Food shopping, cooking and eating - how on earth do people manage?

[Peasepuddingbloodycold]

After about 12 years of working from home and/or part time work I'm going to be in a situation were both DP and I are working full time out of the home, with a commute. I can't get my head round how to fit in the shopping and cooking of healthy, appetising meals on a budget.

Years ago, the last time I was in this situation, meant doing a big shop out-of-town every Sunday morning. Now I'm in the habit of walking to the shops at the top of the street and bringing home a couple of bags of shopping two or three times a week. Picking up whatever we fancy.

I just can't see how we'll manage to prep and eat healthy meals at the end of a long day at work and commute (in the dark). We're surrounded by takeaways and whilst DP is happy to live on vegetables I'm an emotional eater who is already overweight :(

And I guess I'm not helping myself by telling myself this is pathetic and people manage in much more challenging situations.

Gusto

Whilst not cheap we waste less and spend less than we did pooping out to get food
pock the quick healthy options it’s so easy

Meal plan
book a food delivery
batch cook - mince which can be made into spag bol, chilli etc so quick on a week night
slow cooker - throw stuff in and it’s ready when you’re home - you can cook loads of stuff in it

And things like Gousto are a life saver if you have the cash

I found gousto to be a bit of a faff to prepare, although will save time shopping.
I would suggest batch cooking and freezing the extra portions so if you do it for 5 different meals you then have a stash of meals ready for the next couple of weeks and cook what you fancy on the weekend.

Gousto is a good shout - you can filter for quicker meals and you could get a 4 person box and save leftovers so you only have to cook half the time

How similar is Gusto to Hello Fresh? I found the missing ingredients meant we weren't really benefitting in the end (although it did mean we were introduced to some new ingredients I'd not cooked with before).

I'll look up the prices for Gusto.

Do a menu/meal plan do quick dinners during the week and you can have leisurely dinners at the weekend. Look at what you are eating now and see if you can cook and freeze .

Meal plan
book a food delivery
batch cook - mince which can be made into spag bol, chilli etc so quick on a week night
slow cooker - throw stuff in and it’s ready when you’re home - you can cook loads of stuff in it

This is pretty much the conversation we were having before I started the thread and it just makes my heart sink.

Beans on toast x 5.

I work full-time and have two teenagers and a disabled husband.
The secret is online shopping and home delivery, and finding easy meals that can be made quickly.

What do you like eating, Op?

Beans on toast x 5. I was thinking along these lines to be honest. But with an Indian at the top of the street, and a Chinese, and a Pizza place... I know what I'm like

These quick and easy Gusto meals do look like a great idea. Not got to the price screen yet.

Rotation of a three week menu. Online shopping with a regular list.
Batch cook and freeze. Vegetarian curry and rice is easy. Fish cakes too.
Freeze part prepared meals and have cook from frozen ingredients - sofrito, frozen fresh pasta, frozen prawns and some chilli puree with passata is a very quick meal.
Slow cooker put on before you go to work.
Gousto.
Share the jobs fairly. That's probably the most important one.

When we worked full time, we had simple meals, sausages and mash, fish fingers and chips, jacket potatoes with cheese and beans, ham, egg and chips, pie and chips. If I cooked mince, I would do double and freeze one portion. Sometimes I would put slow cooker on all day.

I don't.
I cook dinner for DH and DD which is often pasta, sometimes a pie from Marks or Cook.
DS is ASD and so eats the same thing most days.

I have a big healthy lunch at work and then have a slice of toast in the evening before I do the school run (DC get home v late long commute)

All meals are served with peas or long stem broccoli which I microwave. If they get bored they are welcome to do it themselves!

If you don't fancy Gousto, I think the other way to do it (as someone who doesn't go for mince/slow cooked stuff either) is to batch cook something at the weekend - e.g. lasagne - and then rotate some quick meals during the week which you plan for and do an online shop for. My quick meals are:

Stir fry - pack of stir-fry veg, prawns, sauce, noodles

Quiche and salad

Frittata and salad/veg/chips

Pasta and pesto and roasted vegetables

Kidney bean and sweet corn curry with rice or pitta bread

Falafel, hummus, and salad pittas

Sausages and mash, plus veg

Tin of soup and cheese toastie

None of these are super healthy but better than takeaway

What do you like eating, Op?

A typical week would be chilli-non-carne with rice; poached eggs on ciabatta; spicy beans and feta in wraps; vegetable and lentil curry with rice; soup and a roll, takeaway, left over takeaway.

I find the whole thing a tedious chore, and there's five of us.

I gave my slow cooker away, because I didn't like anything it made, and I don't really batch cook much, unless I'm making a bolognaise in which case I'll mark double and freeze second portion.

In the days pre-children when it was just the two of us, I used to make a lot of grilled/pan fried protein, with veg and a portion of carb...so:

Salmon, Jasmin rice, stem broccoli and edamame beans with chilli oil or something.

Soy and honey chicken with rice and steamed veg.

Grilled chops, salad bag with dressing (lemon and olive oil), houmous and wholemeal pitta.

Pan fried halloumi, salad, with beetroot and pomegranate.

Stir fry veg, with noodles and prawns or chicken.

Hopefully you get the idea-all quick meals that you can mix and match without slavish meal planning.

I find the whole thing a tedious chore Yes, that's it. And sometimes I just won't have an appetite, then I get hangry and end up with takeaway.

Gusto is too expensive, £35 for four meals or £43 for five meals isn't going to happen. Well, it's maybe not out of the question when I think about our budget realistically.

I wonder if the way is to replicate it with a three-week meal plan and shopping list.
God it's tedious.

I'm out of the house a lot, though not quite in your position. DH shops weekly for us but if it was down to me I'd get an online shop.
I really dislike cooking then eating- so I batch cook when I can so there is always something in the fridge/freezer.
Currently have 6 portions worth of a chilli in oven, along with baked potatoes ( they reheat fairly decently)
There's often soup in slow cooker. Lifesaver. DH knocks up a fairly hearty salad in minutes which can then go with omelette/hard boiled egg/ pan fried or baked fish etc.
I have also been known to serve oven baked sausages/tinned potatoes and cooked frozen peas when I really don't feel inclined to do much.

You could look up The Batch Cook Lady on FB if it interests you. She relies heavily on frozen veg though.

We normally have the next 3 meals planned. I batch cook a lot, meatballs for spaghetti and meatballs, spag Bol, chilli, curry. Buy steak pie, new potatoes and 3 steamed veg. Then jacket potatoes, then chilli. Find it easy to manage.

Hopefully you get the idea-all quick meals that you can mix and match without slavish meal planning.

This is probably how we'll go. It's similar to what we've done naturally in busy weeks. The problem is that I end up doing all of the thinking (even if DP does as much, if not more cooking) because he's happy to braise off any cheap vegetables that are going whilst he listens to the sport and live off that. I'm more pickly and rely more on food for pleasure.

I've got to persevere with the meal planning I think. I'll use Gusto and Hello Fresh for some inspiration for quick and colourful meals.