Finding the perfect middle ground on cooking, time, eating out

[galliver]

Cabot makes a surprising number of lactose free cheeses that taste and act like regular cheese. We even found a latcose free mozzarella in the regular grocery store that was pretty delicious. One of my friends became lactose intolerant last year and it's been a huge change for us, but once we found those it was like urika!!!

I'm sorry to be That Person on The Internet, but... "Eureka."

[jeninco]

We actually do fairly detailed meal planning Friday night/Saturday morning. I'll look over the grocery sales flier, look to see what we still have in the refrigerator, solicit suggestions, and look through a cookbook for inspiration if necessary. Then I'll write down every single ingredient we need, along with the list on the fridge of what we ran low on during the week. And stuff we'll need for lunches and snacks.
All the shopping happens Saturday (while my husband and the teenagers clean the house -- all the chores get done at once!).

The menu (complete with store-induced changes -- the tuna actually came from Vietnam, so I substituted salmon, the broccoli looked good and the red peppers looked crummy) goes onto a white board on the fridge. Some meals are planned to be fast, some take a bit longer, some can cook themselves in a pre-programmed oven while I get kids from soccer practices. Some (especially in the summer) can be room-temperature whole-meal salads. (It's warming up -- it's almost the start of the "Nicois Salad family" season, i.e. potatoes, vegetable, some kind of grilled meat, something spicy and yummy, some other garnishes. We might start with "German", potatoes, cooked cabbage, spicy-mustard-based dressing, grilled sliced sausages, sauerkraut,  and culminate the summer with traditional Nicois.)

The important part of this is that (1) all the thinking happens at once, but after that the decision-making is pretty well finished, (2) all the dinners are typically things I like (so I never look at the menu and think "Ugh, I don't want that.." Also, I work from home, so some amount of meal prep can happen during my lunch break, or when I stop working at 3:30.  Also, I enjoy thinking about food, and everyone here likes eating!

[jfisher3]

By far the simplest way I've found to eat. I discovered this when trying to find a human alternative to dog kibble.

There is such thing as Monkey Chow. Before purchasing a large amount, you may want to watch this: http://www.angryman.ca/monkey.html

Why in the world you would want to eat a human alternative to dog kibble is beyond me, however. A diet of beans, brown rice, a half-dozen or more of your favorite veggies, a few fruits and a bit of meat, eggs or milk products (on most days) would make up a generally complete human diet. If you have access to an array of spices and/or herbs, this could be fairly easy to automate: Indian spices on Monday, Mexican on Tues, French on Wed and so forth. Throw in eggs or throw on yogurt every other day and whatever veggies seem to go with the theme (can of tomatoes and some frozen corn for Mexican night, for instance; bell peppers and cauliflower on Indian night, maybe). Automatic, variable, easy to add further variations per season or sale (different vegetables, different variations on region, add meat perhaps).

It's not that I'm looking to exclusively eat monkeychow or anything like that, I'm more looking for a handy alternative for busy days, when I forget lunch, when I forget to eat, etc etc. Having something that I know I could just eat X amount of this and not have to worry about my macronutrients or calorie density, and I can focus on the project I'm obsessing over is ideal for those times.

I just bought a 3 weeks supply of Soylent, and will be going 3 weeks with nothing but that and whey protein (weight lifting, I need more than 60g of protein).

[Ricky]

Thanks for all the helpful replies.

I think Budgetbytes (cheap batch cooking in general), for me, is going to be the most helpful. I'd rather find about 20 recipes I like, memorize, and just batch cook and freeze. Then I'll still eat out occasionally to break things up.

I actually do enjoy the actual cooking part - I will still likely prepare the same breakfast I've been making every morning because it's a great routine and gives me a reason to get out of bed.

Some very good tips here. Getting your tools in line, stocking up on staples, and learning basic cooking techniques are definitely required in order to move any farther. I still need to buy some glass containers that are freezer-safe so I'm getting there. I have a set of Pyrex already, but their lids are plastic and I don't think they're airtight.

[Bucksandreds]

Chipotle, Panera, Cosi, Piada at $7-$8per person is the type of place we eat. 1-2 times per week at those prices and we get to get out, eat good tasting, reasonably healthy food with no prep or clean up.  90% of our meals are at home. $20-$30 for a family to eat out and save time while enjoying each other's company here or there is totally worth it, if you make 6 figures or more. Now on minimum wage, it's a rip off.

