Do people really eat a cooked meal every single night?

[JonesyAndTheSalad]

I just can't!

I have done this week as we've got guests so it seems the polite and right thing to do...to cook a meal each night.

But the endless stream of meat and potatoes is awful!

We've had pasta one night but that was also with meat...another night we had pizzas...home made...the other nights it has been curry with chicken and rice and a variety of red meat with various potatoes.

I always ask the guests "What do you fancy this evening?" and it's always meat and potatoes of some kind!

Is this usual? Tonight I just didn't fancy it so said I didn't fancy a full meal and I ate some yogurt...they were a bit

Do you eat like this every night? Or do you sometimes think "Meh I'll have a sandwich" or "The kids will be happy with egg on toast and some fruit"

Or is it only me?

My DH cooks every night, and he always has to have a potato and an avocado with dinner, but the rest of the food is very varied and he is a great cook. (I always have the avocado but never the potato). We have takeaway maybe once a month.

Nothing wrong with frozen veg!

Tonight we are going to have asparagus, followed by piccata of veal and polenta.
Yum!

I've just planted a whole row of herbs in terracotta pots along my (south facing) kitchen window sill.

Thanks, kiroro.

Cooked evening meal here as well and my kids have grown up sitting down to an evening meal discussing their day etc and Sunday roast is a family favourite and my DS and his GF often text to ask if I'm doing a roast and are they invited. Tonight just me and OH and its chicken curry from scratch.

Unless we've had a massive lunch (rare) then yes. A mix of easy stuff in the main, dhal, stirfry, Chilli or Bol, salmon, chicken, salad, jacket potatoes. All fairly quick/easy/healthy (ish) And the odd takeaway to balance it out

I meant to add that I have a tendency to be a grazer and have certainly piled the weight on with just picking on snacks. I had to have a serious word with myself about preparing meals as my butt started to resemble a back of a bus . This is why I now have one proper meal a day, with yogurt and fruit for lunch. I have cut out carbs at lunch time, otherwise I am in a coma by 2pm. I even cook for my dogs in the evening as they adore a nice bit of chicken with their biscuit. I have cut out most snacks now, although the odd one creeps in. I just remember 'little pickers wear big knickers' if I am tempted
[blush

I don't know what makes a meal a proper meal. But I do have to have a proper meal in an evening unless I am ill, or unless I have had a big hot lunch.

Take-aways count. Sandwiches don't. Cheese toasties would if with soup. On their own wouldn't. But beans or mushrooms or tomatoes on toast would. Bacon is a morning food except with bubble and squeak. A big salad totally would count. Stew counts but soup alone is more of a lunch. Note a cheese toastie elevates it to proper meal territory (if a bit light).

Meat or fish or vegetarian meat substitute and veggies is my go to meal. Simple easy and enjoyed.

This week we have had fish pie (cauliflower top and frozen veggies inside =loads of veggies). Salmon and veggies. Kedgeree. Quorn mince and veggie one pot thing. And sea bass and veggies. Roast butternut and chickpeas and tahini.

Op I think you are being unfair to your dh.in much the same way we say others are. You suggested bacon and sausage. He did sausage and steak - a bit more meat than I fancy, sure. But he did the cooking. If you didn't want it how hard would it have been to fry an egg and eat with them?

Yes every night. Those who don't are you not starving?

We usually have 1 cooked meal a day. This might be at lunch time on a weekend.

By cooked though it could be jacket spud & beans or soup or omlette, not always meat and carb dish.

'Yes every night. Those who don't are you not starving?'

Nope. Big bowl of cereal fills me up just fine of an evening, so does a salad with tuna and hard-boiled egg sliced in, big bowl of soup, sandwich.

We have a cooked meals every night I have two small children, a job and a husband who works away so I rely heavily on my meal planner. It's a three week plan and I cook big batches and freeze meals to save time. I just got so fed up with trying to think up meals every day.. I don't stick to it rigidly but it makes life a lot easier.
If I had to cook meat and veg every night I'd be driven mad!

If I didn't have to feed DH I'd probably just have soup and toast and some cheese and fruit.Cooking is one of the most boring, futile activities on earth! All that work and then it's gone in 10 minutes. (But I still love shows like Masterchef.)

I had a male visitor once and I asked him if he wanted a cheese sandwich like I was having. He just stared and asked 'is that what you're having?' Now, I say to guests that we'll go out. I don't see why I should cook to order for guests. They're also welcome to cook in my kitchen if what I eat isn't good enough for them.

payitforward does cooking food make it more filling or something? No it doesn't.
It's not just a choice between - cooked dinner or - yoghurt/cereal. There are plenty of other things to have.

"Cooking is one of the most boring, futile activities on earth! All that work and then it's gone in 10 minutes."

This. Luckily, I'm single so it's never my turn to cook.

katie0705 loving 'little pickers wear big knickers' !!!
We have cooked meals every night as small child and hungry DP (when I am with him. I find it sociable to eat in the evenings so I probably eat much less in the day. I also batch cook and freeze. DP does help with cooking too

No, i don't have the time, patience or energy to do it every nights, mosts nights in fact, fish fingers, mash and beans is a perfectly acceptable meal on many occasions in my house lol x

My meal plan for next week is...

Sweet tattie and 3 bean chilli, and mixed salad.

Couscous (veg, lemon and fresh herbs) honey and spice salmon.

Fish pie (cod, pollock, mackerel, king prawns,) with carrot, turnip and parsnip mash with green beans and steamed spinach.

baked chicken breast, with pesto and mozzarella, med veg and broccoli and cauli cheese

lentil and mushroom curry, with peshwari naan.

Tonight tho, is a glass of wine as I have the house to myself for a few hours and i've just finished ordering the food shop.

I agree Roomster. There's a lot of calories in all that bread, hummus, cheese, picky bits type food compared with a meal made of lean meat or fish and vegetables or salad.

A cooked meal doesn't necessarily mean there is more of it. You can have a small amount, a big plateful isn't compulsory.

' There's a lot of calories in all that bread, hummus, cheese, picky bits type food compared with a meal made of lean meat or fish and vegetables or salad.'

Not really, depending on how much you eat.

Sometimes I don't have to cook. My DS will be extatic if I serve slices of raw salmon.

Sometimes I open a can of tuna, cook some potatoes in the microwave in their skin and put a salad together.

99% of the time. Last week has seen carrot & coriander soup with quinoa and bread, veggie pasta, burgers with all the trims, sweet potatoes and corn on the cob, jacket spuds with cheese and beans, veggie curry with rice and homemade naans, homemade pizza and a roast. Not all massive on the cooking front, but DP loves cooking and I love eating.

Cooked meal every night unless we have a big cooked lunch.

Pretty much, yes.

Sometimes we do have cold foods (salad, some bread, maybe a cold soup... I'm wondering what the English word is? etc...)

But yes, we usually do.

It's a bit different on weekends, if we had a big lunch we often just have some sort of soup, or maybe yoghurt and flakes or left overs from last evening...