Family of Two. Suggestions?

I have had the same struggle. I have never been a big cook and never really learned, but have gotten better in recent months... Here are a couple suggestions

1. Start by finding 2 recipes you would like to try before grocery shopping. Get the ingredients when shopping and then cook them within a couple days. By finding the recipe, cooking it, and realizing how good it is. It will help. Therefore it is not overwhelming and you will see the result..... Also I research 5 ingredients or less recipes to keep cooking time short. and you can continue to increase recipes you find or whatever, but 2 seems like a good way to start and it's not overwhelming.

2. With fresh veggies like broccoli, cauliflower- cut those up once you get back from the store and put in a container for easy grabs. I also cut up half a iceberg lettuce and have in a bowl so I have easy access.

I really like this approach!!

My husband and I are also a 2 person household. Honestly we're both so used to cooking for ourselves and for others, that it is pretty easy for us to cook the "right" amount w/o having too many leftovers, but I can understand how it is an issue for some people who think it's overwhelming to start if they haven't cooked much before or are used to a bigger household etc.

We have a few shared boards on Pinterest where we come up with meal ideas and then go over them when we're making our weekly grocery list. Most weeks, our list is made up of 2-3 new recipes and then a few easy go-to recipes that we already like and are easy to make. This only takes about 15 minutes of our week.

Meal ideas can be found anywhere...these forums, magazines, websites, etc. It is also pretty easy to tweak "regular" recipes - more so with cooking than baking - for example, making your own wheat crust for pizza and then topping it with 1/2 cup of shredded part-skim mozzarella and a tbsp of Parmesan, instead of the suggested 2 cups of fresh mozzarella and 1/3 cup Parmesan. It makes a huge difference. Also, omitting bacon or mayo from certain recipes...endless swaps and omissions can be made.

For us the BIGGEST thing is having a list on the fridge of meals - either for 7 days/10 meals/2 weeks/whatever works. I've actually been doing this for about 10 years, even when I was with my ex and eating very unhealthy...it is just a very usable idea, in my opinion. It doesn't all have to be fancy meals, it can be as simple as listing sandwiches & salads alongside a casserole, pizza, fish, grilling out, a Mexican night, whatever. But for us it makes it way less likely that we will grab takeout or go out because 'there isn't much to eat in the house'.

Good luck, OP!

I am a busy mom of 3 young kids (5 and under). I work part-time (4 days a week) so I cook on my days off - Saturday and Tuesday (Sunday is my day of rest). I cook enough to last until my next cooking day - usually 2 or 3 recipes. If I decide to make a recipe that truly does not taste good reheated or it's a crock-pot recipe, I prep as much of the recipe as I can ahead of time i.e. chop veggies, clean/trim the meat, etc.

I know myself well enough that if I can't get dinner on the table fast, I will resort to junk i.e. frozen nuggets/fries, frozen pizza, canned veg, cereal/milk, etc. Although, my kids love when that happens

It take a bit of planning - deciding which meals to cook, buying the ingredients and cooking on my days off, but it's worth it. I starting do this years ago to save money, but it clearly has health benefits to it.

Btw, the meals do not have to be fancy! Tacos, split pea soup w/ crackers, meatloaf with steamed rice and veg, spaghetti with salad, stir-frys... I used boxed "helper" meals too, I'm not ashamed to admit. I use extra lean beef (93/7), add extra veggies and skip adding any milk/butter/oil.

We use our crockpot to cook up a bunch of meat to use during the week in different ways. BBQ chicken/ turkey or even just cooked with chicken stock to add into pasta or rice...

I pan fry salmon, chicken breasts, and steaks in bulk. Then I put a few in the fridge and the rest in the freezer. It takes BARELY any time to cook fresh meat.

My favourite thing to do when I get home late is heat up a piece of meat, and then steam half a bag of frozen veggies in a bowl of water in the microwave (6 min), or sautee fresh veggies in a pan. Very fast, super delicious when you experiment with sauces and spices, and easy cleanup!

I totally understand because I DESPISED cooking before starting my own weight loss journey. But if I can do it, I swear anyone can.

Other fast favourites:

-Tuna sandwich (one can low sodium tuna mixed with one tbsp light mayo and some mustard, on light rye with spinach and cucumber)
-Egg and chicken bacon sandwich
-Making 5 or 6 mini pizzas on pita bread and then freezing them.
-Turkey burgers - 1 lb ground meat and a ton of raw onions makes 4 patties. They cook up in the oven really damn fast.

Basically the trick is to cook stuff when you have time, then freeze it to reheat on days when you're lazy/tired/don't want to throw together a meal

An idea I got from my doctor, of all people, was to cut up an apple, then put the slices into a jar with a tablespoon of orange juice to keep the apple from going brown. That way she has something healthy to snack on in between patients. I plan on trying this when I go back to work in the fall, because I often have very little time in between speech/language therapy groups.

I also make a batch of granola with oats, raisins, nuts, dried apple, and maple syrup or honey every couple of weeks. A 1/2 cup of granola in a sandwich bag is an easy snack.