What's the biggest pain in the butt when it comes to cooking at home?

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  • zdyb23456
    zdyb23456 Posts: 1,706 Member
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    I really only cook dinners. Breakfast is cereal (or the husband does eggs and toast for the kids). Lunches are typical school lunches - pb&j, fruit, small treat.

    We usually eat out 1 meal a week, so I cook about 6 meals. I try to prepare ahead of time when I can i.e. prep a meatloaf when I'm baking bread on my day off from work. I keep meals simple - protein, starch, vegetables i.e. chicken, rice, green beans.

    When my husband is gone, I cook once on the weekend portion into Tupperware and reheat the leftovers all week. I rarely eat out when he's gone.

    It took me a long time to get to this point. We used to eat out all the time. Then I decided to cut back so we could save money. I wasted a lot of money figuring out how to cook at home. Over time I got a lot better at planning meals to be healthy and economical.

  • JagZag
    JagZag Posts: 174 Member
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    The biggest pain to me is deciding what to cook everyday. I have to start thinking about it the night before. Usually right after I've had dinner and I'm not at all hungry, so nothing sounds good to me. Trying to figure out what to cook that my husband likes and I can eat as well can be trying. Figuring out a variety of meals so that dinner isn't boring to either of us. I've tried meal planning but it never seems to work out right. Either I don't have something that I need or I don't feel like eating what's on the plan for that day, or I don't want to go to the grocery for whatever reason.
  • positivepowers
    positivepowers Posts: 902 Member
    edited April 2016
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    I love to cook but I hate cooking for one. I'm used to cooking for a large family, now it's just me and occasionally my youngest (adult) son. I found myself slipping into bad habits, such as eating cereal and snack cakes or going out to restaurants for dinner because it was just too much trouble. I rejoined a packaged meal program so that I have hot, varied meals everyday, and they deliver, which is a bonus. All I have to do is add a few veggies and I have a decent meal for one.
  • Gisel2015
    Gisel2015 Posts: 4,140 Member
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    I don't like to cook and I never did. For me is more of a chore than a pleasure, but I do it all the time, three times a day. We eat out twice a week.

    I have been cooking for 53 years and I wish I could share the responsibilities with my husband. BUT, he is zilch in the kitchen and not interested in learning either. When the kids were home he would BBQ once or twice a week, but now that it is only the two of us that is out of the question. I really have to push him to do it. But he does help in setting and cleaning the table after meals and loading the dishwasher. I give him credit for that.

    Another pain in the butt, and as @Francl27 put it, is the cleaning because I do use a lot of pots and pans for my cooking. Followed very closely but the weighting, tracking, and logging and making sure that I am within my calorie goal.

    I am glad that I am not the only one feeling this way. Misery does love company... Sorry, I need to close because I have to cook dinner :D
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
    edited April 2016
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    MynameisChester wrote: »
    I read that cooking healthy meals at home has many advantages that will help lose weight. You control the ingredients, portion size, etc. But why don't people cook more? Please share your thoughts!=)

    I cook every day. It is necessary and I enjoy planning meals and cooking.
    The only thing I dislike is the dirty dishes.
  • jessasweightlossjourney
    jessasweightlossjourney Posts: 363 Member
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    I cook everyday as well just hate the dishes haha
  • shadowfax_c11
    shadowfax_c11 Posts: 1,942 Member
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    I cook almost every day. The only thing I really hate is the part where I have to clean up after. I find it is easier and cheaper to cook my own food and it allows me to plan for leftovers to make lunch for work the next day. Also it allows me to easily tailor my meals to the calorie allowance I have for that day since I use Fitbit to determine that on a day to day basis.

    I get carry out a couple of times a week and often if I break down and order or buy pre-made food it is because I have let myself get too hungry and tired after work or because I am on the road all day trimming hooves and need to eat.
  • pomegranatecloud
    pomegranatecloud Posts: 812 Member
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    I cook, but it's time consuming, and I don't particularly enjoy cooking. I also hate the clean up.
  • bbilliethecat
    bbilliethecat Posts: 62 Member
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    JagZag wrote: »
    The biggest pain to me is deciding what to cook everyday. I have to start thinking about it the night before. Usually right after I've had dinner and I'm not at all hungry, so nothing sounds good to me. Trying to figure out what to cook that my husband likes and I can eat as well can be trying. Figuring out a variety of meals so that dinner isn't boring either.

    yeah, drainer . so to overcome this, i cook 4-5 dishes on sunday, portion them all out to 4-5 containers each, freeze, and then forget what i made . so everytime i take out a container, i never know what it'll be . and following sunday i'll do 4-5 further different recipes, so it's even more of a jumble . some sundays i'll just do 1-2 recipes since i'll have so many spares . but then i'm basically assured lunch and dinner at home are taken care of . breakfast is skipped, and snacks are throughout the day . lunch out is a sandwich .
  • lmhbuss
    lmhbuss Posts: 282 Member
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    My husband became a stay at home dad about 4 months ago. In that role he has taken on the chore of meal prep during the week ( I cook on the weekends...it's his Monday through Friday job, he deserves the weekend off). Watching him learn to cook has been fascinating. I realized that it really is a skill set that few today have. He has had to learn everything from the ground up...like how to boil pasta even. I thought his brain was going to explode when I taught him how to make a sauce from scratch for stir fry. He was just amazed at how easy it was and that it didn't require one of those little packets from the store.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
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    There's no downside. I can control my calories, nutrition, and sodium. That puts my home cooking far above convenience food or highly processed food in my estimation.
  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,160 Member
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    Clean up and grease everywhere.
  • MynameisChester
    MynameisChester Posts: 107 Member
    edited April 2016
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    Thanks everyone for the insightful answers! So I see that some of the unanimous pain points are:

