Has anyone ever taken a "cooking vacation"

[Coffeetime]

I'm doing this next month. I am so tired of menu planning, figuring out my grocery list, cooking and cleaning up. So. Tired. I need a break. So I'm doing something very out of the ordinary for me and I'm going to take a break from fixing home cooked meals. I'm going to go entirely with pre-made or super easy meals for a month. Anyone else ever done this? I'm expecting it to blow my budget a bit- but it will be worth it. :D

[KungFuPanda]

I'm doing this next month. I am so tired of menu planning, figuring out my grocery list, cooking and cleaning up. So. Tired. I need a break. So I'm doing something very out of the ordinary for me and I'm going to take a break from fixing home cooked meals. I'm going to go entirely with pre-made or super easy meals for a month. Anyone else ever done this? I'm expecting it to blow my budget a bit- but it will be worth it. :D

 

Yes, but not intentionally. :lol:

[Scuff]

No, but it sounds like heaven.

[ksr5377]

I am really interested in what type of meals you're going to use. Are you going to be cooking a lot ahead of time in order to have everything pre-made? This sounds like a great thing to do during the summer when all I want to do is be outside and not spending 40 minutes everyday working on dinner.

[Ferdie]

Sort of - I used a menu planning service for a break, emeals.com. They sent me a grocery shopping list and 6 recipes each week. It was not the healthiest food, but so easy. Most the meals were ready in 20 minutes, which for me was quicker than running out for fast food. I used the low-carb plan at Walmart and I still use some of the recipes. I also tried the portion control plan since it includes WW points. It was such a great break. Loved it!!

Edited May 21, 2012 by Ferdie

[meggie]

Well last summer we ate a lot of sandwiches. We'd buy a loaf of french bread and put some lunch meat and cheese and lots of veggies on top. Costco used to sell a really good vidalia onion salad dressing that we'd put on the bread.

 

This summer, the thought of the lunch meat sickens me. I'm going to crockpot a bunch of chicken breasts every week and we'll be doing salads with chicken. I'm using the spring mix from Costco. That's about as lazy as it gets. But at least we won't have to be heating the house so much.

[GoVanGogh]

I have actually planned on posting something similar.

 

I decided to go on a cooking sabbatical last week. I've got to say, it has been so nice not having to menu plan or think about cooking or remember to set something out the night before.

DH has been telling me for years not to worry so much about cooking supper every night, so... :D I'm not cooking right now.

 

I have been eating yogurt and salads and feeding DC sandwiches and fruit. I don't know what we will eat the upcoming week. I grocery shop on Tuesdays, so I may just buy some ready-made meals.

[Coffeetime]

I am really interested in what type of meals you're going to use. Are you going to be cooking a lot ahead of time in order to have everything pre-made? This sounds like a great thing to do during the summer when all I want to do is be outside and not spending 40 minutes everyday working on dinner.

I think that I will mainly let Costco do the cooking for me. ;) I don't even have the wherewithal to do the planning and cooking ahead.

 

 

Well last summer we ate a lot of sandwiches. We'd buy a loaf of french bread and put some lunch meat and cheese and lots of veggies on top. Costco used to sell a really good vidalia onion salad dressing that we'd put on the bread.

 

 

 

That sounds yummy! I'll be adding that to my list. :tongue_smilie:

[Coffeetime]

I have actually planned on posting something similar.

 

I decided to go on a cooking sabbatical last week. I've got to say, it has been so nice not having to menu plan or think about cooking or remember to set something out the night before.

DH has been telling me for years not to worry so much about cooking supper every night, so... :D I'm not cooking right now.

 

I have been eating yogurt and salads and feeding DC sandwiches and fruit. I don't know what we will eat the upcoming week. I grocery shop on Tuesdays, so I may just buy some ready-made meals.

 

A "cooking sabbatical", that's a better name for it. :D I'm with you- I need a break from everything that goes into cooking dinner every. single. night. I'm just tired of the entire process. If it works out and doesn't end up breaking the budget too much, it might just have to last all summer!

[astrid]

I do this every year in the week after New Year's Day. I do SO much cooking, baking and entertaining over the holidays that it's become a holiday tradition in our house-- Mom does NOT COOK A THING for a week after the holidays end.

 

Breakfast? There's always cereal.

Lunch? PB & J.

Supper? There's always cereal. :D

 

Seriously--- dh is great about it, and dd sort of looks forward to it because a) she gets to eat some crap that she never normally does, and b) she enjoys trying out new recipes and attempting to make them for our family. She finds crock-pot meals, breakfast for supper, casseroles, marinated chicken breasts, etc. and will usually bake brown rice and make salad. If it flops, it flops and we order takeout. The successes are enjoyed, the flops are laughed about and pass into family lore.

 

It's kind of a win-win in our small family, because I don't have to cook, nor apologize for it, and dd gets to expand her recipe file and culinary repertoire.

 

I highly recommend it! :D

 

astrid

Edited May 21, 2012 by astrid

[cottonmama]

Yes, it's called the first trimester. :lol:

 

We always break the budget for about the first 20 weeks. So I'm not sure what helpful advice I can give you. We mostly eat out and do frozen dinners. Spaghetti and frozen meatballs, meatballs/frozen chicken/fish sticks with rice and frozen peas, frozen pizza, microwaved baked potato with some combination of butter/sour cream/cheese/broccoli.

