Are people really making homemade meals every night for their family?

[Lilacbluewaters]

soon to be family of 6 and I don’t know if it’s just because I’m pregnant at the moment but I had this sudden overwhelming feeling that I have to cook homemade meals every night for like another 15 years 😂
I’ve been pretty bad recently with eating out too much, the extra layer of washing up after is exhausting. We don’t have a dishwasher and can’t get one because we rent.
anyway, do you cook from scratch every night nearly? I can never think of quick easy meals.

Other than ready coated fish or battered chicken (for Katsu Curries) I cook pretty much from scratch including my own soups, jams, cakes, scones etc.

I do buy bread though but often make my own butter. Only me and DP in the house though so much easier with a small household.

We cook homemade meals every night, but they don’t have to be that complicated.

Some days might be some air fried chicken thighs with salad and baked potato, or a tray bake with various veg which is easy to throw together (I use harissa for flavour but you can just add garlic, lemon, herbs etc whatever you fancy)

Pasta dishes don’t have to be complicated - I often just fry some onion, garlic, bacon and tinned tomatoes which only takes as long as the pasta takes to cook.

When I make a curry or pasta sauce, I always do a huge pot so I’ve got some to freeze for another day which helps. BBC food is good - just type in “easy family recipes” or even use chat gpt “give me some easy family recipes using chicken and peppers” for example (depending what’s in the fridge!)

I very, very rarely cook at all. My husband does it 😀

I've put dishwashers in rented properties before (wirh landlord permission). Remove a cupboard and replace when moving out.

Nope and there’s only 2 of us - I average 2 ready meals ( good ones) augmented with salad and veg and 5 home made ones

No. I hate cooking and am too knackered after work. Short cuts all the way here. Baked potatoes, scrambled eggs etc.

I do, but I have to spend half an hour planning meals at the weekend otherwise I’ve got no chance when it comes to the busy weeknights. Usually do a bit of batch cooking at the weekend too to get ahead

Yes.
Absolutely love feeding my family good food. I will admit that when the kids were small, cooking was less of a pleasure. Bit of a slog but still, home cooking all the way. As my kids’ tastebuds matured and their own interest in cooking and baking developed and became more adventurous, my own love of cooking really returned.
A word of advice: Get an amazing dishwasher. Get the Miele or Neff! This matters. Your dishwasher is your ally and you want a workhorse with a family of 6.

Apart from the very occasional meal out or take out which is usually reserved for special occasions like birthdays, I've cooked homemade meals from scratch for the five of us, for a lot of years.
Occasionally because there's been appointments or something else going on, I'll take something out of the freezer for tea, but there's never enough .
Homemade meals from scratch you tend to make a lot more and leftovers are useful.
I'm organized enough to do the dishes as I go along when I do the prep work, but I leave all the pots and pans dishes etc for someone else to do.
It's little enough payment for all the hundreds of meals I've made that has saved us more money than can be tabulated!

Yes, I do.

We’re not a family of 6 though!

Pretty much.. Op can you afford gousto or hello fresh? I do have stints with those just for variety else we tend to eat the same stuff.

Yes, always have. My dh loves cooking so he does it all now. Sunday roast, homemade Shawma, air fryer - we don't have microwave. The dc eat everything and we do have fun round the table so it's OK. We have a dishwasher.

My dm used to cook for 5 and over from scratch - breakfast, lunch and dinner plus a pudding. The moment everyone left home, she abandoned cooking. She said 30 years of it and she was done. They lived on bacon sandwiches cooked by df until df upped his game. She never cooked again.

Without a dishwasher is harder, but you can look for meals to make and freeze, research ones that don't require all the pots. And use good washing up liquid and rubber gloves. Dh clears up if he has made a terrific mess, but he washes up as he goes.

You just reminded me, I completely forgot but used to love using hello fresh! Always gave me new meal ideas too. atm we literally eat the same 5 meals on rotation

Yes but sometimes the meals are very simple, and we’ll eat the same things for two days in a row. Both work FT evenings are cook, eat, then bed two hours later. Boring!

Yes we do, due to dietary restrictions and allergies it's actually easier. Finding a takeaway or restaurant to have a 'night off' is harder than cooking the fricking dinner 😅

And I have to admit I don't get the dishwasher issue. We've never had one and I honestly don't get the 'ease'. You've still got to come back and empty it after a hour(s), most likely when you're settling down to chill out and I bet it all don't fit so you'd be washing pots anyway.

No. DH doesn't cook. I work 30 hours per week in a job on the same level as him. (I resent him not cooking, but he's a god at the "blue jobs" so kind of had to pick battles there )

I cook "properly" on days I'm not at work. Slow cooker meals, veg dinners, Bolognese etc etc but tend to have "lazy meals " on other days: scampi, chips and peas, pizza etc. have a couple of takeaways per month. Kids eat lots of fruit on "crappy dinner" days.

Got to pick your battles and find your balance (whatever that looks like for your family/circumstances)

Omg you just absolutely cannot compare cooking for yourself and another adult to cooking for 5, daily, whilst looking after 3 kids and being pregnant with another.

OP, I have 3, and I cook ‘from scratch’ probably 4/5 nights a week - then we might have leftovers, lazy oven food, take away or eat out the others. If you don’t have a dishwasher it’s soooo much work (we didn’t have one until no 2). Agree 100% with person upthread who said person who doesn’t cook washes up - although tbh I now let DP do bath/bed while I peacefully load the dishwasher with a podcast and then come to the bedroom for stories… Highly recommend. Doing dishes post 3x bedtime is 😩😩😩

Would he be interested in polygamy? (Asking for a friend ) 😁

Someone on here makes their own butter....

(Sorry poster) We have peak Mumsnet tonight 🙈

Get a tabletop dishwasher. They’re great.

Yes, three DC are grown up now; but I generally cooked from scratch and still do for me and DH. Usually

Mince - shepherds pie, spaghetti Bol or chilli con carne
Chicken - tikka (with a paste and yoghurt), curry, Chinese dish, kebabs, roast, Ramen, cassoulet (with sausages)
Pork - cooked in the oven with peppers and fennel, sweet and sour, stir fry (I don’t like pork and only eat it, if smothered in a sauce or a strong flavour)
Beef - stew, Chinese dish, roast, steak and chips
Prawns - curry, with pasta and veg, with egg fried rice
Fish - mainly salmon as I don’t like fish much either, such as kedgeree or with pasta and veg; tuna salad Nicoise
Sausage, beans and chips, or with mash, veg and onion gravy

We probably ate out or had a takeaway once a week at least.

I did for 20 years (apart from the odd weekend takeaway and holidays away) then just stopped.
I got covid quite badly and DH and my teen /ya DCs managed without me, and fed me as well.

Since then all dcs have gone to university, come back and left again so cook for themselves when they're home.

I'll do a a big family meal if everyone's home together but now DH either cooks for both of us or we cook our own meals together.

Yes, tonight was smoked haddock chowder from a Good Food recipe. Last night was pesto salmon with jacket potato and broccoli. We have a lot of fish but also pasta, salads, stir fries etc

@SquishedMallow He also puts the 5 yo to bed most nights so I can get a bit of work prep done ❤️ And I get coffee in bed every morning as he is up before me!
I can loan him out for a small fee, but only between the hours of about 8.30pm - 7am 😆 😜

He's a keeper! You my friend, made good life choices 👍😁

To be fair, it's nice to hear a great example of a husband on here 🤩. Enjoy !