Cooking takes SO MUCH TIME when you’re single. But eating out is so expensive. It sucks.
Hahaha learn to cook. Stir fry takes under 30 min. BLT in like 5 min. Pizza in under an hr including making the dough.
I see you never have to wash dishes or chop vegetables.
They’re like parallel processes. Rice takes about 20 min. Start that first and you can have the stir Fry done before the rice finishes with plenty of time to clean up. A sandwich leaves just a knife and cutting board. Just rinse that off. And if I was making pizza I’d make the dough the night before and the rest is simple, clean up when the pizzas in the oven.
Personally love leftovers. Make extra rice, use the leftovers in a burrito. Make extra pizza dough and put some on the freezer, etc
If you don’t have a freezer that can hold two weeks worth of meals, buy one. I have three homemade frozen pizzas and a half dozen chicken pot pies waiting right now.
I can cook a whole roast chicken on Sunday and enjoy chicken tacos, chicken sandwiches, etc. all week.
I can cook a five liter pot of chili/soup/stew and freeze it into pint containers; I’ve got a nice hot meal any time.
Slow cookers are another option.
My problem with that is defrosting. It requires timing and planning, which is tough due to impromptu work based meals. And some stuff once frozen tastes like crap defrosted.
I do liberally use the slow cooker.
What are you defrosting?
You don’t have to defrost anything except raw meat and even that can go straight into the oven if you want to season it after it’s cooked. If you have a frozen pizza/pot pie just throw it in a pre-heated oven.
Also, you can defrost quickly with a microwave.
Soup, beans, pasta. Also, for cooking: frozen meat. Veggies are also difficult, yeah there’s flash frozen veg that can work but that requires cookery too.
Store made frozen pizzas and pies taste like crap and are expensive. Homemade ones take a lot of time.
Soups are still good especially with a crock pot but I get so sick of soup.
I’m lucky because I have an Italian food shop near me that makes homemade uncooked pizza. I can take it home and cook right away or freeze. Same with the chicken pot pies.
The main thing I’d say is get in the habit of making giant servings and freeze them. I will make 5 liters of stew/chili/soup on a Sunday and freeze it in pint containers. A different recipe the next Sunday. Now I’ve got 20 meals sitting in the freezer.
It takes as much effort to make a big meal as a small one; make a meal big enough for four people and freeze three portions.
Good news, they’re making eating in expensive too, so you can get the full experience!
Yeah same. I just try to cook a meal on Sunday but it doesn’t get me through the entire week. Not to mention I usually need a second meal at night when I work out. It’s too much.
Cooking takes the same amount of time whether you’re single or not?
Like wtf.
Pasta boils at the same speed regardless of how many people are in the house.
That’s the problem. It’s more efficient with bigger meals. If you’re single, you have to cook and then clean. If there’s two of you, you can divide tasks.
I have good news for you:
Being single doesn’t mean you can only cook single portions of stuff.
You can cook two portions, and have an entire meal ready to eat anytime during the next few days.
You might even find yourself adventurous and cook three portions, and have TWO whole meals ready to go.
But be wary, most people who just learn the ability to plan ahead quickly get carried on and start preparing 5, 6 or even 7 servings ahead of time and I only recommend this for experienced meal preppers who know what they are doing.
Also, clean as you go, and cleaning suddenly doesn’t become this insurmountable task.
I swear to god half of the people in these threads are not fit for life.
The other half are armchair quarterbacks who can’t fathom that anything is ever difficult for other people.
meals ready to go.
Reheating leftovers is a gamble. Sometimes reheated food just tastes like ass, no matter how good it was fresh.
clean as you go
It still takes twice as much effort, IF the recipe you’re making leaves time for it.
Jesus, you condescending fuck, you think I don’t know this shit? Are you so damn arrogant you think no one else has figured out meal prepping? You think you’re goddamn einstein because you discovered cleaning as you go? We fucking know. And it sucks.
Douchenozzle.
of course I am being condescending.
I am talking to a supposedly grown ass man having mental breakdowns because they have to clean the dishes after cooking.
If you practice and prepare you can cut down on some of the time. I used to live right next to a street of fast food joints so it was never worth it to cook myself from a time standpoint unless I was just having some frozen garbage. Now it’s a 15 minute trip to pick something up if there’s no line so I cook a lot more and with experience I’ve been able to streamline things so it goes faster. Also make enough for 2-3 meals when you cook and then “leapfrog” through the week eating the leftovers. That way you don’t have to cook every day but also don’t have to eat the same thing every day.
If you find a few recipies you really like and learn how to do them from memory, and then make them a lot, you learn lots of efficiencies and shortcuts that save a ton of time. Making stuff without a recipie at all is even faster.
