How do you guys motivate yourselves to cook?

LB2812

I have to plan out time that I will cook in batches. If I don't have anything prepped or planned then I end up having to buy or make something quick - which is never as tasty or healthy or cheap! So I plan some time to get more cooking done and make as much as I can at once. Music makes it more fun. As well as trying something new! It's sometimes hard to get into, but i remind myself if I do it NOW, then I'll have time for fun later! If I can spend 4 hours on Sunday cooking but not have to think or cook or prep the rest of the week, that's well worth it to me!

Edited to add: I also do keep some healthy-ish quick stuff on hand for when that just doesn't work! I'm a big fan of amy's frozen stuff. And i'll try to make my own burritos up when i have the chance and freeze them so I have them ready also.

maz504

I have my ihome in my kitchen and I jam out. God help me if anyone looks in the window when I'm prepping, I'm literally cutting onions and shaking my booty and singing into the knife like a microphone.

Also, finding new recipes really motivates me. If it's something I've never tried before I can't wait to go home and make it.

EHisCDN

I love to cook but sometimes I'm tired or lack the motivation to spend much time in the kitchen. What helps me is that I know it's cheaper than ordering something and I find fast food/pre-packaged food really boring. Simply put, I cook because I like good food and the food you get out of a package just isn't good enough IMO.

What helps me even on the days I'm tired is to have quick and easy meals always at the ready. It could be something like ravioli I keep in the freezer and pop into boiling water with broccoli and make a quick and easy tomato sauce (canned tomatoes with a little olive oil, garlic and red pepper flakes). I might also poach some eggs and eat them on toast or in a soup...

You could always cook a bunch of food on one day and then stick it in the fridge or freezer, then you only need to reheat when you're hungry.

somefitsomefat

Block off an hour on Sunday to make lunches and snacks in advance. Throw 5 pieces of fish or chicken in the oven with some seasoning on it. Boil some rice if you want rice. Portion out beans from a can if you want beans. Same for frozen or fresh veggies. Make one big lasagne and portion it out for 5 days if that's your bag. Is it hard to cook 5-10 individual elaborate gourmet dishes that each need 45 minutes of prep time? Yes. Otherwise cooking frankly shouldn't take that much time.

BlueBombers

Because I can make pretty much make anything that I can get in a restaurant and I know WHAT is in it and I know WHO is preparing my food.

www.allrecipes.com

p.s. And I always wash my hands before I prepare any food.

MagJam2004

I found super geeky cookbooks that seem to make it more fun. I have a Harry Potter one and Star Wars one that I use regularly. I have to switch things out in the recipes to make them a little more healthy, or cut the recipe in half, but it makes it fun.

this makes my soul happy. I have a recipe for Otik's spiced potatoes that I want to try out.

For me, the motivation to cook comes from something that I see that I want to have. To the person who mentioned Pinterest, I love that thing. If something is delicious looking, then I want to figure out how to make it since my brain makes the logical conclusion it must taste equally delicious. I'm not a great cook so this has been a hit and miss approach. But again, ultimately it comes down to looking for food that I want to try and then needing to cook it so I can try it.

bethanp

Aside from batch cooking, can I suggest looking up some healthy casserole dishes? Casseroles require a little bit of prep time, but once everything is ready and in the oven, you've got 30 minutes (or whatever the cook time is) to enjoy your videogames.

I'm very lucky to live with a guy who loves to cook as much as me, so we cook together and cut prep time in half

breeshabebe

I would take baby steps in cooking. Start of with one or two meals a week, then add on to that if you like. And get creative and use the same recipes for different things. For example: I cooked a crockpot taco chicken. (seriously super easy) I put it over rice, topped it with cheese and froze a few meals. Then, I used some of the same taco chicken to cook in my eggs like an omelet. Then I took that same mixture and made a few casadillas.

It's rare that I cook during the week... but lets face it-- I don't want to spend my whole Saturday cooking... So I prep some of it for easy cooking later. I find fun recipes (alot via budgetbytes.com--seriously great advice on that site.) and plan out my meals for the next two weeks. Heres how I did it last week.

