What does cooking look like for 2?

[May]

DH and I are empty nesters. I’ve never enjoyed cooking and was hoping when it was just us, I would like it more. Well, I dont😕 DH isn’t fussy and eats just about anything. He always tells how good it is, so I know he appreciates my efforts. We usually eat healthy and I use very little prepared food. I’m sure if I pushed it, he would cook one day a week. We do eat out on occasion but it’s something that we can take or leave. Also, DH isn’t big on leftovers so doing a huge batch of something and eating that all week, isn’t an option. Our oldest daughter does those food kits but one still has to prepare that. So fellow empty nesters, what does your dinner look like?

Edited April 9, 2019 by May
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[regentrude]

Our big warm meal is the midday meal. Week days, unless one of us has lunch meetings, it will be something quick that I can make in 25 minutes: curry, pasta & salmon cream sauce, pasta& tomato sauce; potatoes+eggs+veggies; different kinds of soup or stew; lots of salads as sides in the summer, stir fry. more elaborate cooking is for weekends or when we have guests. Since DS moved out, I rarely prepare meat anymore, just fish occasionally

I do not cook large batches; I make fresh food each day.

[May]

1 hour ago, regentrude said:

Our big warm meal is the midday meal. Week days, unless one of us has lunch meetings, it will be something quick that I can make in 25 minutes: curry, pasta & salmon cream sauce, pasta& tomato sauce; potatoes+eggs+veggies; different kinds of soup or stew; lots of salads as sides in the summer, stir fry. more elaborate cooking is for weekends or when we have guests. Since DS moved out, I rarely prepare meat anymore, just fish occasionally

I do not cook large batches; I make fresh food each day.

Thank you! I’ve been thinking about making our big meal around noon. DH grew up on a farm and this was how his family did it. I haven’t tried my hand at curry. I might have to give that a try🌺

[Pawz4me]

DH has cancer, so I let him choose almost all of our meals--whatever appeals to him and that he feels he can tolerate. All this past winter it was soup. We pretty much lived on soup. We're eating veggie soup almost every day for lunch, and often another type of soup for dinner. Besides that we tend to do simple things like baked chicken, salmon or other fish with simple sides (roasted or steamed veggies, salad), scrambled eggs or omelets (breakfast for dinner), etc. We always have fruit for dessert. I prefer to eat a mostly vegetarian diet, so if I prepare something for DH with meat/fish that I don't care to eat I'll either make a meal of the side dishes or fix me something simple like bean and rice quesadillas or a baked potato topped with veggies and cheese. And we're not above a frozen pizza or other convenience food now and then, either. We average eating out about three times a week.

Don't forget to use your freezer--if you make a big batch meal you can always freeze extra for another meal or two. I only have the fridge freezer, but I can still get quite a lot of re-heatable meals in it.

Edited April 9, 2019 by Pawz4me

[Liz CA]

We hardly eat out because of varying schedules.

I precook rice (2 cups of rice in 4 cups of water) and put the cooked rice in a container with a lid into the fridge.

I roast chicken or fish during the week. Those are things dh can reheat with rice & veggies when he gets home and I am gone (work till 7:30pm + commute).

On weekends I cook a little more elaborately like steaks for him, fish for me, roasted /sauteed vegetables.

 

[vmsurbat1]

Well, if you think hubby would take over the cooking one day a week, I say go for it! 😉

We also eat our main meal mid-day which I really like--both because I get the bulk of the hard work of cooking out of the way for the day, and I find larger meals at night uncomfortable.

But to answer your question, while my husband doesn't mind eating the same thing all week, I do.  Even so, I really like double-batching certain items to make meals easier.  For example, if we have chicken breast one night as the main with sides, I'll cook a bit extra chicken and use it in a Thai salad a day or two later.  So, not really "leftover" so much as "planned ahead" for.  

Some typical "planned ahead" items:  

• simply cooked/grilled chicken/pork/beef--to be added to main dish salads or last-minute addition to a stir-fry.
• all manner of cooked veggies--put to new use in sides, soups, salads,
• whole grains batch-cooked (works well to freeze in proper amounts),
• homemade bread (I make a loaf, use some, slice the rest, and freeze--that way I can take out just the number of slices I want to go with our eggs or make a sandwich)
• When making soups, stews, or curries,, I *do* make more than we use in one meal because they freeze beautifully. So, we aren't eating the same thing several days in a row, but several times over a month or two....
• When I can, I prewash and spin dry lettuce (no bagged lettuce where we are!) and chop up several days worth of veggies (carrots, red peppers, etc).  to speed up the salad making process for the week.
• When I can pre-make something while cleaning up, I do.  Take today, for example.  We had more rice than we needed for today's meal.  So when putting things away, I went ahead and whipped together a simple "main dish" rice casserole with the leftover rice, seasonings, corn, onions, etc.  Now tomorrow (or the next day), I just need to stick it in the oven and bake for 45 minutes.  That means to get dinner on the table, I won't need to do more than slice some tomatoes for a salad, maybe steam some green beans for color (and use in another dish this week!) and cut up an apple or two for dessert....

