How Often Do You Cook? [Archive] - Simple Living Forums

ApatheticNoMore

4-4-14, 11:21pm

I hit the wall several months ago. I just became disgusted with cooking. Of it taking what little free time I had. Before I hadn't minded and then it was just "no, no more!!!" It was probably about the time I started making elaborate salads for lunch (I have no real desire to heat up things in the work microwave). Ack this and dinner too?!?!? So I havent been cooking all that often. Does that mean I go out to restaurants or eat elaborate packaged foods? Not really. It's means I'll call a fried potato dinner, or I'll call a fancied up (with veggies and cheese and so on) can of beans dinner. Yep, yep, very sad indeed. I used to genuinely enjoy grocery shopping too, now it's gotten to the point where I'm: this nonsense takes 1 hour and 1/2 out of my precious weekend time?

meri

4-4-14, 11:39pm

Four or five times a week. I usually plan on making sure to have leftovers ... is that still called leftovers? I am just making extra portions. We re-heat them and we also always have one freezer drawer stocked with frozen 'leftovers' in a portion size packages so that nobody gets tempted to eat out when I don't have time to cook. Because of very different dietary preferences in our family I usually end up cooking at least two variations of the dish or two completely different dishes so preparing enough to make at least for two meals is really worth it.

iris lilies

4-5-14, 12:01am

I cook dinner 6 - 7 times a week. We don't go out much. But some of that "cooking" is using pre-frozen-by-me foods. I've used up all of my frozen stash and need to build that back up again.

I don't cook breakfasts of lunches. DH makes his own breakfasts and lunches each day.

bae

4-5-14, 12:15am

Trigger warning:

I cook most meals, most every day.

iris lily

4-5-14, 1:17am

bae --where exactly do you get your fish? Do you buy from a local fisherman? There's an old thread on Emergency preparedness where you've put up a photos of a gargantuan fish on your grill. Damn that looks good.

bae

4-5-14, 1:34am

bae --where exactly do you get your fish? Do you buy from a local fisherman?

I have multiple sources:

- myself, easy enough to catch many sorts of fish and shellfish around here
- neighbors who trade/give you fish
- local fishermen who fish in local area
- and my favorite secret source - local fisherman who goes up to Alaska in his big commercial boat, catches lots of salmon, halibut, octopus, and prawns, and then brings them back down here to the island to sell.

goldensmom

4-5-14, 7:04am

I make a full meal M-F for my husband when he gets home from work and then for breakfast, lunch and dinner on the weekends. We sometimes have leftovers on the weekend.

catherine

4-5-14, 8:02am

I don't cook a lot, but a lot more than I used to. I won't eat soup out of a can, for instance. It is such a world of difference to eat homemade soup vs. canned soup, I can't even bother with the canned stuff any more. If I don't have time to simmer anything, miso soup takes 5 minutes.

I don't eat much meat so I don't cook that. I really love experimenting with vegetarian chills, quinoa salads, etc. DH cooks and is usually excellent, although these days he's going a little off track with the heat. He never liked spices his whole life, but I think Bobby Flay and I have somehow influenced him to experiment in the pepper/chili/tabasco arena, and the problem is, he just doesn't know how to integrate that element into food yet. But he's learning! Otherwise, I love what he makes, and he's best at presentation. I've taken more pictures of his plates than I know what do to with.

CathyA

4-5-14, 8:04am

IshbelRobertson

4-5-14, 8:52am

I cook every day.

Miss Cellane

4-5-14, 8:53am

I tend to cook a big batch of something on the weekend, like tomato sauce or chilli, then freeze it in individual servings. That way, I have homemade food for the week, but without having to cook every single night. Right now, I have chilli, tomato sauce with and without meatballs, Spanish rice, and beef stew in the freezer.

I live alone. At times, the work involved in feeding myself properly gets tiring. Reading the ads, planning the meals, shopping (I hate food shopping), dragging it all home and putting it away, cooking and then cleaning up. I've been doing this for 30 years now and I'm tired of it.

I alternate the pre-cooked meals with simple meals. A baked potato with chilli or cheese and broccoli. Grill a chicken breast and nuke some frozen vegetables.

