What to do when you can't face cooking anymore?

[Anoooshka]

Just this. I sometimes get really fed up with having to cook every day. There are no ready meals where we are, and I find take away food too greasy and salty, or very expensive. DH doesn't get home till very late, so he can't cook.

Any suggestions for me? Should we just live on sandwiches for a while? Also, it gets very hot where I live, and I just don't feel hungry when it is so hot. I normally batch cook and fill the freezer, but I can't even face that at the moment.

What you need is....a massive salad!

Seriously. Salads can be so varied, interesting and delicious. And very easy to prepare.

Cheese is usually the answer! We always have a selection of different cheeses in the fridge.

Jacket spud or baby potatoes, cold meat or cheese and salad usually.

Get some Cook or Charlie Bingham ready meals in for a bit?

Honestly, I order a Gousto box I know lots of people are rolling their eyes right now, but it's taken away the bits I hate about cooking - decions making, planning, organising etc.

I actually enjoyed cooking again after a few boxes and by then I'd built up a recipe list of this we'd enjoyed so I now just throw the recipes at DH, tell him to pick two recipes, I pick two recipes and then I shop for them that week. Saves so much of the "I dunno, what do you want to eat" infuriation.

Gousto - if you wanted to try it, use a referral link. You get 65% off your first box and then 30% off any additional boxes for your first month and I get £30 credit towards my next box!

cook.gousto.co.uk/raf?promo_code=ALLIS33205208&utm_source=androidapp

freezing leftovers!

I don’t recommend gousto or a meal box if you can’t be bothered to cook. You still have to prep food, cook the food and the recipes a tend to be a load of faff and overcomplicated if you know how to cook anyway. I have used them when I have wanted to shake things up and try some new dishes- but I didn’t find that it reduced any time spent in the kitchen at all.

just live off bread, veg, cold cuts and deli stuff for a while. It’s fine. Maybe get some nice cereals in or some nice preserves to have with toast for when you really can’t be bothered.

I do some sort of bread with loads of stuff piled on!
Some recent favourites -

• Flatbread with cold chicken, cucumber and tzatziki sprinkled with oregano
• Toasted bagel with cream cheese, smoked salmon, cherry tomatoes, capers and thinly sliced red onion
• flatbread with boursin /garlic & herb cream cheese and thin slices of ham

And a big salad with balsamic vinegarette dressing, grated grana padano cheese and toasted pine nuts on top. It's so good!

My answer would be ready meals.

Option 2 is to buy cooked chicken and serve with salads and new potatoes. Or salad and bread. Or on a sandwich.

We have a meal like this once a week, a few favourites
-prawns(usually defrosted from the freezer and already cooked) with pitta bread and salad
-scrambled egg on toast
-cheese and crackers with apple and celery.

DH cooks very Saturday night and that really does break the week up for me(he can’t do it during the week). well when I say “cook” it’s usually a ready meal/pizza but I don’t care, he sets the table beautifully and makes a great salad to go with it.

If you like curries buy a box from Aktars at Home. You get a box delivered to your home with 4 different frozen meat/fish curries, 4 vegetarian, 8 naan breads and a large bag of pilau rice all for about £70. Each curry will feed 2 generously. Aslam Aktar is an award winning chef with a couple of fantastic restaurants in birmingham. You won’t regret and are likely to order more boxes.

Most of these suggestions are no good for you OP!

When I am in this zone, we have jacket potatoes and eggs in all different guises, sometimes pasta dishes which can be cooked in the time it takes to boil the pasta. And sometimes just a sandwich, especially one in, say a baguette to make it more interesting and meal like.

Bread and cheese with grapes or an apple
Omelette
Sandwiches
Chicken breasts marinated and cooked on the BBQ in wraps or pitta with some salad.
Mezze with meats, hummus, olives etc. I’d rather just graze when it’s hot than eat a proper meal.
Crisps and a G&T are always a good precursor to a fridge rummage too.

I do salads -
Pasta salad where you just cook pasta. Then add whatever you fancy. We like tuna, mayo, spring onions and capers, or smoked salmon, lemon, green beans (added for the last 3 mins of pasta cooking)
Or green beans, cherry tomatoes, basil.
Couscous salad - don't even need to cook anything. Just pour boiling water into couscous and seasoning, add chick peas, coriander, lemon juice or anything.

Also wraps or pita breads with whatever fillings you have.

I open tins or jars, usually.
For example tuna and bean salad. Tin of each feeds 2 people.
Optional extras might be any or all of these - capers, radishes, sliced onion, anchovies, cherry tomatoes, diced cucumber, fresh herbs if to hand, dressed with oil and lemon. Some bread. Takes about 15 minutes tops.
Or I make a greek salad, to eat with pitta bread and hummus.

Jacket potatoes tuna and cheese
Omelette with cheese
Poached Egg on toast
Hummus and pita
Deli sandwich (substantial in a baguette)
Cheese toastie in the hob
Pasta and pesto

I always make double portions and have one in the freezer ready for days like this! I.e. bolognase, lentil curry, mousakka, soups.

Nice bread, cold meats, cheese and dips

l rarely cook as l have gone off hot food, maybe due to the menopause so l just have savoury foods, cold meats ,prawns, hummus, crackers, dips, canned tuna, sardines, sweetcorn ,cheese, yoghurts, fruit, boiled egg and new potatoe salad etc.

I make a massive quiche at the beginning of the week and have a generous slice with pre- prepared salad. It's substantial, yummy and I don't have to cook.

Do intermittent fasting and skip dinner!

Salads take forever to assemble, all those bits to wash and cut and arrange. Toast is the answer.

I live on my own most of the time and can't really be bothered to cook just for me. So here's what I have:

• ready cooked chicken pieces or prawns with salad
• sea bass with asparagus and peas
• mushroom omelette with salad
• onion, red pepper, celery and tomato sauce with a tin of mixed beans and feta
• chicken skewers with salad

My summer shopping list is mainly salad or picky bits. Chicken legs, cheese, olives, bread, coselaw, pre made frittata, hummus (admitted I peel carrots and chop salad stuff), pork pies, pasta salad, potato salad. Kabanos sausage. Or quiche is not too much cooking or some pre made kebabs but that's cooking.

Baked potatoes cheese and coselaw are my fave minimal cook dinner.