Whose Cooking?

[MrsK]

A couple weeks ago, I was talking to a friend and she expressed surprise that I cook dinner almost every night. Do you all cook? If you don't, what do you do?

[MsSassyBaskets]

I cook 5 nights a week or so. DH helps if he's home, and maybe 1 night a week he takes over making dinner. Probably 3-4 nights are mostly from scratch and another 1-2 nights are pasta, or another easy meal. We order pizza almost once a week. We used to go out most Friday nights but we haven't found some favorite family friendly places here yet.

[ides]

I cook. Dh can't cook. He literally freezes up when suggested he make anything for himself. It's like a deer in headlights.


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[Michele]

My mom cooks almost every night for the kids and my dad. I eat if I'm home. Once or twice a week we have my sisters family over for dinner so my mom cooks for the 10 of us (usually it's just 9 - no me). Occasionally I'm in charge of dinner, which means homemade pizza or a crazy night of popcorn and muffins or something else easy that I know the kids will eat. They have declared my mom the best cook and refuse it if I make it EVEN IF I follow her recipe exactly. Annoying! But I make breakfast/prepare hot food every morning and I win the best breakfast contest.

[MrsK]

My mom cooks almost every night for the kids and my dad. I eat if I'm home. Once or twice a week we have my sisters family over for dinner so my mom cooks for the 10 of us (usually it's just 9 - no me). Occasionally I'm in charge of dinner, which means homemade pizza or a crazy night of popcorn and muffins or something else easy that I know the kids will eat. They have declared my mom the best cook and refuse it if I make it EVEN IF I follow her recipe exactly. Annoying! But I make breakfast/prepare hot food every morning and I win the best breakfast contest.

:hijack: What's keeping you away from home at dinner time? Work?

[Michele]

Yep. Mondays and Wednesdays I don't get home until 6:30 or 7pm. And I don't always eat the same things as the rest of the family, but if I'm home, I'm at the family table whether I'm eating or not.

[spaz]

Yes, I cook, but so does hubby. Typically he will grill or make a big meal on Saturdays. We have the leftovers on Sunday and then I cook on Monday and we have leftovers on Tuesday. Wednesday night we all eat at church. Thursday night is date night so our daughter is on her own. She has a Bible study many Thursdays and they eat there. Friday just depends. I cook or we eat leftovers. With the boys away at college, food is lasting a lot longer. I used to have to cook more often, but when I did we were throwing too much out once the middle one went off to college as well.

[SoonerTexan]

I cook 4-5 meals a week. We do leftovers and try to limit eating out to once. It means a lot of repeats and stuff cooked in advance and heated up but it has been working. DH can make a few things and will when asked, but it's always been my domain and I'm okay with that. I do have him grill or do quinoa. He is better at both.


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[ballibeg]

Every night! Eating out or getting a take away very expensive. I can cook a great curry for the family with £8 of ingredients. A take away is £8x5 of us.

Having said that we're eating out tonight as only way to see DW who's working away this weekend.

[spaz]

Oh, I meant to add that the last year my dad was alive ( the kids were 13, 11 and 7) my oldest actually cooked once a week. I was having to take my daughter to vision therapy appointments and my dad to various doctor appointments and many times I had to leave just as I was about to cook something or once in the middle of cooking. He just finished out the meal.

I spent one summer when they were younger letting the boys pick out things they wanted to try to cook and letting them do it. My poor middle child just needs to marry someone who can cook or get prepared or easy meals. If a recipe had too many steps, he was lost. ( Still is..) But my oldest really was good like his daddy. My husband is actually a better cook than I am and when he has time off, he often cooks: breads, scones, desserts in addition to meals.

I cannot tell you how much it helped that year to have a child that could cook.

[gem]

We cook "real" dinner about 3-4 times/week, have a couple nights of grilled cheese and soup or pasta, and go out or order take-out about 1-2 times per week.

[spotty_dog]

We had takeout last night! First time in at least a month, other than vacation. If I am home with the kids, I cook...usually easy things, but I try to hold the simplest stuff like take n bake pizza to about one dinner in five. If hubby is home, we have a more elaborate dinner, and eight times out of ten he is the cook. He is more likely to come up with an idea, find a recipe, and get ingredients. I am more likely to see what we have and improvise, or choose a trusted recipe, from there.

[rufflesanddots]

I don't think DH has cooked dinner or made his own lunch since starting med school. I "cook", but not well. Lots of crock pot stuff, spaghetti, quesadillas, sandwiches, brinner... I'm over cooking and our kitchen is small, so I don't really enjoy it especially when I know I'll be stuck with dishes after.

[oceanchild]

We packed up the kitchen on Sunday and have had takeout every night this week. Except the one night we went to Ikea and ate Swedish meatballs before shopping for furniture. Tomorrow is moving day, and I suspect next week will also be all takeout.

It is not usually this bad, but we do tend to eat out or get takeout a couple times a week.

DH is primarily in charge of cooking and usually good for around 4 meals/week. I cook simple things with advance notice, generally. Maybe once or twice a week.

What's interesting to me is how much this lines up with DH's childhood. He grew up with his dad cooking most meals, his mom cooking some tried and true things, and going out to dinner a lot. In my house my mom cooked almost every day (my dad would do like one night a week, and when we were older one night a week was kids in the kitchen). We almost never went out to eat or got takeout. In my entire childhood a pizza was never delivered to my house. So in this case, I guess I've become my in-laws.

[Ladybug]

DH is a saint in this department. He makes breakfast for the kids and me before he leaves for work. Says that it makes him feel connected to their day a bit more. I manage kid dinners (early) and DH cooks adult dinners. He enjoys it. He's a latent chef. Last night was lamb, sauted onions and provolone chz quesadillas. He lives to smoke and grill in the big green egg I bought him for his birthday. It's his creative outlet in life. He doesn't follow recipes. It's his only time outside of structured protocols. It's hard to lose weight being married to him.