If both adults work full time, do you cook your evening meal from scratch every day?

[lowlevelanxious]

DH usually makes a pasta with homemade sauce once a week, and I usually do a curry.
Then we try and switch it up for the remaining nights taking turns and make risotto, lasagne, chilli, fajitas, things like that. I am finding it incredibly time consuming to be honest, less the cooking and more the washing up and cleaning the kitchen after. It takes time that I don’t feel I have! Do you cook fresh every night?

We’ve only got a small freezer with 3 drawers so can’t do loads of batch cooking. Trying to avoid UPFs and mainly a veggie household anyway.

YABU - we cook even when we’ve both been out the house working a long day

YANBU - those days we have quicker meals from the freezer, jacket potatoes etc and don’t feel bad about it

We do Gousto four nights a week, so all fresh from scratch. I love eating Asian food in particular but don't know how to cook it without guidance. Then takeaway one night and something easy the other two eg pan fried fish or steak, microwave rice, steamed veg or Bolognese or chili from the freezer.

One thing I do find fascinating is that as my mum is not from the UK the super quick meals I grew up with were pan fried or grilled fish, steak, pork steaks etc with veg or salad, and rice or potatoes in some form. Literally 10 mins work. A lot of the meals UK families think of as weeknight staples, like risotto, chilli, bolognese, lasagna, even curries, would be considered elaborate weekend meals. So while I would pull these out of the freezer, I wouldn't cook them from scratch on a work night.

I suppose that's by way of saying go easy on yourselves! You are all doing an amazing job!

Look at tamingtwins on instagram. She does lots of (& has a book) on one pan dinners. In terms of washing up it’s a pan, a slow cooker or an oven tray, a knife and chopping board, maybe a pair of scissors, a couple of spoons and the plates and cutlery you eat off.

the meals are great.
my children choose them and often cook them.

we meal plan.
quick dinners on busy night.

jacket spuds one night, with either beans and cheese or tuna. Served with salad from a bag!

we have a beige freezer night. Fish and chips or chicken burgers and chips. I figure it’s no worse nutritionally than a takeaway and we have some veg from the freezer/tim with it (peas/beans/mixed veg).

we enjoy to cook - but when we have time. Those meals are different!
but when the task is to be fed, we keep it simply, but tasty and mostly nutritious!

Yes.