[~Tara~]

Ooo I like this idea. :)

 

I have already, (without guilt) let go of the cook every night deal. Weekends are always a free for all. Now, at least one night during the week is as well. To 'plan' that into our menu plan has been quite helpful.

 

I really like this month long 'cooking sabbatical' though :D

[Mom-ninja.]

I have days I don't cook, but that means we scrounge for what is in the house. No buying pre-made meals for us.

[PollyOR]

I did a juice fast during spring break. I knew it was going to be hard on me to cook regular food, so I assigned all cooking to my teens. They told me what they wanted to cook and I made the trip to the grocery store. It was HEAVEN!

[Mothersweets]

I did a juice fast during spring break. I knew it was going to be hard on me to cook regular food, so I assigned all cooking to my teens. They told me what they wanted to cook and I made the trip to the grocery store. It was HEAVEN!

 

 

Oooh, great idea!

 

OP, I can't wait to hear how it works out for you. I've been doing this whole planning/shopping/cooking thing for 25 years and just. do. not. want to think about it anymore.

[MamaT]

I do it one week a year. I take a week in the summer to declutter and spring clean. The kids and I work on it together, and everyone fends for themselves for breakfast and lunch. I buy sweetened cereal, frozen pizza, and lots of other food I never buy otherwise. My dh picks up take-out for dinner. It's also the only time I buy paper plates and cups. I love being able to keep going on the house without thinking about feeding people.

[AZDeb]

Yes, I actually did this quite a lot for awhile. Usually I like to cook from scratch. But, after we moved into a larger house to accommodate my dear Mother-in-Law, with her dog and cat, I found I was really struggling with our new routine. We already had my uncle living with us and some friends of ours needed to stay with us for an extended period of time at the same time. I felt like I was running a bed and breakfast. I was cooking three hot meals a day and in no time flat had become the master of what I called the 30 minute dinner. I relied a lot on convience foods. I cringe to think what our food budget was back in those days.

[OrganicAnn]

We call it "Friday".

[Isabella]

Yes! Earlier this year Dh & I and 19yo dd went on a juice fast for a month. All I had to do was make a juice! YAY - no cooking!!

 

We lost 15kg, 10kg, and 10kg respectively, which was a bonus. And the break from cooking was FANTASTIC! I came back to cooking with renewed enthusiasm. I recommend it to everyone!:D

 

ETA: My two other girls, 18, and 15, cooked for themselves. They loved the change, being allowed to cook what they want, and it was a really good way to encourage them to try new recipes etc. Since then they have also cooked more than they ever did before, so there were many, many benefits to our juice fast!

Edited May 22, 2012 by Isabella

[Coffeetime]

Yes, it's called the first trimester. :lol:

 

:lol: Yes, I have definitely fed my family exclusively on sandwiches for periods of time during my pregnancies.

 

 

OP, I can't wait to hear how it works out for you. I've been doing this whole planning/shopping/cooking thing for 25 years and just. do. not. want to think about it anymore.

 

That pretty much sums it up for me, too. Ok, y'all have me excited to do this now. I'll let you know how it goes- and how much it ends up costing me lol! :tongue_smilie:

[fraidycat]

Yes, it's called 2012. :D I really haven't done much cooking this year, at all. We've been eating out way too much and DH does most of the cooking if we do eat at home. I will cook up some spaghetti or toss some burrito type fixings into the crockpot once in awhile. I really can't bring myself to care enough to take the chore back up, full time. I've even given up grocery shopping - DH has mostly taken over that chore as well. We went to the grocery store a couple days ago, DH and the kids filled the cart, I picked up some shampoo then followed them around for a bit, then went to relax in the vehicle in the kid-free silence for a few minutes while they finished up.

 

The kids eat a lot of cereal, sandwiches, fruit, and fresh veggies for breakfast and lunch. I don't usually eat during the day at all, but if I do it's usually a sandwich or a handful of baby carrots or some other similar quick and easy snack.

[suppleasthewind]

I have done this for a week here or there. At the grocery store i will get things like: big frozen lasagna, frozen pizza, loaves of bread with different dips (pesto, hummus), juice boxes, little fruit cups, things my kids can get out of the cupboard themselves to snack on. Plan on going out for dinner once or twice that week. I actually bought those frozen pb and jelly sandwiches one week and not making 30 pb and j sandwiches from scratch for a week was a nice break.

[BMW]

I've never liked cooking, though I am good at it...

 

I just cooked through the book Once a Month Cooking, nearly cover to cover and had dh's full support... He goes with me to do the shopping and one son, who loves to cook, works with me in the kitchen and we get 14 meals at a time in the freezer.

 

I am ALWAYS looking for ways to get out of the kitchen!

[Coffeetime]

I'll confess that when I first read the thread title I thought, "Oh where can I take a vacation that has cooking classes!?" :D

 

Lol! You're right, it does sound like that! See, I'm too tired to even come up with the right title about cooking! :D I definitely need that vacation.

[tristangrace]

Ha! I don't merit a cooking vacation. What I ought to do is commit to a cooking boot camp: cook every meal, every day for a week.

[missmoe]

Have you looked into Dream Dinners?

 

A friend gifted me a session there earlier this year. It was heavenly! I went in and assemblied my meals in about an hour. Walked out with 8 meals. It was pricey, but cheaper than take out or going out to eat, and the quality was better than pre-packaged meals at the store.

 

I cooked some of the meals, but mostly my kids cooked them. I didn't have to worry about the huge mess that is usually left behind after my kids cook!