Baking is something that I still enjoy. So I make most of my bread, and usually have something like pumpkin or banana bread on hand. And I'll make pizza. Once a month, I make a batch of cookies or brownies and freeze them, for my sweet treat for the month.

pinkytoe

4-5-14, 9:22am

I cook everyday all week except for one or two meals out (usually lunch). A couple of times a month, I will cook up stuff for the freezer (beans, soup etc). It is probably the most creative thing I do lately - at least that is how I like to approach it rather than seeing it as a chore. I don't know if it's just us but seems like the money spent vs value doesn't add up anymore for eating out. We can make it better and cheaper at home. But sometimes you just need a break.

awakenedsoul

4-5-14, 10:37am

Wow! Thanks for all the replies. It sounds like everyone makes most of their meals. That's what I was wondering. I don't normally freeze meals, so you've got me thinking. I've noticed that many people at the store buy prepared foods or take-out now. When I was teaching, several of the kids were given fast food before class. It just isn't the same. Sometimes I'd see them between classes munching on a family size bag of Doritos for dinner. This board is different. More conscious about nutrition. Everyone sounds so disciplined!

I like your attitude that cooking is creative, pinkytoe. It takes time, but I agree, it's totally worth it. I made a batch of chicken enchiladas the other day with some leftover roasted chicken. I'd forgotten how much I love enchiladas!

MaryHu

4-5-14, 11:08am

Enchiladas are something that freeze pretty well. When I find mushrooms on sale I will buy a bunch and make mushroom, tofu and kale enchiladas by the dozen and freeze in increments of 6 or 8 for future dinners. Recently we had a lot of asparagus so I added that to the above mix of veggies and it was a hit. In the fall when all the tomatoes are ripe I make big batches of pasta sauce and freeze it. Then I only have to make a pot of polenta (the spell checker doesn't recognize polenta and wants to substitute "tadpole"! Not something I want on my plate thanks! :laff:) or pasta to go with, though I often grill some veggies to go on top.

At thanksgiving I make as much turkey gravy as I can and freeze it in 1 cup increments. I cube the leftover turkey and freeze as well and make turkey stew with dumplings several times a year with my home grown and frozen veggies thrown in. Another good freezer meal is seafood gumbo. I make a huge pot for new years and freeze it in meal sized lots. Then all I have to do is make rice to go with.

Whenever I cook beans of any kind I always make a double batch and freeze the rest. Baked beans and potato corn chowder both freeze well. So though I don't necessarily cook every night we usually have something home made for dinner. For emergencies I do have some canned chili to top baked potatoes with.

Our meal out is lunch once a week. We are the connoisseurs of the cheap lunch and are always clipping coupons and looking for good deals there. Never anything fancy, just pizza or tacos or pitas or Chinese. It's a nice change of pace and usually cheaper than eating dinner out.

awakenedsoul

4-5-14, 12:58pm

Very smart, MaryHu! When I go to my knitting group I usually order a piece of baguette which is .75! They have cards at Panera and they give you free coffees, pastries, etc...every now and then.

iris lily

4-5-14, 1:52pm

I cook all the time. I usually make a nice dinner for DH and me most of the time. We have frozen pizza on friday that I add things to. Often, we have a nice meal on Saturday. Sunday is my day off from cooking!
I LOVE dinner left-overs for breakfast. The thought makes DH nauseous. haha He's a very breakfast foods for breakfast kind of person.

This is one of my favorite things about being a grown-up. I can eat leftover chile for breakfast if I want to, there is no Mom figure hovering around telling me that I have to consume Cream of Wheat (shudder!) or eggs or some other traditional breakfast food.

We just don't have trouble getting rid of leftovers in our house. And if a dish turns out badly, it can usually be fed to our pack of dogs.

Teacher Terry

4-5-14, 2:24pm

I cook dinner every nite or we eat leftovers from other meals. One nite a week we go out. I do buy some prepackaged food so if I am tired & tempted to eat out I can just put something in the oven. My hubby never cooks.

new2oregon

4-5-14, 5:15pm

I cook every day and freeze single serving size leftovers. I make a pot of beans,pasta sauce, soup, etc and end up with 4 or 5 meals. I don't go out to eat very often. Its a lot cheaper to make my own food and then I know whats in it, Not all the salt and msg. This works for me because I am by myself.

gadder

4-5-14, 5:40pm

What do you mean by 'cook'?

By 'cook' I mean combine ingredients to create a dish, and repeat for a many course meal. Not cooking is the following: re-heating from frozen or leftovers, dishing out fridge leftovers, opening a can.

