After posting my healthy recipes this week, Mindy asked if I cook like that every night. That question got me thinking because I thought everybody cooked like that every night. The times that I haven’t cooked as much, I felt guilty because I figured other people were keeping up better than me. I might have been wrong in my assumption.
So, I’m wondering, do you cook? Not “can you cook?” because really, if you say you can’t cook, I will assume that you can’t do other basic things. You know, like tie your shoes or brush your teeth. Cooking is so easy at its most basic level. My kids can do it. I’ve often thought it would make a great interview question because if an interviewee said no, I wouldn’t hire them. I’d assume they wouldn’t be able to follow my basic instructions either.
Our typical week involves me planning about 3 dinners that I can make plus a weekend breakfast. On the other nights of the week, we’ll often have leftovers or, the kids favorite – fending. FENDING. They love it. They figure out what they want and they’ll make it. Often times it’s Ramen noodles for Payton and frozen corn dogs that Blake will microwave. And other than leftovers and fending, we’ll usually hit up a fast food place a couple of times a week – Kentucky Fried Chicken, Sonic and Taco Bell are common. (This week I’ve been an over achiever though. We’ve eaten meals just like the ones I posted in the recipe post every day and will continue to do so for a couple more days. I’m on a roll.)
So how does it work at your house? Dinners every night? Something frozen heated up? Order out? I need to know.
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{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
I cook 3, sometimes 4, nights a week. Like you, the nights I don’t cook are a “free for all” night (same as fending!). Those nights usually consist of turkey wraps, nachos, tuna fish sandwiches or a bowl of cereal, which is my personal fave. Speaking of cooking, while at Central Market picking up Hunter’s bday cake, I stumbled on a book called Cuisine Lite and the pics inside look fabulous. Can’t wait to try some of the recipes inside.
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Shannon Reply:
January 10th, 2010 at 11:26 pm
I get most of my recipes online but damn, you can’t beat a good cookbook with nice pictures. If it was at Central Market, I trust that it’s high quality.
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I absolutely hate cooking but I cook 5 meals a week and then Fridays and Saturdays are takeout or eating out or fending for yourself (usually leftovers).
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Shannon Reply:
January 10th, 2010 at 11:27 pm
Wow, you hate it. I hate anything that I feel like I have to do but since I’m always picking new recipes and making whatever sounds fun to me, it makes it easier to do. Is there any part of that you like or could tweak to make more enjoyable?
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For the most part, we shoot to make a big meal (like a lasagna) on Sunday and try to make it last through Tuesday or Wednesday. From there, we either cook another meal or order take out. For the most part, I do the cooking and my wife does the baking (it’s an even exchange for me!) At work, I’m terrible at packing lunches and 2010 is the year, I’ve promised myself to get better at it.
I love making big breakfasts on the weekends also and generally love cooking whenever I can!
☛ Ed Cabellon´s last blog post: Oh Wow! Oh Really? Oh Nine!
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Shannon Reply:
January 10th, 2010 at 11:28 pm
That sounds like a pretty good arrangement. Speaking of lasagna, I’m making your recipe this week. Will let you know how it goes.
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I’m a professional in fending. But then again, I don’t have kids. I wonder about this a lot… if I will cook dinners at home more when I have kids. Probably. I know how to cook, I even like to, but I’m usually too lazy or self indulgent that I eat out most of the time.
I cook about once a week, but I’m working on building up my recipe repertoire up so that I can try to be less lazy and eat out less often. Cooking ends up being or of a social event, where I cook with my brother’s girlfriend something new for fun, instead of for practical purposes. Practicality is all about fending.
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Shannon Reply:
January 10th, 2010 at 11:29 pm
OK, this is interesting because I’ve never been a single person without kids. Cooking for 1 does kind of seem ridiculous. I don’t blame you for doing it when it’s a social event. I consider it that at our house because Andy will chat with me while I’m cooking or sometimes the kids help out. That makes it more fun.
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I usually cook every night. I prep during nap time, cutting veggies, thawing whatever, getting sauces mixed. Then I cook with my glass of wine around 5.
The kids eat early and Adam and I eat later. Works for us.
But I cook low carb during the week. Lots of salads, frittatas, stuffed chicken breasts, salmon and such.
Lucky for my family, I also enjoy it quite a bit.
☛ court´s last blog post: Poor kid and random thoughts.
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Shannon Reply:
January 10th, 2010 at 11:31 pm
Since I work at home, I often do similar things during my lunch hour. Since you eat separate from the kids, does that mean separate meals? Do you sit down with them while they eat?
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One of my New Year’s Resolutions is to also enhance my “recipe repertoire.” In fact, I hope to learn 30 new dinner recipes. My husband and I do not have children, yet, in hopes one day we will, and I truly want to be able to cook dinner most nights each week for my family.
Now we usually cook three nights a week, we eat out twice, and the other 2 nights out schedules are crazy and we fend on our own.
Great Blog, it is so nice to know most gals out there are not cooking 7 nights a week. What a relief.
☛ Kim´s last blog post: In for the Weekend
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Shannon Reply:
January 10th, 2010 at 11:34 pm
In 15 years of having a family, my repertoire probably only has about a dozen recipes in it. I tend to cook new every time unless something was really, really well-received and then it gets into the rotation. 30 sounds like a lot to me but I admire your dedication to finding good recipes to make for your future children. Lucky kids.
