Best way to avoid cooking

[Anonymous]

Figure out super easy and quick meals that are healthy.

Get a rice cooker so cooking rice is a no-brainer and you can cook it a bit ahead. Farro is also an easy starch----boil it, drain it, and serve it with some olive oil, vinegar, and dijon (it's also good room temp).

Learn to love simple salads and always prep extra greens so you can set aside some for the next night's dinner. Romaine, radicchio, some olive oil, red wine vinegar, and whatever else you want to throw in. Beans and/or good tuna are great add-ins if you want to make the salad a meal--and you could also add some of that farro in there.

Make your entrees in the oven. Roast some chicken, fish, shrimp, or sausage. Broil a steak. Add some vegetables tossed with olive oil and sea salt, maybe with some chili flakes for heat and a little parmesan for flavor--broccoli, cauliflower, cherry tomatoes, carrots, eggplant, purple cabbage, kale.

Beans sautéed with greens are also super easy as an add on. A can of white beans or chicks peas tossed on the stove with olive oil, garlic, sea salt, chili flakes--then toss in spinach or escarole and add a dash of vinegar or lemon juice at the very ens.

Most of the weeknight meals I make are along these lines. I can have everything prepped and ready to go in about 20 minutes.

[Anonymous]

Hire a personal chef.

[Anonymous]

Meal prep. It means an hour or two of prep
At the beginning of the week, but you can easily have healthy meals for days.

For me, I slice, julienne and chop a whole bunch of veggies. Make some grains like wheat berries and quinoa. Marinate and grill some meat and tofu.

Then, each night after work it’s more or less assembly. Grain or salad bowls. Wraps. Tacos. Noodle bowls. Stir fry. It’s vegetable heavy and healthy.

I will also make something more “heavy” when the weather is cooler - a breakfast style cass role, shepherds pie, lasagne or something. It will feed us for a few days. Sometimes I’ll make and freeze portions so we can interchange it with other meals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:would buying rotisserie chicken and frozen veg work...or is that still cooking?

How is this cooking?

[Anonymous]

How about ready to eat refrigerated meals like Factor?
I tried them several times and really like the variety. You can also choose what type of meal you want delivered based on your dietary restrictions (low calorie, paleo, low carb, low fat, keto ...). Meals end up costing about $15 per meal delivered, and less if you take advantage of their specials/ subscriptions. The meals are prepared fresh every week. You can keep them in the fridge and heat them up in the microwave when ready to eat.

https://www.factor75.com/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:would buying rotisserie chicken and frozen veg work...or is that still cooking?

How is this cooking?

You assume they are eating the frozen veg in their frozen state? If not, cooking will be required.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous]Neither DH nor I like to cook and we've done a terrible job prioritizing it, leading to way too many take out meals. We've all gained too much weight as a result. If we're willing to spend money on this, what's the best way to eat more healthy, recognizing that we will struggle to cook more than a few nights a week?

[b]That is, how can we get home cooked meals without cooking ourselves?[/b][/quote]

Hire a cook.

[Anonymous]

you can make a couple of meals on a day when you have time. eat them throughout the week. a pot of soup is great and is great to have for any quick meal.

make ahead food and stock the freezer.

[Anonymous]

You either outsource a chef, or you mentally commit to being people who cook. There's really no way around it.
Also, if you have children, you need to model health for your children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You either outsource a chef, or you mentally commit to being people who cook. There's really no way around it.
Also, if you have children, you need to model health for your children.

This.

[Anonymous]

Are those meal delivery services, like Blue Apron, considered "cooking"?

I figure if you don't have to think up a menu, shop for the ingredients, prep them, measure, etc, you're not cooking. But others' mileage may vary.

[Anonymous]

I knew a coupe like this. They literally ripped their kitchen out and made it into a home office. They ate out for every meal.
They both died early deaths, after years of prolonged illness. I’m fairly certain their diet choices played a role in that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:would buying rotisserie chicken and frozen veg work...or is that still cooking?

How is this cooking?

You assume they are eating the frozen veg in their frozen state? If not, cooking will be required.

Microwaving isn’t cooking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:you can make a couple of meals on a day when you have time. eat them throughout the week. a pot of soup is great and is great to have for any quick meal.

make ahead food and stock the freezer.

As a person who hates cooking but does it, the whole idea of cooking several meals in one day is pretty horrific.

OP - if you are willing to pay for take out, use that money to pay for convenience foods - salad mixes, stir fry kits, pre-marinaded meats, rotisserie chicken. Look for services that sell healthier pre made meals. If you can make yourself cook things like chili, soup, and things that freeze well, cook a double portion for one meal and freeze half.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Think basic.
Like a PP suggested, rotisserie chicken. Add to salad, or have with rice and veggies. You can get lots of steam in the bag veggies now you just throw in the microwave.
Pizza with whatever raw veggies you both like
Spaghetti, use WG spaghetti and Raos sauce.

Don't do this. Microplastics and God knows what awful chemicals. Its a-ok to use frozen bagged veggies. Remove from the bag, put in a glass container, quick rinse, microwave.