Do you ever want a break from cooking?

[winterybella]

Sometimes I think I do, and then I get cranky because no one seems to be cooking the way that pleases me. Today is a fine example.

I announced early that I was not cooking. That being the case, my husband would handle that responsibility. Before you knew it I was in the kitchen trying to direct things. Naturally, there was a little fight of words and I ended up preparing a little bit of this and that. He did the bulk of the cooking and now I am here regretting I did not prepare everything as is mostly the case.

Mind you my body needs a break. I am exhausted. Do you ever want a break from cooking?

 

[Caribbean girl]

I guess this is the case with most of us. There are 2 days during the week that I do not cook. One of these days is Monday, since we usually eat food that was left over from the Sunday. I would cook enough on Sunday that would serve for 2 days. This has been the case in our family from as far back as I can remember. I know of lots of other people who do this too. Once a week I would buy fast food and this also gives me a break away from the kitchen. There are also times during the year when I may have a luncheon or 2 to attend, and one of these is our church luncheon. Going out to lunch to celebrate someone's birthday is also a chance to get away from the kitchen.

 

[Food4thought]

I don't think of cooking as a chore that I need to take a break from. It's something I enjoy doing. This does not mean I can't appreciate eating out occasionally with friends or having a vacation where I don't have to cook any meals, but it does mean that I never buy fast food or ready meals.

 

[clairebeautiful]

Oh honey. Yes.

I have four kids.

My husband gives me the weekends off of preparing breakfasts and lunches, which are the bane of my cooking existence. I have to admit that I like my eggs better, but the extra minutes in bed certainly make a slightly better breakfast (that I would cook) not worth it. Haha.

As for a break from cooking dinner, most often I take one night a week and we either order pizza or I do a freezer meal - something I doubled and froze half. This has made my life infinitely easier. For me it isn't the cooking so much as the clean up. I love having something ready to go that also makes cleanup a snap.

 

[winterybella]

I don't think of cooking as a chore that I need to take a break from. It's something I enjoy doing. This does not mean I can't appreciate eating out occasionally with friends or having a vacation where I don't have to cook any meals, but it does mean that I never buy fast food or ready meals.

I do enjoy cooking, no question. But like you I would love to eat out occasionally. I think my good cooking has the entire household spoiled so I am always expected to be in the kitchen. I say this in the most modest way. I would love a little time out sometimes. I am even willing to supervise.

In my case I think I just need a holiday and maybe that has nothing to do with cooking.

 

[DancingLady]

I used to cook dinner every day but I did end up wanting a break and just wanting food to land on my plate. After buying some frozen dinners that were on sale, I decided to make my own frozen dinners. Now I do that nearly every day, just thaw out and warm up and there it is. I am very busy these days so it really helps me save time and not be so stressed. I an also able to eat better that way because I can set aside time to make a whole weeks worth of meals at once and make sure they are very nutritious and have good variety, then I don't have to think about it every day and produce does not spoil on me.

 

[winterybella]

I used to cook dinner every day but I did end up wanting a break and just wanting food to land on my plate. After buying some frozen dinners that were on sale, I decided to make my own frozen dinners. Now I do that nearly every day, just thaw out and warm up and there it is. I am very busy these days so it really helps me save time and not be so stressed. I an also able to eat better that way because I can set aside time to make a whole weeks worth of meals at once and make sure they are very nutritious and have good variety, then I don't have to think about it every day and produce does not spoil on me.

I have never had much success with freezing anything. I also believe it's kind of a culture thing as well. It took a long time before I had my family eating food from the previous day. Our culture dictated that a woman cook everyday. Fortunately most of us have graduated from that primitive way of thinking.

It's looking like I will be at work all day today and it's killing me that I might have to "settle" for something in the mall. I should look at your frozen food approach and see if it can work for me. I prepare my own to my particular nutritional needs and be good to go. No "settling".

 

[Caribbean girl]

I have a friend who was once on a class with me, and she told me she would cook food on Sundays for the entire week, so that she would not have to get up every morning to prepare a meal before coming to the class. She would prepare a variety of meals too. To me that sounded like the whole day Sunday being spent in the kitchen. However, as I mentioned above, I do cook enough on Sunday to last for Monday, but definitely not for a whole week. At Christmas time the same thing ensues. The Christmas lunch is usually enough to last over for the day after Christmas. There is no cooking in my house on that day, just lots of rest and relaxation. The turkey itself could last a whole week, but instead, some of it is kept back for New Year's day.

 

[winterybella]

I can't get away with the whole week scenario. Pass day two and my son in particular will be heading to Kentucky or Chefette. I have to confess I start to get bored by day two as well. If it's rice, I am prepared to jazz that up for a few days well. There is no limit to the things I can do with rice. It would be so interesting to do the freezing.

 

[Jade]

I don't cook daily so I don't feel the need to take a break since I am pretty much on break majority of the time but I imagine that I would get a bit tired or sick of it if I had to do it everyday. Any worker at his or her job would feel the same way at some point I think, but of course after the break if the person really did love their job then they would be eager to go back again.

 

[winterybella]

I don't cook daily so I don't feel the need to take a break since I am pretty much on break majority of the time but I imagine that I would get a bit tired or sick of it if I had to do it everyday. Any worker at his or her job would feel the same way at some point I think, but of course after the break if the person really did love their job then they would be eager to go back again.

Jade you are so right. As someone who loves to cook, I don't mind taking a break every now and then. And like you said, you usually come back with a bang. Whenever I have eaten out and things don't go well, I come back to my kitchen with a vengeance, all guns blazing. A lot of times I would create my version of what I might have had while out that did not pass the test.

 

[sorrowscall]

Only when people are being backseat cooks while I'm trying to make spaghetti! I can't stand it when people tell me how to make something so simple I could teach it to a child. It just gets on my nerves and makes me just want a break. However, I always remember how much fun cooking is. Then, it doesn't bother me much anymore since I can just ignore them or take what advice they have that might be helpful.

 

[Zyni]

I do enjoy cooking, no question. But like you I would love to eat out occasionally. I think my good cooking has the entire household spoiled so I am always expected to be in the kitchen. I say this in the most modest way. I would love a little time out sometimes. I am even willing to supervise.

In my case I think I just need a holiday and maybe that has nothing to do with cooking.

I can SO relate to this. Your post reads as if I could have written it, lol. I was just talking about this, as Thanksgiving draws near. I love to cook, but yeah, we all need a break sometimes.

 

[winterybella]

Today is one of those days I was thinking I need a break. So I go and pick something up from a deli of sorts. I start to eat and then I wish I had prepared something from home. I don't know that I am picky. If I am paying for food I like them to get it right or give it to me free of charge.

I guess I am in the real world. Who's to say we have the same ideas on taste anyway? Zyni as it relates to those sitting at home waiting for us to cook, we are going to have to come up with a master plan for them.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I'm currently experiencing an unwanted break from cooking because I am bed bound at the moment and can't sit or stand due to a back problem. This means I am on my husband's cooking and this week I have been served jacket potatoes 3 times, chips 3 times and an omelette... It will be really nice to be able to get back into the kitchen when I can stand again!