What do you do when you just don't want to cook, like, ever?

[Spy Car]

OMG you people are killing me.  Just bought a Groupon for Hello Fresh and off to see where I can buy a Sous Vide system locally.  My husband thanks you.

 

Anova gizmos are generally the best value. The Joule by ChepSteps is the object of my desire.

 

Bill

[marbel]

That's the beauty of the vacuum packaging and the boxed salad. The box of salad keeps for 7-9 days here, depending on how careful we are with it. The vacuum sealed lunch meats keep for a couple of weeks (unless they're opened--that's why you buy a bunch!). If all else fails, will he eat grilled cheese? Pre-sliced cheese lasts for a couple of weeks even after it's opened. 

 

At least lunch isn't usually a problem here  :001_cool: It's more packaging waste than I like, but hey, it's better than him buying takeout every day, which isn't any less waste anyway. 

 

Will he eat things like frozen burritos or Lean Cuisines or the healthier varieties of packaged, shelf-stable ramen? Thai Kitchen makes yummy ones, and there's another good brand too. Maybe Amazon Fresh could be good for you too. They have a lot of that stuff, usually with next day delivery to your doorstep. 

 

:lol:  :lol:   You have no way of knowing this, but it is the rare day here that cheese is not consumed.  I try not to have cheese at lunch too often because most likely there is cheese included in dinner!    :lol:    I do keep salad greens around.  

 

No frozen things, no ramen, ever.  No pasta.  

 

I said he wasn't picky.  But he kind of is. But trying to eat low-carb, so pasta-based meals don't work so well. 

 

You are being helpful, even if my responses sound like I think you're not.  Any reminders/ideas are great!  

[Spy Car]

Cooking in plastic? Are you concerned about the chemicals leaching into foods?

 

What, me worry? :D

 

Bill

[gaillardia]

Trying new simple recipes is good for breaking the routine and burn-out of planning, shopping, preparing, and clean up.

Using the crock pot or a pressure cooker; new to you different cultural foods; different seasonings and healthy dressings or sauces; or keep it simple.

I know it is hard when you can't eat certain foods or it will make you feel bad. 

It really is not as difficult as we make it to be most of the time, I know! 

Sometimes someone will post a "What's for dinner?" thread and a lot of people make it look like they are preparing very expensive and time-consuming meals. No, thanks.

 

Forget that crap of you're the only one who prepares the food. I didn't exactly quit, but DH is the meal prep guru at our house most of the time. He corrects my actions, so he can do it himself or ask the kids to help, WHICH HE WILL NOT DO and I don't know why! They're all over 15. If I'm making food he will get involved and I end up walking. lol. If I know he's not doing it, I will.

I know some people like to make a whole lot of one item at a time and freeze it, like spaghetti sauce. Go for it. 

Somewhere I read about a young man from India. He said it didn't matter how far they were going or where they were, when they were traveling and hungry, they would stop and his mom and aunts would always have a large array of delicious food ready to eat in minutes from things they packed or prepared themselves. 

 

 

 

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

:lol:  :lol:   You have no way of knowing this, but it is the rare day here that cheese is not consumed.  I try not to have cheese at lunch too often because most likely there is cheese included in dinner!    :lol:    I do keep salad greens around.  

 

No frozen things, no ramen, ever.  No pasta.  

 

I said he wasn't picky.  But he kind of is. But trying to eat low-carb, so pasta-based meals don't work so well. 

 

You are being helpful, even if my responses sound like I think you're not.  Any reminders/ideas are great!  

 

 

:lol: Yeah, I know how it goes. We have the same problem here, with the DH who "isn't picky" but then looks kind of let down when you put a thrown-together meal in front of him. And the same with the low-carb--we ALL feel better when we're eating low-carb, but that just doesn't lend itself to quick-and-easy meals, for the most part. Hence my dinner problem. And we're getting mighty sick of eggs for breakfast too, but if I allow cold cereal in the house, it's all the kids want for every meal, snack, and dessert. 

 

Seriously, food pills or protein cubes. 

Edited July 9, 2017 by ILiveInFlipFlops

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

Forget that crap of you're the only one who prepares the food. I didn't exactly quit, but DH is the meal prep guru at our house most of the time. He corrects my actions, so he can do it himself or ask the kids to help, WHICH HE WILL NOT DO and I don't know why! They're all over 15. If I'm making food he will get involved and I end up walking. lol. If I know he's not doing it, I will.

 

 

DH is actually a fantastic cook, and we went through a period where one DD cooked on Saturday, one DD cooked on Sunday (but is very anxious and needed a lot of hand-holding), and DH cooked one night on his day off. That was heavenly, but it fell apart for various reasons. And DH just got transferred to a new office, so now he leaves at 8:30 a.m. and gets home at 8:30 p.m., and spends at least two hours in the car in traffic in that time. So I expect very little from him these days. 

