How Do You Get in the Mood to Cook?

[cschin4]

How do you get in the mood to cook? Alot of times, there is plenty in the freezer but it just doesn't look that good. And, DH will open the fridge and not "see anything" and promptly head to Subway (his favorite). Some days I just don't feel like cooking. And, I know I should plan menus but haven't gotten on board with this yet. What do you do to entice yourself to cook?

[kealina]

i've also found it requires awareness and a conscious effort... self-discipline and reinforcement of each other... sometimes we look around and there isn't anything obvious but then we just start tossing out suggestions and see what sounds good... like this morning when we weren't sure what to eat and we almost ate leftovers destined for lunch...instead, i reminded DH that we had pancake mix in the closet and it would only take 15 minutes to make yummy pancakes...

we also try to keep fresh produce on hand so we have to eat that before it goes bad... salad, fruits, etc...right now we have salad, avocados, broccoli, mangos, apples, etc... i think it helps as we both hate seeing food go to waste... we also usually cook more than enough so that we have leftovers to eat...

and I find it helpful to have at least some "in-a-fix food" as i call it... for those times when we have finished the leftovers but are still hungry or need a quick snack but don't have time to make it before we head out the door or whatever else comes up... although we cook most of the time we still like to have something convenient in the freezer just in case... stuff like burritos or chicken sandwiches or even canned soup that you can heat and eat...
if we weren't on a diet we might have stuff like pot pies or frozen pizza that don't require much effort... usually we're pretty disciplined so one package of 20, (10) for each of us, will last maybe 2 months or more and this is for breakfast, lunch, and dinner as we both don't buy lunch out...

hope this helps

[Great to be Debt Free]

CSCHIN, I am right there with ya! I do NOT enjoy cooking. I do NOT like the preparations, the mess, the time, etc. But I do it. I hate cleaning as well. The best thing I have found -- okay, a couple of things.

A) Decide to pretend to like it. I do this when flying (on airplanes) as well. I pretend I do it everyday and I pretend to love it. It keeps me from getting stressed out by it. So basically, I pretend I'm hosting a cooking show or am a 1950s TV wife.
Other days, I
B) Make sure I am fully dressed with hair and makeup done, put on my vintage apron and my wedding tiara and make it fun that way.

(A glass of wine or a mini-bag of m&ms doesn't hurt either )

I usually play my favorite 80s music and sing along!

I also have found that the TASK of cooking is easier if I do plan ahead. That is, I find several meals I can make simultaneously. I will marinate chicken, pork tenderloin, shrimp and have them on hand to throw on the foreman grill (I like the one with removeable grates -- they are dishwasher safe, but I usually hadwash em to have em ready for the next day anyway-- but being removable still makes em easier to clean).

I love frozen veggies to add to these. I do watch the sodium content, but I also like the stir fry veggie mixes. A salad finishes off almost every meal.

When DH comes in and sees me in my getup or hears me singing as he pulls in, he knows he's getting fed good, but he also knows he's doing the dishes! LOL!

Yes, picture all this and you'll find I'm a loony! But it works for me!

[dshep]

Try making up two meals at once.... make hamburgers for dinner, use the rest of the meat to make taco meat... dinner the next night or two nights later. Use your crockpot... throw everything in, in the morning.. ( you can even throw in frozen meats) and you have dinner already cooked when your DH comes home.... there are alot of great recipes on recipezaar. Crockpot meals also usually make several meals, depending on what you make. You can freeze up the extras for those I dont want to cook nights and throw them in the microwave. I also keep lots of fresh veggies in the house and several kinds of cheese and at least one deli meat... so sandwiches can be made up in a flash... grilled cheese with, ham or turkey, roastbeef or pepperoni with a cup of soup is a great weeknight filler, when you dont want to cook a big meal. I dont make up a menu, till I have seen what is on sale and then what I actually bring home. Then I make up the menu and am always flexible due to the kids schedules, but I still stick to what I have already bought.

[PrincessPerky]

the 'pretend cooking show' is one I have embarrasingly fallen into...silly but it was fun)

I think the old thing when reading kids books really works..the kid will pretend the silverware is a party, and 'announce' each piece, along with silly story, as it gets 'paraded' in the drawer'.

Or the cars are lining up for a drive in movie, or car show.

or the dinner is for the king and you dance around dreaming of the kings waltz..

whatever, it works for kids it works for us tall kids too

I also find that having two or three super fast, no work meals helps..oh and not haveing cash around to go out..so if I don't cook, we don't eat!

[pearlieq]

I try to make sure I've got at least one thing I'm excited about--a side dish or a new dessert recipe.

What also works for us is every week I make up a list of meals I could possibly make with the ingredients I have that week. It gets posted on the fridge and every night after DH and I have dinner we look at it and choose what I'll make the next day. It really helps with the "We don't have anything to eat/I don't know what to make" problem.

Also, though, we build a little fat into the weekly budget for a pizza night--sometimes if it's been an unusually tough day I just can't bring myself to cook, no matter what!

[Kris10Leigh]

Here is my solution to that:

I grocery shop for two weeks at a time. I make sure I buy 2 quick fix meals (one per week). These are not planned meals and my intention is not to use them. This way, if I don't feel like having or cooking what we have planned, there is always back up in the freezer.

My backup meals are things like:
frozen pizza
chicken nuggets
frozen burritos
Mac & cheese
soup and sandwich

Even with the best laid plans, there are just nights I don't feel like cooking....and I rather enjoy cooking.

