Why don't you cook more often?

[shortstuff]

I still live at home and mum cooks tea, so I get out of that one. But I do cook myself breakfast or lunch sometimes, or if I'm home alone I will cook myself tea, I also sometimes cook cakes and cupcakes. I would offer to cook tea sometimes but as soon as it cools down enough I normally go for a run in the afternoon and don't get back in time to cook tea, unless I cook it before hand, but than I risk not feeling like going for a run and as a result not go for one. In the summer months if I go for a run, it's in the morning if I don't have work. In the past I worked at the local grain silos over harvest which is our summer, and I either started at 5:30 in the morning or at 1 in the afternoon and work for at lest 8 hours, mainly on my feet. It messes me up a bit so I don't go for a run if I'm working or offer to cook tea as I'm tried from work or at work

Other reasons why I don't cook more often include not knowing what to cook, not having what I need to cook something and not wanting to wash the dishes already on the sink

Edit: I find it funny that I said that I run the risk of not going for a run if I cook tea and today I cooked tea at lunch time so I could go for a run, and guess what? Now I'm not going for a run, not sure if result was from cooking tea or from it raining

[KAllen]

Why spoil the system? Because cooking together can be a lot of fun.

My wife is Mexican, I tend to stay away from her when she's playing w/ knives!!!

[leadchipmunk]

Is the Klingon saying he is scared of a few puny blades?

Also, in my eyes, fear = fun. Go for it! (taken out of context, this may be bad advice)

[Zorch]

The only times I don't cook are:

1. Lunch at work

2. When traveling

3. Occasions when friends/family want to go out to eat(maybe 1x/week)

I'm going to have to start working on #1, as I'm going to be spending more time at a new work location, which doesn't have the same caliber of cafeteria on-site as my usual current work locations. It's about time for me to figure out stuff that I can pre-cook and microwave(or eat cold).

[Eurydice]

For me the immediate benefits don't outweigh the costs. I don't like the actual act of preparing food, I don't get any particular joy out of eating the outcome, and I hate the cleanup afterward. Plus I'm just cooking for myself so it's hard to make a good argument for why it's a better use of my time than any of the hundred other things I could be doing that I would enjoy.

I'm glad you had the "nothing tastes good" option. That's a big part of what it is. I always side-eye people who are like "OMG DELICIOUS FOOD!" It's... stuff. That you put in your mouth. At best it doesn't actively taste awful. This is true whether it's me making it or a chef at a five-star restaurant.

[Ryan Sannar]

Why spoil the system? Because cooking together can be a lot of fun.

Truth ^

[Blueberries]

I cook mostly 80-90 percent of our meals. If I don't cook, it's because I'm feeling lazy. We rarely go out to eat, as it's so expensive...

That's me, too. I usually cook, but every now and then I have a rough day or am feeling really lazy. It's excruciatingly difficult to cook with two small children underfoot when there's no one else around to keep an eye on them, so a lot of times "cook" ends up meaning, "Hey, let's have tuna salad for dinner tonight."

[Shortkaik]

I cook most of our meals, but when I don't, there are a few reasons that aren't listed:

1) I get tired of planning and coming up with what to make every day that meets all of our criteria (easy, liked by everyone, on sale, nutritious)

2) I get tired of spending a lot of time making something and then to have kids say "Ugh I don't like <vegetables> or <meat>. I'm full." and tossing it.

3) Currently my main excuse is that it's too hot to use the oven and I'm running out of stovetop and grill recipes!

[The Tin Man]

When I don't it is because I don't want to spend what feels like all my downtime prepping/cooking. If I work then go to frisbee/the gym I don't get home until about 9pm. That doesn't leave me much time to cook.

Also I'm bad at getting myself to meal plan, and therefore buying groceries that I can use to cook delicious things. Funny thing is I enjoy cooking...

[Raincloak]

When I don't cook, it's usually because at the moment I'm ready to think about food, I'm not physically near my kitchen. Occasionally, it's because I want to eat something (generally specialized ethnic food) that I don't have the time or tools to fix at home.