The trick is being able to eat the same meal for the entire day. Cook once and eat it throughout the day. lol
Or for the entire month. It saves money… :'(
But seriously: for the week. I have multiple family members who do this and used to do it myself: most meals last up to a week in the fridge, so just put a little extra in Sunday night so you have leftovers for lunches.
My previous version of this was to start each week with giant: salad, pasta salad, fruit salad. Then I have a complete meal, including variety by just throwing a protein in the toaster oven.
I’m trying to restart something like this now that its back to just me all week: I have a 10 lb pork shoulder for the smoker!
Yes, it does end.
it ends when you become lunch
I disagree. I like cooking and since I’m working from home I can make something nice and fast at home for lunch. But I probably would have agreed back then when I worked at the office.
I love the cooking but hate the cleaning up part.
Pro tip: cook in and eat from one pot :D
but what about the 5 knives and 3 spoons i’ve used preparing the ingredients :(
Open dishwasher when you start. Instead of putting those things on the counter or in the sink, out then directly in the dishwasher
Just use one or two and if really necessary clean them? I cook complex meals somewhat often and never use more than one knife and 1-2 spoons.
Sandwiches are never a bad option.
There’s probably some situation where it’s a bad option.
Funeral procession?
Grow the fuck up.
Do people not eat salads? Like some spinach, a nice vinaigrette, some nuts, and maybe a little sliced baked chicken, with a few raspberries or something?
Can you say it in freedom units?
Do people not eat cheeseburgers? Like some ground beef, a nice condiment, some veg, and maybe a little sliced bacon, with a few fries or something?
Lmao - but if you look at the core ingredients a cheeseburger should be great. I wonder if you could actually make a healthy one if made from scratch.
EAT RABBIT FOOD WITH SOME CHICKEN
New meal ideas: chicken food with rabbit
Paella says what
Do people not eat salads?
What, like a rabbit?
Rabbits aren’t salads, silly. They are second order salads.
This person’s problem can be solved by a sandwich. Takes like 3 minutes to make, or can be prepped earlier, no cooking necessary, has color, is fresh, not frozen, beats any fast food meal in price and quality. Also can even be healthy if you shop wisely. Can be different every day. Can be hot or cold. The possibilities are endless. Sandwiches are the best.
Sandwiches were literally invented to be home made, portable fast food, for hunters, workers, and the like. Not only are they ok with being wrapped up and carried, if made right they actually get better when wrapped up and squashed.
You can even eat it riding a horse!
I agree sandwiches are the best. But my metabolism is just too efficient at turning carbs into fat and high blood sugar. There’s just no substitute for good bread in a sandwich, all attempts at compromise/substitutions ruin the whole thing.
I don’t have this problem, but lettuce wraps are shockingly good too. A good sturdy lettuce, sliced turkey, smoked cheddar and some chipotle mayo (canned chipotle en adobo, pureed, just mix some of it into mayonnaise to make a spread.) Onion if you have it. I don’t understand why it’s good, it sounds like nonsense but I do this when I don’t have time to make bread, but do have good lettuce or homegrown lettuce in the garden. It is delicious and feels good to eat.
You’re right, lettuce wraps are good and it’s been awhile. Next time I look at that dwarf bread I’ll get out a romaine leaf instead.
Get some keto bread. It’s basically pure fiber in bread shape. The aldi keto bread is fantastic
Don’t forget lettuce sandwiches.
What do you consider ‘good bread’? Don’t buy supermarket bread, go to a good bakery and get some nice, freshly baked whole-grain bread, that should be much more difficult to turn into sugar.
Even homemade whole-grain bread, while delicious and healthy in its way, has too many non-fiber carbs when you’re trying to minimize them. And my body is unfortunately very efficient at converting the starches to blood sugar. As for bakery whole-grain bread, (and of course the supermarket kind) the ingredients almost inevitably include “wheat flour” which is white flour, not necessarily bleached but minus the bran. This is because bread that is not only “made with 100% whole wheat” (which just means it contains SOME 100%-whole-wheat flour!) but is made with ONLY whole wheat flour (plus any other whole grains) doesn’t rise very well. I’ve struggled with it myself and made some bricks, despite being able to bake gorgeous loaves when allowed to include some unbleached bread flour in the mix. Go ahead, ask your baker. And then enjoy the bread, it’s still great for most people.
wraps are just as convenient and use far less bread, i love a good turkey wrap for lunch
Even a wrap is too much white flour right now. I bought some Low Carb High Fiber Whole Wheat tortilla wraps, but they’re serving the same role as Discworld Dwarf Bread: I look at them and remember the time I tried to eat one, and decide I’m not that hungry after all. I don’t even have to worry about them going stale, because they can’t become less appealing.
