To think people aren't too tired just lazy... dinner

[user1493819825]

I get that once a week maybe or even twice, people have had long days, myself included, out since 8/9am this morning, and get home not bothered to cook a big meal.... though isn't it just like washing? We need to eat, we need to wash, myself included i fell into a rut of eating crap (oven baked) food like breaded chicken oven chips, beans etc cause i was ''too tired'' to cook dinner, when in a matter of fact i was just lazy....

Seen someone comment back to something similar earlier, saying 'bloody hell people nowadays are too tired to cook a meal for themselves' what is the world turning into?
Not going against anybody, i've been guilty of it too and i can admit it was pure laziness.. it takes only a few minutes to throw together a quick/fresh/homemade meal..

my sister is still like that, 5 nights out of 7 she's too 'tired' to cook, even if i offer shed rather buy a takeaway or eat a disgusting cheap oven pizza :S ( i know loads are nice)

It's not just the cooking time, it's the clearing up as well.

I'm lucky to now have a dishwasher and dishwasher-friendly pans etc plus enough worktop space to stack things

But when I had a tiny, tiny kitchen with one small sink, the thought of cooking and then carefully stacking it all, and then restacking it to wash up and then restacking it to dry was enough to put me off cooking anything proper whenever I could get away with it

I manage it now bc my DC is 11 and well able to wait till 7 for his dinner, while my DH has a newish job that means he's able to be home at that time.

When he was 2 and starving hungry after a day at nursery and needing to eat at 5.30 when there was no way DH was going to get in till 7.30 - yeah, I was 'too tired' to cook most nights. The thought of feeding DS, then doing a bedtime shift, then cooking and sitting down at 830 with DH was exhausting.

Seriously, why do you care?

I mean that in a none arsey way. Just so long as everyone is fed somehow does it matter on the details?

You come across as so superior, surely you have bigger things going on in your life than to ponder this enough to start a thread on it?

8yo and 12yo.

Proper work roughly 40-45 hours a week. College 6 hours a week.

It's not the cooking - it's the prepping and the 'thinking about it' - I get bored of being the only one doing that.

Oh gawd! "I work 2 jobs" yawn

Doesn't count when they're 5 hours each.

Dinner at 10:30pm?? Fuck that...

Horrid, goady thread.

I get home mentally shattered.
I am very often too tired to cook, but it's actually the decision making etc which I'm not up to. If DH sits in the kitchen with me I can potter around a cook a meal no problem. if I'm alone I'll stand for a while wondering what I was planning to cook.
I get round this by batch cooking at weekends: then kids or whoever gets home first can defrost or reheat or whatever and I only need to properly cook a couple of times.

You see laziness but I see someone who is coming across as incredibly judgmental smug and superior.

Not going against anybody

Seriously, who gives a fuck

I agree sparechange, a dishwasher does save your life tbh and i could see how people wouldnt be bothered if they didnt have one! But its easy enough when you can ask one of the kids to help out with peeling, clearing etc.

Laziness? Whatever. When I have worked a ten hour day in a physical job I cannot be arsed to stand at the cooker. If I choose to cook a beige ovenable dinner thats my business. I'll do something nice at the weekend. Call me lazy. I don't give a fuck

What do you want OP? A medal?

So as I live on my own, what sort of cooking should I be doing OP so that I am not judged as lazy? Please elaborate as you are obviously amazing.

If your sister would rather have a takeaway than your cooking, that implies that your cooking isn't great

Get up at about 6.30am, out house by 7.45am, home at 6.15pm manage to cook most nights apart from my late day when I get home at 8pm. I do 'cook' most night but sometimes it is pre-marinaded chicken (like tonight) and a jacket, other nights it is 'proper' food, I do batch cook and use a slow cooker . But it is not just about being tired/lazy I want us to eat before 7 pm ideally so ds (4) can get to bed at a reasonable hour, 'proper' meals can take longer to cook so I do fall back on some 'easy' (lazy) food sometimes.

And what about those without kids AND without dishwashers?

Honestly OP - I think you should explain exactly where we are going qronf

5 hours each? Have you not read what i commented above?....
jeez. some silly people here..

i wish i only worked 10 hours a week :D
yes unfortunately a late dinner seen as i was out and about all day...still need to eat.

Do you have kids OP?
Mine are pretty ungrateful so I don't often fancy cooking them something nice from scratch for them to refuse it. Quite often I am cooking what limits wastage of food, time and energy!

How old are your DCs?
DH and I take it in turns to cook but I find just trying to think of what to cook to please everyone is exhausting sometimes...

I don't cook every day. But when I do cook, I tend to do batches and chuck two weeks' worth of decent meals into the freezer so if I don't want to cook, it's still a healthy meal and not junk. I just need to defrost the main element in the microwave but perhaps chuck some veg or pasta on at the same time.

Why are people explaining themselves to the OP? I couldn't give a shit what she thinks.

And have you really joined MN to judge people who don't cook and also what people call their children? How odd

I cook 90% of our food from scratch and work FT.

However, I admit to enjoying cooking and find it a good way to wind down.

I also get pretty organised and batch cook a lot so there's always something in the freezer I can take out in the morning if needs be.

I also cook a day ahead a lot of the time. So tonight I'll be making chicken/wine/tarragon - but that will actually be dinner for tomorrow. All I need to do is put on some rice or veggies (I'll see what I fancy) and re-heat.

Likewise tonight we are having a risotto that I only partially cooked last night and will finish of in 10 mins.

Having a big range cooker helps a lot (I can easily cook 2 things at the same time wrt oven/hob space) and a large fridge/freezer. I also love my pressure cooker.

I obviously think it's better and I am a good cook so my food is a lot nicer than we would buy but I can understand why some people find it hard to do and a real chore.