You do you. I love to cook and I like fresh meals. I cook 4 days a weeks (pizza Fridays!). I don't find it taxing or a grind because everything I make takes 30 minutes or less. I"m proud of my ability to cook real food regularly--it makes me happy and I am proud of how I feed my family. Bonus: I always get to eat food I enjoy because I only cook what I like!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I make dinner every night, but make enough so it's the next day's lunch for the kids too. It literally takes me 30 minutes to make a tasty nutritious meal for my family, and it's totally worth it to me. DH does all the dishes and clean up.

What do you make? People claim 30 minutes but it’s often closer to an hour.

Sheet pan dinners with a convection oven like salmon, instant pot stews and curries, one pot stovetop dishes like shrimp with pearl couscous, sear steak in a pan for a few minutes and into the oven to finish, while it's cooking I make the salad.

This is how I cook too. It only takes maybe 10-15 minutes to prep dinner for six. Sometimes it’s in the oven for a little bit, but that’s fine.

Similar approach here. I do a lot of prep on Sundays - chop and clean vegetables, marinate meat so that it can be tossed in the oven the following day, etc. On a daily basis all I make is sides (roasted veggies, potatoes, couscous, etc) and salads. I may spend an extra 10 minutes prepping salmon to be cooked the next day or something. Doesn't take me long at all and we almost never eat out. My husband does the dishes. I am not some kind of martyr, if it took me hours every night, I wouldn't do it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:By the way? It's "every day," not "everyday" in the thread title you are attempting to write.

Every day (adverb) = occurring daily. "I get up and take a shower every day."

Everyday (adjective) = regular, basic, not special. "He completed his everyday chores before moving on to cleaning the gutters."

I did not think it was possible to be more annoying than OP's brilliant observation, but DCUM never disappoints.

This is important! People are idiots! I thank the language Lorax! Keep it coming.

I'm a WOHD and try to cook as much as possible. My job is pretty stressful and spending an hour in the kitchen really helps me disconnect from the office. My kid loves to help as well. I guess if you look at it as a grind it will be one. If you look at it as something to enjoy with your family, it can be that too.

Yeah, seriously, of all the chores, cooking isn't even in the top five for difficulty/drudgery. Maybe because DH and I alternate cooking, the kids are old enough to help, and I actually enjoy food.

But yes, we almost always have enough left over for lunch the next day, and you wouldn't want to eat same food three meals in a row.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People here are obsessed with the daily “dinner prep” but that sounds like such a grind! It’s so easy to make things that last two nights, and then you have leftovers waiting for you and some extra time to relax.

Ok, thanks for that brilliant insight. Let me guess - Harvard grad?

LOL

I enjoy “the grind” of cooking. It’s a half hour that I get to myself in a way. We all hang out in the kitchen, chatting. It’s actually one of my favourite parts of the day.

If you want to talk about what is a grind to me, let’s talk about folding and putting away laundry.

Eh I like fresh food. We eat simple meals, and we certainly cut corners sometimes, but we cook 4 night a week. Then eat the leftovers for lunches and one dinner, eat take out or something VERY simple 1 other night.

It works and we're healthy. I've never been interested in cereal for dinner.

Yep, we cook 2-3 times a week and it's fine. Still have healthy and good dinners. The trick is to meal plan a bit for the week ahead so you don't have to think about it and you have what you need to freshen the leftovers up. Some things just taste better the next night anyway, like soup, and some things are easy to freshen up like if you make chicken one night and then use leftover chicken to do something totally different like fajitas.

We also have nights where we whip up something up that is quick - smoothies and avocado toast with eggs, spinach quesadillas, etc.

Anonymous wrote:People here are obsessed with the daily “dinner prep” but that sounds like such a grind! It’s so easy to make things that last two nights, and then you have leftovers waiting for you and some extra time to relax.

Thank god I don't work at home and at an office instead. That means my nightly dinner prep is not a grind and my family and I can enjoy the meals that I make.

(eye roll)

Seriously, my son likes to help me with some of the meal prep so we spend time together and he is learning an important life skill. And fresh food tastes better to me then leftovers. And we have enough for lunch the next day. And it takes 30-40 minutes.

Different families have different patterns and different things that bring them pleasure. If meal prep and cooking is a grind for you, then look for an alternative and go for it.

Anonymous wrote:People here are obsessed with the daily “dinner prep” but that sounds like such a grind! It’s so easy to make things that last two nights, and then you have leftovers waiting for you and some extra time to relax.

Why hasn't anybody else thought of this?

Anonymous wrote:By the way? It's "every day," not "everyday" in the thread title you are attempting to write.

Every day (adverb) = occurring daily. "I get up and take a shower every day."

Everyday (adjective) = regular, basic, not special. "He completed his everyday chores before moving on to cleaning the gutters."

I did not think it was possible to be more annoying than OP's brilliant observation, but DCUM never disappoints.

What if you are a WOHD?

Anonymous wrote:I make dinner every night, but make enough so it's the next day's lunch for the kids too. It literally takes me 30 minutes to make a tasty nutritious meal for my family, and it's totally worth it to me. DH does all the dishes and clean up.

30 mins is too long for me. It needs to be on the table 10 mins after I walk in the door. I don't work every day but on the days I do I don't walk in the door until 6.30.

I cook twice a week. We are okay with eating reheated food and leftovers. Not everyone may want to. Do what works for you, no need to dump on others’ choices.