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.

Egg mayo dumped on salad greens 😂

Or picky bits (ham, salad, cheese, olives, grapes)

Cook bigger portions when you do cook a meal and freeze the leftovers for busy days when you cba

I like Guosto and HF but when I can't be arsed to cook I can't be arsed to cook that too, as even with all the measuring and stuff done for you, some meals are still a chore to cook.

We have toasties, jacket spuds with salad or beans or cheese , sandwiches or salad.

In the Summer I try to be as “hands off” as possible, so if I’m handling something that takes 30 minutes to cook for only 5 minutes, I’m happy.

boil rice, cous cous or quinoa for 5/10 mins and leave it to steam.
griddle fry a steak then let it relax
lots of dishes are “fry meat in pan, take it out, fry onions and veg, add stock put meat back in to finish”
I’d say a tray of oven-baked meat and veg, 45-60’ but your kitchen would get hot

A pressure cooker and an induction hob with a timer are a winning combination because you set the timer and walk away.
potatoes under, steamed veg above. 5’ cooking then forget about it until you need it.
risotto is 5’ chopping and frying then 20’ pressure cook.
pulses for bulking out salads, 2 hours soaking and 45’ pressure cook.

With all of those on a timer you can get on with your life while they cook.
Then a selection of cold ready proteins and some fresh fruit.

These are all great ideas - I am also fed up with cooking, but more the decision making side rather than the actual cooking.

I try to make it into a bit of ‘me time’ by putting on some music or watching a tv show at the same time with a nice little G&T!

Buy (or batch make) a load of middle eastern/rustic Italian dips (Aldi, Waitrose etc) plus roasted peppers, sun-dried toms, big fat olives etc.
Buy lots of different types of flatbread.
Some different sauces/condiments from Belazu.
Thinly slice a white cabbage and an onion and put in a plastic bag in fridge. Serve with this lemony garlicky dressing - either mix as you go or do it all in one, it keeps for a few days even with the dressing on. Add a tomato or other bits as you feel it.
Cheese if you do dairy, prosciutto etc if you do meat.
Honestly I could live of this for the whole summer.

And definitely agree with @Galvanisa about Gousto - I think it's more stressful rather than less, because you're doing something new with none of the robotic actions that come with familiarity. I also think they cheat on their timings by getting you to do something while something else is cooking which actually can't really be done in that time and should have been done at the beginning! Especially when it's for four. It's been good for experimenting to see if the kids will eat it/ you like it enough to learn the recipe though

Things I do in hot weather when it’s too much effort to cook- Eggs (omelettes, frittata), things on toast (eggs again, cheese, sardines, beans), sandwiches, salads, crusty bread, kebabs.

In winter - eggs on toast

In summer - flatbreads, cold meats, artichokes/sundried tomatoes/olives in jars etc. And then some prepped salady bits and some dips.

Endless combos.

Jacket potato
Beans on toast
Egg on toast
Boiled eggs
Tinned soup with cheese on toast
Bread, salad, cheese.
Pasta and pesto.

Also, any easy fish, new potatoes or microwave rice, bag of salad or peas.

We had tuna salad nicoise last night which everyone loves in our house

Toasted sandwiches

Pre cooked hot smoked salmon sprinkled over some salad with new potatoes and asparagus

Dips , flatbreads and charcuterie with ready made salad ( all bought)

French bread with picky bits or a lovely cheese selection

Quesadillas are super easy

Smoked salmon and prawn cocktail

Pate and breads

Pre cooked chicken and salad/ bread

Are all my go to no cook meals

Leftover frozen stuff (extra portions of stuff bunged in the freezer for these sorts of days).