Food takes over your life!

[PassingStranger]

Every day 3 times a day it's what shall I/we eat?
If we are not shopping for it, preparing it, or eating it, we are thinking about it? What are we going to have for the next meal?

If we go out for the day, we still have to think about it, are we going to take sandwiches etc, or buy food out.

It takes over.
Wonder if they will ever come up with a food pill or something where it dosent need to take up so.much of your time and energy?
Anyone got this sussed?
Anyone got any thoughts on the future?

It's definitely one of the things I hate most being an adult. The whole thing, thinking of meals, shopping, cooking, hate it. Always said if I win the lottery I'll be hiring a chef

No, I don't feel like this at all. You don't have to give it that much thought if you don't want to. If it bores you that much, just have the same menu every week. Minimum thought required, but still less boring than a food pill (ugh!)!

I can’t write atm but usually do a meals list for the week ahead & it makes a big difference. Obviously we don’t always stick to it but it’s a good framework. I only plan evening meals as the 3 of us sort ourselves out the rest of the day unless a picnic needs making. Takeaways are eyewateringly expensive but I reckon we’ll be ordering more whilst I’m laid up.

Yes, I realised too late that parenting is an 18-year catering operation.

Breakfast is porridge every day here, unless someone happens to wake up and decide to make eggs or pancakes etc.

Lunch - they’re all out, I sort myself.

Dinner - the famous MN chicken features heavily.

YANBU! I love food, I quite like cooking, I quite like food shopping. Just not ALL THE FUCKING TIME.

If I could change one thing about DH it would be that he would do more food planning and cooking. He does some, but not enough for my liking. I would like at least a 50/50 split on this chore. Some of my friends have husbands who are keen cooks and they have no idea how much I envy them.

Depends on what you like eating, do you want something different every breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Do you all work in the house? Are you feeding just adults or are children mixed in as well?

Do you/any of you eat out the house regularly (school/work)?

Is only one adult responsible for food?

Do you have fussy eaters or people who complain if you make something and it wasn't what they wanted even though they never mentioned what they did?

Does the chef like cooking?

So many possible variables.

I can tell you what we do.
H & I don't eat first thing, kids are hit and miss, but when they do they love a couple of boiled eggs (runny yolk) and toast (takes 10 minutes max), or a bowl of home mixed muesli and milk (2 minutes prep) or even quicker a couple of bananas, or just even toast and marmalade. It's all quick in the week basically.

Lunch H has at work, teens have at school (packed lunch but again 10 minutes in the morning whilst boiling some eggs). I will happily have fruit (fruit salad which takes about 30 minutes to prep a large bowl but will keep for lunch and after school snack for 3 days so effectively 10 minutes a day) and a handful of nuts. Easy fine, mix of vitamins and protein, if I want a carb I will have an oatcake with houmous, or cottage cheese.

Dinner is where it takes the time, can be anything from 20 minutes to 2 hours so pointless to type it all out. This really depends on how much time you have, who you are feeding and if you like cooking.

None of this takes over my entire day or thinking time.

I think that's what WLI helps with. food noise.
I have very intense obsessions about what to eat. Like I need to be craving something really intensely. But I am in recovery for ED so always a bit weird about food.
I hated it when I was in hospital as I was never hungry and it made food so boring. Just a task to put weight on.

"one of the things I hate most being an adult"

About being a mother you mean? Because as a single adult, it's not a big deal for me at all.

Menu planning means that I only need to think about this around once a week, then I just look at what's written on the A4 page on my kitchen noticeboard.
This fits in well with my Slimming World eating plan.

@frozendaisy its a bank holiday weekend. There’s no school and probably no work either. Plenty of meals to prepare.

I agree OP it’s all soooo boring. The day constantly has to start with food, have food in the middle and have food at the end. I’d love a pill once a day. Especially at work when I can’t be arsed to pack a lunch or on holiday when you get angry because you’re hot and hungry!

I used to eat the same thing every weekday. Usually something like jacket potato, cheese and salad. It meant I didn't have to think about it. Now I have kids I can't do it anymore as they wouldn't want to eat the same thing daily.

This.

Totally agree - if it was me I would find it much easier and just snack but with kids you need to serve filling, balanced meals! And drinks! And then clear it all up … and replace the food .. and rinse and repeat .. ALL THE TIME… gah!

Hate it.
I like eating it and that's about it.
It's relentless.
Hate planning, buying, cooking, tidy up. I only cook one meal a day, tea, because we're all out at school/work. And I hate that one meal. The rest are dinners bought out or school dinners. Sometimes my dh cooks and I love those nights. My dc get their own breakfast.
I don't mind any other chore/errand. I could bulk cook but I also don't want to spend a chunk of my two days off a week doing something I detest. I'm not even a bad cook, I can cook and I can cook well.
Another thing that annoys me about it is when I've cooked a meal (say, a roast), I go off it and then struggle to eat it when plated!

I agree OP - I used to love cooking but now it’s just a massive chore.

Particularly at the weekend when everyone seems to expect me to plan all of their meals.

I’d just eat a can of soup for dinner in the evening but then there are complaints.

wait...just 3 times a day? (I knew I was going wrong somewhere!😆).

I simplify things by eating the same things for breakfast, second breakfast, lunch and supper. Then its only dinner to worry about (and I'll often batch cook for the week). Means I have to think about it less.
But then I spend way too long every day watching people eat things on YT which kinda defeats the purpose.😕

This is the main reason I pay for DDs to have school dinners so I can book them on the app a month in advance and don't have to make packed lunches!

Breakfast in our house is almost always Weetabix, Shredded Wheat, porridge or greek yoghurt with fruit and seeds. All but the porridge are two mins max to prepare and if I do make porridge I make double and dish up two days worth into bowls to keep in the fridge so it can just be heated up the following morning.

For lunches DDs have the aforementioned school dinners and then otherwise we tend to a rotation of "things on toast" with a piece of fruit. Eggs, beans, mushrooms, tinned plum tomatoes, pate, hummus, avocado etc. DH and I both WFH so lunch needs to be quick and the above works. Or if I'm in the office I'm incredibly uninspiring and take a tin of soup to heat up. We get fruit and biscuits provided fortunately so if I forget lunch or can't be bothered to prepare anything I won't starve 🤣.

Dinners are a bit more of a faff but online shopping and having four separate shopping lists so I rotate them each week definitely helps. As well as having quick recipes in rotation that take 15 mins max to make for busy weeknights. Chickpea and mixed bean fajitas, stir fries with noodles and various pasta dishes where the sauce is made while the pasta cooks all feature heavily.

Would you feel full.on a can of soup though, or would you be snacking throughout the evening too?

Yes, I realised too late that parenting is an 18-year catering operation.

Too true 😄

I too never considered how much of parenting is cooking! I don’t mind it but it’s a low dawning realisation.

what are the ages of your children @JustGoClickLikeALightSwitch when I can hope They might make ME “eggs or pancakes??

Mine are still little sadly - it was a royal “someone”

Though a friend’s 10 yo makes a decent pizza. I live in hope.

Do children still have food tech at school?

I have just been diagnosed with celiac disease. Believe me, if you have no food allergies/intolerances, food life is a breeze for you, enjoy it! I will be forever meal planning and label reading for the rest of my life.