 

DD11 has been dying to get her hands on my kitchen for awhile now, but she has refused to follow any of the guidelines for the family's food needs, so I've been reluctant to let her. Now she's starting to agree to keep some things in mind, and I'm letting more things slide, so I suspect she's going to be a big help to me here. Frankly, we're looking at the culinary program at the local vo-tech for her, and then maybe culinary school afterward. So if I can't rely on her for help, who CAN I rely on?!

 

Sloppy joes smell great so far, and I'm parked on the couch with my books :D

 

ETA: Oh, and the bolded :lol: So much yes. DH, who is very kind and even-tempered, turns into a snappy jerk in the kitchen, so I won't work with him in there. My favorite is when he tells me to stay out of his way, and then he calls me in to ask for help, and then he's snippy with me while I'm in there  :smash:

Edited July 9, 2017 by ILiveInFlipFlops

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

What, me worry? :D

 

Bill

 

We're going to need confirmation that the plastic is completely lead-free though...

 

:leaving:

[Spy Car]

I put a 3 lb beef tenderloin in a Sous Vide bath an hour ago for a little pre-birthday party for my son this afternoon.

 

Thirteen on Tuesday. Can you believe it? Seems like yesterday that we were playing with C rods.

 

Time flys.

 

Bill (who sets the beef at 120 degrees)

[Spy Car]

We're going to need confirmation that the plastic is completely lead-free though...

 

:leaving:

 

Never let me be accused of being hypocrisy-free  :D

 

Bill

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

For the first time ever, I've hit my quota of likes for the day! Sorry I missed some of you, but I read every post.

 

Family:  What are we doing tomorrow?

Me:  We are doing x and y and z at this time and that time, you will need a, b and c.

Family:  What's for dinner?

Me:  I don't know, what's for dinner?

 

 

My reply is, "Ugh, dinner. I don't know, what are you making?" Occasionally it gets me an offer to make dinner instead, but usually the offer involves a trip to the store, and there's usually no time at that point.

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

Never let me be accused of being hypocrisy-free   :D

 

Bill

 

 

:lol:

[SparklyUnicorn]

:lol: Yeah, I know how it goes. We have the same problem here, with the DH who "isn't picky" but then looks kind of let down when you put a thrown-together meal in front of him. And the same with the low-carb--we ALL feel better when we're eating low-carb, but that just doesn't lend itself to quick-and-easy meals, for the most part. Hence my dinner problem. And we're getting mighty sick of eggs for breakfast too, but if I allow cold cereal in the house, it's all the kids want for every meal, snack, and dessert. 

 

Seriously, food pills or protein cubes. 

 

Uh yeah like my DH.  He won't complain out loud per se, but I know when he doesn't like something.  And he claims to not be picky, but then there is a fairly long list of things he does not like.  He'll eat them, but does not like them (and is not all that good at hiding the fact).  And it's little odd things.  Like he hates Parmesean cheese, meat on the bone (which leaves out so many things), beef, and some vegetables have to be stemmed or pealed (spinach and asparagus) otherwise he hems and haws while eating them.  At least he doesn't mind most of the low carb things I make.  So there is that. 

 

And then there are the times my dad visits.  Oh lordy...

 

I made chicken in wine today.  On the bone.  Which I know he does not like.  I ignored him (but it was hard).  *sigh*  I thought it was delicious. 

Edited July 9, 2017 by SparklyUnicorn

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

I made chicken in wine today.  On the bone.  Which I know he does not like.  I ignored him (but it was hard).  *sigh*  I thought it was delicious. 

 

Do I need to remind you of the board rule about posting the recipe if you mention a delicious meal? 

 

:toetap05:

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

Does anyone else NOT like salads? I really dislike salad.

 

My kids don't! I love them, but they don't love me, so I have to get the timing right and have them in moderation *sigh*

[cjzimmer1]

Generally I don't mind cooking but I do get in ruts where I just don't want to think about it.  We end up eating a lot of spaghetti, tacos and frozen pizza during those pizzas.  And personally I hate spaghetti so I save that for when I'm completely brain dead, serve it to everyone else and when they leave the kitchen I heat up a frozen dinner (Lean Cuisine or Stouffer's typically) and have my supper.  

 

One thing that helps for me is to make a meal where at least one part of can be repurpased into something else.  Examples.  When making mashed potatoes  for a side, I cook the entire 5 pound bag.  It's not much more effort to cut up the 5 pounds than 2 pounds but than I have lots of extras.  The next day I use the mashed potatoes to make 2 shepherd's pie (again because cooking 4 pounds of hamburger isn't any more work than 2).  One for supper and one for the freezer.

