality ingredients but still probably come out ahead on cost.
2. Most of the time, I plan a week at a time, but that might only be three or four dinners, as I plan on leftovers and usually eat out once a week. I keep a running list of meal ideas next to the week's plan on a whiteboard in my kitchen.
3. I try to stick with seasonal vegetables and that often guides my meal choices. I cook for/with vegetarians, vegans, and people with various allergies these days, which sometimes changes my plans; I get more latitude when cooking for myself. Green curry (with paste made from scratch) is the dish I'm most often asked to cook for groups; pulled pork and braised leg of lamb are also quite popular. I try to rotate through various protein sources during each week (including meatless), and while meat is often a star of my meals, they're mostly vegetables by at least a 2:1 ratio. Oh, and there's usually one meal per week that's stir-fry to use up lingering veggies.
4. No specifically named diet. I began to cut back on breads and sweets a couple of months ago to help shed a few errant pounds (I'm moderately fit at 135 lbs now), but other than that I generally eat what I want. I never drink soft drinks, rarely drink alcohol, and choose snacking carbs wisely.
5. I feel like most productivity hacks are geared towards squeezing every bit of efficiency out of one's time. While there are some useful common-sense ideas — establishing mise en place, caring for your equipment, etc. — I usually encourage people to tackle efficiency from the other angle. Instead of fretting about doing a lot in a little time, slow down a bit and carve out plenty of time to make a meal well. Meat needs time to get tender, bread needs time to proof, etc. The main thing I encourage new cooks to do is invest in spices, because having a solid core set of them makes a huge difference in the quality of results and new cooks are sometimes hesitant to try recipes that call for spices they don't have on hand.
2. Most of the time, I plan a week at a time, but that might only be three or four dinners, as I plan on leftovers and usually eat out once a week. I keep a running list of meal ideas next to the week's plan on a whiteboard in my kitchen.
3. I try to stick with seasonal vegetables and that often guides my meal choices. I cook for/with vegetarians, vegans, and people with various allergies these days, which sometimes changes my plans; I get more latitude when cooking for myself. Green curry (with paste made from scratch) is the dish I'm most often asked to cook for groups; pulled pork and braised leg of lamb are also quite popular. I try to rotate through various protein sources during each week (including meatless), and while meat is often a star of my meals, they're mostly vegetables by at least a 2:1 ratio. Oh, and there's usually one meal per week that's stir-fry to use up lingering veggies.
4. No specifically named diet. I began to cut back on breads and sweets a couple of months ago to help shed a few errant pounds (I'm moderately fit at 135 lbs now), but other than that I generally eat what I want. I never drink soft drinks, rarely drink alcohol, and choose snacking carbs wisely.
5. I feel like most productivity hacks are geared towards squeezing every bit of efficiency out of one's time. While there are some useful common-sense ideas — establishing mise en place, caring for your equipment, etc. — I usually encourage people to tackle efficiency from the other angle. Instead of fretting about doing a lot in a little time, slow down a bit and carve out plenty of time to make a meal well. Meat needs time to get tender, bread needs time to proof, etc. The main thing I encourage new cooks to do is invest in spices, because having a solid core set of them makes a huge difference in the quality of results and new cooks are sometimes hesitant to try recipes that call for spices they don't have on hand.