Spyke
pawb.social

My solution is just to act like I'm cooking for 12 people, and have leftovers for the rest of the week.

94
lemmy.world

Yup, I'm doing the same. Cooking 4 portions, then eating them all while crying

42

I cook four portions, my husband has a portion, I have one too, my son then eats two portions and says he's still hungry.

You can't meal prep with pre-teens/teens in the house. This kid will eat leftover roast chicken for breakfast, like the whole damn thing.

I cry while grocery shopping and pray to saint peanut butter for help

3
lemmy.world

You forgot breathing in and out 24/7 to stay alive to get to your soul-sucking job.

33
Stupereply
lemm.ee

Life would be so much easier if we didn't have to constantly breathe.

3
sh.itjust.works

Thanks for your input, Chef Boyardee. I always make sure to put great store in ad-hominems from fictionalized canned MRE mascots. Take your shitty ravioli high horse and go ride off into the sunset with the Sunkist tuna.

Edit: "fictional" to "fictionalized"

29
MTK
lemmy.world

Lucky you! I've got a simple solution, only use single use plastic, then all you have to do is just put a big plastic bag over your table and when you're done eating you just pick up the bag, close it all up and throw it away and that way you just leave the problem to your grandchildren and they'll die from climate change.

68
wunamireply
lemmy.world

You do the cooking with single use plastic too?

12
MTKreply
lemmy.world

Tin foil, tin pans, microwave. Be more creative!

2
MTKreply
lemmy.world

Now your comment makes no sense, bazinga!

2
jaybonereply
lemmy.zip

Hire prostitutes and make them do your dishes. Tell them it’s your kink.

5
Lemminaryreply
lemmy.world

And here I get the side eye and a sigh when I want to talk about my feelings together. 😢

3

At that point, we’re just doing the dishes and talking about our feelings.

2

The authorities were very clear that I need to stop doing that.

1
lemm.ee

My demented father cannot even use the bathroom correctly. He will not help me.

10
lemmy.world

I’ve been eating the same two-pound portion of taco meat for the past four days. Usually in soft-shell tacos, but sometimes in frittatas. The trick is to be dead inside.

25

I love tacos. I could eat tacos every day and never get tired of them. All varieties are good with me. Corn tortillas, flour tortillas, crispy fried tacos, taquito, even crunchy taco shells. There used to be a dive bar near where I lived in 2015 that would do $5 for 5 beef or bean crunchy tacos with cheese, lettuce, dice tom, and sour cream and I'd easily polish off 10-20 of those with a beer or two (I don't live near there anymore and the bar closed down right before COVID due to the building be demo'd)

My wife isn't big on eating the same thing for more than 2 days in a row and I miss the days of eating tacos 4-5 times a week by choice.

You're not dead inside. You're living a dream of mine right now.

1
lemmy.ca

I wash as I cook. Usually you have moments when you're waiting anyway. Means I have serving dishes only afterwards.

Had to make it a habit though in order to force myself to do it. Took years to train the habit.

18

I’m trying to not do that, because I always forget that I’ll need the things I’ve just washed again.

10

I do that, but the more complicated the meal, the less down time there is, and the more stuff there is you can't clean up until the end.

Also, if you use serving dishes, rather than just serve out of the pot / pan, that's another thing to clean. It's true that cleaning a pot or pan is normally a bit harder than a serving dish. But, IMO the extra bit to clean means it's not worth it.

It is a bit of a triumph when the only thing to clean after dinner is a single pot or pan though. And, pro-tip, you can make the pans easier to clean after dinner if you dump a bit of water in them as you're sitting down to eat. Even 30 minutes is enough to turn the remains of a delicious sauce into sludge at the bottom of the pan. But, soaking while you eat makes it super quick to scrape it out afterwards.

5

I wash as I go too, but there are still the after dinner dishes, and like the main pot/pan left over, the forks, the endless cups the just accumulate everywhere with having a whole family with adhd..

I tend to make everything by scratch, so I've only myself to blame (it's cheaper tho). Washing as you go helps, but it's not a full cure.

I posted cookies I made last night, and the only reason I didnt melt the butter with the lemon zest was to save pulling out and dirting my sauce pan I just cleaned from dinner.

3
lemmy.world

How old is this woman, and where does her hairline start? Is she in her 30s or 60s? Is her hair blonde or white?

16

Old, near the top, but it still flows down. Dunno exact age. Blonde, but not everyone loses hair color.

6
CritFailreply
lemmy.world

Pretty sure it's from a film (I can't remember which)- the character had cancer.

