How Long Do You Spend In Cooking Everyday

One hour maximum per day. I do as much prep work as I can on weekends and the previous day: what can be chopped in advance gets done. My kid prefers to eat the school lunch, so I just have to assemble a snack box for her if she feels hungry at aftercare. Breakfast for her is simple: toast/eggs/waffles/cereal. The adults don’t eat breakfast. My DH will usually fix his own lunch if he’s working from home. He buys if he’s going to the office. Dinner is something quick and I make enough so I can have the leftovers for next day lunch. It helps that no one is fussy about food.

 

@gamma50g Just curious, if you are not in town or sick who does cooking in your household ?
Do you like cooking for this much time ? It depends on your preference
Personally I don't like cooking so I buy things which will make my life easier.
I have accepted that I'm getting older and have to
be make choices which will help my body and mind. Do what you think is right.
If you feel it is too much then find ways to make it easier either by hiring a cook or getting a helper whatever you feel comfortable doing.
Don't listen to anyone otherwise. Doer gets to make the decision.

 

9 months is overkill
Can’t your mil make some tiffin on her own and serve fil too ?
I feel like you need to break out of this routine. Can you hire helpers who can help you daily for an hour ?
I’m assuming your in-laws won’t eat previous day food.

 

Hello OP,

Here is the tips I follow, if it helps you, I am full time working mom with two kids, 8 and 4 in USA.

morning I wake up at 4:30 am and 5-6 I will do work out and I start cooking from 6 am , I will make one curry( mostly steamed and tadka not gravies), carrot/beets/beans what ever , I put rice on pressure cooker at 6:10 am, chop veggies I strictly make only for our lunch box sufficient for 4 people. I make curry by 6:45 am. In mean while I make breakfast that is idli/dosa/left over from dinner upmas, kids wont eat upma's they will go for bread or cereal. I pack all 4 lunch boxes by 7:30 am. Husband take care of packing kids 2 snack boxes and water, he makes kids ready, we all eat breakfast and leave home by 8:00 am.

Dinner : I use food processor to make dough, I cook dal directly on pressure cooker, I keep rice in cooker. we(Adults eat roti and kids eat rice with dal.

I make rasam on days I am working from home thu/friday and kids eat dal and rasam.

some times we all crave for paneer, chana sabzi's then I make them kids eat same meal with rice/roti.

If I end up making those curries I use them for lunch and morning make only roti.

If I make upma/sabudana/poha, we eat that for breakfast left over from dinner.

other wise our lunch box has 2 items one curry that made morning and left over dal from previous night.

If I make pastha then that will be used for kids next day lunch.

on weekends I make vegetable chutneys lauki/ridgegourd/tomato that we use as side dish for dosa/idli.

I spend morning 1 hour in kitchen and even about same time, dishes are taken care by husband.

we rarely eat out/get take outs. I enjoy this process and it is not too stressful, if it is some times, I ask some home cook's we have around to make same meal

I dont freeze any food, not make any prep works, I dont use frozen food other than frozen vegetables like peas.

hope this helps!!!

 

An hour and a half in the morning and 45 min to one hour in the evening sorts everything out for me.
I like to cook variety and cook alone.
While my hands are at work, I use that time to focus and plan my day. The whiteboard in my kitchen also sees a lot of action during that time.
The trick is to make it into a productive/meditative exercise rather than a chore.

 

I have answered most of your questions in these threads

Morning multitasking - whole day's cooking

How do YOU keep your kitchen always ready ?

What can You Make in 10 Minutes from Your Kitchen Right Now for Kids?