Thursday: Make grocery list/ plan meals.. clean kitchen so that everything is where it needs to be.
Friday: Grocery Shop
Sat: Prep meals-- Cut fat off of chicken, make marinades, put them in Ziplock bags to go into the fridge or freezer. Cut up veggies... basically everything you would need to prep. Also, I would put a crockpot meal together on this day.
Sunday: Throw a few prepped meals in the oven-- enough for lunch and dinner for a few days. Put crockpot meals in individual containers and refridgerate or freeze for quick meals.


That sounds like alot... but its actually just a few hours total... And prepare foods for 2 weeks-- you could just do it for one and cut your time in half.

dopeysmelly

Hubby bought me a gorgeous cookbook full of lovely photos for Xmas and I've worked my way through it, making adjustments to make it healthier but still look as wonderful. "Olives and oranges" is what it's called. Bloody love that book.

I can cook for the whole family that way, but still control calories, protein, fat, fiber and sodium.

But then, I love cookbooks..

Crateria_

I would take baby steps in cooking. Start of with one or two meals a week, then add on to that if you like. And get creative and use the same recipes for different things. For example: I cooked a crockpot taco chicken. (seriously super easy) I put it over rice, topped it with cheese and froze a few meals. Then, I used some of the same taco chicken to cook in my eggs like an omelet. Then I took that same mixture and made a few casadillas.

It's rare that I cook during the week... but lets face it-- I don't want to spend my whole Saturday cooking... So I prep some of it for easy cooking later. I find fun recipes (alot via budgetbytes.com--seriously great advice on that site.) and plan out my meals for the next two weeks. Heres how I did it last week.

Thursday: Make grocery list/ plan meals.. clean kitchen so that everything is where it needs to be.
Friday: Grocery Shop
Sat: Prep meals-- Cut fat off of chicken, make marinades, put them in Ziplock bags to go into the fridge or freezer. Cut up veggies... basically everything you would need to prep. Also, I would put a crockpot meal together on this day.
Sunday: Throw a few prepped meals in the oven-- enough for lunch and dinner for a few days. Put crockpot meals in individual containers and refridgerate or freeze for quick meals.


That sounds like alot... but its actually just a few hours total... And prepare foods for 2 weeks-- you could just do it for one and cut your time in half.

Fantastic plan-- I love it!! Thank you

Grammanut

You're a gamer like my son. Did you try googling video gamer cookbook or something to that effect?

Here's some ideas I found..........

http://www.delish.com/food/recalls-reviews/video-game-food

http://www.gourmetgaming.co.uk/

http://www.buzzfeed.com/angelameiquan/mouthwatering-video-game-foods-in-real-life-70fn

http://mideastfood.about.com/od/tipsandtechniques/tp/video_games.htm

Crateria_

You're a gamer like my son. Did you try googling video gamer cookbook or something to that effect?

Here's some ideas I found..........

http://www.delish.com/food/recalls-reviews/video-game-food

http://www.gourmetgaming.co.uk/

http://www.buzzfeed.com/angelameiquan/mouthwatering-video-game-foods-in-real-life-70fn

http://mideastfood.about.com/od/tipsandtechniques/tp/video_games.htm

I never thought to until you guys!! I think I've gotta do this

MelsAuntie

WTF?? COOKING IS JOY, LOVE, AND PASSION!! Why on earth would you not want to cook? How else do you get wonderful food you can't get at the supermarket, like curried parsnip soup, spiced oven-roasted golden beets, pork and peanut curry, chocolate peanut butter mousse, garlic roasted lamb.........

I've never played a video game in my life.

Que sera, sera.

cwolfman13

I love cooking. I'm a foodie and enjoy quality prepared food. I personally don't know how people don't cook and stomach much of that pre-packaged or ready made foods and fast food all of the time...that **** is just plain nasty.

What I'm hoping is to find a way to get myself to enjoy it so I can lose the taste for fast food and stuff like that. Once I lose the taste for it I won't be able to stand going back. But if you're used to something it's easy to keep going back to it.

I don't know, but maybe it's just one of those things that people either enjoy or don't enjoy. Personally I take a lot of satisfaction in something I made being delicious, wholesome, and nutritious. Beyond that, cooking is almost therapeutic for me...it's actually one of the ways I relax and unwind...it is my art and pretty much the only remotely artistic thing I am capable of save for pretending that I can play the guitar (but hey, fake it until you make it right?).

