cook everyday?

[amywjy2000]

Do you have enough time to cook everyday after full shift work?

[sunny3]

I don't work full time but I don't have the energy to cook every day. I always cook enough for two meals so ie: Monday- cook, tuesday- cook, wednesday- monday leftovers, thursday- tuesday leftovers. However, sometimes I just use some elements and not the whole thing leftover:
ie: one day- roasted chicken meal (roasted in the slow cooker all day)- next day- hot chicken sandwiches so all i needed to make was the gravy for the sandwiches, and a salad or vegetable. Another example- BBQ steak one day, beef stroganoff the next (having saved yourself a step by cooking an extra steak or two). Spaghetti with meat sauce one day, stuffed peppers the next (having fried enough meat for both and with the stuffed peppers, you can do everything ahead of time and all you have to do is throw it in the oven when you get home from work. You could then only cook one day for two- most casserole type recipes can be made ahead.

You don't have to spend oodles of time in the kitchen, just be smart about it. thinking ahead helps.

[snow00774]

Nope - batch cooking and freezing in ziplock bags with note on the bag about how many portions are in there - so that way I can take out just dinner for my BF and myself, or a bigger bag if people are coming for dinner, or the same if I want us to have leftovers for lunch the next day. I used to chop and freeze veggies without blanching, but this weekend I chopped and blanched bags of them before freezing on a tray (you can control how they freeze portion wise better if you do it on a tray first) and I can already tell the difference the blanching makes.

If I've frozen stuffed peppers (almost like poster above) or cabbage rolls, shep pie or anything like that then I can just come home, dropped the contents of the Ziplock in an oven dish, top with sauce (also frozen and then thawed)/cheese and bake for a few minutes.

If we're out at night when we get home I can just take out a single serving of something to thaw and put in a container the next morning for my BFs lunch.


I love cooking but with so many other things on the go setting aside a weekend or a couple of evenings every few weeks to stock the freezer with homemade food is well worth it.