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Use the oven. Take 15 minutes to prep the food and throw it in the oven. The cooking time could be used for relaxation and still wind up being productive with a few meals waiting at the end.
Oven cooking is relatively passive.
But then there are dishes to wash. And cleanup to do. It's not that I'm lazy. It's just that I'm too damned tired. I love to cook but now that it's just me, there's no point and it's time and effort I can save.
Use the oven. Take 15 minutes to prep the food and throw it in the oven. The cooking time could be used for relaxation and still wind up being productive with a few meals waiting at the end.
Oven cooking is relatively passive.
It doesn't for me, someone who isn't really at home in the kitchen and who rarely has the required ingredients at any given time. When I use a new recipe that says 30-45 minutes total it typically takes me at least double or triple that amount of time because it often involves a trip to the store first.
At least 85% of our meals are home cooked, maybe more- meaning the entree isn't processed poop out of a box. Lot's of wild game, fresh, frozen or canned veggies, casseroles, soups- you name it. A lot of made from scratch items.
Eating out is a treat for special occasions. Our family tradition is that if our two kids get good grades at the end of the quarter, then we go out to celebrate, their choice but limited to sit down dining ONLY- no fast food (they don't like fast food anyway, none of us do). Most of our friends from WV did the same thing- it was a rare occurrence to 'eat out'.
I've found that here in Helena this is a greater number of families that may go out once a week or more though- and a lot of the kids we know are fast food junkies. Sad..
I'm also fortunate that I work from home 4 days a week (but I do travel a lot- lot's of overnighters). When I am working from home I can take my lunch break and prepare a dinner meal ready to go. That helps out a lot.
Use the oven. Take 15 minutes to prep the food and throw it in the oven. The cooking time could be used for relaxation and still wind up being productive with a few meals waiting at the end.
Oven cooking is relatively passive.
I agree with BOTH your posts. If I cook two meals a day for a month, I cannot remember one meal that took me more than 25 minutes of active preparation. Sure, I might have to wait an hour for the chicken to roast or 90 minutes for my chili to simmer but so what? The meals I have will taste a lot better and be more healthy than some over-seasoned rotisserie chicken.
However, people are pretty lazy and the supermarkets capitalize on it. One of the local Kroger's stores actually sells ... wedge salads - hundreds of them a DAY. It is not like it is a difficult dish to make as my 8 year old niece used to make that as her specialty.
Its really more that we eat out for lunch most days when working. Now retired we quit for some years unless going out with friends. Now we eat out three days a week after fitness exercise for lunch and enjoy it. Just our up bring but Sundays are a day to cook at home and relax with family and friends.
I cook probably about 90% of our meals at home and my DH picks up almost all of the rest. I am a foodie and I love to cook- I started to hijack my dad's copies of Bon Appetit and Gourmet magazine when I was 11 or so and now our combined cookbook collection is freaking huge. One of my favorite ones is this smaller cookbook that is only for Irish potato recipes and that's it. We love the spud in this house, LOL. Taking the time to cook a meal is actually relaxing to me, with all that chopping and measuring, etc. I'm a stay-at-home mom and pride myself on being able to provide good food for our family and save money at the same time. Now I'm known for being a very good cook and that makes me feel good and useful.
We do go out but mainly for lunches during the weekend when we're running errands; In-N-Out is always a favorite. We don't go to any other fast food chain because the food is all so gross. We live in So Cal where chain restaurants are rampant and it's hard to find a truly good restaurant to eat at so we don't bother most of the time and instead will go to the market and pick up a few good steaks and a bottle of wine and have a nice meal at home.
Well, to each their own. Me, I have a number of reasons why I cook at home.
First of all, when I think about eating out, there is often a counter thought process going which sees all the food I have in the pantry, the money already spent, and that is working against how much I would spend on a meal eating out. There is also the factor that, for me, any meal eaten out will not have wine with it due to driving and other protocols. Given that in growing up European traditions were often a part of eating, that's a tough factor to have to counter.
Secondly, cooking is one of my therapies that relaxes me. I can be there, putting "bugs" (various ingredients) in my soups and stew and briefly experience, for a second or two, being some character, either from a TV show, movie, or my own fantasy.
Third, since I work the graveyard, my life is counter to restaurant USA. Ie, I get off at 0800 and the only restaurants open to me are fast food and IHOP, neither which really agrees with me. Most places don't open till 1100 and by that time, my day has shifted away from waiting on the restaurants to something else. Further into the day has about the same effect. As I say about after work parties which I often don't attend, the problem is that while most people there are winding down from the day, I have to be winding up.
Fourth, I learned long ago the economics of cooking from raw goods. Now, I make out like a bandit from the grocery store buying like that.
Want someone else to cook for me? I'm fine by myself.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TimTheEnchanter
.....When I drop a brisket in the slow cooker in the morning before I leave for work and throw on a prepackaged sauce, am I cooking?
Hard to say. Me, I eat a lot of brisket because I found how cheap it was to cook it, slice it up, and freeze it. Tonight, I threw the last chunk of one I cooked on January 1st into the wok. This particular one had turned out very tough and I have been using it mostly for stews. As told, the stew cooked up in about 90 minutes.
But to your question, that prepackaged sauce, I don't know. I don't use prepackaged sauces BUT if time spent is an indicator, then starting in the morning for the evening meal leans strongly to YES.
Last edited by TamaraSavannah; 03-06-2015 at 12:54 AM..
I cook at home as much as I can. I find that the quality of food when eating out is on the decline. People are cutting corners on good wholesome meals.
At home, I cook mostly organic, mostly raw cuisines. At night, I prepare warm food.
Preparing food at home is nice in that I know what I purchase is food conscious; sorta my way to protest against Monsanto and the large corporate chain restaurants.
Having sharp knives like ceramic, Kiwi knives, and ceramic mandolins can make a world of difference. And, Vitamix!
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