Do you cook a lot?

[shawnandangel]

I cook almost every night. We do eat leftovers 1-2 times a week and Friday nights are usually frozen pizza.

I could have written your post!

[trales]

I really like cooking, I make my own refried beans in the crock pot, soups, make my own bread.

Some of my meals are really simple, I can a lot in the fall and use them all winter.

It is a balance, some meals take about 15 minutes to "cook". some take all day. It really depends on my motivation.

The more I cook the faster I get.

[egoldber]

The more I cook the faster I get.

This is really, really important. I cook a lot and have been cooking a lot for over 20 years. ( ) I very seldom need or follow a recipe. Once you've made meatloaf or lentil soup or chili over 100 times, then you don't really need a recipe. It's like any other skill, it takes practice. I can assemble a meatloaf in less time than it takes me to call Dominos.

[Indianamom2]

I always plan to cook....but I don't do it often. I have to do better. We eat out A LOT. It's nothing fancy (sometimes just Subway), but I would rather cook real meals.

Our problem is timing. DH is rarely home before 6:30. The kids bedtime are at 7:00 and it gets REALLY ugly if we tinker with that. Usually, I will fix something for DD#1 to eat before DH gets home. Then we put the kids in bed and eat sometime around 8:00 or later. At that point, after dealing with the kids almost all day completely by myself, I'm just too tired to cook and clean up.

I think until DH has better hours (read: a different job!) I need to give up my idea of what a family dinner should be. Sandwiches would work just fine too...

Honestly I don't know how my mom did it when we were little. Well, we ate closer to 5:00, but still.....

[SnuggleBuggles]

I do cook a few times a week. The other days I more assemble things (can of this, bag of that...). We eat out 1-2 dinners/ week.

Beth

[Moneypenny]

I avoid WF and TJ like the plague. Way too expensive.

I've never been to WF, but I find TJs to be really really cheap! For example, their prices on dairy are the best in town (and that is comparing TJs organic to the regular grocery store's conventional!), their peanut butter is super cheap, etc. Now, I don't have time to run to TJs every week, but once a month or so I'll stop by and pick up some things for the pantry really inexpensively!

[arivecchi]

TJ is actually inexpensive compared to many grocery store items. For the same items, WF is not any more expensive. That is milk is the same price at WF and TJ and Safeway only the WF and TJ milk does not have hormones.

Please educate me. I used to shop at WF a lot before kids and would spend like $75 for 6 items everytime I went there, so I stopped. I just could not justify it. What kind of stuff fo you buy there that is not outrageously expensive? Can you recommend cookbooks for really easy/quick meals. Maybe I will be more motivated if I know it won't take up too much time and effort.

[mousemom]

I think I'm somewhere in between. On weekends, I always try to cook something to put in the freezer for weekday lunches or dinners and/or bake something for snacks. I especially enjoy baking, so that's fun for me. But during the week when I'm working, we do rely heavily on packaged meals and frozen pizzas. I drive myself crazy looking at all the questionable stuff on the ingredient lists and would love to be able to afford to buy more natural stuff. (There is no TJs, WF or Costco near us for that kind of stuff.) I also wish I had the time to cook more from scratch, but as long as I'm working FT it just isn't going to happen.

[elektra]

TJ is actually inexpensive compared to many grocery store items.

This is what I have found too.

the last thing I want to do is make an extra stop for takeout or to go out to eat again.

Delivery! The Thai place knows my order, and I don't even have to give them my address. They know my voice! We get Thai 1-2x a week. DD likes "Bad Thai" LOL.

Also, I typically am working on dinner while older DD is sitting at the island working on her homework, so it's very much a family time for us.

This sounds nice. In our house, it's me scrambling to get everything cooked, in the oven, whatever from 5-5:30 with DS whining or crying to nurse at 5:30.

[arivecchi]

Our problem is timing. DH is rarely home before 6:30. The kids bedtime are at 7:00 and it gets REALLY ugly if we tinker with that. Usually, I will fix something for DD#1 to eat before DH gets home.

This is part of the problem for me too. The kids have had dinner by the time I get home (around 6:30). DH gets home even later (past 8). I guess I have no excuse for the weekends though.