JFF: Do You Ever Get So Tired of Cooking You Don't Want to Eat?

I wish I had this problem, but unfortunately I love to cook almost as much as I love to eat. If I loved cooking and eating a little less than maybe my pants wouldn't be so tight right now. I don't love the clean up, but my husband does the clean up on the weekends when I cook my big meals.

I do only cook once a day. The rule in my house is that breakfast and lunch are no cook meals. Now that my boys are bigger its every man for himself for those meals most of the time. I do make a big breakfast once in a while, but only on special days.

SH, my cooking is so bad that I NEVER want to eat it! Blech!

At least you're a good cook!
Hugs!

Well, I never lose my appetite, wish that was a problem, lol! I do hear ya on the cooking though. Sometimes it's hard to decide what to make, and then if I do try something "different" it's basically for me because nobody else appreciates it!

I am slowly coming back to my usual "Joy of Cooking".

Pete was a better cook than me to be honest, and we cooked and cleaned up together. For the last just over a year since he died, it has been a chore to cook (and to eat).

Slowly but surely, I am enjoying both again.

Hoping the joy comes back for you too!

best

Sounds like you need more help with the clean up. Someone posted a question a few weeks ago that prompted me to look at my own family and say "what the heck? Why am I shopping, planning, cooking AND cleaning up?!" We had a family meeting at dinner that night where I announced that after dinner, no one leaves the kitchen until it's ALL cleaned up. Everyone clears his or her own plate, the younger kids put away drinks, condiments and clear anything else on the table, the older kids wash pots and pans and my husband cleans the counters. There were days when I would make sure dinner was made before I left to go teach for the night (after working a full day), they would all eat (I wouldn't) and then I'd come home and have to clean up the kitchen at 10 PM. On nights when he cooks I still help out with final clean up but my days of being the kitchen slave are over. It's rather nice and I now resent cooking a lot less.

I think where you are, the heat is a killer. There are definitely humid, hot summer nights here in July & August when the thought of preparing a meal just kills me. Those are the "make a sandwich and fend for yourselves" kinds of nights. I try to have bagged salads, cold cuts, rolls, and cooked leftover chicken or hard boiled eggs around during those really hot weeks.

I just get tired of trying to figure out what to cook ! We are all tired of the same old things. I've tried some different things like off Pinterest but I just get a "Yuck !". My kids also think if I don't cook and have a hot meal then it's not supper ! LOL !

I Could Not Have Said It Any Better!!!!!

Been there, felt that, went on strike one time until my toddler went to the cupboard, pulled out a Costco size of pasta, brought it to me and said, "Cook!"

And that's why there are things like the Italian Anti Pasta platter....just load it with sliced meats, cheeses, wash a head of lettuce, slice tomatoes on the side and buy a loaf of Italian/French bread. Everyone can build their own.

Intentionally cook in large quantities: lasagna, baked pasta dishes, 2 chickens and extra baked potatoes at once, large batches of taco meat for tacos, burritos, salads.

Cook once, eat twice. Referred to as 'Planned Overs'

I just made a batch of fresh strawberry jam, and I'll be giving my kids PB&J sandwiches for quick lunches until that's gone.

GL!

Yes, I love cooking and baking, but I am so sick of always being in the damn kitchen :-)

I'm with Suz-- it takes a whole lot to put me off food.

It does become a bit of a conundrum some days:"what to eat?" mainly because every so often I need a bit of novelty and then have to think past the usual recipes I have under my belt. And then there are the dull-brain days when a frozen spanakopita will come to the rescue if nothing else comes to mind. Cooking itself, though, I do enjoy for the most part. It's a nice creative outlet for me at the moment.

FWIW, I usually move my dinner cooking to the morning in summertime; we eat a lot of cold dishes because I'd rather heat up the house then, when I have a chance of cooling it off before the afternoon heat. And then, I'm not cooking after being a bit wilty and cranky in the afternoon because of the heat myself.

i wish!
i don't like cooking in summer nearly as much. i just want to be outside!
but nothing makes me not want to eat.
:/ khairete
S.

Yes AND No!

Sometimes I get so dog tired of cooking. But, I ALWAYS want to eat! This M. loves to eat!!

