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How many times a week do you cook dinner?

Posted: Oct 16, 2011

I was just wondering if people cook dinner every day of the week anymore? When I was a kid, my mom made dinner every night except for Fridays which was "eat out" night. Course mom was a full time mom and housewife. Today's women generally work FT and are trying to do it all.

I've been feeling guilty because I don't cook as often as I used to. One of my daughter's friends asked me why I never cook dinner! I do cook dinner, just not as much as most people. I work 2nd shift, so whenever friends are over after school, I'm usually working in my office. But now I just feel bad.

I don't think I would want to cook every day because the leftovers would be overwhelming. When I was married and their dad was living at home, I could always count on him to eat the leftovers, but now that he's not here, well let's just say my kids have a tendency to not eat a lot of leftovers and I have had things go bad and have to be thrown out.

Eh, maybe I'm just going through one of those superwoman guilt fests where I want to be able to work, keep house, cook dinner, help the kids with homework, volunteer at school functions, and feel bad because I'm just so tired I don't even want to cook dinner. I'll get over it...

;

6, plus lunch and breakfast and am happy to - Hope

[ In Reply To ..]
do so.

I do and - love to cook

[ In Reply To ..]
try to make as much from scratch as possible. I like to use a lot of fresh ingredients. I do try to gauge how much will be eaten that night to try to not have much in the way of leftovers. There are times that I get really tired and will use boxed spaghetti instead of making my own noodles or used a mix/box, but I have my kids helping out in the kitchen chopping and cooking, so it is not as hard. They prefer the fresh homemade so are willing to help out to get it. We try to make up a menu for the month, so the shopping list is easy and they know what to help with. We do factor in nights to get carry out and even leftover nights when needed. I find by planning everything out ahead of time, it does not seem as much in the way of work.

Don't guilt yourself, if what you are doing is working for you and your family and everyone is healthy and happy, then you are doing a good job.

Dinner - ozmt

[ In Reply To ..]
Working 2nd shift certainly makes it a harder. DH or I make dinner nearly every night (takeout about twice per month) but it doesn't have to be fancy. We make a meal plan each week which helps enormously. This week's includes tuna casserole, butter chicken (slow cooker), frozen fish & chips, beef stirfry, pasta bake. Most of those only have about 20-30 minutes where we need to be right there cooking or preparing, the rest of hte time is simmering, baking, etc.

If we have something like steak and salad or vegetables, there's usually not leftovers (or just a little which goes to the dog) as we cook the right amount. If we're having something like pasta, curry, casserole, etc, we deliberately make extra - either enough for one of us to have reheated for lunch in the next day or so (or frozen for one of us to have when the other is out for the evening) or a double or triple batch which means we only have to reheat and cook fresh pasta or rice or potatoes another night in a few weeks' time.

Our slow cooker/crock pot is great for cooking double or triple batches of meals as well - we can do a big cookup on the weekend, portion it up into meals and freeze.

Sites like food.com also have lots of great cook-ahead recipes including OAMC (once-a-month cooking)

Dinner - luv2cook

[ In Reply To ..]
I cook every night of the week and also do hot breakfast every morning for kids and husband. My husband takes leftovers for lunch, so they do get eaten. My son is so spoiled that he cannot understand how his friends eat box mac and cheese and hot dogs for supper. I told him he better learn to cook so he can feed himself when he gets older. He told me his wife will cook for him or he would just live at home with me forever. I guess I've created a monster. I would not worry about it though. We all do what we can. Maybe you can get your daughter to put something together 1 or 2 nights a week. The crock pot would be a great idea for you with working second shift.

Probably 4 - busy mt mom

[ In Reply To ..]
My kids are older now and involved in EVERYTHING. We are always running to something and we are so, so busy. I usually make dinner 4 nights a week. When they were smaller, it was easier and more like 6, but these days it is harder. We eat on the run a lot more. We are always together still, but I know those days are numbered too. They are growing up too, too fast for me.

how many times do we cook dinner - Laney

[ In Reply To ..]
Once or twice per week TOPS. I work FT outside of the home and have often felt the guilt of not being on top of domestic duties that my mother excelled at. I have also been subjected to offhand comments from friends of my daughter about the cleanliness level of our place. (Note, her mother works PT and is a neat freak-always cleaning their home!). I chalk it up to the child being 'rude' rather than to me lacking. Every home is different and whether or not you prepare a pre-conceived dish every night for your child, doesn't mean you care for them any less :) I'm sure you're doin a wonderful job:)

so glad I saw your post - Thought I was alone

[ In Reply To ..]
I make dinner 1 or 2 times a week, usually the same thing. No one will eat left overs. My kids are little. I work FT as well out of the house and my husband has a crazy schedule, we never know exactly when he'll be home. PS...he is a restaurant manager and my cooking doesn't compare to what he could eat at work :) I also lack in the home up-keep as well. Never enough time in the day!!

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