To think that while cooking from scratch is better for you, it can be a massive PITA

[TwentyOneGuns]

I've just spent the afternoon making lunches and batch cooking for the week ahead. I'm sure the results will be lovely but it's all so bloody fiddly, messy and time-consuming.

While I was wrestling with a butternut squash (to make soup which incidentally will be nice but neither buttery or nutty so it's badly named as well as a bastard to cut up and de-seed) I couldn't help thinking how much quicker it would be to open a bloody tin. I know homemade is better but honestly I lost the will to live with that thing.

Anyone got any tips or gadget suggestions for making it all a bit quicker?

Meant to say (with ref to my first sentence) some days it's chicken (veggie alternative for me tonight was nut cutlets) and chips thrown in the oven or a call to the Chinese

OT, but how much time do people really save by cooking in advance? Surely you need to cook the veg from fresh daily, but which time you can stick some chicken joins or chops/pasta on?

BIG TIP:
yes, butternut squashes have caused thousands to loose the will to live as they are a bastard veg but I know a way to overcome them:
cut off top and bottom, deseed, bake - the skin will then peel off dead easy. I know people who eat baked squashes with the skin on but I dunno about putting it into a soup
you're welcome!

You don't have to peel butternut squash.

I love cooking but detest anything that nearly causes me to lose a finger so butternut squash, turnip and suede are out!

And I've found a way to overcome the tears from chopping onions, just take the skin off and chuck them in the food processor - takes 30 seconds and no more tears!

BNS is tasty but as already mentioned a couple of times, a total bastard. I now buy ready peeled and cubed BNS. Roast it, soups, mash replacement.

Swede is awful stuff. Too hard, takes too long to cook and not that good. You can buy it ready cubed and it's cheap and if you're low carbing it's a good mash replacement. Not that keen thought.

Cooking from scratch is good, if you have the time. Stock from chicken carcass and veg? Sieving it etc etc. Too much hassle most of the time.

I try and to cook from scratch but working full time does get in the way. Even just putting meat in a marinade takes time, I know it's easy, its still time though.

Also, batch cooking gets boring because you eat the same thing over and over. I know you can freeze stuff, but I'm not too keen on frozen food, it tastes odd.

What is the actual difference between turnip and swede? I always thought it was the same thing.

Not that much according to Google. Turnip has less calories.

microwave pressure cooker

I recommend Waitrose soffritto (chopped onion, carrot and celery) as a useful cheat!

I haven't RTFT but I presume you don't actually like food that much.

Squash is a food that only needs to be pissed around with in Autumn for about three hours, chop it up, stick it in with a roast and then forget about it for another year.

You have then fulfilled your seasonal checklist.

You can move on to better and more tasty foods..

It's a horror, food writers love it, it's Universally hated by anyone who loves food though.

Turnips are white, swedes are orangey. Turnips have a much higher water content but are also a little stronger tasting. Swedes are sweeter and mash easier.

I like butternut squash (and all the other cucurbita - pumpkins etc). Far rather prep. something with a smooth skin than bloody bobbly-skinned pumpkins.

I quarter-ish them, scrape the seeds out with a teaspoon and roast them with the skin on. Peeling them once roasted is simple. Adds much more flavour to the dish too.

OH and I love cooking and have both worked in F&B (although neither proper chefs). The secrets are knowing where to cut corners without affecting the dish and also preparing first.

I love cooking and so does my partner. We batch cook or batch prepare the boring stuff to save time eg mashed or boiled potatoes, pasta sauce, pastry, bread dough, chicken stock, chicken portions (raw and roasted breasts / leg whole and chopped. We freeze leftovers as it's usually nicer to eat that meal a week later than to have the same dish twice (or more) in a row.

IME, enjoying cooking comes down to prep and being in a tidy kitchen before you begin the 'cooking' part. I love time to myself, radio on and a session in the kitchen.

Mise en place makes it all much more enjoyable. Open wine. Chop all veg then tidy. Prep all meat then tidy. Begin cooking.

Sharp knives. If you have a knife that can cut down through a butternut squash (or whatever else) in one go then life's much easier. Sounds contrary but you're less likely to cut yourself too.

I love cooking but detest batch cooking - it's very dull and it leaves me feeling stressed and exhausted. Not keen on freezer food either.
I menu plan every week and include some quick and easy meals and something new because we get bored eating the same thing and don't feel bad about cheating when you really can't be arsed
I need good kitchen tools - a proper sharp 10inch cooks knife - I peel butternut squash with this if I need it peeled, a paring knife, good grater, non slip chopping boards etc

Someone up thread mentioned they have a Thermomix and its a lifesaver. I have a cheapo version that does all the same things and I love it like another child. It is absolutely brilliant for food prep, my favourite thing is I can make amazing risottos in it with no stirring (it does it for you), and its great for making all sorts, soup, sauces, stews, sausage rolls, custard, all sorts. I also have an air fryer which makes amazing and pretty much oil free food, the chips and wedges are brilliant, and I can roast a chicken in 35 minutes. I also love my slow cooker for batch cooking spag, chilli etc. I do love kitchen gadgets when they are genuinely helpful, I hardly use my oven any more though.