    1) Lack of time
    2) Lack of energy
    3) Challenge deciding what to make daily
    4) People really hate cleaning!
    5) Family member may not like what you make

    It seems to boil down to lack of time and energy. It really appears to be the story of our lives when it comes to anything! For simplification purposes, let's just say cleaning is still part of the cooking process. After all, it does take time and energy. So what do you all think is the best way to make the best use of time and energy when it comes to meal planning, cooking, and cleaning? Should you:

    A) buy precut produce or just cut all your produce in the beginning of the week so the ingredients are "restaurant ready" and you can start cooking right away?
    B. learn more general recipe "templates" or "guidelines" so you can easily make substitutions ie: recipe calls for 1 cup green leafy veggie, 2 tablespoon fat, 1 cup starch, 4 oz protein?
    C) Organize and simplify your kitchen? Maybe you have too many pots, pans, plates that you don't use daily causing you to wash too many unnecessary items?

    Thanks again everyone for sharing! I would love to hear your thoughts!
  • V_Keto_V
    V_Keto_V Posts: 342 Member
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    Time (on the plus side, I only cook/eat once daily): mostly just ingredient gathering since 1 single store doesn't carry everything in my diet
    Smell: cooking in a small apartment even with fans on still makes my place smell when guests enter

    The benefits of cooking far outweigh what little inconveniences there are though....I like being able to fall asleep right after eating at home (Boondock's reference: "itis")
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
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    The biggest pain in the butt would be my one significant other stand in the kitchen and taste test everything I am currently cookie.

    The other pain in the butt would be our cats who insist that all human food is there's and they will jump on the counter to taste what ever I am making.
  • JessUK98
    JessUK98 Posts: 15 Member
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    I used to be terrible when it came to cooking. One of the reasons was having to eat things several days in a row (then I discovered you can bulk freeze things and not die).

    The main one though is that I hate washing up with a passion. Having to wash up pots and pans after just really put me off the idea. Then I got a dishwasher. People thought I was crazy getting a dishwasher when I live on my own, but it's one of the best things I've bought EVER. Now I don't care if I use every pan in the house, as I know I don't have to wash up after. I won't buy anything that isn't dishwasher safe now.

    The current thing for me at the moment is meal planning. I'm terrible at meal planning and thinking of things to cook. I have bought a few recipe books to give me some inspiration, but some require obscure ingredients that you're unlikely to use again, or that you haven't already got, so it's that initial cost outlay too.
  • swift13b
    swift13b Posts: 158 Member
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    kpeterson539 wrote: »
    For me, as a single person, cooking every meal tends to be a chore, although I do enjoy cooking. Yes, that is a contradiction but it's mostly because of the clean up that I don't like. This is why I spend my Sunday mornings food prepping for the entire week. This way my kitchen gets messed up once and then cleaned.

    I do exactly the same thing, but on Sunday afternoon not morning lol. I love cooking, but I don't like cleaning my kitchen every night and I don't like waste.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    I love to cook now. For me, three factors held me back, and they were all based on misconceptions:

    I had "bought" the propaganda of "convenience" food, and believed that cooking was difficult and boring and time consuming;

    I also assumed that buying readymade had to be cost effective, after all, factories do everything in bulk;

    and because I believed that fat was dangerous, I tried to cook as low fat as possible, and my food never really tasted good, so I never really liked to cook. Everything changed when I stopped being afraid of fat.
  • coolfry
    coolfry Posts: 48 Member
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    For me it's dishes and time, I hate washing dishes. One thing that can be a problem is cooking too much, I have a hard time cooking in small quantities because I come from a family of 7 and now I'm cooking for one.
  • Queenmunchy
    Queenmunchy Posts: 3,380 Member
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    bbilliethecat wrote: »
    JagZag wrote: »
    The biggest pain to me is deciding what to cook everyday. I have to start thinking about it the night before. Usually right after I've had dinner and I'm not at all hungry, so nothing sounds good to me. Trying to figure out what to cook that my husband likes and I can eat as well can be trying. Figuring out a variety of meals so that dinner isn't boring either.

    yeah, drainer . so to overcome this, i cook 4-5 dishes on sunday, portion them all out to 4-5 containers each, freeze, and then forget what i made . so everytime i take out a container, i never know what it'll be . and following sunday i'll do 4-5 further different recipes, so it's even more of a jumble . some sundays i'll just do 1-2 recipes since i'll have so many spares . but then i'm basically assured lunch and dinner at home are taken care of . breakfast is skipped, and snacks are throughout the day . lunch out is a sandwich .

    I batch cook and freeze single servings but I always put the recipe name, date, and calorie count on each container.

    My hands get cramped!

    For the past 8 years I keep saying I need a label maker. I may finally get one.

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