2

Oh! That explains why things are this way! She's in-between all these things. Good for her! She's aging in her own way and it's wonderful!

2
lemm.ee

2 hours of cooking for a 10 minute meal sounds like a skill issue.

14

My last dinner was 12hrs of cooking for a 10min meal. I love slow cooker beef and veggies stew

5

Yeah that's like first time making a recipe. Third time around, the kitchen should be doing most of the work for you. You can just casually prep and blend while listening to a podcast.

1

Weekly meal prep. Yeah it means repeated meals, but you can switch it up every week. It's the only way I get by. Plus I feed 5-6 people. So I'm not making one meal at a time, I'm making twenty or thirty.

13
lemmy.world

do you people just cook for a single meal wtf

11

so you don't end up like the meme? idk what being single has to do with anything. if you're spending two hours to cook it better not be for one meal; that's a huge waste of time.

4
lemmy.dbzer0.com

OK, tell me what in the world you are cooking that takes two hours. And putting something in the oven for an hour is not really any work, is it?

8

For real, folks need to watch more Jamie Oliver. Condense your pans and ingredient lists, make sauce for a few days, use parchment paper, etc

8
PlzGivHugsreply
sh.itjust.works

You underestimate how bad we can be at cooking. It takes me like an hour just to peal and chop up ingredients for even a simple dish like mashed potatoes or stir fry.

7

Stop ringing the potatoes and peel them instead!

And grammar jokes aside, I try to do prep work ahead of time sometimes. Potatoes can be peeled and placed in a bowl of water in the fridge prior to cutting and mashing. I will chop up things like broccoli and carrots for stir fry. I make a gumbo where I take a pepper of each color, red green orange yellow, and dice them small, so like mini dice. I've gotten pretty good at it, but I'm no chef or anything, so it'll eat up fifteen minutes or so, so for the gumbo I dice my peppers, slice the green onions, put them all in a bowl in the fridge ahead of time. Extra points if it's during the workday.

1
Drusasreply
fedia.io

Spoken like someone who has never made soup.

1
ddashreply
lemmy.dbzer0.com

Right, simmering something for an hour at low temperature is not an hour of work for you. Same principle applies as for the oven I mentioned.

2

Okay, someone who has never made soup stock and then soup with it before.

Also, make me a chowder that takes that little attention, or a bisque.

0
lemmy.world

Clean as you go and there is very little left to be done after the meal.

7
lemm.ee

Remember, you are dealing with people that never cook, and for some reason think they know what they're talking about.

4

And I suppose you have personal knowledge that they never cook, since they are constantly pulling your shitty food off the grocery shelves?

-2
sh.itjust.works

There is a reason why the cooks and bussers are different people. Not everyone wants to get dishwater in their food from whatever tool they use to clean, nor do I have time while things are cooking and requiring near-constant attention to properly wash my hands 10 times as i go back and forth while cooking a single meal.

-1
mriormroreply
lemm.ee

What? Cleaning as you cook is about cleaning the shit you use to cook as you make your food.

That just mostly means wiping shit down, stacking pots and pans as they're used, and organizing before you start (mise en place is a huge help in this).

3

Great and I already wipe down some things. Genuine question, however, because maybe it will actually lead to a productive insight that can help me when cooking: How do you do as-you-go cleaning with the following things:

  • Things that have touched raw meat
  • Things with a bunch of fat
  • Things that have caramelized sugar or starchy remnants stuck on them

Because, in each of these cases, all of which are common, I have to wash them with hot water and soap, and they require using something to wash them. These tools, such as sponges, pads and brushes, are universally filled with dishwater and germs that I don't want in my food, and the process sends that dishwater spewing up like toilet spume. These are also time-consuming, and their washing is incompatible with most of the dishes I make, which require near-constant attention.

1

Whatever. Really, I just love how there is always someone willing to climb that hill and tell me how to cook. It takes no time to clean as you are cooking. If you can't properly wash your hands that is on you but somehow I manage to cook my meals and the cleanup at the end is always brief.

2

We recently got an airfryer. it helps cut down prep time and ease of cleaning to the point I don't get upset about it anymore. Would highly recommend if you haven't got one already

7

I get that it can feel that way, but if you actually time it, it's like 15 minutes.

1

Total time for loading is broken up over quite a few meals for me (usually). It also can take a little time extra if you have to do some extra drying on unloading. That said, it’s probably 20 minutes total AND uses less water AND means that I don’t have to do the majority of the work. I love my dishwasher.

2

2 hrs?

Do you spend 6 hrs a day cooking and do not do any clean as you go?

