What to do if you hate cooking?

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  • HollisGrant
    HollisGrant Posts: 2,022 Member
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    I hate cooking, too -- the whole process, shopping, preparing, cleaning up. I also live near a lot of restaurants. That's how I wrecked my health and got fat.

    If you look at the time to go to the restaurant, wait around for the food, eat it or take it home and eat it, and agonize over what you just did to yourself, cooking at home is a better deal.

    I forced myself to find some food I am willing to eat that is good for me and easy to make. I make a lot of it ahead of time so there are always some healthy meals in the fridge and I just have to heat them up. I don't eat meat, so this probably wouldn't help you. but this is what I eat:

    Breakfast:
    Bob's Red Steel Cut Oats (better for me than eating raisin bread with cream cheese). I make a big pot, keep it in the fridge, and heat some up with sliced apple every morning. One batch lasts about a week. I order from Amazon because I can find deals that are cheaper than the grocery store, plus I pay no shipping because I have a student Prime membership.

    Lunch and dinner:
    I buy a lot of lentils, which cost 99 cents to $1.20 a bag in the grocery store, I cook a large pot that lasts all week. You don't have to soak them and they cook in 20-30 minutes. One measuring cup of lentils has the protein of 3 eggs with almost no fat. I stir fry them with a little olive oil and chopped vegetables. I make brown rice in a rice cooker -- just throw it in, add water, and it cooks itself. I also eat steamed greens, mostly kale and collards. My meal prep time is down to just a few minutes.

    Experiment. Be positive. Find something you like to eat that's healthy and make batches of it ahead of time.
  • j0j0ba
    j0j0ba Posts: 66
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    i love cooking but by the time ive cooked for everyone else tastes(fussy eaters) and (medical)requirements in my house, which is high fat and calories i can't be bothered doing something especially for me. so i went with a diet company, theyre really cheap to be honest at £40 a week for breakfast lunch dinner and snacks i only have to add a steam bag of veg or rice to dinner and fruit and dairy daily portions. Quick and easy .
  • pinkiemarie252
    pinkiemarie252 Posts: 222 Member
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    I second the crock pot idea. They make mini crock pots so you can just throw in a day's food instead of doing the whole week, too.
  • lizzzylou
    lizzzylou Posts: 325
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    I love doing jacket potatoes, as you just wash them & put them in the oven until they're done, buy a pre-packed (plain, not with dressing on or anything) salad, and you're sorted.

    I'm so lazy I dont even put them in the oven. Just poke holes with a fork and throw a potato or sweet potato in the microwave for 5 minutes & you're golden :)
  • Azurite27
    Azurite27 Posts: 554 Member
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    I buy a lot of pre-prepared food that I can just throw in the oven, like pre-seasoned chicken, or easy snacks like cottage cheese, yogurt, and sunflower seeds. For lunches i've started making sandwich wraps the night before to cut back on tv dinners. Always on the lookout for easy to prep and cook options.
  • allaboutthecake
    allaboutthecake Posts: 1,531 Member
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    Tip: eat your cooked meat within 3 days of cooking it or freeze it the same day its cooked.

    Having turned into a lazy cook later in years but can't stand nasty restaurant food or "gag" MALL food.....If you can, purchase (on-line) a George Foreman Griller. They are cheap. They cook on both sides at the same time. I can cook a piece of fish in 2.3 min and hamburger meat in 3.4 min. Start your sliced veggies in the skillet first, then do your protein. Pretty much in less than 5 min your stuffing your face. And cleanup is a snap with the Griller. Unplug the griller and Put a wet paper towel in it, close the lid. Steams crusties right off.

    Also look into getting spices and seasonings that will pair well with your food. Find a friend and take some cooking classes together...you may find the boringness in cooking can be fun when you involve a class.

    :flowerforyou:


    (Edited for typos cuz am still too tired to be on mfp plus my glutes hurt from yesterday's weighted squat session...that's my story and am sticking to it!)
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,372 Member
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    I hate cooking and I hate eating the same thing more than twice, typically, so making a lot at once is just not happening.

    I buy things I can just put in a pan or bake (fish, sausage, ham slices), frozen grilled chicken breasts (yes, a bit more expensive than fresh, but we have yet to manage to grill some that taste that good), buy a lot of frozen veggies and rice/pasta/egg noodles/couscous. It's easy enough for me to put something in a pan and turn it once, or bake it, then microwave frozen veggies and boil some carbs if I want them.

    Or I make a lot of salads, eggs, sandwiches... and I eat a lot of snacks.
  • danamarich
    danamarich Posts: 74 Member
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    If you don't like cooking but need to cook your own meals, why not spend one day a week pre-making meals?

    My sister in law is mega preggers so every weekend we all bring ingredients to make a meal, cook the day away and divide it up so we all have meals to take home and throw in the slow cooker or oven when it's time for them (we made 2 stews, 1 chili, spaghetti sauce and bran muffins in one day)
  • twooliver
    twooliver Posts: 450 Member
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    I'm with you on this one. It's so dang hard to change this part of living a healthy lifestyle eh? I've found these steam bags...you'll find them by the sandwich bags in the store...and you can throw frozen chicken/fish/etc along with some veggies and a sauce of some kind...microwave and in a few min have a meal ready!!

    you can do this!!!
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
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    ... so I don't have an oven, sadly I can't do the roast recipes :( and my apartment has bad ventilation and the building is infested with cockroaches so I hope this simplify my cooking process with paranoia of baby cockroaches climbing all over my pots and pans. I just hope that chicken breasts won't be too dry from overnight cooking...

    This won't be a popular opinion, but honestly, in those conditions I'd be eating out too. And I enjoy cooking when I have the time. OK, let's be honest. I'd be moving.

    The ventilation and no oven can be worked around, but a serious cockroach infestation that you know you can't get rid of unless all of the apartments are treated at once? No.

    I'd be going to the restaurant and eating half of what they serve you, store the other half in something air-tight to keep the bugs out and get two meals for one.

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