So I cook half the time. Most of the time I cook a large batch of something, and eat it for a few meals. Saves time, and money, and is as healthy as I can make it, and is darn tasty as I eat what I want. I do not fry up a fresh slab of carcass or mix up a fresh salad every day.

awakenedsoul

4-5-14, 7:31pm

[QUOTE=gadder;173067]What do you mean by 'cook'?

I used it loosely. I wanted a simple title for the thread. I meant making something yourself, as opposed to buying take out, fast food, or prepared dishes from the grocery store. I'm interested in how often you eat leftovers, too.

I meant what you're doing, too, Spartana. Basically, doing the work yourself to save money and to eat healthy...

Blackdog Lin

4-5-14, 8:10pm

I cook once a day, most every day. We only eat two meals a day, and our main meal is 11-ish in the morning. Our evening eating is leftovers or cupboard concoctions, which I don't consider "cooking". Once in a while (today is an example), on a Saturday or Sunday, if I've fixed a "breakfasty" meal early, then I may cook something else again in the evening.

We eat out or order takeout about 3 times a month.

But cooking is my thing, it's something I enjoy, I love looking at new recipes and ideas and trying new things. Ask me, say, how often I clean house. Wait, no, don't. :)

lhamo

4-6-14, 4:25am

Living in China we have the EXTREME luxury of having a helper come in for 3 hours/day M-F to clean the house and make dinner. Used to be primarily to have someone keep an eye on the kids afterschool, but now it is to keep our lives sane and DH and I married -- I'm working insane hours (have averaged 11 hours/day for the last 2 months...) and DH also has a fairly busy/stressful job, so we would have some pretty huge battles or takeout bills if we didn't have someone to help.

But I cook most of our meals on the weekends. we usually indulge in one meal out, but we are having a 3-day weekend this weekend and the kids are off school the rest of next week, too, so I am doing big batch cooking so that DH has plenty of leftovers to feed everyone for lunches all week, Yesterday I made banana-chocolate chip muffins for breakfast, roasted chicken legs/grilled chicken breast with hummus/veggies sticks and salad for lunch, and pasta for dinner. Today we did the standard pancakes and bacon for the kids for breakfast, made a picnic for lunch (using leftover bread that I didn't use for garlic bread yesterday, and some of the leftover chicken breasts), and I'll be making salmon, roasted broccoli and stuffed mushrooms for dinner. Tomorrow I plan to make a fritatta for breakfast, burritos/salsa for lunch, and green curry/pomelo salad for dinner.

awakenedsoul

4-6-14, 12:05pm

You are industrious, lhamo! I would be exhausted with your schedule.
This morning I cooked some pasta and reheated the hamburger with milk gravy that I made a few days ago. I realized that I love hot meals. I guess that's why eating leftovers feels like cooking to me. I cook on a 1950's vintage O'Keefe and Merritt stove. I don't own a microwave. Also, I do my dishes by hand, so there's always a sink full of pots and pans to clean afterward. It saves me a lot of money, though.

awakenedsoul

4-6-14, 12:18pm

But cooking is my thing, it's something I enjoy, I love looking at new recipes and ideas and trying new things. Ask me, say, how often I clean house. Wait, no, don't. :)

Blackdog Lin,
You read my mind. I was thinking about that on my way home from walking the dogs. I like cooking much better than cleaning, too.

Gardenarian

4-6-14, 2:31pm

We rarely eat out (less than once a month.)
I sometimes buy prepared foods, like tortellini or spanakopita from Costco.
I'm a vegetarian and DH and dd are not. DH like to cooks and is always making soups and stews and things. I usually just throw together a salad, sandwich, or make eggs. I don't like to cook, though I occasionally enjoy baking. I make quite a lot of quick breads in the winter and pies in the summer.

I would actually rather clean than cook. I don't have a great appetite and food is not something I think about a lot.

awakenedsoul

4-7-14, 4:26pm

I would actually rather clean than cook. I don't have a great appetite and food is not something I think about a lot.

Wow. I wish I enjoyed cleaning that much. I'm very happy when it's done. I'm going to have to pretend I'm you next time I'm cleaning. Now I'm going to go make a batch of macaroni and cheese...I guess I like making messes better than I like cleaning them up!

Blackdog Lin

4-9-14, 9:20pm

Oh, awakenedsoul! We are soul sisters. Soul mates. Compadres.