 

Leftover baked potatoes get turned into a sausage, onion, green pepper, potato and BBQ sauce hash/stir fry.

 

Chicken gets turned into pot pie or fried rice or stir fry ...

 

Rice gets turned into stuffed peppers, some meat and rice soup, stir fry, fried rice, or rice and milk for breakfast.

 

Make 5 pounds of taco meat instead of just 2 and freeze the leftovers for next week.

 

Usually I can muster the energy to cook one component but if I have to do everything from scratch it seems like too much effort.  So I always make extra of at least one part of the meal and use it in the next day's meal.  

 

Also for easy meals, I'm perfectly content making a meal of just veggies (the rest of my family not so much), so if I roast veggies or make salads etc, I will either get a rotisserie chicken or the panko breaded chicken strips from Costco.  So they have a meal with not much more effort than just the veggies.  

 

I do find it easier to cook a meal that "I" want to eat but my family doesn't like all the things I do.  I LOVE moussaka, no one else will touch it.  So even though it's a lot of work, once or twice a year I will muster the energy to make a pan and I will eat that the entire week. And everyone else can eat spaghetti or my famous "clean out the fridge meals".  

[regentrude]

Does anyone else NOT like salads? I really dislike salad.

 

ANY salad?

 

I find this such a difficult statement to understand, because there are so many different salads: green leafy salads, grain based salads, potato salads, bean salads, vegetable salads... Is it a texture thing? Or a temperaure thing? Because they all taste completely different...

Edited July 10, 2017 by regentrude

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

ANY salad?

 

I find this such a difficult statement to understand, because there are so many different salads: green leafy salads, grain based salads, potato salads, bean salads, vegetable salads... Is it a texture thing? Or a temperaure thing? Because they all taste completely different...

 

 

You know, it's kind of funny but I only like green leafy salads! Outside of my mother's potato salad, and maybe a German-style potato salad I had once, I've never really liked any other kind of salad I've ever tried. I don't know why. They've just never appealed to me. 

 

Oh, and Cobb salad, but to me that falls into the green leafy salad category. It just has great toppings.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Does anyone else NOT like salads? I really dislike salad.

 

One of mine hates all salads. 

[Janeway]

Get a husband. Hope he cooks. LOL..that is what I did!

[SparklyUnicorn]

Do I need to remind you of the board rule about posting the recipe if you mention a delicious meal? 

 

:toetap05:

 

I winged it, but basically I seasoned chicken drums (salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder), browned them, added various chopped mushrooms, 1 cup of wine and a bit of chicken broth.  Then simmered for about 40ish minutes.  I sometimes thicken the sauce, but I didn't today.  That was it.  You can also add carrots or other veg. 

[regentrude]

One of mine hates all salads. 

 

so what is the "common denominator" of all salads to him? The fact that it is cold? That it is mixed foods? Would he eat the same ingredients warm or not mixed with other things? Like, would he eat warm pasta, but not cold?

[regentrude]

I do like potato salad. 

 

I suppose more the leafy green salads. I like my greens, but I like them steamed and warm(ish), raw and separate or cooked in a curry or a soup or a casserole. 

 

Ok, that makes sense. Greens are ok for me, but my favorite salads tabuleh, caprese (tomatoes, mozzarella and basil), and the wonderful chick pea+roasted butternut squash in lemon tahini dressing (vegan !)  Oh, and cukes+tomato+pepper+onion, no leaves.

Edited July 10, 2017 by regentrude

[KungFuPanda]

 

Are you using pre-prepped potato skins, or are you baking potatoes and making them into skins yourself? If it's the latter, that doesn't sound like an easy meal!

 

I did come across a couple of nice looking sheet pan dinners when I was looking last night and this morning. Although, one had the nerve to call itself an easy, one-pan dinner. First you cook the chicken in a pan. Then, in a saucepan, you make the cheesy sauce. Then, in the actual sheet pan, you combine everything and bake it. I'm no mathematician, but...

 

 

 

 

I could probably eat sandwiches and/or salad every day. Except that that's what we're usually eating for lunch. So anything that's easy enough for us to eat for breakfast or lunch has already been eaten so many times each week that no one wants to look at it again for dinner. 

 

I think I need to start a thread where people list their absolute easiest dinner ideas.

  

 

I slice the potatoes with the cuisinart, pre boil them, then layer them with cheese, bacon, a splash of milk, then top with green onions and sour cream when it's all hot and bubbly. It's not hard, but it's not exactly a snap. I was not in the mood tonight, so they got those fake au gratin potatoes from the box. Nobody complained.