[horsepoor]

Make a list of your go to meals.  What are the things you LIKE to eat?  Most people have a limited number of meals (7 to 10) that they eat on repeat.  Most of do this even though we don't realize it.  It certainly makes it easier to develop a routine and dial in the grocery shopping and the food prep.

This might sound like a lot of extra work, but I've found that it makes things easier/faster and more enjoyable for me in the long run. And I'm a bit of a culinary nerd who likes this stuff. :-)

I have a long Word document on my computer in which I save all the recipes I love (with their source). It's organized by season, and within each season, there are categories for things like breakfast, soup, dessert, etc. It's a bit of extra work on the front end, but it makes it really easy to eat things that are in season (and therefore generally fresher and cheaper), and it's easy to scroll through and find, say, a great winter muffin recipe. (I can also use the "find" function to search for a particular ingredient if I have a lot of something I want to use up.) No need to rack my brain for something that sounds good or to flip through a million cookbooks or websites. It also keeps things interesting! Since I'm not eating, say, "Chipotle Quinoa Sweet Potato Tacos with Roasted Cranberry Pomegranate Salsa" every week throughout the year, I'm more excited about them in the winter, when cranberries and pomegranates are in season and a warm, filling, spicy meal sounds good.

Pinterest is good for this too.  I have one giant board for entrees, but I should probably split it up a bit.  I like being able to scroll through the photos and see what looks good, plus it's easy to do a search on the same site if I need a recipe I don't have pinned.

[Sylly]

This might sound like a lot of extra work, but I've found that it makes things easier/faster and more enjoyable for me in the long run. And I'm a bit of a culinary nerd who likes this stuff. :-)

I have a long Word document on my computer in which I save all the recipes I love (with their source). It's organized by season, and within each season, there are categories for things like breakfast, soup, dessert, etc. It's a bit of extra work on the front end, but it makes it really easy to eat things that are in season (and therefore generally fresher and cheaper), and it's easy to scroll through and find, say, a great winter muffin recipe. (I can also use the "find" function to search for a particular ingredient if I have a lot of something I want to use up.) No need to rack my brain for something that sounds good or to flip through a million cookbooks or websites. It also keeps things interesting! Since I'm not eating, say, "Chipotle Quinoa Sweet Potato Tacos with Roasted Cranberry Pomegranate Salsa" every week throughout the year, I'm more excited about them in the winter, when cranberries and pomegranates are in season and a warm, filling, spicy meal sounds good.

I've always wanted something along this line. I think there are softwares for this purpose, but from what I've found, the good ones aren't free (or cheap). I've contemplated trying out ones that offer free trials, just to see if there's any one that I like and/or has the features I want  (e.g.,  categories, search by ingredient(s)).

[Arktinkerer]

I seldom find it a problem to cook.  Rather enjoy it.  I echo what others say about freezing some foods for when you need to prepare something quickly. 
 
I would also add--plan to keep certain things in the fridge.  We usually have one or more of rice, potatoes, and beans sitting in the fridge.  Easy to warm these up and use in a dish.  We also try and have at least one meat--chicken, beef, pork, venison already cooked.  Homemade bread on the counter and another loaf or rolls in the freezer.  Always have tortillas on hand for wraps.  For salads, lettuce is out the back door with carrots, celery, onions in the pantry or fridge.  With these items it takes almost no time to throw something together if you don't want to do something fancy.  Only other hint is if you are chopping something, chop extra and put it in the fridge.
None of these really take long as far as prep time.  And having them available means a meal can be done and on the table in 30-45 minutes and often in <10 if you really are in a rush.

[Telecaster]

Also, lots of love for the Instant Pot.  It sounds like you don't want to be tied to the kitchen, and this automates a lot.  You can throw in beans, for instance, hit a button and walk away, then come back whenever you're ready for cooked beans (or soup, stew or a delicious curry if you're so inclined). 

Salads are probably our most automated meal.  We buy the big box of spring greens and pre-shredded coleslaw (yeah, face punch for the convenience...), celery, green onion and carrots, then DH and I each have our separate preferences on dressing the salad.  But it's nice to be able to just say "salad tonight" or "pick up salad stuff" and the expectation is the same each time.  You could go further by batching up your salad ingredient prep at the beginning of the week, or making jar salads, so all you have to do during the week is throw it on a plate and add dressing. Definitely faster than leaving the house to get to a restaurant and come back.

