No Dirty Dishes Dish Ideas?

[Dhiana]

I really, really, really don't like doing dishes. My husband only does the dishes about 4 times/year :(

So I'm looking for healthy things to make that create the least amount of dishes I'll have to clean.

Already I use paper plates, bowls, cups as much as possible. When I bake things like salmon, vegets, etc
in the oven I just wrap them in foil like a hobo dinner. The foil is recycled here.

I personally love to make a big pot of vegetarian chili or soup and I'll eat that for several days in a row. Unfortunately, that is
just not going to work for my husband. He wants and needs more variety.

What do you do to keep the amount of dishes & pans used to a minimum?
Thanks in Advance!

[mtnlaurel]

Dhiana, this isn't going to answer the specific question that you asked... but I too struggle with the desire to do specific house tasks.
When I got turned onto Simple Living ideas about 15 years ago there were 4 books that were my "Canon of Simple Living"

one was Chop Wood, Carry Water: A Guide to Finding Spiritual Fulfillment in Everyday Life
http://www.amazon.com/Chop-Wood-Carry-Water-Fulfillment/dp/0874772095
I haven't read it in ages and looking around my house right this second, I should definitely give it another look! ;P

To keep dishes to a minimum....
I know there are some great one pot cookbooks out there.
Sounds like you and I should be roomates - I too could fix a big pot of soup and work on it all week until it's gone. My husband can't stand that either!
What about presenting a big pot of chili or other 1 pot meals in different 'costumes'
Basic Chili one time, Chili over baked potatoes another, Fritos in a Bag with Chili http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/09/frito-chili-pie/
Another place you might get interesting ideas is a camp cooking book or website

[Float On]

I don't like scrubbing pots and pans so everything goes in the dishwasher even if it says it shouldn't and even if it takes three times with soaking in baking soda inbetween.

[peggy]

Casseroles are good for one pan dishes. Or do a roast and serve it over several nights in soup, hash, etc....

[razz]

I make a large batch of a dish like lasagna and cut up the pieces, wrap in wax paper and place in a container in the freezer.
I take out the portions that I need and reheat in the microwave and serve with a batch of veggie sticks and dip that is flavoured and then each person uses a spoon takes some for eachthe meal. Minimal dishes and having a variety of frozen prepared items already in portions really cuts down on the dishes.

[Tammy]

I don't like to cook much. But I like cleaning up. Friends and family make food to share and I clean the kitchen. Odd but true.

If things work out, we will move in a few months to an apartment without a dishwasher. I can't wait. I hate storing dirty dishes in there until its full. Seems stinky and unhygenic.

[Tussiemussies]

I don't like scrubbing pots and pans so everything goes in the dishwasher even if it says it shouldn't and even if it takes three times with soaking in baking soda inbetween.

Float On, Dawn dishwashing detergent has a new product in their line where it loosens up the grime in 5 minutes that would normally take overnight. We used it since we had to soak so much and it worked so good. The only thing is that you should use rubber gloves when using it as it was taking a little bit of skin off my hands.

Also my Mom when she had a cruddy pot or pan, she would boil or simmer it with maybe some vinegar, that worked well too.... Just some thoughts...:)

[Tussiemussies]

I don't like to cook much. But I like cleaning up. Friends and family make food to share and I clean the kitchen. Odd but true.

If things work out, we will move in a few months to an apartment without a dishwasher. I can't wait. I hate storing dirty dishes in there until its full. Seems stinky and unhygenic.


Tammy I feel somewhat like you so I do a quick rinse cycle on my dishes so they are not cruddy. I practically wash them anyway before putting them in, just a habit...

Good luck in your new apartment! Hope you enjoy your stay there!



PS...I think Mrs. m. Also likes to wash dishes....

[Tussiemussies]

I really, really, really don't like doing dishes. My husband only does the dishes about 4 times/year :(

So I'm looking for healthy things to make that create the least amount of dishes I'll have to clean.

Already I use paper plates, bowls, cups as much as possible. When I bake things like salmon, vegets, etc
in the oven I just wrap them in foil like a hobo dinner. The foil is recycled here.

I personally love to make a big pot of vegetarian chili or soup and I'll eat that for several days in a row. Unfortunately, that is
just not going to work for my husband. He wants and needs more variety.

What do you do to keep the amount of dishes & pans used to a minimum?
Thanks in Advance!



I agree with the poster who mentioned to look for the one pot meals or one bowl meals. I have seen those around in gift shops.

