Bagels & lox

A small kitchen nearby prepares fresh family meals that you pop in the oven. There are only 5 meals that everyone will eat, so I can't overdo it. Otherwise, take out 3-4 nights a week, pasta, grill some meat, and Costco mashed potatoes or sweet potato fries. I have zero time to cook between work and kids and DH has an aversion to any food prep. When I'm gone, they live on yogurt, cereal and restaurants.

I have 2 elem aged kids. I rarely cook. I order pizza 1-2 times/wk. We go to dinner maybe once/wk. I buy Costco rotisserie chicken which lasts 1-2 nights. I microwave a lot of nuggets, make a lot of both stovetop and microwave kraft mac and cheese. I have been known to serve microwave mac and cheese with slices of turkey meat for protein and canned green beans.

I do cut up cucumbers, apples, strawberries, other produce, pull mini carrots from the bag and open/drain mandarin oranges from a can. I serve a lot of canned corn and canned green beans. I also open up yogurts and string cheese packages. I also pour milk. I feel very domestic when I thaw and cook frozen salmon filets or chicken breasts from costco. Serve that with a bag of salad and I feel like a 1950s housewife.

When I “cook” breakfast on the weekends its usually either bacon and cinnamon rolls (the kind in the tubes) or bisquick pancakes where you put the water in the container of mix and shake.

In the immortal words of Cardi B, “I don’t cook, I don’t clean, but let me tell you how I got this ring.”

Anonymous wrote:We order out food about 3-4x/week. It’s usually chipotle, chic fil a, Panera, or pizza.
For the other nights, it jar sauce and spaghetti, fried rice from the freezer, black beans and rice, or grilled meat. Only cook from scratch on holidays.

Do you have kids?

We order out food about 3-4x/week. It’s usually chipotle, chic fil a, Panera, or pizza.
For the other nights, it jar sauce and spaghetti, fried rice from the freezer, black beans and rice, or grilled meat. Only cook from scratch on holidays.

I use meal delivery. Vegetable and Butcher.

I eat peanut butter straight out of the jar for dinner when the kids aren’t home.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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

+1

I don’t get it…

Vast majority of people are doing some semblance of the above, if that is considered “cooking” most nights. In between full-on cooking. There are very few people with families that are literally doing zero amount of food assembly in their home and ordering take out every night. Or have private chefs preparing every single meal. I don’t know these people I guess.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I meal plan for and make 3 substantial meals every week that consist of a main, a side and a vegetable. Typically there are leftovers that cover one or 2 nights or I’ll make omelettes or grilled cheeses on the 5th night. I just don’t have the focus to plan any more than that. We get takeout Friday and Saturday nights.

I’d love to sign up for a healthy meal or prep service but it’s just not in the budget.

My kids are 3 years away from leaving the nest and I can’t wait to not have to worry about food for other people. Sorry DH…

I count that as cooking (or leftovers) every night. Meal planning is just organized leftovers. I do disorganized leftovers but probably cook significant meals 6-7 times a week (this is to cover 7 dinners for my whole family, plus 2 lunches ditto, plus 5 lunches just for me).

I’ve started using green chef recipe cards (I don’t order the boxes; it’s not hard to grocery shop and I can’t afford their markup anyway) to get new meal ideas that are less hodgepodge but are quick and easy — highly recommend for anyone in need of meal ideas.

Are the recipe cards on line?

Anonymous wrote:I meal plan for and make 3 substantial meals every week that consist of a main, a side and a vegetable. Typically there are leftovers that cover one or 2 nights or I’ll make omelettes or grilled cheeses on the 5th night. I just don’t have the focus to plan any more than that. We get takeout Friday and Saturday nights.

I’d love to sign up for a healthy meal or prep service but it’s just not in the budget.

My kids are 3 years away from leaving the nest and I can’t wait to not have to worry about food for other people. Sorry DH…

I count that as cooking (or leftovers) every night. Meal planning is just organized leftovers. I do disorganized leftovers but probably cook significant meals 6-7 times a week (this is to cover 7 dinners for my whole family, plus 2 lunches ditto, plus 5 lunches just for me).

I’ve started using green chef recipe cards (I don’t order the boxes; it’s not hard to grocery shop and I can’t afford their markup anyway) to get new meal ideas that are less hodgepodge but are quick and easy — highly recommend for anyone in need of meal ideas.

I meal plan for and make 3 substantial meals every week that consist of a main, a side and a vegetable. Typically there are leftovers that cover one or 2 nights or I’ll make omelettes or grilled cheeses on the 5th night. I just don’t have the focus to plan any more than that. We get takeout Friday and Saturday nights.

I’d love to sign up for a healthy meal or prep service but it’s just not in the budget.

My kids are 3 years away from leaving the nest and I can’t wait to not have to worry about food for other people. Sorry DH…

When I’m by myself, I make a huge pot of sauce of minced meat, onion, red peppers and Rao tomato sauce; boiled spaghetti; and reheat for a whole week.

Go out to eat
Take out
Or the Whole Foods bars.

My idea of what "cooking" is just might be different from yours. Shoving a frozen Rao's lasagna in the oven is "cooking dinner" to me. Slicing a banana into a bowl and dumping peanut butter and chocolate pudding in too is sometimes dinner. Instant oatmeal is sometimes dinner.

I live alone and hate cooking. When I get takeout I get enough to last a few meals, but that's maybe once or twice a month.

Anonymous wrote: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

+1