If you don’t cook dinner most nights…

[Anonymous]

What do you eat? I mean this sincerely: I grew up eating home-cooked meals almost every night, even if it was pasta with jarred sauce and frozen vegetables, and I cook almost every night, but I sometimes run across references that make me realize this is not necessarily the norm and I’m curious. Do you do a lot of takeout? Frozen TV dinners? Fast food? Personal chef?

[Anonymous]

Meal prep.

[Anonymous]

I am not sure if I qualify, but I have 3 kids and work full time so we usually aren’t doing any major home cooking each night.

This week we’ve done stuff like sandwiches by the pool, seared up some pre-sous vided burgers out of the freezer, ordered pizza, made Trader Joe’s Chinese food (dump in a pan), made the kids some mac n cheese while we took out sushi for us, and tonight I’m planning to “make” spaghetti with jarred sauce, a bagged salad, and freezer to oven garlic bread. We also sometimes do prepared foods from places like the Italian Store or Lebanese Taverna Market.

I used to love cooking and trying new recipes. Now I’m just trying to get 5 people fed in between work and activities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Meal prep.

OK, for me that falls into the category of leftovers which is spiritually cooking every night, just more efficiently. Maybe that’s irrational.

[Anonymous]

I definitely don't cook every night. We eat a lot of leftovers. Take out maybe 2x/month.

[Anonymous]

Whole Foods hot bar or salad bar.

[Anonymous]

We have a personal chef who prepares meals for us. She sends over a weekly menu in advance and we can approve/edit it before she starts the prep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am not sure if I qualify, but I have 3 kids and work full time so we usually aren’t doing any major home cooking each night.

This week we’ve done stuff like sandwiches by the pool, seared up some pre-sous vided burgers out of the freezer, ordered pizza, made Trader Joe’s Chinese food (dump in a pan), made the kids some mac n cheese while we took out sushi for us, and tonight I’m planning to “make” spaghetti with jarred sauce, a bagged salad, and freezer to oven garlic bread. We also sometimes do prepared foods from places like the Italian Store or Lebanese Taverna Market.

I used to love cooking and trying new recipes. Now I’m just trying to get 5 people fed in between work and activities.

All of the bolded counts as "cooking dinner" or "making dinner" even if you are using a variety of pre-made things. Ordering takeout or pizza doesn't count, and I'd include the prepared grocery foods as takeout rather than "making dinner." It still counts as making a spaghetti dinner if you use sauce from a jar. Where would that particular perfectionism end? Is it okay to buy your tomatoes at the store to make your own sauce, or do you have to grow them yourself for it to count as "homemade sauce"?

I think a lot of people on this board have really rigid standards for what's good enough to be considered work. It comes from the many ways this region defines value only by productivity. So if you're making an easy dinner like sandwiches or mac and cheese, it "doesn't count as cooking" and becomes another source of guilt.

I myself "make dinner" probably 28 days a month. We don't go out very much and my husband dislikes cooking. Sometimes I make things that are complicated and time consuming, sometimes not. I work full time but from home and am often able to babysit a slow cooker between meetings or whatever. Making meals doesn't really have to be complicated or time consuming unless you want it to be.

[Anonymous]

This OP and I agree with the above! Sandwiches are cooking. Heck, even putting a Costco lasagna in the oven and putting some vinaigrette on grocery store salad mix counts as making dinner in my book. Microwaving it is borderline

[Anonymous]

A coworker and I used to differentiate between cooking and preparing. Preparing is opening the jar and pouring sauce on pasta. Cooking involves making the sauce. I "cook" on Sundays. The rest of the week is pretty much preparing.

[Anonymous]

We do pizza and chick fil a up to twice a week. Then some nights are Mac and cheese or chicken nuggets. I also try to always have sliced apples, baby carrots, and bananas. They snack a lot on cheese sticks and full fat yogurt packets. I wish I could get meal prep together better. Working (even part time) with three young kids is just very tough. We usually pull off nice meals on the weekend like salmon.

[Anonymous]

I cooked pre empty nest

Now I eat fruit and cottage cheese, popcorn, shakes, soup, leftovers.

One week I was all alone and bought 3 Chinese dinners and it lasted all week.

I’ll get a family meal at the Peruvian restaurant last for 3 meals.

Cheese and crackers, Brie and bread with prosciutto

Hard boiled eggs with veggie sticks

Pasta with butter

Quesadillas

[Anonymous]

When the family’s not around I just eat celery with peanut butter in front of the TV. Heaven.

[Anonymous]

We largely subsist on take-out/delivery and prepared items from Whole Foods, etc. I always order enough for more than one meal and stretch things by adding bagged salads, steam-in-bag veggies, etc.

We're always fully stocked with a good variety of fruits and vegetables for snacks or supplementing meals. I spend way too much on food, but in our busy home, it's a concession I'm willing to make.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whole Foods hot bar or salad bar.

same