I don’t mind the taste of the “healthy” tortillas. I generally prefer the taste of whole grain bread and pasta over white flour variants. My largest complaint is that they all seem to disintegrate when you look at them – probably a gluten thing, but they all just break or shred instead of hold together, which defeats the purpose of wrapping your food in them.
I settled on OLÉ “Xtreme Wellness” high fiber wraps. They’re stretchy and they even toast/grill well. They’re good for sandwich wraps but also soft tacos and small burritos.
… With all currants in it? Just like mother used to forge.
What type of bread are you using, and how thick are your slices? These work fine for me, but theres also rye versions. https://frutimian.no/2016/08/12/matpakkebrod-i-langpanne/ - note link is in norwegian.
I dont mind spending time preparing if it means i get great taste.
This looks like a nice recipe for later on once I lose enough weight to start adding a few carbs to my life that aren’t from vegetables. No grain or starch right now.
Or cool a bit batch of your own soup at the weekend. Then microwave it for lunch.
Eating is a chore, I watch a video so i dont think about it, instant noodles are real easy to make at work, toss in some broccoli if youre feeling like a but fancy
Sorry to hear you don’t have functioning taste buds
Microwaving some leftovers might be an option. You get the great food you put effort into making, without actually having to make the effort at lunchtime.
If only not stuffing your face for one meal was a thing.
A Br*tish person complaining about lunch, that’s rich.
Maybe try having a proper one, like the rest of Europe, and you will find the answer to all of your complaints.
Can you give an example of a “proper one” that isn’t cooked?
Bread with (good) cheese and some fruit.
Genuinely interested in how that is practical in an office setting. We barely have room to keep leftovers, let alone decent bread and cheese. It’s also a bit boring if you’re having it most days.
Bring an insulated lunchbox. This is easy. It only needs to last from when you leave to lunch
Depending on what the food is, you might not even need an ice pack.
There’s tons of different kinds of bread, cheese, deli meat, spreads, nuts, fruit and vegetables that you can easily make a different combination every day for a while. And you could pack a lunchbox that is enough to feed you for the day and leave leftovers at home.
£4 sounds pretty cheap if it’s a decent meal
So more like £8 or 10
California here. $15 minimum. Less if you give some shitty app all your data.
It’s a sandwich, pocket of crisps or a chocolate bar and a drink.
I would murder my whole family for a $5 sandwich meal deal in the states. Even fast food by my work is double that, and you’re still only getting America-quality food packed with sugars and preservatives.
As an American who spent time living in the UK - ‘sandwich’ is a generous description of what you get in a £4 meal deal. Some meal deals have things made from actual food but good luck finding one of those at that price.
It’s an appropriate amount of food in terms of calories, but it does leave one distinctly dissatisfied.
Yeah I’m usually more interested in nutrients than calories. Otherwise I’d just have a Guinness for lunch
Meal deals are rarely ever decent. They’re enough to get you through the working day if you sit at a desk all day.
Yes, eventually it ends when you’re promoted to middle management and you have to forage for granola bars and cookies during the few seconds you get between meetings. Stay an IC for as long as you can.
That sounds like a toxic-work-culture thing that I’m faaaar too European to understand. I’m off for a two hour lunch, don’t text me
It’s been years since I’ve eaten food away from my desk. And God forbid I should forget to bring food and need to run downstairs for sixteen seconds to purchase something. That’s truly one of the seven deadly sins.
Is a proper meal period with rest not guaranteed by law?
Or is it, but it’s hard to fight for it because the workplace culture is shaped differently?
I’m in the state of Georgia: no provision for breaks are given at all.
I used to live in the UK: I think the rule was employers are required to give 30 mins per 10 hours worked, cannot be in the first or last hour.
I’m in the state of Georgia: no provision for breaks are given at all.
Oh man that’s brutal.
I used to live in the UK: I think the rule was employers are required to give 30 mins per 10 hours worked, cannot be in the first or last hour.
Yeah here in Switzerland it’s similar to the UK rule. Any shift longer than 6 hours needs to be interrupted by an unpaid but uninterrupted break of at least 30min for eating, such that there isn’t more than a 6 hour continuous work period on either side of the break, IIRC.
Our standard for full-time employment is 8.4h per day. (That’s a bit high in comparison to neighboring countries). It’s very usual that you get your eating break somewhere between 11:30-13:30 o’clock, maybe on rotation with coworkers if you need to keep the phones staffed.
In my office job we all go together from around 11:45 to 12:45.
Combination of being salaried plus industry culture.
TIL I’m European
Me, living in France, where a cafeteria room is mandatory, 1-2h long lunchs are the norm and your employer has to give you at least 4-5€/day to buy lunch:
Sad American noises
Do I want to get 6 hours of sleep and then pay $25 for a shitty meal, or get 4.5 hours of sleep and cook something that I hope tastes okayish reheated in the microwave tomorrow?