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I try to cook at least 3 times a week. The girls only eat 5 things, so I stock up ahead of time. Sucks though, because I have to cook for Tony & I then each girl separate. Sometimes Tony wants soul food and I want healthy so I end up cooking 4 meals. Or when I cook light for both of us he whines about being hungry at 10pm. I don’t like to cook at all. I like the end result, but I’m always sick of whatever it is by the time I sit down to eat it.
I think I’ll like cooking more when I have time to sit down, plan out meals, and go to the store only 2x per week instead of 5. Right now I try to freeze things and have canned stuff on hand so I can whip up anything if I need to. We’re both busy so I never know who’s going to be home, or if the girl’s schedule changed, if they don’t want chicken nuggets because they had them for lunch, or if Tone has a client dinner etc.
LOVE FENDING. I wish everyone was old enough to fend over here.
☛ Sass´s last blog post: Lately.
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Shannon Reply:
January 10th, 2010 at 11:37 pm
Oh, hell no. You need to nip that in the bud. If Sass makes it, everybody eats it. Otherwise, they can fend for themselves. Seriously.
The kids aren’t ever going to add new foods to their list of they aren’t exposed to them repeatedly. Might I suggest that you use their existing list of 5 items but add something new so that the list will eventually grow?
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I am jealous of your 3 nights per week. I LOVE to cook, however, I just don’t seem to have the enthusiasm anymore when I get home. In addition, our evenings are generally filled with meetings (for me mostly), practice, games, etc. So, we often fend or wing it based on the activities for the evening.
I love the weekends, because it is then I generally prepare a real “mom” meal. I LOVE cutting produce. Produce is my favorite part of cooking, it is so pretty and makes me feel like a real pro. Stir fry, anyone!!!
I am very lucky to have my husband though. Although I am not cooking much during the week, many meals are prepared by him. He would make just about anything. Salmon, lasagna (frozen, though), spaghetti, etc. Our favorite kitchen tool is the rice cooker. We LOVE rice, and we can mix it with about anything. Lastly, it only takes about 30 minutes to throw together some rice. (PS I am NOT a fan of minute rice).
I do, however, encourage meals together with the family as much as possible. Especially with my teenager, it is this time together where we are really able to chat and catch up on our days. We don’t allow external distractions during this time…no TV, phones, computers, etc. It is nice to end our day with a debrief. I love my family!
Thanks for another interesting blog topic.
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Shannon Reply:
January 10th, 2010 at 11:39 pm
Have you tried a slow cooker or crock pot? I find it easier to cook more frequently now because I work from home but when I was busy and worked in an office, I would often throw dinner in a crock pot in the morning before work and then it’s done when you get home. No after-work energy needed.
You should read Roger Ebert’s article on rice cookers.
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YES I cook. No, this does not mean that I know how to cook WELL, but I do it anyway!
I try to cook 3 “full meals” — quality meals with sides, bread, etc, a week. Then I try to do a casserole or crock-pot meal (or two) each week as well. Mornings are normally cereal or toast & eggs, sometimes I will splurge and make cinnamon rolls from a can… It’s rare I cook a “quality” breakfast.
And I LOVE LOVE LOVE the idea of having my kids FEND! It’s good for them to learn and figure things out, and easy for me! HMM…maybe!!!
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Shannon Reply:
January 10th, 2010 at 11:40 pm
Yes! The independence is what they love about it. A night off for you, too. Win, win.
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Hey. I’m a college friend of Casey’s but have never been on your site before. I cook about 3 or 4 times a week and my fiancee does the rest if we don’t just fend. Sometimes it’s fending at least once a week depending on if i have a mtg after work or something.
I always take my lunch to work so I’m always cooking something! We rarely eat out!
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Shannon Reply:
January 10th, 2010 at 11:41 pm
If my husband cooked half the time, we might not eat out either but uhh…he doesn’t. When I worked in an office, I would often call home to have him get something started which he was willing to do but he doesn’t really plan meals very often.
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Love, love, love to cook.
I get all my cookbooks out every Sunday, including the laptop and plan out the meals. I go through the cabinets to see if I already have the ingredients or not. I get a little excited when I actually have everything I need! I’ll cook 3-4 times a week. The others are take-out nights or leftovers. I typically plan one of the meals to be a leftover. Weekends we try to venture out of the house or order pizza or something like that.
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Hi! I’m friends with Casey and Courtney and have seen your hilarious comments on both of their blogs, so I thought I’d check yours out.
I probably cook 3 times a week. Hubby likes to cook too, so he picks up the slack when I don’t feel like it. Plus, he works from home so it’s easier for him. He’s making gumbo tonight! I also try to make a few soups or casseroles to freeze so that we can have those in a pinch. We still eat out quite a bit though. Loved your comment for Sass. She definitely needs to nip that in the bud!!!!
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Hey thanks for answering my question and kudos on the frequent cooking. It’s something I can get addicted too when I really get going and feel confident about a recipe. I try to do 2 “nice” meals a week, like stir fry or spaghetti (those are nice for us budget conscious folks) and the rest of the week is grilled cheese, frozen pizza, that kind of thing. If Shawn and I had it our way, we’d live on cereal!
☛ Mindy Harris´s last blog post: The day just warranted take-out!
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