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.

Kind of but I tend to ‘cheat’ a little. I make extra for the freezer so sometimes it’s just boiling some pasta and heating bolognaise… I also freeze root veg mash and then if I cook a chicken the mash is already done. I also batch cook tomato sauce and use as a base in curry, bolognaise and pasta bake.

Yes most nights but usually simple stuff, this week we had spaghetti bolognaise, jacket potatoes and salad, roast dinner, chicken soup with the left over chicken, fajitas, once a week we might a quick freezer dinner though.

Yes we cook from scratch every night. This year we have had 2 take aways thats it. I do t particularly like take aways as I am not a salt fan and I find there is always too much salt in take away food.

Our rule is after dinner wveryone helps washing up and tidying away. I also have 4 children and this rule started when my oldest was 6 and have continued into their adulthood.

Dd3 once said. " why do we have 6 people doing what 1 person could do" I responded. "Because when its 1 persons job it becomes my job and I am not apending my life tidying up after you all" she nodded and have never asked again.

Yes I'd say most of the time. We sometimes have frozen fish and chips as a quick meal if everyone is busy. But between us DP and I have a group of recipes we make over 2-3 weeks or so.

Looking forward to the winter as we make homemade soup once a week.

And we have the same rule too, the person that doesn't cook, washes up.

No. I can’t stand cooking. Mostly have sandwiches, noodles, ready meals, baked potatoes etc.

@Lilacbluewaters get a dishwasher that sits on the top of your unit and doesn't need plumbed in, my son has one

I did enquire with my landlord about a dishwasher and I was told no. Gutted! Just like me, I will have 4 under 7. My DH and I do take turns in cooking but I’m the sole dishwasher. Sick of it now 😂

How much can you fit in them? I have seen them before but they look pretty dinky!

We eat out half a dozen times a year, we have a takeaway a couple of times a year and other than that we have a home cooked meal every day.

Batch cooking is the answer. My go to recipes include curries (I am ethnically Indian), also pasta sauce, bolognese and chicken and bacon are very good and liked by everyone. I also batch make a lot of fresh soup, tomato, mushroom and broccoli and stilton. That way you reduce the pressure on you to cook, prep time and washing up.

Would be much more economical with a large family to just cook a big pot of curry/bolognaise/chilli/ lasagne etc

no, but when i do i normally stick everything in a slow cooker on the morning and its done for when i get in

I’m loving all these recipes; how delicious. But the reality is the 5 year old won’t eat meat or anything with sauces, the seven year old won’t eat potatoes or fish. I hate cooking now as I find myself making three separate meals (one for husband arriving home later) - none of which I want to eat

@Lilacbluewaters i think they come in different sizes 4/6 place settings

Very similar to you, pregnant with number 4 and struggling for any enthusiasm to cook but I'm also a bit excited about the energy returning and then being able to do things "properly"

Yes, tbh I found doing a stir-fry, pasta or bolognase is quicker than frozen food anyway. Once the oven is heated and frozen food in on a tray its like 20-30mins anyway. Its just as quick to chuck veg and noodles in a wok and whisk up a sauce. I have to wash up their dishes anyway, adding a wok and chopping board to the basin doesn't add much inconvenience.

Tbf I find the more you cook the quicker you get anyway, once you know a recipe inside out its just bish bash bosh.

I think its more you feeling worn out. During my pregnancy everything felt intense and exhausting. Also more people, more mess.

I wouldn't even think about it right now, wait till your out the thick of it then think about it when your new routine settles in.

Would something like this help? Apologies but I haven’t read the whole thread so I may be cancelling the cheque!

amzn.eu/d/01oJc7z

Yes and no- I make four day's worth at a time and we eat that till it runs out, and then repeat. Does it get boring? Yes. But I don't have freezer space to keep a selection of frozen batch cooking, and I don't have time to cook every single night, so this is my compromise.

Yes.

DH is Israeli and grew up on fresh daily meals so it’s just how we’ve always done it.

Maybe one evening every three weeks I do oven chips and frozen burgers.

Big Friday night dinner and Saturday lunch.

I dont think its quicker I will get in from work stick frozen stuff in the airfryer for 20 minutes while this is cooking get changed, get the kids sorted and then where ready to eat. I don't need to be in the kitchen apart from putting it in and taking it out.

When we’re home Dh cooks ‘from scratch’. We use things like tinned tomatoes and ready made pasta although he’s not averse to making pasta too.
If it were down to me there would be a heavy reliance on cheat quick fixes so I’m grateful that he genuinely loves cooking and will happily spend hours every evening making varied meals with fresh ingredients.
We are a family of 5, often 6, and me and the dc are picky with things we don’t like or won’t eat. It’s a challenge!
One night a week he’s out with friends and I’ll do the kids (whoever is in) something sensible and probably not bother to feed myself as I cba.

No, I love really Lloyd Grossman pasta sauces better than some homemade and taste the difference lasagne from Sainsburys. I also love m&s vegan fish fingers (husband is veggie) and we love M&S pies yum and M&S vegetarian Kievs, vegetarian sausages ooooo and their dine in meal
deals…We do have fresh salad or potatoes or even loads of fresh veg with everything so it’s a compromise, but there are lots of pre made meals I really enjoy. I know I’m the only person that will say this and it’s not as healthy. I rarely get poorly and feel
great and it works for us.

She must be.
it would be cheaper and healthier to have Hello Fresh etc.

I do but, as with others on this thread, some nights it's pretty basic. Wednesdays are a rush with just two 15 minute windows at home until we're properly home, by which point it is far too late for DCs to eat, so that night is always either jacket potatoes or wraps with various fillings. The other weekedays I have around an hour so it can be a bit more interesting, although still needs to be something I can cook alongside doing other chores (a swimming family, so we're out at training most nights).
I find the meal planning exhausting, so get everyone in the family to pick one or two meals each, then fill in the gaps. This way everyone gets something they really want across the week (and are more willing to tolerate somebody else's choice another night!), and it feels easier somehow to fill in the gaps around what's already on the list.
I do take short cuts such as frozen chopped onion and minced garlic, and I'll buy things like fresh pesto when I see it yellow stickered and freeze it to use at some point down the line. Pre-kids I made absolutely everything from scratch such as bread, pesto and hummous; now I buy these to save a bit of time, but I try to buy the least processed versions available.
The biggest thing is that DH washes up though. I don't think it would be sustainable if I was meal planning, food shopping, cooking AND washing the dishes.

You mistakenly or deliberately missed the bit where I said it is so much easier with a smaller household.....I didn't compare but carry on thinking I did if it mak3s you feel better ......however when I was a single parent of 3, working full time, I still cooked this way for the majority of the time because I didn't want my family to eat crap.