My primary "should cook and don't" moment is in the mornings when I should be prepping my lunch for work. (And breakfast too.) But instead I tend to sleep late, roll out of bed, grab a piece of fruit or a snack bar (I'm never hungry just after waking up) and sprint for the door. Then I have only half a breakfast and I wind up buying breakfast and lunch on my way to work. Which wastes money. I like money, and my supply of it is pretty limited. So this is bad.

When I actually am at home, cooking's rarely a problem. Unless the fridge is bare, I would rather fry an egg or fix a sandwich or munch on leftovers than go out to eat. The trickiest part is keeping healthy "grazing" food in the house and limiting the inflow of junk food, because if there's junk food around, I inevitably graze on that first.

When I'm hungry and cranky, I will gravitate to whatever requires the least amount of prep time before shoving it into my mouth. The continuum from most to least available (or least to most effort) looks something like this:

chips/pastries/ice cream < --- bread --- recent leftovers --- peanut butter --- fruit --- cheese/deli meats --- canned soup --- tortillas/pasta --- frozen snacks --- raw edible veggies --- canned fish --- eggs --- salad greens/frozen veggies --- uncooked rice --- canned beans --- uncooked meat --- uncooked flour ---> dried beans/lentils

The stuff near the bottom of the list usually sits around ignored until it rots or I've run out of everything else (I usually go to the grocery store for a refill sometime around the "salad greens" or "uncooked rice" stage.)

Obviously, the key to eating the low-priority items is to keep the high-priority items out of the house. I should cook more meat from scratch and eat less deli meat, but it's messy and annoying and that's why it's near the bottom of the list. Also, note the "leftovers" are pretty high priority; once I've cooked the veggies or meat or rice or beans, I am MUCH more likely to eat them. The hard part is cooking them before I get one of those hungry cranky spells, because when I've reached that point, it's too late. They take so much effort to cook that the balance tips in favor of going out to dinner.

[Maria]

Mostly time/laziness. But I do actually cook a lot, and try to go for large batches as I'm at it. One reason not mentioned is that I'm sick of cooking from work, where I sometimes can cook 8 individual meals (I'm in the nursing area) in a single day. Guess what I DON'T feel like doing in my free time?!?

[Frellnik]

I cook every day, and when I don't, it's because I've cooked a big batch earlier in the week and am still eating left overs. I love to cook, but I hate cleaning up. I prefer to cook for my friends, but I usually only cook for myself as I live in a different town than most of my friends. I cook what I like and that helps motivate me to do it. As soon as I'm done cooking, I get to eat it!!

[PrincessHeather]

I cook dinner almost nearly every day. Exceptions are when I have big projects/papers/finals due for grad school, and hubby usually picks up something. If he's being conscious of my health-consciousness, he’ll pick up a roasted chicken and veggies, as opposed to Arby’s or sandwiches or something.

He has become a better teammate though, and now knows how to broil/bake salmon in the oven, and to use the rice maker for himself, and he’ll usually do the dishes when I’m cooking, sometimes even as I’m halfway through cooking a meal. He says he’d like to learn another dish sometime, so I’ll keep adding simple things until maybe the cooking can be more or less split!

[KAllen]

Is the Klingon saying he is scared of a few puny blades?

Also, in my eyes, fear = fun. Go for it! (taken out of context, this may be bad advice)

Not scared of blades(being married to a Mexican will cure you of that). Just want to keep all my extremities where they are!!! Besides, she cooks better than I could anyway, why mess up a good thing.

[Cléo Xymore]

I cook a ton... But I also LOVE eating out and discovering new restaurants or food.

Other than that, I sometimes am "cooked out" when dinner rolls around (i.e. I baked some bread and made stock during the day and don't feel like spending a minute more in the kitchen). Occasionnally the fridge is empty and none of the usual backups appeals... That's about it. I actually love cooking and do it most of the time (and the husband does the dishes, so I win and then I win more!)

