"From scratch" cooking and I feel lazy

[snickerplum]

My friends used to call me Martha Stewart. I sewed baby clothes, baby bedding, made my own baby food and scoffed at bread machines. That was then. Now...

All of my children have at least 1 food issue, my 7 year old is allergic to almost everything. Meals can be tricky.

That being said, there are things that I *can* make, but sometimes don't because they're supposed to be easy but they're not for us. My son asked why we haven't had tacos in so long. I said, "oh, just because," but what I was thinking was,"because I'd need 3 different kinds of tortillas (one of which I would have to make myself using random ingredients), 2 different kinds of sauce (no tomatoes for one) and 2 different kinds of meat (no beef for 2dd)." Don't get me started on lasagna or pancakes.

I just made crockpot cherry applesauce (like 99% of store-bought applesauce contains ascorbic acid which is typically from corn - hey, GMO thread). Was that hard? No! Do I do it as often as I should? No.

I feel like I need a kick in the pants or some other kinder form of motivation! I should make more things than I do (I DO make an incredible no tomato marinara that 2dd loves), but I gets frustrating that easy "weeknight" meals take soooo much time and prep work.

The thing is, I have the knowledge and capabilities to do these things, but I don't always have the energy. That makes me feel lazy. Sigh.

Ok, whine-fest done.

What do you make from scratch that others typically might not? I'm not necessarily looking for specific recipes, just I find it interesting what people cook. And perhaps this will be my nicer-than-a-kick-in-the-pants form of motivation. :-)

[Tanaqui]

It's not lazy. Cooking for multiple, conflicting food issues is simply *tiring*, especially if the kids aren't capable of being an effective help in the kitchen.

 

That said, I've lately been into making pickles. Mmm, pickles!

[Seeking Squirrels]

That's not lazy, that's a difficult situation. I have a very hard time and we just have 1 child with food limitations. What about making some of these things in large batches and freezing? Particularly if some of the things are for just one or two children? Then to make tacos you would pull out your pre-made sauces and pre-prepped meats and already made tortillas. If each item has several of you eating the same, then that can be the one you don't make ahead since it would take a lot more freezer space. Lasagna, I would make two or three every time I made one. Make it in a casserole dish lined and covered with foil then freeze. Once it's frozen you can pull the foil brick out of your dish. Easy to drop back into the same dish the day you want it and it's ready to pop in the oven.

[dsmith]

I can't relate to the allergy issues, but I'm with you on the feeling lazy with cooking! My son does have some sensory issues and has a limited diet, often eating something different than the rest of us. I've started making double and triple batches of some of the more annoying-to-make recipes like chicken pot pies, shepherds pie, chicken and dumplings, and anything else that freezes well. DH has a few things he makes for DS, like pulled pork and some pasta dishes. We freeze these in individual servings. He also makes big batches of meatballs and sauce, various stews, meatloaf, lasagna, baked ravioli, baked ziti, etc. on the weekends and freezes them for during the week. He often has a recipe complete before I wake up, which I love more than I can say! My mother-in-law always has some kind of stomach issue going on, so we try to have individual chicken breasts in the freezer for her, but she's on her own for that if she won't eat what I'm making.

[Rebel Yell]

Agreeing with cooking in bulk and making use of a freezer. I hope you have one! Just remember to freeze things in typical portion sizes.

 

And my weird thing? I make BBQ sauce from scratch! Most store-bought are too sweet, too spicy, too MSG, or too expensive for a brand I like.

[Guest]

No one can make you feel lazy without your consent. Never give it to them :laugh:

 

Do what you must do, then do what you want to do, then forget about it. This isn't Martha Stewart season, it's getting-by while doing other things season.

[fairfarmhand]

I vote that cooking has so many issues for you that you are frustrated rather than lazy. All that just sucks the joy right out of it.

 

I don't blame you one bit from feeling like that!

[happypamama]

I vote not lazy. I vote that it's hard, and wearying. One thing I have learned from the past few years of having multiple small children, homeschooling, having a DH working long hours, living in the middle of nowhere, and having a tight budget is that stuff adds up. Something might only take five minutes, but all of those five minutes add up to real time and real energy. Don't be hard on yourself, mama. You are doing what you can.

[sbbulliv]

I hear you, sister! Gluten free, dairy free, one with no tomatoes, one plain picky "i dont like my food to touch each other". Its enough to make you want to cry. Taco bar here tonight. We'll see how it goes.

[IfIOnly]

I wish I could be lazy and not cook from scratch. :( Eating convenience food is too expensive with gluten, dairy, egg, and soy allergies. Cheese and crackers for lunch or cereal (even just cornflakes)l and dairy free milk for breakfast would be about $15 for each.

[Zoo Keeper]

You do realize that good ol' Martha doesn't actually do 99.9% of what is attributed to her....she just knows how to pick and choose, and delegate well.  ;)

 

You have my blessing to pick and choose, and delegate (hello, boxes and cans!) however much you need to, and still retain your Martha title. 

 

You've made kids from scratch,  you school from scratch...go you!

