One of my resolutions for 2013 was to cook at least 52 meals from recipes.
Typical weeknight dinners at home for us in 2012 included:
heat-and-eat Indian food over microwave packets of brown rice
big salads
veggie burgers on buns with a steamed veg on the side
cheese and olive quesadillas
bean tacos with microwaved canned beans, cheese, olives and salsa
Lean Cuisine bagged steamer meals (I never eat these for lunch because you need a plate) (usually one of the two or three vegetarian pasta options)
prepared tofu with red bell peppers and snap peas purchased pre-made from the counter at the grocery store
grocery store sushi (brown rice, avocado, carrot and cucumber rolls for me)
prepared Israeli couscous with some veggies and too much oil purchased pre-made from the counter at the grocery store
boxed mac and cheese with microwaved fake chicken nuggets or buffalo wings (pretty rare, takes too long to boil the water and make the mac and cheese)
cereal (also pretty rare).
Not particularly healthy, inexpensive, or interesting. So my goal for 2013 that I set was to cook more from scratch this year. The dilemma however is that I usually work until at least 6:30 (often more like 7), it takes me at least 30 minutes to run home from work (usually about 35, but I also have to get dressed to run at work, which is another 5 or so minutes), and we try to head upstairs for bed around 8:00. That means that I really don't want to spend more than about 10 minutes putting together dinner. Ideally more like 5 minutes, then 20 minutes or so to eat, 5-10 minutes to clean up, then a few minutes to chill (and usually open the mail).
Solutions I'm going to try are using the crockpot one night during the week, but doing the prep either over the weekend or the night before, cooking a big enough meal over the weekend to yield leftovers, and planning meals in advance.
I'm going to try to keep track of the recipes I try and may do a few summary posts over the course of the year.
Yes! Post good recipes you come across! I cook usually 2-3 meals a week and need some new things to rotate in!
ReplyDeleteI'm in a similar boat - I get home after 6, need to be in bed by 10, and need to get a workout in before I sleep (but usually after dinner!). I find that by batch cooking on the weekends - vegetarian chili, a big batch of brown rice, roasted vegetables, roasted squash - I have the base to many good meals done, and I can quickly whip something tasty, cheap and nutritious up in 15 minutes or less.
ReplyDeleteGood luck!