I really hate butternut squash. However, if you're cooking it, slice it in half lengthways and place the halves cut side down on greaseproof paper in the oven. No need to peel and gouge when it's raw. You just scrape out the seeds. When cooked and cooled a bit it's easy to scrape out the flesh.

I batch prep as opposed to batch cooking, though I do make two or three dinners of something I know will be eaten and freeze the extras. I make my own stock and big batches of tomato sauce, pesto, etc., and I chop and freeze onions, peppers, celery and garlic. I freeze quartered avocados too. I also prep meats before freezing them -- trim, slice or cube, and that way I don't have to bother trying to do that nightly with the cat climbing my legs and mewling piteously at me to share my prey.

Nodney - I defrost in the microwave. At the freezing stage I separate the dinners into serving size units, then when they are to be eaten I decant them from freezer bag onto plate, and just heat from frozen.

I've been cooking a family meal nightly or a few times a week since 1988. What a massive pita it is.

Every time I eat ready made I regret it. It simply never tastes good no matter where it is from. Plus it is just not good for you except occasionally.

I only find cooking a PITA when I haven't left myself enough time to do it properly.

I not sure what to say to the comment that I obviously don't like food - my waistline would suggest otherwise! It's precisely because I like food that I'd prefer to make meals with fresh (or frozen) ingredients instead of using something ready prepared. It's just so time-consuming - the poster who mentioned marinating meat is spot on. I made Indian chicken on Saturday, it was delicious but opening a jar would have been much quicker and less messy.

I think for me it's a combination of lack of time - I don't mind cooking but on a sunny Sunday there are a million better things to be doing - and a too small, too cluttered kitchen with rubbish equipment. I'm going to treat us to new knives as a priority and cross my fingers that we can finally afford a new kitchen soon.

As others have mentioned, I usually cut up butternut squash into chunks, and bake in the oven which makes it easier to peel.

But if you want to peel it raw, don't bother with a vegetable peeler, just cut it into chunks, then cut the skin off each chunk by taking a very fine slice with a sharp vegetable knife. Put the chunk on the chopping board - don't try to hold and peel it like you would a potato.

Growing up in Australia, pumpkin (including butternut pumpkin) was an everyday vegetable like parsnips or carrots are in the UK. I can see that if you come to it with an expectation that it is a wonderful exotic vegetable, it would seem a bit lacking!

"Every time I eat ready made I regret it. It simply never tastes good no matter where it is from. Plus it is just not good for you except occasionally."

Did you read my post about the ingredients of my tinned soup. There were no preservatives in there.

I haven't read all the replies, but I do have a very easy butternut squash soup, which involves cutting into the BNS once only! Cut it in half, place in 200 oven for an hour, and the flesh willl roast and go soft and a bit caramelised. Scoop out the flesh, and add to stock in which you've already softened a couple of onions. Whizz. It is great! I even gave this recipe to a local cafe ten years ago and they are still serving it

I have never made soup from scratch because I enjoy the taste and convenience of a good old heinze tin!
But most over meals are cooked from scratch. Tinned tomatoes, frozen veg, coconut milk and lots of spices in stock to make it easier. But we do also have quick and naughty 'oven' food in the freezer like fish in breadcrumbs and chips for nights when cooking just feels like to much.
I also agree with others that cooking ahead of time isn't always more convenient. Slow cookers and hobs use the same amount of prep...your just doing it at different times. Although find the slow cooker good for party food prep. Get it done in the morning, enjoy the company in the evening.

ive usee to batcg cook but my food us mainly curries i find the flavour redyces if kept in the fridge and freezer is worse.

I usually cook enough for2- 3,days. I leave the spare dishes in pots on side or in pantry. But in summer i put them in the fridge otherwisecan go off from the heat.tastes better and not as much hassle as cooking for enture week.

My sis cooks for entire week she says food doesnt taste as good out of refrigerator but no choice since she works full time too hectic.

Ppl rave abour slowcookers but im.notconvinced yet bevause it takes all day too cook1 meal doesnt ut waste a lot of energy???

sorry for spelling mistakes so bad lool my laptop is in for repairs fat fingers on virtual keypad not so great

I find ready made food all tastes the same. Maybe it is all the salt and sugar in it, maybe it's just because it all has the same texture. We are quite happy to have a few jars of readymade curry or pasta sauce in the cupboard and frozen pizza for emergencies or just lazy days, but I get so bored of eating it after a few days. When we had building work done and had no kitchen we had to live on microwavable stuff and takeaways for weeks and were thoroughly sick of it and desperate for food with a bit of texture and flavour.

Why are loads of you still bleating about chopping veg??!

As PP have suggested, it's all available chopped and frozen from the supermarket!

Sofrito (chopped onion, celery carrot mix)
Onions
Butternut squash
Garlic
Chilli
'Soup' mix
Spinach

All you have to do is buy it from the freezer section et voilà, ready chopped veg.

Stop chopping veg!