[snickerplum]

I never even thought anyone might reply that I'm not lazy, but I'm loving it! :-) You know how it can be when you're in a situation and it looks different to someone outside it. Seriously, I appreciate it.

I do make her marinara and freeze small portions, as well as soup and muffins. And I'm SO glad to have found a lemon sorbet that I can buy at the store!

[momee]

"I feel like I need a kick in the pants or some other kinder form of motivation"

 

America's Test Kitchen subscription - watch their TV series :)

get Plan to Eat and start saving recipes YOU LOVE

make a meal plan when you're able to sit and think about it - print out weekly shopping list and get a coffee while you do your shopping

 

Prep all you can on Sat/Sun when dh is able to keep kids away from you - or enlist him and put on music while you do as much as you can in advance - stop to dance :)

 

That's what I've done anyway.  It is working, but don't get me wrong.  Cooking for 6 adults and 1 child is...well...exhausting.

 

[momee]

I don't know how old your kids are... but this...

"The thing is, I have the knowledge and capabilities to do these things, but I don't always have the energy. That makes me feel lazy. Sigh."

 

Made me realize, you have helpers :)  And if those helpers have allergies, the time spent in the kitchen is going to be very, very valuable to them.

 

I don't have allergies but my mom was nooooo chef.  She didn't teach me at all.  Now with having a large family, I really wish some things were just intuitive for me. (thus the ATK subscription recommendation, even if you can't bake what they're baking/making, you will still get some ideas and maybe that will be enough to recharge you.

Hugs, I live your struggle every day (minus food allergies, just old folks and young folks and dietary needs).

[Guest]

Yeah, not lazy. I always cooked from scratch and I'm just plain ol' tired of doing it. I'm the one with food issues around here; everyone else is normal. But I haven't made Lasagna for ages, because I need to avoid all that cheese and have been (mostly) avoiding gluten. If I make regular spaghetti, it is easy to make a little pot of GF spaghetti for myself and regular pasta for the rest of the family. But Lasagna is a different story. No way will the rest of the family eat a GF, non-dairy Lasagna.

[FriedClams]

I just started " Dinner: A Love Story". It's encouraging and warm and so super not-condemning. Lots of whole foods recipes and reality. Highly recommend.

[SumSum]

Definitely not lazy! That is a super difficult situation!

 

I have only one child with an extremely restricted diet, and sometimes it is so exhausting preparing meals for her. I can't just prepare dinner with whatever ingredients I have in the pantry. I have to plan ahead, have the correct(sometimes difficult to source) ingredients on hand, and then have researched the special recipe I will need in order to prepare a version of the meal that is dd friendly. It can be super draining. I do often resort to some go-to meals that work well for her, but I would like to offer her more variety and excitement in her meal choices. I do make her grain-free/sugar-free desserts and breads in large batches and freeze them.

 

The other issue I have is sometimes I will go through the process of making a new and elaborately prepared dish for her and she will not eat it. This can also be frustrating, but I try to not to let it discourage me as I have read it takes multiple exposures to new food before a child will be receptive to trying it.

[Lisbeth]

I feel your pain, so much.  It's not laziness - if you are like me, you are just exhausted trying to deal with all of the food issues.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

My DH has multiple food allergies, and my DS has celiac's.  I like cooking from scratch, but knowing that I really have no choice makes it harder.  There is almost never an easy out, it has to be homemade.  

 

Some things I make...

 

Two batches of pizza dough- one reg, one gf, once a week.  This is freezable.  If I had freezer space, I would probably make a ton of extra dough balls and freeze them, so that I only needed to decontaminate the kitchen once a month or so from the flour.  

 

Chicken nuggets- gf, very good, but big mess since I do fry them.  French fries as well, the real deal- cut up potatoes, deep fry in a cast iron dutch oven. 

 

Homemade gf lasagna.  Less often, as I only feel it's worth the effort if I can freeze a tray as well.  

 

All pastries- cupcakes, birthday cakes, every day cakes, brownies...  

 

All Asian food, due to the gluten in soy sauce.  I love going out for Chinese, but it pretty much only happens on our anniversary. 

 

Homemade soups, all kinds.  

 

I get into dinner cooking funks, and to try to avoid them, I schedule at least three meals a week that I can cook with no recipe and in under 30 minutes.  I also try to do slow cooker at least once or twice a week, so the worst of the prep is earlier in the day while I still have energy.  

 

The meal I hate most is lunch.  Ugh.  

 

 

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

One more thing I've come to realise about cooking:

 

I LIKE to cook!  Even gluten-free as a sort of challenge.  What I don't like is to cook while the kids are screaming at me to intervene in their minute disputes, with a baby attached to my leg and wailing in fatigue.  And turning to put food on the table only to see that it's covered in art projects, old dishes, half-blooded laundry, and a spilled cup of water...  

 

 

[SparklyUnicorn]

I sometimes make most things by scratch and then there are periods of time where I just don't have the time and energy.  So I don't do it.  Cooking is in part a hobby for me, but sometimes we don't have much time for our hobbies.  So these days I cook because we have to eat. 