[Laney]

I cook a lot - hardly ever eat food these days that I don't prepare myself. But probably the biggest thing I noticed when I started doing that was the amount of time/effort that the cleanup takes. I felt like I was constantly doing dishes. It's part of my routine now, but I think that would be another reason that people don't cook more often.

My boyfriend bought me paper plates cause dishes are his job

[Cléo Xymore]

My boyfriend would have gotten a lecture on the environment... I like Athena's answer better though!

[Lachy]

I live with my brother, we take turns on who's responsible for the meal that night. The person who doesn't cook has to do the dishes, is the rule around our house though.

Nights we don't cook are usually because we're feeling lazy, or we haven't prepared (bought supplies). We could probably both be a bit more adventurous with our cooking too.

[Laney]

If he was my BF, he'd quickly find that my cooking for *him* would now consist of handing him pop tarts* on a paper plate, while I cooked myself a chicken and sweet potato curry with rice, served in a crockery bowl, and I'd do my own damn dishes. If he wants real food, he does real dishes.

(* I don't like pop tarts. I think of them as one of the stupidest "foods" ever. I'd pick a food he dislikes, is unhealthy, and takes almost no cooking time or effort.)

Haha, awesome idea! Too bad he would love poptarts...

[Raincloak]

lol. Poptarts. Unfortunately all the males in my household could live on stuff like that indefinitely, and they would too, if certain women didn't cook for them. So it wouldn't really work as a punishment.

At my parents' house, the rule is the cook decides what's for dinner, and (usually) does not have to do the dishes. This works fine since not everyone cooks, but everyone is reasonably obedient to dish duty. But as soon as I move out of here, I will have to cook AND do my own dishes. Which is why I have my heart set on a place with a private kitchen ... because that way I can leave the dishes until I have time to do them, instead of having to wash everything right away and carry the wet dishes back up to my bedroom. Been there, done that, it was the lamest thing ever.

[clinzy]

My husband does the cooking at our house, but it's still hard to cook every meal. We both work from home, which somehow makes it harder, because we're both actually working all day. Then, when most people are cooking dinner, we're heading to the gym most nights. By the time we get home from the gym and get showered, it's 9 PM - I don't want to start cooking dinner then.

I need recipes that can be made in advance that don't taste like leftovers.

[Zaxh]

Its the Cleaning I Hate XD

[alan713ch]

I think the most popular answer is the one that is not in the poll: cleaning after.*

I as well enjoy cooking a lot. I find it fascinating to find new recipes andntry to cook them. I also enjoy the community that forms when you share your food, and I have a couple of friends that love to come and share my food (they bring the ingredients, so I basically become their cook). And while I do not think of me as particularly good, they made me start a blog about it because according to them, it is good.*

But cleaning after kills me. Particularly since my roommate decided he didn't want to eat cafeteria food anymore, and he decided to cook his own stuff. Wile I applaud himi for that, either he doesn't do his dishes, or does a disaster when he does. So far he's destroyed the seasoning of my cast iron pan TWICE after I told him how to clean it, and then there's this dish he makes with honey and I don't know what else that takes forever to clean, and he would always leave it on the counter. *sigh*

Not that I am particularly good, either. My momma came to visit me this past month and she was criticizing all my cleaning aspects. It is true that cleaning as you work with it works wonders, but I always forget.*

I guess it's just a matter of practice.*

[Lachy]

In general, I find I can get most of the cleaning done while cooking. Most dishes have a time while the food cooks and requires minimal interaction from you, that's a great time to clean knifes, cutting boards, plates, etc. By the end of the meal you only have maybe two saucepans/frypans, and a couple of utensils, no problem

[67alecto]

You didn't have a choice that matched my response.

I don't cook more often because I cook in large batches so I don't have to.

I have a huge batch of chili, 6 turkey burgers, about 4oz of chorizo (down from ~2lbs last week), a 1.25lb summer sausage, and 1lb of turkey taco meat in the fridge right now. If I make salmon or chicken, I do a minimum of 3lbs.

Seriously, if your reason for not cooking is not enough time or don't like cleaning, then reduce both by cooking once and having food for a week.