We want to break out of this cycle of ordering delivery but at the same time, cooking everyday has been a challenge. We also have been trying to develop some sort of routine where we meal prep on the weekends but we live in an apartment with a really small kitchen so cooking and storing food for 5 days doesn’t seem doable. Maybe cook for 3 days and then prepare the ingredients to cook again on Wednesday?

I’d appreciate if you could share your strategies and experience. The goal here is to eat healthy and good food.

Edit: Thank you everyone for all your contributions! I am a little overwhelmed by the number of replies so I if I do not reply to you please do now feel bad!!

  • PotentiallyAnApricot@beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    I don’t cook much. I’m chronically ill, but if i were working full time I imagine the same problem would come up - it’s too labor intensive to do all of the time. Switching from “is this a real meal” to “is this something that i enjoy eating and will it provide me with enough energy” has made me a lot less miserable about it. What I’ve done for myself is find out which foods are simple, good, filling, yummy, and don’t take a lot of effort for me, and then eating those throughout the day while cooking bigger batches of things throughout the week . It takes a minute to find out which foods are good for this, but once you have a few “i know i can make this and i know i will want to eat it” foods in your back pocket, it gets easier. Some of my faves are premarinated cuts of meat which can be baked and then cut up later, fried up bell peppers onions (eat them with toast or goat cheese!), bean salads or chillis, roasted potatoes, and baked patties of hot sausage with a bunch of oatmeal mixed into it (good on toasty bread or alone). You can also pre-cut or pre-prep things like veggies and spice mixes so that you have them already ready to go when you’re hungry. I also eat a ton of stuff that people don’t consider real food- oatmeal, fruits, nuts, cereal, english muffins with avocado, cheese and crackers, peanut butter, baked beans, toast, banana breads, bread and olives, etc. I find it helps to plan “laziness” directly into the process. Doing what you can to minimize dishes can also help a lot, as can trying new foods. You never know what thing is going to become a go-to.