 

Does anyone else NOT like salads? I really dislike salad.

I'm only consistently in the mood for leafy green salads in the summer. Otherwise I like all the other salads better. In general, I greatly prefer soups and smoothies.

[regentrude]

Am going to make the squash and chickpea salad for dd this week though, thanks for the suggestion!

 

here's the recipe:

https://smittenkitchen.com/2009/01/warm-butternut-squash-and-chickpea-salad/

[SemiSweet]

here's the recipe:

https://smittenkitchen.com/2009/01/warm-butternut-squash-and-chickpea-salad/

That looks delicious, putting it in my Plan to Eat now.

 

As far as dealing with the rut goes, new recipes, Amazon Fresh, and having the kids/dh cook once or twice a week. The process just sucks sometimes and I actually enjoy cooking. I thought when we got this new house with a great kitchen I would love it (so much space!) but I'm just burnt out. I tell dh almost weekly that when the kids are grown I won't be cooking. We can eat out or have sandwiches and salads every night.

[SparklyUnicorn]

so what is the "common denominator" of all salads to him? The fact that it is cold? That it is mixed foods? Would he eat the same ingredients warm or not mixed with other things? Like, would he eat warm pasta, but not cold?

 

vegetables

 

He won't eat vegetables. 

 

So unless you consider a bowl of cold pasta alone a salad, nope he won't eat salad. 

[eternalsummer]

Mine also ask sometimes what is for lunch.  I look blank and say, I think there are some burritos in the freezer.

 

One meal a day is kind of my thinking and preparing limit.

[creekland]

Just catching up on this thread... it definitely applies to me.  I detest (most) cooking.

 

What I did to make things livable was keep tons of "easy" things in the house and start "helpie thyselfie" meals.  We all ate together, but we all made our own thing.  It could be a can of chili.  It could be a sandwich.  I could be microwaving a squash.  My family actually enjoys these meals and even young kids can make their own easy things.

 

Otherwise, I also married a hubby who doesn't mind cooking.  He didn't used to be good at it, but he's gotten better, esp with some foods.  Now he's my "go to" person when we eat salmon or chicken tenders.  He does a superb job with those.

 

Then we eat out (or take out) a lot, but that applies more now than it did when my kids were young and we didn't have as much disposable income.  We're at the point in our lives where we have "regular" meals out - like going to a certain Mexican place every Thursday we're both home for lunch, etc.  

[Ausmumof3]

I have learned to be content with mediocre salads.

 

 

Anyone over the age of 7 can cut vegetables, mix salad dressing and boil eggs. Possibly not well enough to serve to visitors, but well enough to save Mum the trouble.

My dd at 7 loved making salad. Sometimes they were unconventional with random stuff like kiwi fruit or pretzels but no one went hungry.

[meena]

I'm in this same spot now. I'm worn out from having all the meal responsibilities, and then the feeling is worsened by some health issues that have caused me to lose my appetite and be kind of grossed out by food. For about the past 9 months or so this has caused me to get really lax on what we eat. It used to be an occasional treat to have frozen pizza or chicken fingers; now my kids are asking me when we're going to eat "real food" again, lol.

 

In order to save our budget and help us eat better I set up a weekly meal plan template on Plan to Eat. I set up general categories for each meal of the day. For example, today is bagels + fruit + yogurt for breakfast, paninis and/or soup for lunch, and pasta for dinner. Then as the week goes on I plug in specific recipes or ideas that fit what is on sale/what we already have in the fridge and pantry/what the kids or adults are craving. When I first made this template I made a list of all the recipes we like that fit in each category, plus I have my recipes categorized and tagged in Plan to Eat.

 

I try to plan ahead but not too far, as our schedule is really flexible and is subject to change throughout the week, as is my motivation and energy levels. So, yesterday I looked at the general plan for today and made sure we had what we needed for breakfast, chose a recipe from my Plan to Eat recipe book for soup that we have all the ingredients for, and chose a recipe for pasta and started the prep for it while I had some time and energy. I also made tentative plans for breakfasts and lunches for the rest of the week and dinner on Tuesday. I'll see how I feel tomorrow and make plans for Wednesday and Thursday dinners accordingly.

 

What really helps me is that I don't make myself a slave to the template. For example, Tuesday is supposed to be Mexican (my kids insist that anything even close to tacos must be served on Tuesdays--thank you Lego movie). Last week, though, DH and one of the kids were out of town, plus it was a holiday so I didn't feel like doing Mexican. So we ended up having leftovers and stir-fry. I didn't beat myself up because I didn't follow the template. Instead, the template helps me narrow down my choices when I feel stuck or nothing sounds good. Instead of having a million recipes or foods to choose from, I know to just pick something from whatever category is on the template.