Not only do you understand the cooking/housecleaning dilemma, in which one cooks (1) for enjoyment, and (2) to take up time that could perhaps be spent in housecleaning.....but you understand about macaroni and cheese. The ultra in deliciousness. The dish that should be made into a healthy-pyramid food group. The alpha and omega of foods.

awakenedsoul

4-9-14, 9:54pm

Blackdog Lin,

I think you could turn that post into a book! I was laughing very hard when I read it. Yes, this is Rosemary's macaroni and cheese. She was my ballet teacher and a fabulous cook! Here's the recipe:

Melt 6 T of butter in a saucepan. Add 6 t of flour, and a half t of salt. Stir till it's bubbly. Add 2 cups of milk. Stir until thickened. (While making the whitesauce, you can have water boiling in a pot for the macaroni.) Add one c of cheddar cheese to the sauce and stir until melted. (Tillamook was her favorite.)

When macaroni is al dente, drain it in a colander. Fold macaroni into the cheese sauce. Rosemary baked hers in an oval ceramic hand painted casserole dish. It was gorgeous! Bake at 350 for 20-30 mins. It will be golden brown and bubbly. You can also slice fresh tomatoes and lay them on top before cooking. Delicious!

She also used to make the same recipe and use broccoli instead of macaroni. She put breadcrumbs on top of the broccoli cheese, instead of tomatoes.

mm1970

4-13-14, 11:49pm

I cook pretty frequently nowadays. Less than I did 4 years ago, more than I did a year ago. (The age of my children dictates it).

On one hand, I cook quite a bit on the weekend. So that we have leftovers. On the other hand, leftovers do not last as long. So for example, this weekend I made potato and chard curry, chicken curry (though I cheated using jarred sauces this time), homemade bread, red cabbage slaw, and a fruit salad.

But the fruit salad is gone already. By tomorrow night, the curry and cabbage slaw will be gone. I also hard boiled eggs and washed lettuce for the week (but only about half the lettuce).
We tend to have cereal or smoothies for breakfast. I rarely think about lunch on weekends, so I usually end up making stuff there too, but winging it. By Tuesday or Wednesday my weekend leftovers are gone and I have to make something else.
I admit it’s a challenge. I’m trying to lose the last 20 lbs of baby weight. Between trying to cook to lose weight, cook to use up the CSA veggies, cook enough to feed the family, I’m having a hard time figuring out what to cook to get the 21 month old to eat his veggies. They are hit and miss. I think my big boy ate them better at this age, but I think I was making veggie purees until he was close to 2 years old.

awakenedsoul

4-14-14, 12:19am

mm1970,
Sounds delicious! I'm trying to use up my veggies from our co op, too. I've started freezing some of them for soup.

Float On

4-14-14, 3:15pm

My husband claims he was raised on leftovers and won't abide by me serving leftovers therefore I've learned to make smaller meals. During the school week everyone is on their own for breakfast and packing a lunch, dinner is usually simple because we're also running to activities or the boy's jobs. Seems like everyone has a late snack after returning home. I try to keep things like sandwich or wrap ingredients, lots of fruit and veggies, salad fixings, pita chips, etc. And even though I won't eat it we do have a whole cabinet dedicated to cereals. I'm happy with oatmeal. I may cook two real meals during the week something from the boys' favorites lists - porkchops, meatloaf, trout, ground mustard chicken noodles, stir fry, or breakfast foods; or something from their wishlist - currently on the list W wants a crawdad boil and A wants scallop alfredo. Weekends I'll go all out and cook 6 meals and maybe 1 dessert. During the summer months we have a large late breakfasts (both boys work late so I let them sleep in a bit) and an early dinner (4:30ish) - lots of grilling (we do a lot of kabobs). If someone is hungry later they are welcome to whatever they can make.

I tend to buy meat fresh from the counter or farmer's market either the day or the day before I use it so I have to have a plan. I shop 3 times a week and tend to use only 1 or 2 reusable shopping bags. If I stock the fridge too full a lot goes to waste. We have meatless days probably 3 days a week.

Simplemind

4-15-14, 12:26am

Almost every meal, every day.

JaneV2.0

4-15-14, 11:21am

I cook because there is no viable alternative. I cook in fits and starts and eat cold cuts and leftovers when I weary of the whole thing. Then I go back to work and cook lots. And then back to hard-boiled eggs...This last week, I made mayonnaise and salad dressings, coconut flour lemon muffins, bone broth and stewed chicken, almond crusted pizza...I may roast some vegetables. Then I'll coast for awhile. I'm not domestic by nature.