I think often that the heat zaps our energy and desire to be cooking over a hot stove or oven. Also, the school year is winding down and we are just so dog tired of all the school projects, homework, assemblies, parties, sign ups etc.

I went through a 3 week slump recently because life was so busy. But, now I am refreshed and inspired to get back to the menu planning and shopping. I am ready for lazy days with the kids and having them help more in the kitchen again. (usually they are swamped with homework and sports/music/church activities.)

It helps me to get the kids and hubby involved in making the weekly meal plan. What to cook is usually the hardest part for me. Once I know what I am making then it is easier to wrap my mind around the process.

Sometimes I make the meal for the family and make myself a cool ,fruity smoothie...and call it good.

The kitchen is the most used room in the house..we are always in there prepping, cooking or cleaning.( At times I feel I should just move in and move our bed in there. )The kids do their homework around me in the kitchen and come talk and tell me about their day or ask questions. The one and only computer in the house is in the kitchen so there is always a body nearby. I know I sometimes dread that busy space in my house.

:)But, I have a hunch that the kitchen will be where most of our fond family memories reside. So...I can't complain too much. :)

I usually try to cook at least twice as much as I need so they can have leftovers. I can't imagine actually cooking more than one meal a day.

I am so with you. Some days I feel like I barely leave the kitchen :-)

Oh, I hear you! Here's my trick: "Silly Dinner!" Dessert first - "Really Mommy? Yes, that's right. Individual ice cream cups. Serve and then toss in the trash. Cereal for dinner. "What? Breakfast for dinner?" Yep, that's right. I buy those variety packs that have 12 single serving boxes of cereal. "Mom, I can have Cocoa Krispies and Frosted Flakes and Pops for Dinner?" Yes, that's right! The kids love it.

Mommy's very silly. In fact she's so silly, on those nights she has wine for dinner!

Best
T.
SAHM of 5
14, 12, 6, 4 & 2

I get tired of cooking too sometimes. I usually take a couple of days off and instead of cooking I put some bread and cold cuts and cheese on the table. Sometimes I buy pre-washed salad and have salad greens, tuna and bread. Or I buy hot dogs or veggie burgers - stuff that can be microwaved. Often it passes after a few days.

For me it's the heat that drives me to avoid food. It gets to so miserably hot at times...forget about food. Add in two young children who invariably make dinner time havoc and it can be a double whammy of forget about it. Shamelessly I serve oatmeal, cereal, yogurt, cheese with fruit and crackers or other super simple, no muss/no fuss meals. Truthfully we eat on a lot of paper plates too. It's wasteful and makes me feel guilty but heaven how it is a time and sanity saver.

Maybe you could designate one dinner time per week as "Clean Out the Fridge Night", when the only food allowed is something that's leftover. You'll know that every Tuesday, you get a break and leftovers will not go to waste. And make sure that what is eaten is actually leftover (no taking foods to be prepared later in the week and cooking those).

Also, designate one night a week for creative salads, and have your kids make them. There are lots of possibilities involving very little cooking and even small kids can pitch in. Combine cooked pasta with pepperoni, sliced tomatoes and mozzarella cheese for a pizza salad. Make a salad with ham, hard boiled eggs, and fresh raw vegetables. Deli roast beef over a hearty garden salad with a little crumbled blue cheese and drizzled olive oil. Fresh raw vegetables with rice or couscous or farro. Greek salads with red onion, kalamata olives, feta cheese, cucumbers and lettuce, with red wine vinegar and olive oil. Italian salads with spinach, tomatoes, chopped prosciutto, pepperoncini, mozzarella cheese cubes. Let your kids plan the weekly salad and just pick up a few quick ingredients. Little kids can wash vegetables and crumble cheese and separate pepperoni or ham slices.

I know, it's the clean-up. We cook for hours, eat in minutes, clean up for hours. Do you have a plan for after-meal cleanup? Like a rotating chore chart (clearing the table, loading the dishwasher, washing the table, etc?) Make sure everyone who eats pitches in somehow.

