How much time do you spend daily on cooking healthy meals for a family of five?
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Anonymous
| I am referring to breakfast, lunch and dinner. |
Anonymous
Low, moderate and liberal expenses per USDA: https://fns-prod.azureedge.us/sites/default/files/media/file/CostofFoodJan2023LowModLib.pdf |
Anonymous
I am not asking about the time, not cost. |
Anonymous
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an hour...mostly on dinner.
Breakfast is quick. Lunch is packed. Dinner is cooked fresh. I do also spend a few hours prepping mu lunches on the weekends. |
Anonymous
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10 minutes breakfast, 15 minutes packed lunches, 30-45 minutes dinner.
My fastest dinner is broiled salmon with broiled asparagus and rice in my rice cooker. I also broil chicken thighs for a super fast protein. Plus those I can do in a foil-lined cookie sheet for quick cleanup. |
Anonymous
| This all depends on whether your family eats the same or expects five different meals like a lot of spoiled American families. |
Anonymous
We are a family of 3 but my DH eats enough for 2 adults somedays 
I batch cook as much as possible but it still averages 30min for breakfast where I prepare lunch for kid at the same time (I make hot breakfasts 90% of our morning, the exception is yogurt parfaits) 20min for lunch- normally reheated leftovers or tuna or ham sandwich 30-60min for dinner- I make enough for dinner (3) plus lunch (3) plus another random serving or so for leftover night On some weekend days it feels like all we do is prep eat clean. I try to make muffins every other week for a nutritious grab-n-go snack. I made chia raspberry oatmeal bars this weekend and we also made chicken thighs rice and green beans Saturday since we had no leftovers from the week. I make our "bigger" meals Sunday and Monday so we have leftovers for lunches the first half of the week. This week is Beef-n-Bean Chili with cornbread and Chicken tikka masala with rice/naan plus green beans. 2lbs of meat for each recipe. And then simpler meals as the week fatigue sets in: salmon plus salad, Belgian waffles plus bacon and fruit (make a big batch and freeze some for quick mornings), beef and bean tostadas, and then a leftover/eat out night. Rinse repeat. 5 people is a lot to feed 3x day, depending on appetites I would just batch cook everything. 13X9 pan of baked oatmeal, sheet pan pancakes, etc. |
Anonymous
| 0 on breakfast, 15 lunch (although not overly healthy), 60 min on dinner |
Anonymous
| I don't have five so I can't contribute. Is four close enough? |
Anonymous
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Weekdays:
5-10 minutes for breakfast Lunch - 10 minutes, including some prep the night before. Mostly packed sandwiches/salads with fruit and other sides. Dinner - anywhere from 20-60 minutes, depending on the night. Weekends, I usually spend a bit longer on breakfast, maybe 10-30 minutes, but otherwise similar. |
Anonymous
Same although our breakfasts are not the healthiest. I often bake a batch of whole wheat muffins at some point to supplement |
Anonymous
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5 minutes on breakfast, 20 on lunch prep.
0 on dinner. DH cooks dinner every night. |
Anonymous
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Making a real meal with courses and lots of fresh, healthy, whole-food ingredients takes a freaking long time.
Throwing pasta in the pot and heating up sauce is fast. |
Anonymous
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We spend probably an hour, here's a sample last night:
Cut up peppers, onions and cilantro, mix a corn flower batter and stir in salmon and fresh cut vegetables. Mix all and pan fry into salmon cakes. Whipped up a cilatnro-lemon-dijon-mayo sauce for topping fish cakes. Wash and Cut up tomatoes, carrots, onion, and lettuce for a tossed salad. Peeled and cut steamed sweet potatos for youngest; diced and tossed with oil to bake tofe for youngest. Seared a steak for the adults. One kid was too hungry to wait, so also used a pan to cook some frozen dumplings. --- The bigger question is after taking 1 hr to make dinner from scratch, then eating dinner, how long does cleanup take? We usually have to empty the dishwasher from the night before, load as much as we can (but one nights dishes and cookware never fit in a single dishwasher load); which means we then handwash the remainder, lay out towels to counter dry the overflow. Then wipe down counters, clean up stove, and sweep the floor. It often takes longer to clean than to cook honestly. |
Anonymous
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Our family is a middle schooler, two high schoolers and two parents.
I spend about a half hour to an hour every Saturday on meal planning and creating the grocery list. Then an hour or so on grocery shopping. In the morning I spend 20 minutes or so on breakfast and packing lunches. Then about 45 minutes in the evening on making dinner. |