We bbq a lot, so every 3 days I go to the freezer and get out chops, sausages, steak whatever so it has time to thaw in the fridge in a plastic container reserved for thawing meat (still in its wrapper).
there are always salad ingredients in the fridge vege keeper, and depending if I marinate the chops beforehand, then we might have steamed rice with the meat and salad, or boiled lightly little potatoes in their jackets with sour cream and butter, or if it’s a plain steak or sausages, then served with salad and a garlic bread roll also from the freezer and put in the oven to cook (bought pre-packaged from the supermarket). DH always mans the bbq.
I usually have a box of frozen fish pieces in the freezer, if it’s salmon it’s taken out the day before and cooked on the bbq on top of a bit of baking paper. Salad and rice are served as accompaniments.
eggs are always in the fridge and puff pastry sheets in the freezer. From time to time I will knock up a quiche using up fresh vege. Don’t be scared to experiment with what you can put into an egg pie. Usually enough for leftovers the next day too.
I keep a good pantry stock of other things such as canned fish, so when DH makes his lunch of a morning, he might take a small can of salmon (the type that have a nice marinade in the tin) or ham from the fridge (bought from the deli in the supermarket). Plus lettuce, cheese, things that are normal staples in our fridge.
so having said that, to my mind if you have time to shop for groceries every day after work, then you have time to put something together for dinner, with grocery shopping changing to once a week either by on line or grabbing a trolley. Once you get into a routine of menu planning or just having reliable stuff in the freezer/fridge, it helps and it’s cheaper than takeaway.
our DD tried the various food boxes available in her area. The key is to have two email addresses and subscribe when there is a good offer on. Once that runs out, go to your other email address and start a new offer. By the time that runs out, DD found that the first one would start making offers to get her business back, repeat above.
however she does find the quality, quantity and freshness very variable. She will do a once a month meat shop at Costco, take it home and divide into portions for the freezer. Will do the same as I do as per above and have enough cooked to have left overs the following night. So basically cooking only half the week.
As far as motivation goes, the cost of living and freshness is mine, I’m finding as I get older that take away doesn’t taste as good anymore apart from being too far away and I’m starting to muck around with stir fries and the like. A really good website/fb page if you like Chinese is Khin’s kitchen, I have made a few of hers now and have been really happy with the results.
I enjoy a bit of gardening too so will always have a pick as you go lettuce variety happening, so if it’s not in the fridge, it’s in the garden vege box outside.
Being a couple though it’s pretty important that not only one person embarks on the meal prep and cooking unless the other is attending to the children etc. it’s very demoralising if one half is sitting on their rump watching tv and the other is running around trying to sort dinner out. Being a bit older than some of you that would be my pearl of wisdom.. just don’t be tempted to throw the pot at their heads, it doesn’t add to productivity from them…🤫