I've been cooking since I was a kid...I was always interested in it and helped my mom in the kitchen all of the time and helped my dad out on the grill and with his big Saturday morning breakfast feast. My parents worked quite a bit, so by the time I was 12 or 13 I was making a few meals per week for my sister and I (nothing extravagant mind you). When I went to college is where I really learned to love and apply my love for all things culinary...I was broke but wanted some hot *kitten* just like any other dude...couldn't afford to take the ladies out for a fancy dinner, so I learned to prepare them and present them myself.

LolBroScience

Food porn.

breeshabebe

WTF?? COOKING IS JOY, LOVE, AND PASSION!! Why on earth would you not want to cook? How else do you get wonderful food you can't get at the supermarket, like curried parsnip soup, spiced oven-roasted golden beets, pork and peanut curry, chocolate peanut butter mousse, garlic roasted lamb.........

I've never played a video game in my life.

Que sera, sera.

......good..for..you???

I love to dance.. I think it's love, joy, and passion but not everyone feels the same way. Different strokes...

jadimasi79

I have found that I do a lot of cooking on the weekend so the fridge and freezer are stocked and I can nuke a homemade meal every night.

CaitlinW19

For me I think it's all about food inspiration. Pinterest offers me a lot of this as well as favorite food bloggers of mine (that I've mainly discovered through pinterest). I have such a long list of recipes I am dying to try that I have to cook all the time to make a dent (but of course the list just gets longer anyway).

The other thing I think that really helps me is planning ahead...I try to get all my groceries on the weekend and have a plan for what I am going to cook when. I always try to have at least one quick to pull together meal planned and sometimes I end up making that a different night of the week if I get busy or whatever. Some times I don't end up needing to make as many meals as I planned either, and then I just carry over the ingredients to the next week if possible. Having everything purchased and a plan generally helps me use what's in my fridge...I'd hate to spend all that money and to just toss it. That has happened and will happen again, but it doesn't happen much with a "plan".

Crateria_

WTF?? COOKING IS JOY, LOVE, AND PASSION!! Why on earth would you not want to cook? How else do you get wonderful food you can't get at the supermarket, like curried parsnip soup, spiced oven-roasted golden beets, pork and peanut curry, chocolate peanut butter mousse, garlic roasted lamb.........

I've never played a video game in my life.

Que sera, sera.

You know the amazing thing about human beings is that no 2 are alike?

So, to your response I give you mine:

WTF?? VIDEO GAMES ARE AMAZING. IT'S JOY, LOVE, AND PASSION! Why on EARTH would you not want to play a VIDEO GAME?

So yeah, at least one of us is trying to step outside of themselves and try something new.

Crateria_

I love cooking. I'm a foodie and enjoy quality prepared food. I personally don't know how people don't cook and stomach much of that pre-packaged or ready made foods and fast food all of the time...that **** is just plain nasty.

What I'm hoping is to find a way to get myself to enjoy it so I can lose the taste for fast food and stuff like that. Once I lose the taste for it I won't be able to stand going back. But if you're used to something it's easy to keep going back to it.

I don't know, but maybe it's just one of those things that people either enjoy or don't enjoy. Personally I take a lot of satisfaction in something I made being delicious, wholesome, and nutritious. Beyond that, cooking is almost therapeutic for me...it's actually one of the ways I relax and unwind...it is my art and pretty much the only remotely artistic thing I am capable of save for pretending that I can play the guitar (but hey, fake it until you make it right?).

I've been cooking since I was a kid...I was always interested in it and helped my mom in the kitchen all of the time and helped my dad out on the grill and with his big Saturday morning breakfast feast. My parents worked quite a bit, so by the time I was 12 or 13 I was making a few meals per week for my sister and I (nothing extravagant mind you). When I went to college is where I really learned to love and apply my love for all things culinary...I was broke but wanted some hot *kitten* just like any other dude...couldn't afford to take the ladies out for a fancy dinner, so I learned to prepare them and present them myself.

I dig that. I totally do. I think it all depends on how you were brought up. My mom always cooked. So I never had a hand in the kitchen. "Don't worry about it, go have fun"! She'd say. So I guess cooking was never associated with fun to me when, to my mother, she treated it like a chore.