Finding time to cook

I love to cook meals, so I make the time to do this every day. Even with extra curricular activities I try to plan out my meals in advance or cook on the weekends and freeze meals so that we are eating home cooked meals each night. Many of my other friends who do not like to cook will feed their families take out or premade meals. What do you like to do?

Oh, great question! This has always been a very important thing for me... I have *always* cooked so that my family can have sit-down meals together. We do this six nights a week and it's a very important part of the day for all of us.

So why not seven night? Because we get the groceries every Saturday morning. I've found that we all like to choose certain food that the others won't like, so we all choose our own meals for Saturday nights. Example... I love bacon wrapped scallops but no one else will touch them... guess when I have them the few times I buy them?

Hubby likes certain Chinese dishes that we don't care for... yep, Saturday night. And my daughter likes to make her own homemade pizza and I'm not a big pizza fan, so she'll have that or quesadillas, etc. on Saturdays.

It's been working well for us, and preparing three different meals in one night really isn't an issue for me... probably because it's the only way I could get to enjoy my scallops.

Most of our meals are homemade. My crockpot is used regularly, and I have several quick meals that take around 30 min to prep and cook. I'm also not against hamburger helper, or mac and cheese, but I save those for times I'm too tired to think. Sunday is pizza night, mostly because that's the day I use to prep meals for the week, and that gets exhausting. Saturday is family meal night, where everyone gets involved in picking what to eat, preparing, and cooking. It's rare that we eat out or get fast food, and the thought of tv dinners makes me gag. I was raised this way, and hopefully my kids continue it.

I think it is very important for a family to have good healthy foods more so than take out or fast food. I have a family of five and I have to plan meals ahead of time and I make sure to always include a vegetable and starch in every meal. Meat is really not a necessity in my household but lean meats are a staple in my freezer. If we don't have meat that day I make sure we have something that is high in protein to substitute like beans or lentils. I pride myself on continuing a healthy lifestyle for my family and I make time to do this. I teach my children the importance of eating healthy and to try and eat "junk food", this is what I call fast food, in moderation.

Even when you don't have kids to worry about all the time everyday it is difficult to find time to cook, so this is not even limited to us with kids or those planning. The trick, though, is knowing what you like and having it on hand. By on hand I of course mean have the ingredients, but also make a lot of it so you can just reheat it easily and have a quick meal. Reheating homemade food is way healthier than most fresh options that you would turn to, fresh of course being the operative word there.

My slow cooker is my best friend these days when it comes to meal prep! Usually in my little ones first nap, I'll cut up everything that needs to go in for the recipe, throw it all in, and then it's got plenty of time to cook until hubby is home from work. I have made an amazing slow cooker cashew chicken and a yummy Mongolian beef in the past couple weeks - thumbs up to both!

It's just nice not having to worry about a zillion pots and pans and things bubbling on the stovetop!

I typically try to cook every day, but things get crazy. If I know we have a particularly hectic schedule I'll spend one day on the weekend and cook some backup meals for the week. While I love cooking a fresh meal, it's a really nice feeling going home at the end of the day and knowing all I need to do is warm up something I had previously frozen - and that the only dishes will be those we use to eat off and what I stored the item in as opposed to a bunch of dirty pots and pans!

I love how you prepare for your family meals. I never take the time to plan out what my family is going to eat during the week. Almost everyday I am trying to make a decision on we are going to have for dinner that evening. In my house I tend to cook part of the week and we eat out half the week. I work full-time and sometimes my work is stressful. After work, I sometimes don't feel like cooking. I like your idea of cooking your meals on the weekends and freezing them. I think I may try it and see how it works out.

Buying take outs may not always be a money saver and it is necessary to make home cooked meals every once in a while. The reason just being, you can explore new recipes in the process of cooking or getting the family involved.

But whatever works for everyone is fine, as long as you eat healthy.

I love to cook but am a pretty poor planner. I just open the fridge and cupboards and see what I can whip together. This usually works, but on the days I don't have much time or am tired, we end up with takeout or a store bought frozen dinner.

I really should take more time to pre plan some meals for the week. I'm sure we'd have a better variety and I'd get some better meals on the table, if I pre planned and got all the ingredients ahead of time!

I am not very organized when it comes to planning meals for the week. I am lucky if I can plan what I am having on any given day. I prefer to cook for my family and it is much easier on my budget instead of ordering out and going out. Plus, it is much more nutritious for them. Once in a while, we will go out to eat or order pizza when I am just too tired to cook. I like to try new recipes to try to mix things up so we are not eating the same things all the time.

It was much harder to cook everyday when I worked full time. Now that I do not have a job, I find it much easier and I can try new recipes much easier.