Labour intensive cooking

I like cooking but oh how I hate how much time I spend in the kitchen because I do not use any processed foods or ready meals. In my neck of the woods I also do not have access to vegetarian burgers, sausages, cheese or whatever that those of you who live in the developped world have available in any decent supermarket Take today for example; went to "liberate oranges" a 6k round trip,collected some aloe vera on the way back, prepared the filling and the pastry for a leek and sun dried tomato quiche. Prepared the mixture for mushroom croquettes which has to be left overnight to be ready to "roll" tomorrow. Poached strawberries in dark brown sugar and lemon and then prepared the cranberries for the muffins. That was all before lunch.
This afternoon rolled the pastry,finished the filling prepared potatoes and made muffins.
This isn't even a particularly "kitchen busy" day. Do you vegetarians or vegans spend as much time in the kitchen? :nopity:

 

So, think about peasant Mexican women before the introduction of commercially prepared masa...
sun-up to sundown nixtamalizing corn, grinding it to making tortillas or tamales ( I've done this, there is nothing like fresh prepared masa), soaking and slow cooking pinto beans, roasting chili pods, preparing salsas...and no refrigeration.



Some of the best food is the simplest IMO, but unfortunately much of it takes forever to prepare properly.