Confession.
I can’t cook.
Well, I can cook.
I just don’t.
When it comes to cooking, I’m lazy.
I don’t wanna have to think about what I need in the morning, pull out the meat to thaw, come home and IMMEDIATELY start cooking after a long day at work… Clean up the mess. Goodness. It’s just too much. Not to mention, groceries are way expensive now-a-days.
It’s certainly cheaper to eat at a fast food restaurant for much cheaper.
Hubby and I lead a very busy lifestyle.
Monday is our only night at home together.
Tuesday he has band practice.
Wednesday we have church.
Thursday hubby plays Ultimate Frisbee.
Who knows what we do on Fridays.
When we first got married, ooh I was so good.
I planned out menus for the week and bought everything I needed and cooked up some delicious meals. Now… that’s just not our style. Cooking just doesn’t fit our style.
I have a few meals that are super easy, but goodness… I’m tired of those.
Now, it’s more like
Voila Meals
PF Changs Frozen Meals
Subway
Chick fil A
And the ever dreaded….
I WANT to cook. I long to create good wholesome meals for my hubby, he deserves it!
There is just not enough time. It’s just not practical.
What meals can you whip up in a hearbeat with little clean up?
What frozen meals do you suggest?
What frozen meals do you suggest?
14 comments:
Ugh, I had this exact problem when I was married! It's so hard coming up with fast, healthy meals that you'll both enjoy (my exhusband wouldn't eat vegetables) especially when I can't cook at all. We ate a lot of frozen pizzas and Sonic burgers. And now I wonder why I weight 40 pounds more :)
My favorite fast recipe, although not healthy, is chicken pillows!
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1739,158191-229196,00.html
good luck!
use your oven. i throw some meat in a bag with marinade and head to work. when i get home i throw it in the oven, well, i pour the meat and sauce into a pan/dish and then pop it in the oven. then i shower, relax, blog, craft, whatever. the fiance whips up a side, usually a pasta. pull out the meat plop it on a plate with some yummy pasta. hardly any mess. and baking is healthier, or so i hear.
There's this great and easy taco salad my mom's friend makes. All it is is ground beef, can of drained beans, lettuce, other salad accessories such as tomatoes and cucumber (whatever you want), crumbled Nacho cheese dorritos, and french dressing. Mix it all up in a bowl. Yumminess!
I'm sure as time goes by you'l find your knack.
I try not to eat the frozen stuff at home (only for lunches) because lets face it, a fresh cooked meal tastes so much better!
Cooking meals at home is definitely cheaper than going out to eat. I know it is so hard to take the time to plan out eat meal, and clean up always seems to be the daunting end task. Here are a few ways I get meals out on the table through my busy schedule.
1. Crock pot meals. I have a crock pot cookbook or two and they are great. Just throw a few things in a leave it all day. You come home and the meal is cooked and there is only one pot to clean!
2. Washing dishes as you go... this is something I always HATED doing with my mom when cooking.. but now I realize the value of it. If you wait until after the meal to wash everything it is too overwhelming. As you cook, take time to wash dishes as you use them; by the end of the meal you only have to wash a few pots and the dishes you ate with!
Good luck! I firmly believe life is about learning how to juggle.. we as Americans just cram too much into our days!
Use a crock pot for sure.. or .. if you have an anniversary or something coming up .. maybe you can convince your families to pool together and buy one of those countertop convection oven thingy's .. (like the one Mr. T. infomercials about) .. they cook meat from frozen in no time.. and I believe you can throw veggies and sides in there at the same time :-) .. our favourite in the summer though is to marinate chicken in kraft greek w/feta & oregano dressing and bbq it.. then either serve it on a salad or to the side of one :-)
I'm a stay at home mom and I still don't cook from scratch a lot of the time.. don't feel bad.. just set small goals like 1 healthy meal a week and then up it to 2 and so on until you find the routine that works best for you!!! :-)
Hey girl! We live in my in-laws basement right now.....we live off Viola!! Although I just purchased "e-meals." It is a meal and grocery program endorsed by Dave Ramsey. The lady lists on the site for you a meal plan and your grocery list for the week. It's $15 for 3 months ($1.25/week). You can choose your store you shop at (Wal-Mart, Publix or Kroger) and she even has a price estimate break down! She has speciality plans too....low-fat,low-carb, and portion control. The grocery list is never more than $50 bucks a week. When we move into our new house I want to cook more. I know I won't have time every single night but I can accumulate the recipes from e-mealz and cater them to our liking. Check it out! e-mealz.com
I feel you in this whole cooking situation and my poor babies are much too young to live on chicken nuggets and fries. Maybe one, I will figure this whole thing out before they old enough to realize their bad eating habits:)
i worked at Chick-fil-a, and when I lived by myself, I never wanted to cook, so I'd just bring it home... Yummmmy. I live in Buckeye now.
okay check out my blog this week! I put a few recipes on it! I work nights and don't get home until 9 so we have to either do something super simple or I have to prepare most of it before going to work. It really doesn't take much time! Your belly and body will thank you! I have some more recipes coming up soon too! :)
If you're busy now...Just wait til you add kids to the picture....
What I do is Batch cook....
Use disposable tin loaf pans and on a weekend make several meat loaves, several lasagnas, several chicken casseroles, etc. Cook them all...completely cool then wrap them, label them and freeze them. Before you leave for work, take one out and put it in the fridge to thaw..then all you have to do when you get home is warm it, make a salad and viola! Dinner is done, minimal dishes.
I try to make enough of these ahead to last 2 or 3 weeks.
Portion control of thse size entrees means you won't over eat and you won't be taking in all that fat, salt and preservatives of fast food and prepacked food.
Hope that helps.
Audrey
aka AudreyGardenLady
Forgot to add... I also love my crock pot...
Easy recipe...
Place a fresh pork loin in the crock pot, add herbs and garlic. Pour an entire large jar of applesauce over the whole thing.
Let it cook in the crock pot all day while you are gone.
Dinner ready and moist and delish when you get home :)
Audrey
I agree with previous posters about the crockpot! I have two small children and usually am too worn out at the end of the day to try to cook. So I get things ready in the morning. I have some great recipes on my blog, and I only do simple things! Check them out if you want.
http://thecrazylifeofacraftygirl.blogspot.com/
we have to totally revamp the way we cook. My husband recently found out he has diabetes, so there's a lot of stuff he can't eat.
I used to love to have the frozen lasagna though, it was always a great go-to. :)
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