[Dhiana]

Thanks for the one pot cookbook ideas, I hadn't realized there was something like that out here :)

We love lasagna and I make it as often as I can, but the usual Western sized lasagna pan won't fit into my oven. I have to fold the noodles to fit in a 7" x 9" pan and considering my husband eats 2/3rds of the pan in one sitting. There isn't much left for leftovers :(

I would love a dishwasher! Just not an option here. We did have one in another Japanese apartment we rented. It was set into the wall next to the sink, yes the wall, and was about the size of a 3-ring binder with a 4" spine. Two western sized plates and a couple of forks and it would be full! So it never saw any use. Maybe our next place will have a dishwasher. A girl can dream :)

[ToomuchStuff]

Start talking to your husband about a maid.:laff:

Chores don't have to be liked, to need to be done.

[iris lily]

Off topic a bit but the best idea I ever saw about dirty dishes was on this site. Someone suggested two dishwashers, side by side. Take clean ones out, use them, put them in the other dishwasher. Continue until first dishwasher is empty, run cycle in #2 dishwasher, start using clean dishes form there.

[Miss Cellane]

Eat more take-out?

On a more serious note, if your DH wants more variety and doesn't like your sensible plan of making a big batch of something and then eating it for a few days, then I think he should take over the dishwashing. If the dishes/pots/pans aren't clean, you don't cook.

Do they have the disposable roasting pans and such over there? Use them once, then toss/recycle them?

I make a large batch of something every weekend and then freeze it in individual servings. After a month or so, you have a freezer stocked with several servings of at least 4 different meals. Although, then you have to wash the containers you freeze the stuff in.

Or your husband could cook, if he needs the variety and you don't.

Or is there any way to lessen your dislike of dishwashing? I grew up washing dishes for nine people. Once I was out on my own and could buy rubber gloves for dishwashing, I didn't mind the chore so much. Getting my hands wet in greasy water was unpleasant. Or you could try one of those long-handled dish brushes, and just wash the dishes under running water and never get your hands wet. So maybe look into ways of making the chore less miserable.

Sometimes I have a sort of menu for the week that involves cooking mostly one thing a day, except for the first day. Let's say on Sunday I roast a chicken and make a big pan of rice. Dinner that day is chicken, rice and vegetables. Dinner on Monday is a stir-fry with the rice and chicken and the leftover vegetables. The next night I bake a potato and eat some more chicken and vegetables. By now, I'm tired of chicken, so I make some chicken salad for lunch and freeze the rest of it. Wednesday night's dinner is a grilled hamburger, rice and some microwaved frozen vegetables.

This way, the bulk of the cooking and related washing-up gets done on Sunday. On Monday, there's just the one stir-fry pan to clean. On Tuesday, the baked potato requires no pots or pans and the chicken and frozen vegetables can be microwaved on the plate they are eaten on. Wednesday, you'd dirty something to grill the hamburgers, but the rice and vegetables can be nuked.

My sister-in-law does this. She cooks everything her family eats from scratch, daily. But she almost never cooks the entire meal in a given day. There are three of them in her family and she usually cooks at least enough for 6, usually 9, of every dish she makes. That gives her food for the next two or three days. So she roasts a leg of lamb one day, makes soup the next, a roasted vegetable dish the following day. The meals are rarely identical, because they are always finishing one dish and she makes a new one to replace it. So they might have lamb three days in a row, but one day with rice, the next with mashed potatoes, one day with soup to start, another day with a salad.

She also has a fair amount of dishes that can be served cold or at room temperature, including vegetables. That way, she can cook dinner earlier in the day and not have to face the dishes late in the evening when she's tired.

So she does wash pots and pans and knives and things daily, but it isn't a huge sink full, just the few things she needed that day. They do have a dishwasher for the plates and flatware.

[MaryHu]

I work and my husband doesn't so he does most of the dishes and most of the house work. We don't have a dishwasher. Here's how we keep the dishes under control: We have one of those thermos pump pots like people put coffee in, it holds a couple of quarts. In the morning when there is hot water easily available (after showers) we fill it up. We keep it near the sink along with a liquid soap dispenser that has water with a small squirt of dish soap in it. As we finish with a dish we just pump some hot water on it and squirt a little of the diluted dish soap on it and scrub and then rinse and put in the dish rack. Granted this won't work for truly cruddy, baked on stuff but it sure works for lots of other things, not just individual bowls, plates and flatware but even things like mixing bowls. If you do them right away and don't let them get dried on they are so much easier to clean. Then the stack of stuff that has to be washed in the sink full of soapy water is greatly reduced and we don't have all that dirty stuff sitting around.