[pehp]

Weird food issues here too--son gluten free, husband often vegan (not always?!), I avoid simple sugars, blah blah.

 

I make things like muffins, waffles, pancakes from scratch.  I make soups--we can all do soup!  I do not make chicken stock, I do not cook my own dried beans usually, I buy a GF pizza crust instead of putting together my own..... I take shortcuts when they will help me stay sane and feed my family in a healthy and simple way.  I often buy seasoning mixes (organic ones, no funky fillers) instead of, say, throwing together my own taco seasoning out of various spices because...it's just simpler when I'm already juggling multiple food restrictions and trying to also live a full life! 

 

I make all desserts except ice cream, but we rarely have desserts.  Special occasions, or one weekend a month, I will allow an actual dessert. Otherwise I'll throw 2 dark chocolate almonds at my children twice a week and call that "dessert." 

 

I do a good job of feeding my family healthy food within their dietary restrictions, but I do not try to "do it all".  

 

 

[Junie]

Since I am gluten-free, I have to make quite a few things from scratch, too.  What we usually do is make a main dish and then "cheat" for the sides -- canned fruit, veggies steamed in the microwave, store-bought cole slaw.

 

I like to cook, but I am often really tired when it is time to make dinner.  And the kids like to ask me questions like "How do you spell spaghetti?"

 

One day, I told them, "Don't ask me any more questions while I'm cooking.  I'm not Mom.  I am the Grumpy Chef."

 

So now, if they are bothering me when I'm cooking, I just say "I'm the Grumpy Chef", and they (mostly) leave me alone.  :)
 

[KungFuPanda]

I think I could deal with food issues OR an aversion to leftovers but not both. As long as I'm cooking from scratch each day, and there are acceptable leftovers for those with food issues, my work is more than done. I don't have it in me to do three types of tortillas. Put it on a salad or bed of rice, kid. Someone sucking it up and having the soup for two dinners in a row is MUCH more practical than me cooking multiple versions of dinner each night. Eating exactly what everyone else eats at all times is just not a right.

[Zinnia]

I like to cook and often do from scratch, but it's the daily-ness of it that gets you.  As someone else said, it's the cooking with people fussing and crying and demanding food right.this.minute.  The trying to accomodate everyone and never winning.  That gets old.

That said, I can not eat store bought salad dressing, and my children won't either.  We all prefer homemade, to a huge extent. 

[melbotoast]

:grouphug:  :grouphug:  :grouphug:  We are also dealing with several food issues (the corn allergy is the worst!) and I am sooooooo tired of cooking! 

[kewb]

Not lazy. More like exhausted. I don't have to deal with food allergies/sensitivities and when I don't feel like cooking it is lazy.

 

I used to be all from scratch but now that my kids are in high school and often eat all kinds of garbage when they are out and about I have become a very lazy cook. Tbh, I would eat cereal or chips and salsa for every meal and be just fine.

 

Things I make from scratch that might be considered unusual:

Pickled tomatoes. My end of the growing season treat. Although not this year. Not a successful crop.

Granola bars

Pop tarts (although I have not done this in a while)

I tried my hand at ricotta cheese. It was easy and cool but not a lot of yield.

I used to make kefir but I killed my grains by ignoring them too long.

 

I want to try making yogurt.

[SparklyUnicorn]

I think I could deal with food issues OR an aversion to leftovers but not both. As long as I'm cooking from scratch each day, and there are acceptable leftovers for those with food issues, my work is more than done. I don't have it in me to do three types of tortillas. Put it on a salad or bed of rice, kid. Someone sucking it up and having the soup for two dinners in a row is MUCH more practical than me cooking multiple versions of dinner each night. Eating exactly what everyone else eats at all times is just not a right.

 

Yeah I often double a recipe or more for leftovers.  That is a real sanity saver. 

[Annie G]

I'd be overwhelmed trying to feed my family with that many restrictions. Kudos to you, OP!

 

I got tired to having bottles of salad dressing in the fridge- we'd accumulate 4 or five bottles and never seemed to actually finish any of them before they got old. So now I make one kind of salad dressing each week and keep it in a mason jar. It's way cheaper and I really don't care that nobody has a choice in salad dressings. Deal with it, people. 

 

I grow weary of making tacos- the meat isn't a big deal, but it does take more time to make it from scratch than to open a seasoning package and dumping it. And then there are the refried beans- I big batch those and freeze them but they do take time when I make a batch. And when we had four kids at home I always made Spanish rice with tacos to stretch the meat. So now they think tacos have to include that, which I make from scratch. And then there's shredding the cheese, chopping the lettuce, dicing tomatoes, scooping avocado...it all takes time. And they think, hey, that's an easy meal that we can come home and eat. Yeah, it is when I've already done all the work!

 

I make my own noodles, spaghetti sauce, and chicken stock. And all soups.  Focaccia, specialty breads, etc. from scratch. For folks here, these things are all typical. But the general population rarely even makes their own salad dressing, let alone their own noodles.  It's time consuming, but worth it.