Wtf are you preparing? Are you stuffing a turkey each meal?

6
lemmy.world

Meals in countries that take food seriously last longer and are meant to be enjoyed with family and friends. Its just our shitty culture that causes this problem.

6
lemm.ee

What do you mean by countries that take food seriously? I lived in a few different countries (never in the US) and can't really picture that

5

If food is viewed and enjoyed as an experience rather than a necessity as a culture, I think it leads to huge shifts in so many aspects of daily living.

4
PlaidBaronreply
lemmy.world

I dont mean EVERY meal but getting together with neighbors, family, friends ect. is more common in places like Italy for example.

-2
boonhetreply
lemm.ee

The US also has literal holidays centered around sharing a meal with friends or family. Thanksgiving turkey, 4th of July barbecue...

I'd wager the reason people eat in 10 minutes instead of an hour is the same as it is everywhere else: after an 8 hour workday, you feel like all you've got between work and sleep is a few hours and you don't want to waste it on something boring like eating.

11
boonhetreply
lemm.ee

I'm not American, I'm Estonian lmao, but I bet you're one of those Americans who wants to seem cultured so you talk about how much better things are in other countries? Am I wrong?

Edit: Nvm, Canadian - but up till like 2 months ago you guys were America Lite tbh

6

Estonia is Russia lite my bro. Or Poland lite. Take your pick I guess. Whoever owned your ass the most recently.

-6
Flatfirereply
lemmy.ca

I feel like the post is more about the moment of, not the days after. Making several days worth of food doesn't delay the need to do dishes once you're done eating tonight's dinner.

2

No but having one plate, one reusable box, one fork, one knife and one wine glass to wash is a lot less than all the things I use for cooking.

Knives, spoons, blender, pans, pots, containers, and most annoyingly, the cutting board. Because you want to take care of that nice wooden cuttingboard and make sure it's clean and dry.

1

Like they're going to eat left-overs.....

I might get away with white rice that I can make fried rice out of the next day

1
feddit.org

Meal prep, and cooking stuff that doesn't need much involvement.

I eat 6 meals per day when I'm trying to gain weight, and it can be done with very little time spent cooking.

4

I haven't had the need for that in a long time. I've been working out for so long that my maintenance calories are 3700 right now. I can eat whatever I want and still hit my protein goal within my calorie budget

3

So true! I am trying to cook one pot or bake recipes, dump it all and forget about it. It is the only way not to go insane with 1000 pots and dishes to clean.

3

it's a skill. learning to live single after growing up in a family is a big change. i still remember paying a co-worker fifty bucks once to wash my dishes.

3
lemmy.world

And after all that cooking turns out you have leftovers for like 1 extra meal at best

3
Dozzi92reply
lemmy.world

My kids are getting older and we're getting to the point where we need to cook bigger. Even takeout has gotten to the point where we need more. Its unsustainable, they will have to fight each other.

1
lemmy.world

That’s why I know I’m never going to be a foodie or even remotely enjoy cooking. I just don’t want to spend all that time only to be done eating so soon. Some dishes just aren’t worth the time invested.

If you enjoy cooking as a hobby, great. But since I don’t, I’m choosing easy to make things whenever possible.

Heck, I don’t even like going to restaurants. The wait is usually far too long compared to the actual meal.

2
mriormroreply
lemm.ee

Cooking isn't just a hobby. It's a necessary life skill.

10
kofereply
lemmy.world

Yeah, and part of that skill can be recognizing some meals arent worth it just to enjoy as a hobby. Like I dont fuck with recipes I cant make large batches for leftovers and freeze

4

Oh absolutely! Meal planning and batch cooking are absolute lifesavers (both nutritionally and for our wallets).

1

I like cooking but only for other people lol. If it’s just me you know I’m throwing in this week’s seventh Red Baron Classic Crust Pepperoni pizza.

2
grrgylereply
slrpnk.net

I also kind of hate the foodie thing (probably class resentment), so I like making easy "one pot" type meals that aren't too fussy on the timing. Like tomato baked beans, dal, tossed chickpeas, etc.

I like that even if I decide to just do the simplest version imaginable. Like lentils with salt and pepper, it's still going to be delicious and nutritious. Then if I feel like doing a bit more work on it, say adding some more interesting spices, I get to see the benefits of every little bit of extra effort immediately.

But I'll fukn die before I call myself a foodie rofl.

1
grrgylereply
slrpnk.net

You admit it??!?

But I also use a lot of spices … like to give em a little toast too … hand-ground of course …

1

Yeah? Maybe we mean different things when we say that word though.

