Probably about 2-3 nights a week. I’m a terrible cook and no one really eats what I make.

The kids make a lot of their own food - grilled cheese, tortillas, nuggets, eggs, French toast.

I’m always watching what I can eat, so I have a small side of a rotisserie chicken and frozen veg. DH doesn’t eat leftovers or vegetables. He will grill for the family.

Anonymous wrote:I cook only 3-4 times a week but make enough for all weekday dinners + weekend meals, other than Friday takeout night.

This is the answer. Plus, on the nights I cook, I generally do a bit of extra work (washing and prepping fruit, roasting a pan of veggies, slicing cabbage for a slaw) so that the nights I don't cook are really just about assembly.

Try a meal kit. It takes the mental load of figuring out what to make and also grocery shopping off of you. We cook meal kits 4 nights/week, we figure out meals to cook for 2 more nights a week (pasta, salmon, chili, easy meals with fresh or from frozen veg side), and take out or pizza one night a week.

We cook at home about 5 nights a week, average ordering in one night/week and one night going out. One of the home meals is likely to be a pizza or other frozen food. My favorite new tool for quick home cooking is our air fryer. I really resisted getting one, but have ended up loving how fast it is to cook chicken, salmon or other healthy proteins and roasted veggies and it makes cleanup really easy as well. It also heats up the kitchen a lot less than using our oven or cooking on the stove. Using it I can usually get a meal on the table in under 30 minutes. We also use it to meal plan for lunches, like cooking chicken and roasted veggies ahead that we use in packing salads for lunch for my husband and I.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm sick of watching my young kids eat pizza and chicken nuggets. It's also so expensive to order in, but it's getting expensive to cook a quality meal too. Anyways, I'm wondering how many nights of the week you eat out/order in versus cook a meal? I'm at 3 nights of cooking and looking to do another so we eat out only 2 times a week. I will go out for lunch if I'm craving something.

Good lord. Feed your kids healthy food. Lazy mom.

NP. Meh. Pizza with salad? Chicken nuggets with broccoli and rice? It’s fine.

If you both work full time , I wouldn’t beat yourself up over it. I’d get 4 family size ready to eat meals from wegmans and have them in the fridge to cover weekdays. Then do takeout on fridays and just cook on the weekends.

You seem to present a false dichotomy. Not liking to cook is not an excuse for feeding your kids crap all the time.

My husband does the cooking, but he cooks almost every night. We get takeout maybe 2x a month.

I would say probably 1-3 nights a week are on the simpler side - tortellini with red sauce, frozen pizza, things like that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm sick of watching my young kids eat pizza and chicken nuggets. It's also so expensive to order in, but it's getting expensive to cook a quality meal too. Anyways, I'm wondering how many nights of the week you eat out/order in versus cook a meal? I'm at 3 nights of cooking and looking to do another so we eat out only 2 times a week. I will go out for lunch if I'm craving something.

Good lord. Feed your kids healthy food. Lazy mom.

Years ago my friend figured out how to make chicken nuggets at home, and he'd make a huge batch and freeze them. He figured that was healthier than store bought because he controlled the ingredients.

There are lots of meals that aren't much more difficult that nuggets or pizza that are much healthier. Look up some sheet pan meals! https://www.eatingwell.com/gallery/8003238/best-sheet-pan-dinners/

Even high-protein pasta with some veggies thrown in is a little healthier than that.

Sounds like you need some shortcuts. For example, if I cook rice, I make double so that I can reheat rice the next day to make that meal easier. Same for mashed potato.

How fussy are your kids and are there a few easy options to throw in? Eg baked potato with cheese, sour cream and salad, pasta with marinara sauce or pesto. Sausages, mash and frozen veg. Salmon, rice and broccoli. Baked chicken, quinoa and salad or veg.

Key is keep it simple.

6-7 nights a week, we're vegetarian and one kid hates pizza so we may get pizza to please the other one every other week or so. We do pasta at least once a week though.

Anonymous wrote:I'm sick of watching my young kids eat pizza and chicken nuggets. It's also so expensive to order in, but it's getting expensive to cook a quality meal too. Anyways, I'm wondering how many nights of the week you eat out/order in versus cook a meal? I'm at 3 nights of cooking and looking to do another so we eat out only 2 times a week. I will go out for lunch if I'm craving something.

Good lord. Feed your kids healthy food. Lazy mom.

5/6 nights a week.

I cook only 3-4 times a week but make enough for all weekday dinners + weekend meals, other than Friday takeout night.