[Laura Corin]

This week we have had baked chicken thighs with lemon, garlic, fresh tomatoes and olives; pan fried salmon fillets; veg and beef stew with pearl barley. We make extra for lunches. I also make a lot of vegetarian and low-meat dishes. This guy is good

https://thedoctorskitchen.com/recipes

[Annie G]

For us, meals for two means five light meals a week and two more traditional meals a week. So we always have tacos or fajitas or burrito bowls on Wednesday nights (it’s our Survivor tradition) and another night I might make something like a chicken pot pie or dumplings or meatloaf. But the other five nights we eat light, such as butter beans and cornbread (or another beans and cornbread, such as pintos, zippers, etc.) .  I’ll also make loaded baked potatoes, a big salad,  grilled chicken and veg, frittata, grilled cheese, etc.  

I say ‘light’ but I really mean easy. One or two pots at the most, and quick prep.  It’s a far cry from when we were raising kids and I fixed a meat, a starch, three veggies, and some kind of bread. So I make many of the same things, just fewer at each meal.  And very few big things like stuffed shells or lasagna- those we reserve for holidays or birthdays. 

[ThisIsTheDay]

I'm loving empty nest meals! No more making loads of food, which used to be meat and a couple of sides. Now we seem to eat breakfast for dinner once a week,  like pancakes, or Western sandwiches. We go out a little more, since it's a lot cheaper for two.  We have salads,  and my husband might add bread.  Tacos are a favorite,  or we bbq still sometimes. We spatchcock and roast chicken, and I'll make chicken salad with the leftovers. We eat a lot of sandwiches.  If he makes something I don't want,  I get to make homemade soup (that he doesn't like). We'll still have meat for a main course but just one side.  I really like this eating!

[Carrie12345]

I’m not experienced in this area, but I wanted to point out that cooking a large batch doesn’t mean having to eat it all week! That’s what a freezer is for. 🙂. I do a lot of batch cooking (or just batch prepping) for 6-7, and freeze the extra to be used at a later date.  If you happen to be trying to watch your budget, that would also allow you to take advantage of discounts for family packs and whatnot.

[May]

17 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

This week we have had baked chicken thighs with lemon, garlic, fresh tomatoes and olives; pan fried salmon fillets; veg and beef stew with pearl barley. We make extra for lunches. I also make a lot of vegetarian and low-meat dishes. This guy is good

https://thedoctorskitchen.com/recipes

That site looks amazing😊Thank you!

[May]

Thank you everyone! You have given me some ideas that I’ll implement. It’s grilling season here so many nights, I grill the chicken and veggies. Yes, I also do the grilling🙄 Hubby thinks everything should be well done😕

Edited April 11, 2019 by May
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[J-rap]

I'm the same way.  I made dinners for our family for years but was never very good at it  😄 -- and I didn't really enjoy food that much either.  (That sounds so weird now!)  Once we became empty nesters, I joined a couple food kit clubs like Hello Fresh.  They've helped me figure out how to easily cook for two, and actually taught me more about cooking than I ever knew before.  They also got me excited to eat food for the first time in my life.  Another favorite food kit club of ours is Sun Basket.  (I go back and forth...  Sun Basket is a little more expensive though.)    I actually enjoy cooking now.  It's one of the highlights of my day!

[Jenny in Florida]

Honestly, there isn't a lot of "cooking" going on around here anymore.

I'm actually transitioning to a new job in a couple of weeks, which will have me working from home semi-regularly. So we'll see if that changes things once I have more hours in the house and a more normal M-F work week. For the last few years, though, my work schedule has not synced up with my husband's, meaning that we are rarely even eating meals at the same time. 

Under the current routine: Once or twice a week, I cook a batch of something. We eat it for dinner the night I make it (or, if I cook it the morning I go into work late, my husband eats one serving for dinner when he gets home), and I package up the rest for lunches each of us take to work for a couple of days. On a good week, I might do that twice so that we have choices for lunches. Those meals I pack for work end up being my main meal most days, because I get home late enough not to be interested in more than a snack. If I haven't prepped him something, my husband takes care of his own weeknight dinners, via grabbing take-out or stopping at Lucky's salad bar or just putting together a plate of cheese and crackers or something equally ambitious.

Until I switch to the new job, we overlap for only one "weekend" day per week. Sometimes, we go out for lunch or dinner and just snack at home for the other meal, and sometimes we hit a farmers' market or grocery shop together and cook at home. Again, those dinners often are planned with intentional leftovers in mind.

In the new job, I will be doing a bit of fairly local travelling, being away from home one or two days a week with some possible overnights, but I will be working from home the rest of the time. I will also be back to a much more typical M-F, 8-5 schedule. So we'll see how that changes the routine.