To me, I mean that I enjoy food the way other people enjoy whatever it is that they're passionate about. So I have a few fancy kitchen gadgets and a well-stocked spice cabinet, and I'd budget for and save for a trip to a nice restaurant the way other people budget for sneakers or makeup or whatever. I don't think that's a weird thing to 'admit.'

3

During the pan my relationship with food became standing over the sink and eating quickly prepared meals. Only now that I'm in a relationship are real meals happening again because she loves to cook. She had to persuade me to buy a two-seater kitchen table before we lived together.

2

And that's why my "necessary life skill" cooking lifehack is to just know that if you cook something big enough, it'll last you enough portions for two or three days without that much extra cooking work. And you'll only have to clean the cooking pot half (or one third) of the time.

1
lemm.ee

Those numbers are off. It takes me about half an hour to cook a meal. I clean while things are cooking if I can. And it takes me about the same time to eat. I get that it's a joke, but it's entirely unrealistic unless you're doing things very wrong.

-2

Depends on what you're cooking.

For example: I can throw together some pasta and have it be done in 20 minutes, 45 minutes, an hour, 2 hours, or 6 hours. All depending on the type of pasta I'm making, how many people I'm serving, and how complex I want to get and how many layered flavors I'm trying to build or if I want to make my own fresh noodles or use some dried noodles in the pantry.

However, no matter the process I use, at the end I usually only have one pot, serving utensils, and dishes used for the meal. I clean while I cook very effectively, but there are times where timings of cooking techniques prevent that and I'll have to do some quick cleanup before serving.

2
Aux
feddit.uk

Cooking a steak takes 5 minutes. You make a side salad while it's frying. Everything goes into the dishwasher in a few more minutes. Not sure what your problem is...

-4
Auxreply

If you have a Ninja Speedy, you can cook loads of dishes in 10-15 minutes, but only for 1-2 people at once. My fav is to cube potatoes and pork belly at 2cm size, mix with salt, spices and oil, put everything in the device and cook for 12 minutes in steam + air fry mode.

2

A dishwasher not my hands? What is this wild technology you speak of?

Edit, I was attempting humor.. gosh, not everyone has a fuckin dishwashing machine..

-1

But then I have to work an extra 10 hours of my minimum wage job just to eat for 10 minutes. The ratio is even worse!

5
lemmy.world

It takes 5-15 minutes to prepare whatever you’re cooking. It takes an hour or two for it to sit in the oven while you don’t do anything other then wait for it to cook. It takes 5 minutes to wash everything after.

You spent 20 minutes actually doing anything and there’s 16 hours in a day. Boo fucking hoo.

-8
Rolderreply
reddthat.com

I just throw shit in the microwave and call it a day personally

2
Coreidanreply
lemmy.world

Right and I bet you think you’re a big man chef with your microwave meals

0
boonhetreply
lemm.ee

Do you exclusively cook meals that go in the oven and that's it? No sauces to simmer, etc?

I think if I'm ever staying at your house, I'm ordering McDonalds lmao

4
sh.itjust.works

I cook damn near every night and I'd like to think my food is decent, not amazing but decent. I'm not making my own sauces but will do lots of searing the meat on a cast iron and then throw in the oven while the vegetables are being steamed. Takes about 30-40 minutes and 10 minutes to clean dishes. The only way I'm cooking for 2 hours is if it's a weekend and I'm batch cooking for lunch meals.

If you're cooking every meal with homemade sauces to simmer, that is great but your standards are higher than most people.

1

To be fair, I don't take 2 hours every time to simmer, I was just pissed off at the guy who says cooking takes less than 5 minutes. I do usually try to make some sauce for most things, but it's nothing too fancy. It's either that or fries and some sort of meat in the oven which does indeed take less than 5 minutes - but makes me feel like a lazy piece of shit every time, so I don't do it too often.

Thing is, I grew up with my mom being stay-at-home and we didn't have all that much money. So she always made the best of what she had, and when things started getting better financially, well, she still cooked every night, except now she had more money for more and higher quality ingredients. So I'm really spoiled when it comes to food.

1
Coreidanreply
lemmy.world

None of that takes any serious effort. Putting together a sauce and letting simmer is 5 minutes of prep time. The cooking part is the pan sitting there simmering and you stir occasionally.

Honestly if that is a TON of work for you maybe the issue is incompetence.

So many lazy folks on here holy SHIT.

-2

I usually can't even get all my ingredients washed, peeled and chopped in under 5 minutes. Do you just throw everything on the pan at once and that's it?

3

Because there is no variety in foods and how they are prepared.

3