That's what cereal is for. :)

I'm they type to go grocery shopping then have a pizza delivered because I am tired.
otherwise, I cook, I work full time, kids are asleep when I leave so I only ever cook dinner during the week.

I like being waited on.
So every so often (maybe once a month) I like going to a sit down restaurant.
It's also why I like going to a hotel when we go on vacation (vs renting a condo/cabin/house).
When I'm on vacation, I don't cook or do dishes otherwise it's not a real vacation for me.
I DO enjoy cooking but I get tired of it sometimes and need a break from it.

I TOTALLY get ya.
I actually don't like to cook that much. (I blame my mother lol)
I Get on a cooking kick, and do a great job for a week or so, and then back to "dammit! I don't want to cook"
I wish we could just eat cereal every night. sigh.
L.

I feel the same exact way. It drives me bonkers.

I suggest cooking 1/3 of the week, eating leftovers 1/3 of the week and then easy stuff the other 1/3 (cereal, sandwiches, etc).

We do a lot of sandwiches and other cold meals in the summer so we don't have to heat the house up. Or I send the hubby out to grill. How old are your kids? Maybe you can enlist them in the cleaning up. My 7 year old knows how to rinse dishes off and put them in the dishwasher.

My husband usually cleans up as a thank you for my cooking. You family needs to be helping you more. I get bored with cooking, especially if there are complaints from the less sophisticated palettes of the family. Sometimes I don't eat and wait for them to go to bed and eat by myself.

I would get tired when my kids were little. As they got older, they were the ones who would do some of the cooking.

My aunt taught me a long time ago to clean as you go so that you don't have mounds of dirty pots and pans and dishes. So once my meals are done, it is usually a few pans that need to be cleaned.

I cook large amounts and divide for a second meal and freeze. I usually label what the food is for and store in freezer. This weekend I got several packages of chicken broth meat and made homemade chicken vegetable soup for lunches. Next weekend I will do French onion soup. Now that's a soup that is time consuming stirring the onions until they brown. I do not test the food I cook as I would definitely eat as I have eaten all day cooking the food. So don't taste as you go taste when you eat.

I do have to agree with Momof3G as to why you feel the way you do. I love to cook and create and don't feel stressed about the cooking. It is an adventure to make a new spin on an old dish.

Hope you get out of your funk soon and enjoy life. Take the day off and go to the beach and let the worries of the world drift away.

the other S.

Hi! I notice you live in Hawaii. I think I can help you out here. One of my dearest friends is from Hawaii, which means she has familiarized me with the Hawaiian culture over the years. Hawaiians LOVE to cook - and elaborately!!!! My friend is the most WONDERFUL cook, and everything she cooks is from scratch (like you do) and is very time consuming. Her whole world revolves around cooking for her family. However, the difference between you and her is that she loves it and you don't. Here is my suggestion - stop cooking such elaborate "Hawaiian type" meals! Think simplicity, like hot dogs (I buy nitrite/nitrate free turkey dogs), chicken nuggets (I make sure they are hormone free - Applegate is a wonderful brand), etc. Stuff like that. Forget your elaborate Hawaiian meals for a while. It is too much! Give yourself a break. Good luck!

We don't have your problem. Largely because we don't cook much. Once a week, or every five days or so, or when inspiration strikes, hubs or I will cook up a big vat of something, then we eat some, put some in the freezer, and keep eating it as left overs.

As we sit here now, the fridge is full.
There is spaghetti bolognaise (keep the sauce separate from the pasta (it lasts longer).
There are some garlic herb chicken sausages (pan fried with sausage and peppers).
There is hummos (open 2 cans of chick peas, garlic, lemon and tahini and pulse in the food processor with cumin, salt & pepper).
there is some beef I cooked in the crockpot with pineapple, teriyaki, garlic and red pepper flakes.
pizza slices from the pie we bought on saturday night.
enough left over curry from friday night's dinner to make a lunch.
we also have some grilled chicken.

there is plenty of fruit.
and an assortment of dessert including - halvah, 1/2 an entemenens chocolate cake with marshmallow frosting, one chocolate cupcake, and some left over easter chocolate.

We haven't actually cooked anything since saturday.
When its time to eat, hubs or I just nuke or warm the main, some veg, and salad greens.

