I Hate to Cook.....

I hate to cook!!!..... but I think it's time I start learning to like it. I am running out of options for quick no cook meals. I found myself picking at foods I should not be eating yesterday and finally just stopped tracking.

Sooo, for this week my goal is to start trying some of those recipes I have been saving and keep some low calorie, low carb home made snacking in the frig.

I have to say that my cravings for carbs and sweets has really decreased since I started getting serious with my diet.... and that I am truly thankful for

Why do you hate to cook?

I also don't like to cook, because a) I resent the time it takes out of my day, and b) I truly suck at it.
What I have found to be a huge help is the T-Fal actifry. The commercials are always hyping the ability to cook with less fat, but the big selling point for me is that you can just dump in some protein and veggies, turn it on, then go do other stuff. Come back 5-10 minutes before the end and add your sauce, and that is it. I hardly ever use my stove anymore. I even made granola in it, and risotto once.

It's not so much that I hate it, I am not very good at it, I don't enjoy it and I accepted that a long time ago.
My husband on the other hand is a great cook and he not only enjoys it, he has a passion for it.

I am happy with a sandwich and a salad but at the same time I want variety....not cooking limits your menus.

I do like fast & easy cooking. Me intention is to start cooking & experimentg for myself as soon as the hot weather is ended.

I'm not familiar with the actifry.....I'll have to check it out. If it's simple, it's for me!!

Try "I Hate to Cook Book"... has the coolest quick-fix recipes even I can do! PS: I hate to cook as well.
This is from the book description:

"There are two kinds of people in this world: the ones who don't cook out of and have NEVER cooked out of THE I HATE TO COOK BOOK, and the other kind...The I HATE TO COOK people consist mainly of those who find other things more interesting and less fattening, and so they do it as seldom as possible. Today there is an Annual Culinary Olympics, with hundreds of cooks from many countries ardently competing. But we who hate to cook have had our own Olympics for years, seeing who can get out of the kitchen the fastest and stay out the longest."

I did a search for 10 minute meals / recipes and there really are alot!! There probably are some right here on FS. I am thinking of starting out with fast & easy. If it was not for the fact that I am trying to cut out as much processed foods as I can, I would be very happy with Smart Ones or Lean Cuisine.

I am also a recipe collector.......just a collector.....I almost neve try them. Last year I threw out 20 years of recipes I was saving and never used. Sad isn't it

Urgh! I used to hate to cook. But that was because the meals I cooked were barely edible. Slowly, I learned to cook and began to like it.

But lately, I've not been cooking and dread going into the kitchen. I don't have the faintest idea of why. Maybe it is because I'm still not comfortable.... errr... let's get back to your query :blushes:

Usually, when I really didn't want to cook for long and wanted healthy, home cooked meals, I used my pressure cooker. I make a quick risotto by dumping everything together in the cooker and giving it two to three whistles. I open it, stir it, adjust the seasoning... and done!

Maybe, you can do part of the prep elsewhere... like you can chop vegetables while watching TV or reading a magazine? Then, with all the prep work done, you can enter the kitchen, do the cooking, and make a hasty exit. If you bake, then you need to spend even less time in the kitchen. Sad that I don't have a working oven!

Don't think about 'cooking' as just 'cooking'. I mean cooking is an activity with lots of bad connotations: it makes us fat, it does not take us anywhere, it's what old ladies do all the time...you know. Instead, try to 'create something special in the kitchen: challenge yourself to make a salad with colours, textures, flavours combined in a way that allow you to experiment something different. When you manage that, please let me know your recipe. I will be looking forward to it!

I like cooking, but never have the time. What I do is a couple things. I have bought some frozen dinners for the quickie meal on occasion. The other thing that I do is take one day on the weekend and make up several meals. I'll grill several chicken breasts and several servings of soup, etc. I then split them up in individual baggies or bowls for single servings and freeze them. Then I have home cooked meals at my finger tips, but only have to give up one day of my time. I often will grill chicken breasts and cut them up then put them in a baggie in the fridge to put on salads later. YUM!

I use my rice cooker and crockpot a lot. You can cook more than rice in your rice cooker. Woman's day magazine use to have 3 ingredient or less meals that were easy to make. If it were me I would type 3 ingredient or less recipes into google and see what pops up.
I keep my meals simple because I don't want to cook two separate meals every day.
I also agree with Julia. My MIL is single and what I do for her is cook two weeks worth of meals by making 3-4 different recipes and portioning them off on paper plates and then sticking them in ziplock bags so she can just grab it and nuke it. You could buy a couple of bento boxes or something similar made out of plastic to save money on ziplocks and paper plates if you needed to. The good thing about doing this is I just make double whatever I feed my family that way I'm not wasting time prepping or cooking.

I love cooking. It is good to cook your own food specially when you're on a diet so that you will be able to prepare a meal that is best for your diet.