^^ All great advice.   Inspired by this board, I put the Instant Pot on my Amazon Christmas wish list (actually, the Cuisine Art).  Somebody bought it for me and...OMG awesome!    Suddenly tons of stuff that I would normally only cook on the weekend is now easily doable on a weeknight.   I use it easily three times a week.  Anything you can braise or cook in a slow cooker you can do in the pressure cooker, in about one third the time.  The thing is a game changer, it really is.

And yes, have basic salad greens, but then different "other stuff" to include so the salad is different every night.

And finally, a wok.  It is about the fastest way to cook that there is.  There is a little slicing and dicing, and then the frying, but typically you should be done in under 30 minutes.  Great way to make popcorn too.

[Vanguards and Lentils]

I've been working on lowering my overall food costs and while I'm not yet where I want to be, I've made some progress. Like the op I don't have an innate love of cooking, even as I've gotten more experienced. So I'll probably continuing eating out for some proportion of my meals and cooking for the rest. Already lots of great advice on automating cooking. I'll just agree with a previous poster that it's great to have things in the fridge. The best part of cooking for me is that for several meals after the initial preparation, I can just reheat leftovers. Little time and no real effort.

Not too many people have posted about eating out, so I'll share what I do. First off I mostly stick to fast food and fast casual places. I don't like paying for someone to wait on me, give me a menu, etc. It just feels like a waste of time and money (h/t to Dwight Schrute). With the lower end places, I find it's easier to maximize "value" in the sense of enjoyment per dollar spent. Most restaurant meals are not worth two trips to Chipotle, for instance.

My other strategies are mostly getting deals of some sort:

• not ordering drinks
• using coupons from the mail
• signing up for email clubs. This can be annoying for some people, but I set up email filters to mark them as read when they arrive, and just read them later.
• setting alerts on deals forums. For example, I get notified if anyone posts a forum topic with the word "Qdoba". I do this with fatwalletforums but I'm sure it can be done with slickdeals.
• buying discount gift cards. The gift cards I buy online average around 20% off face value.
• mobile apps. Example: Taco Bell (don't judge!), has an ongoing 25% off promotion if you order through their app. If you're in a college town, I'd also recommend hooked deals.

[Jouer]

Problem solved....

[hybrid]

Good thread, good comments.  I am struggling mightily with trading money for time. About 15 months ago I switched jobs. I got a significant pay raise, but I am working considerably longer hours now. The reality is I am investing a lot of time and effort at work and I just don't have the gas left in the tank to cook like I used to.  I've done the math, and eating out more compared to the money I am making now, it's just no comparison. I know purists will not like that answer, but everyone needs an answer that works best for them. When I look at the financial net worth spreadsheet the numbers work out just the way I want.

[LWYRUP]

We use a grab-bag approach.  We have a dead simple schedule:

Pasta Monday
Taco Tuesday
Egg Wednesday (frittata, quiche, scrambled eggs)
Fish Thursday
Pizza Friday

Saturday and Sunday are open days but frequently Saturday is a stir fry or some grilled meat and vegetable.  Sunday is meal prep day, frequently soup, stew, chili or maybe some rice and beans and chicken.Before quarantine, I meal prepped work lunches on Sunday, and also would bake fun things like muffins, etc.  Breakfast is dead simple -- eggs, toast, coffee, oatmeal, cereal, yogurt, granola (depending on the family member). 

We also buy in bulk from Costco and store, particularly for shelf stable things (plus a deep freezer).  Most of our base meals don't involve a recipe (pizza Friday is typically Costco frozen, one cheese for kids and one caulipower for adults).   We use paprika app to store new recipes (mostly for weekends / parties), and reserve the weekend for making fun or time consuming things.  I also liberally add to recipes as needed.  For example, my chili wasn't just a slop of ground beef and cheese but had quinoa, corn, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, jalepenos, zucchini, sausage, etc.  I just made a soup recipe and added corn, wild rice and peas.  I made it twice the size, and I'm going to fill up some mason jars for the freezer (leave room on top esp. for soup b/c water expands as it freezes). 

We work from staple recipes.  Like we make pancakes a ton, never waffles.  I make hummus a lot and can do various types -- the point was just to learn something that I could again and again on repeat for parties.  Then there's plenty of things I've never made.  On motivated days, we can add shrimp, vegetables, etc. to the pasta but on rough days everyone gets a bowl with pesto and peppers and you eat what you eat and don't get upset.