How often do you cook.

[mom4organics]

I've been facing a challenge recently in trying to cut down on how often I cook. Now that i have a baby i dont have the time to cook on a daily basis like i did before. Plus that is so much extra cleanup in the kitchen! My dh doesn't mind eating left overs, and isnt the type of guy who needs a fresh cooked meal every day. So i've been trying different things, to see what will work out for us. One week i cooked on Monday, and then on thursday and it worked ok. The other week things didnt turn out that great, and this past week was crazy and i had no time to devote to cooking for 3+ hours so that its enough for 2-3days. I cook everything from scratch. Both me and dh prefer to eat at home, dont eat out often, use microwave and frozen meal rarely. Once in a while we will, but we dont like to.

So I wante to see what other moms do, get some ideas, try to work something out so that my kitchen stays clean more often and we have food to eat, and i'm not living in the kitchen on a daily basis.

Oh, and i do my grocery shopping once a week. I hate going shopping for just 1 meal so i kinda plan ahead and buy the stuff i'll need for the week.

[SCH's Mama]

When you make something (chili, casseroles, etc) make double or triple and freeze the others. After a while, you will have a good stock in the freezer and only have to cook a couple times a week. Much healthier than processed freezer meals, as you know everything you put in it. And reheating will be a lot easier than cooking from scratch.

[Giselle]

We only "cook" once a day. I was doing three meals a day, but it got to be too much, so we eat cereal and fruit for breakfast, or yogurt and toast. The kids and I do air popped popcorn and fruit for snacks. We do a simple lunch like cheese and bread with raw vegetables. Then the main meal of the day is supper. I try to make it something I can throw in the crock pot or oven and forget two or three times a week. Whatever we're cooking, we make enough that DH can take leftovers for lunch the next day. Oh, and once a week we make brisket and we use the leftovers for quesadillas the next day. We've ended up with the majority of meals we can make in one or two pans so the whole kitchen doesn't need decontamination when we're done.

[oscarandbabys]

i usually cook when ds is napping. i wash dishes about 2-3 times a day {eight people living in this house and no one cleans after themselves} and if im not done cooking when ds wakes then hubby takes care of him. My dd is old enough to do her own thing so i dont have to worry too much of what shes doing

Its not easy but you do what you gotta do

[spurk5532]

It is just me and my ds so I am only cooking for myself. I usually cook myself something after I put him to sleep at 7.

[I Smile Because Of Them]

I cook every single day. Just different meals. During the week, I cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Fridays I cook breakfast and lunch, and we go out for dinner. On Saturdays we wake up late and go out to lunch and eat dinner somewhere. On Sundays, we also wake up late and I make lunch at home and we eat out for dinner, after church.

[Christina]

Originally Posted by I Smile Because Of Them I cook every single day. Just different meals. During the week, I cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Fridays I cook breakfast and lunch, and we go out for dinner. On Saturdays we wake up late and go out to lunch and eat dinner somewhere. On Sundays, we also wake up late and I make lunch at home and we eat out for dinner, after church.

This is me almost exactly!

[eguisgirl]

I cook 5-6 times a week. I usually take sat or sun off and hubby cooks that day!

[mama_trollie]

It took awhile after dd was born to remember how to cook and take care of everything like before I was pregnant. I love to cook, but hate the dishes. DH does about 3/4 of the cleanup and I usually cook dinner. We usually do meals together or just make sandwiches during the day. We do like to eat out occasionally too.

[Blueblankielover]

I don't really have a hard time making dinner every night. Some nights we have so many leftovers that yes we do eat them, but I have worked out a way to save a little money on lunches by letting DH take left overs to work. I don't have to scramble around really early in the morning trying to make DH's lunch and he gets to eat what he wants.

I try to make easy meals! I love making casseroles, and we use a lot of instant or quick cooking things or microwavable things. Making everything from scratch who has time for that when you have little kids. I think that when my kids are older or gone I will be more into homemade meal from scratch. For now I make well balanced meals from cans, bags, and boxes. We love to eat a lot of fresh fruit, which is easy to slice. I love caned veggie.. green beans, peas, corn or carrots, and they are super easy to pop in a bowl and microwave. Rice or pasta in a box can be done in the microwave while you bake or pan fry some chicken. Casseroles may take longer to prepare, but I like to do that during nap time, and them I either freeze it or I put it in the fridge for later. When my DH comes home I can pop the casserole in the oven for 30mins.

Microwaveable casseroles at the store are fine too, I always keep one of those in the freezer for when I have a long hard day and don't feel like cooking. BUT for those really long hard days, our favorite 10min meal is top roman and grilled cheese sandwiches. This meal my DH can make and my DD loves! We add some frozen veggies to the top roman to make it more healthy and use whole wheat bread.

So don't feel bad! Everyone finds it hard to cook with little ones. HUGS!!!!!