[boefixepa]

One thing I have discovered about cooking is that...I can make it my way! The way I like it. That's something you can't get in most places, no matter what. Yes you can pick this that and the other, but when you really get down to it, you cook to your tastes. So if I'm having a hard time I think of the things I can make that no one else, anywhere, can match. It may be as simple as red sauce and tortillas....I love it, but I can get it NO WHERE. I must make it. When I start thinking about those things it get me going and hungry and anticipating the food. Then I'm caught, nothing else is 'good enough' and I must cook.

[rickatheslicka]

I have been trying to cook more "from scratch" lately - and I have actually found that I enjoy cooking so much more than when I was making prepackaged meals.

It is a challenge I have issued to myself in order to save money and be healthier, but I have found the biggest reward of all is HOW GREAT EVERYTHING TASTES!!! Fresh and homemade beats out-of-a-can/box hands down, and is more fun.

A quick example: I made homemade pinto beans, you know, they start out dry and you have to cook them forever (old hat to many of you, but a first for me). All I added was the water and some salt, and they were so delicious! Better than any I have had out of a can or at a restaurant, my excitement about that has made cooking something that I truly enjoy now.

And planning ahead definitely helps, you might like www.savingdinner.com - you can download sample menu plans and find free recipes (it's a partner site to www.flylady.net).

Good luck!

[PrincessPerky]

Sigh, unfortunatly while I do cook nearly every night (less DH cooks) I am stull not great at it. So we have a shelf in the fridgs of 'sauces' if terriaki wont fix it, hot sauce or spicy garlic will cover the taste up

[Great to be Debt Free]

Oh, Princess, you make me laugh!

[puppypal]

Personaly I have to cook almost nightly because of the few other choices we have in our tiny town. (let's not forget our tight budget)
I hate cooking! Only thing I like to cook is sweets really and well Not during the week when i have to work......
So I go home and start the minute I get in.......I know, but the faster I get the crudoddle on the table the longer I have to chill.
I am in a yahho group called Quick and easy recipes
I love it
No blood sweat and tears to Can Dump Soup! LOL
It helps me out a lot. Also I tend to sometimes throw a something in crockpot meat wise. That way by the time i get in I can open a can or two of veggies or salad etc and I am out of there. I really hate cooking. I can cook, the scratch cakes to manacoti to whatever but after work it is only a chore! So I can relate!
I tend to make spegetti once a week because little effort goes into it! Stretches the meat. I use rice with beef and gravy from crockpot! To do it. Main dishes are the most time takers. I love my crock... Also there is one boxed dinner I use. It costs 3.54 a box and two boxes costs appox 7.00
Home style bakes....
Makes a rectangled cake pan full cassarole then cut up mators and celery and bread on the side! Poof! You are done! Hasbrown hanm cassarole is real good!

[lrjohnson]

I'm not a big fan opf cooking.

Strategies I use:
I keep the kitchen clean. That way it's so mucvh easier to cook.
When I do cook, I make more than one meal. Now that I have a chest freezer, I will do this even more.
I go for simple: sandwiches, burritoes, scrambled eggs and toast.....easy but cheap.

[LuxLiving]

I wait until the hungry button alarm goes off and I keep no cash in my wallet. When that alarm goes off, away I go to either cook or nibble.

[Great to be Debt Free]

lrjohnson, keeping the kitchen clean is a great tip. I hadn't thought about just how frustrated I get when I go to cook and DH has mail and papers and piles of stuff over all the counters! It makes the job at least 3x as hard. Good reminder!

[jodi]

I get excited about trying new recipes, so that keeps me motivated. I'll take a look in the fridge or freezer to come up with a few ingredients I want to use, then go to recipezaar.com and search by those ingredients. You can come up with things you would have never thought of.
You can also search by preparation method (i.e. crockpot, breadmaker), how much time it takes to make, fat or calories, etc. It's a great site to play around on and really motivates me to try new things.

[Bookie]

I don't get in the mood to cook. I get in the mood to eat, and cooking follows.

I'm with lrjohnson on this one. Keep my meal prep as streamlined and simple as possible. Go for multiple meals when I do get into cooking mode. (If I have to go to all that work and clean up after, it better feed me more than once.) It helps that I'm not a fussy eater.

[dshep]

Originally Posted by jodi_m

I get excited about trying new recipes, so that keeps me motivated. I'll take a look in the fridge or freezer to come up with a few ingredients I want to use, then go to recipezaar.com and search by those ingredients. You can come up with things you would have never thought of.
You can also search by preparation method (i.e. crockpot, breadmaker), how much time it takes to make, fat or calories, etc. It's a great site to play around on and really motivates me to try new things.

I love recipezaar.. I am doing the exact same thing... I have been making one new bread recipe a week, tossing the ones We didnt like. Also since its actually started getting chilly here, the crockpot came out and I am trying one new recipe a week with that too. I actually made freezer pickles for the first time in my life, from a recipe I found on there, and they were so good, they almost didnt make it to the freezer. I have found that trying the new recipes really motivates me also and I actually like cooking from scratch. Bad part is all the taste testing while I am cooking!

[Saving in So Cal]

We use the following strategies with good (not perfect) success: keep the kitchen clean, keep meals simple, make extra and freeze, and have some quick prep things available if you just can't face the stove. Chicken nuggets, breaded chicken breast patties, and veggie corn dogs (all bought on sale with a coupon) have save our family many nights.