AIBU to ask how you manage to cook from scratch?

[orangeblossomgirl]

i work long hours, full time. DH and i are both vegetarian and prefer to eat food cooked from scratch / not processed. How do you manage to cook healthy and delicious food every day without spending hours in the kitchen, or eating the same thing every other day?

I have loads of recipe books I never open and spices I never use and just cook the same 3 meals in rotation! Gets me thinking I should try simplycook or another recipe box to simplify the process...just bored really and tired of spending every evening cooking

I mainly cook from scratch and have dinner on the table within 30 mins. Stir fries, pasta, rice dishes, omelette and salad, jacket spuds and sides (jackets batch baked and frozen, microwaved when needed) and meat, spuds veg meals- I'm sure you could adapt these to veggie? I leave things that take a bit longer to the weekend.

I'm not veggie, and do eat quite a bit of meat (No carbs) so for me it's often grilled chicken/pork/whatever with salad/veg/stir fry. Quick and easy. And not much help to you, unless you use meat replacement.

tinned beans, and red lentils make things quicker.

oh and I do not work, but do have children with sen that limit time I can cook.

freezing.

I like the idea of batch cooking roast veg and using. though I usually scoff the lot in one go if given the chance

how about stew type stuff that you can prepare and leave to cook on its own while you do something else?

Honestly, I just do. Plan out meals for the week in advance (Pinterest is helpful), shop for what we need. Dh gets home at 5, does washing up, then takes the dc, and I have an hour each night from 5:30-6:30 to cook. It’s my time. It’s great. I did used to work long hours (mat leave now) and those days dh and dc would just have something simple (I wasn’t home in time for dinner, ate on the train) or I’d batch cook. I don’t like ready meals and really prefer my own cooking, so it’s not that much of a pain really.

Slow Cooker! Makes that night's tea and the next night's or lunch or a couple of portions to freeze.

I also used to batch cook but with a baby I currently don't have time to get back on top of that it fill the freezer again.

I made a soy mince bolognese tonight. It took 15 mins to get in the pot, then cooked for 20 mins (or so), which I served on pasta.
Tomorrow I will add a (small) tin of kidney beans (only 2 for dinner tomorrow) and some jalapeño peppers or some salsa and have it as chilli on rice or in tacos or with wraps (and for the tacos or wraps, I'd probably make some guacamole).
Depending on how much is left, I will make a lasagne with the bolognese sauce, and serve the left over chilli/bolognese on a baked potato for Saturday lunch.
If in need to bulk out any of those meals, I'll open some tortilla chips or make a garlic bread.
You can make baked potatoes in a slow cooker (google the method) - toppings can be as easy or hard as you can be bothered with.
On a Sunday we batch make 2/3 curries - serve on rice, on nan, on baked potato.
Another Sunday we will do a load of roast veg - serve on cous cous with goats cheese, or serve on rice with some tabasco sauce, or serve warmed on a leaf salad with tomato and cucumber, or serve in wraps or crusty rolls with humous and salad, turn into a soup.

Risotto one night becomes the stuffing for roast peppers or roast field mushrooms the next night - just spice up the risotto with some chilli and bake with cheeses on top.