All I am saying, is that cooking and eating need not be such a chore or production. You can eat well, and eat varied, and not exhaust yourself in the process.

Look into once a month cooking, or one pot meals, even if you don't adopt it whole hog, it might help you adjust your thinking about cooking.

Best,
F. B.

Yes, I'm so weary of it. Especially as hot weather approaches.

Probably wouldn't be such a big deal if there weren't so many other worthwhile things that get kicked out of my daily list of must-do's. I almost never eat convenience foods, between having many sensitivities to additives and diabetes that requires that I eliminate most carbs from my diet (so, no cereal for me :-).

Lately I've been cooking bigger batches of a main course so I'll only need to steam a veggie or make a salad for the next day or two. Sometimes I just don't cook (works for me because I have so little appetite lately), and husb will inquire at around 8 p.m. whether he can "pull something together." Funny, I always answer yes.

I cook (and clean up after) breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day! On the weekends I get at least one day where I don't have to cook dinner because we eat out. But even on the nights my husband will cook something on the grill I still have to cook or prepare something in the kitchen.

Yes it does get draining. And no my husband does not help. But once my daughters are old enough I'll have them help me.

I would never starve myself though. I love food too much for that! :) But sometimes I do "lazy meals". Lunch can be dinner leftovers that just need reheated. Breakfast can be fruit and yogurt. And dinner can be thrown in the oven with very minimal work.

I love cooking, and baking, and trying new recipes.

I also love pizza, take out Mexican, drive-thru burgers, panda express, Styrofoam containers and paper plates/plastic forks.

I LOVE the pizza place up the street with the salad bar, beer on tap, and arcade games for the kids.

When I don't feel like cooking, it is worth the money to eat out, and get take out. It saves the prep AND the clean-up.

I agree 100% with the 1/3 rule. 3 days a week I "cook" real meals, 2-3 days I "prepare" easy stuff or leftovers, 2-3 days a week is takeout/go out.

I do daycare in my home so it seems like I spend my life in the kitchen. Sometimes by the time the "babies" leave I really don't want to make dinner for my family!!

M

I don't know how large your family is, but what about cooking in bulk and freezing a few things for the times when you just don't want to cook?

At this point, it is just hubby and I, so I cook a large recipe and we eat it for a couple of days...

I also will buy a tray of boneless/skinless chicken breasts, cut them in half, and cook up a big batch at once and freeze the extras..... much easier for another meal to just pull out what is needed, and put together a few other items.

Less mess and trouble.

Yep, I can get tired of my own cooking, Once our daughter could cook, I let her have at it.

Also a propane grill helped a lot.Send my husband out with vegetables in foil and some sort of fish, chicken, pork or beef.. Even the Costco flat frozen pizzas on the grill are awesome!

Cheap paper plates. or paper towels for sandwich night,
Sandwich night.
Cereal for dinner.
Giant salad night Helped.

Nachos made and served on foil..
And it seemed like Thursdays are usually leftover night, so it so just a bunch of stuff being microwaved.

Grill outside. No clean up or at least minimal.

I'm the same. When my kids were younger I use to cook on the weekend just so I could reheat things in the microwave instead of cooking every single night.

It is really hot here and cooking just means...as you mention, cleaning the mess.

Lately, I have been picking up a container of soup and making sandwiches.

I could have easily wrote this myself. Yes, I'm sick of cooking too, but the kids have to eat. I also appreciate my mother more too. I love it when my husband cooks on the grill. I've been hinting but he hasn't done it yet. I guess too hot for him, which I can't complain because I wouldn't want to be out in it.

Now don't get skinny on us; LOL!

oh, cooking...it is one of those things that just keeps showing up. Every day, again and again. Like grocery shopping and laundry and driving the kids everywhere and showering. These are mundane every day things...unless we make them fun.

Here are some of the things that I do:
We have family menus - 5 weeks worth - so I don't have to think I just do
We have "them nights" - eat with your hands night - everything must be finger food. No silverware allowed!
Then there is Kids' choice - they choose and make dinner and I eat it!No matter what. But they have to eat it too. ;) I taught them young how to make a few simple things, pasta, grilled cheese etc.
We have picnics under the table (cause it's raining after all)
Movie night with pizza on the living room floor.

I usually prepare 2 meals at one time. I just make way too much Then I freeze one for any night I don't want to cook.
I make a really big pot of soup and freeze most of it. It is always there when i need a night off.

Then there is always how you look at cooking. Nourishing your body is essential to your families well being. Without your health you have nothing. You are the primary health care provider to your family. It is up to you to keep them fed and well nourished. You are the key to your family's future. Take pleasure in preparing food for your family, it offers you a lifetime R.O.I.

Have fun!

Make everyone who wants to eat and is old enough to reach the knobs on the stove take a turn cooking and cleaning up.

Absolutely. I despise cooking mainly because I have to cook the same stuff over and over. I get sick of eating the same stuff, so I skip meals. I wish I could say that I have lost weight because of skipping meals, but I am not that lucky. My hubby and kids are very picky eaters. If I do make something new, I better make sure that I cook my family something old that they will eat because more than likely, they will not eat the new stuff and resort to the junk food drawer. I feel like a short order cook especially on weekends.

Most days, cooking is as an enjoyable of a chore as scrubbing the toilet.

My friend was this way. She started the kids learning skills at a young age.

It went sort of like this.

The little bitty kids, age 5 and under, were helpers to the other kids. They could empty the silverware and sort it out and put it up. They helped gather the smaller trash cans and helped the bigger kids gather the trash. They folded washcloths and sorted socks. They were learning to do a lot of helping.

The little kids (age 5-8) were the big kids (age 8 and up) helpers. Once a kiddo was baptized they were allowed to have more responsibilities. They were cooks helpers and often make whole meals with an adult supervising.

By the time the kids were 10 they could make whole meals by themselves without assistance. They had little kids helping them and they were competent.

Her hubby got home at 4 and she got home about 5:30 to dinner going down on the table. The kids also had assigned rooms they cleaned daily same set up, and she never had to wash a dish or clean up after eating. Since she had taught them and had specific lists of things they had to do to be done they always did it the same way and it was done to her standards.

Perhaps it's time to assign more chores out to kids and hubby.

He had hubby overseeing everyone when they got home from school and he started them off doing their chores.

For instance, one older kid was in charge of the dining room. They had a little kid as a helper, it was their job to teach the younger child how to do the room the right way. Not be their boss in any way but to be a teacher.

The dining room went sort of like this.

The dining room is clean when:

All the plants have had a little drink.

All the book shelves have been wiped down with a dry rag sprayed with some Behold.

The table is washed clean and dried off.

The chairs have been wiped down and no food is left on them.

The floor has been swept, dust pan used, and mopped if there are any dirty spots.

Well at least they like your food. No one likes to eat what I make not even me:). Luckily, I do not get myself self worth from the food I prepare. If I did not have kids (my husband doesn't eat anything I make) I would just eat yogurt and fruit for dinner or a protein shake.

I love cooking. I cook right after my morning breakfast. I eat the " dinner" at lunchtime.

I cook and clean at the same time.

I LOVE to cook and prepare a great meal but by the time I am finished cooking, I do not have an appetite. I have to make myself sit down and eat something.

I love to cook dinner but I am not a dinner person. I don't eat breakfast foods either. I typically will go all day with water and fruit so I have to make myself sit down to eat something.. I guess it is my way of forcing myself to eat because hubby is adamant that I sit and eat as well.

We LOVE antipasta trays and bruchetta

Amen to everything you said.

I dont usually cook on the weekends. Everybody does their own breakfast and I have easy stuff on hand for lunch. I cook pretty much every weeknight. I'm in the throughs of a big change in eating habits. For me, no breads, potatoes, sugary stuff. I have to really put effort into my choices for me and for my family. That keeps me interested.

But the days of cooking for littles, listening to objections and always being pushed for time, well, that can sap the "want to" out of anybody! Employ summer help from you child!

When you eat, the smell is half the enjoyment. If you cook, sometimes it's almost like you have already eaten because you have been smelling it for 30 mins before you sit down. Try the stove vent or a fan blowing the smell away from you to give you more of an appetite.