Who Cooks?

[Katsmeow]

The post on grocery shopping made me wonder ...who cooks in your household?

 

[Purron]

DH and I divide the chores. I'm the cook, he takes on other tasks to balance out the work load. Cooking is something I enjoy. It's almost like creating edible art every day. My motto as far as meals - it should be tasty, good for you and frugal.

 

[Midpack]

Right now I do all the cooking since I'm retired and DW is still working. When she retires, I'm sure we'll go back to sharing cooking like we always did when we were both working...

"The help" - I can't wait to see how many votes that option gets.

 

[WhoDaresWins]

I live alone, and I cook my evening meal about every other day. I still work and eat lunch out with co-workers two or three times a week. On days I eat a big lunch out, I might pick up a Greek salad at Panera's on my way home, or just eat a pbj and a piece of fruit. I shop two or three times a week for fresh foods. Today I broiled a salmon steak and had some jarred kimchee. Dessert was a dish of watermelon chunks. I count this as cooking. If I am loafing on Sunday afternoon, I might make a pot of soup or a stew to last a couple of days.

 

[Katsmeow]

I have to confess that we are fend for ourselves. Occasionally DH and I will share something but usually we each do our own thing.

After having kids I had these ideas of family dinners and I planned out meals and cooked....but the kids hated what I liked and vice versa. So, somehow we slowly ended up fending for ourselves.

"The help" - I can't wait to see how many votes that option gets.

We actually did have an au pair for several years and helping kids (not DH and I) with meals was part of her job responsibilities. That said, 2 of my 3 kids like to cook so she mostly just supervised their efforts.

Kid 3 is fairly helpless in the kitchen. He mostly does microwave stuff or begs food from his sister (no, he won't eat what I cook). A couple of days ago I walked into the kitchen to find unattended water boiling and I call his sister to yell at her (she is the one who usually cooks). I was shocked to find out that it was my son who was boiling water to cook ramen (yuck, I know).

 

[Gumby]

I am "The Help". At least, that's what my cat thinks.

As far as cooking, I can and on rare occasion do cook, but it is 99% the purview of the young wife. She loves to cook and reads cookbooks like other people read novels. It shows; she is a truly marvelous cook. I am on permanent KP.

 

[grasshopper]

I think one of the qualities that Ms G loved about me was I took care of myself for 10 years before we met. Laundry, cooking, cleaning, sparingly for sure, but I got the job close. The first place we lived in on the Jersey Shore had only me as a dishwasher, and that has kinda stuck for over 30 years. So while I am a good cook, who can whip great meals from whatever has to be eaten soon, she cooks I wash the dishes.

Ms G is a recipe cook, except she doesn't read a whole thing start to finish, and getting the concept of the dish. Once she spent an hour making salsa, which we had jars and jars of. It wasn't until I brought this to her attention that she realized the extra work that was done that she really didn't have the time to do. All that money spent on advanced degrees.

 

[FreeAtLast]

I usually cook about 4 nights during the week. My son, who is going off to college in the fall, will either go out /take in with me or we go our separate ways on the weekends.

 

[Nords]

We used to split the dinner cooking 50/50 and enjoy Costco pizza on the seventh night.

Now that our daughter's in college, we've abandoned the "good parenting" behavior. Everyone's in charge of their own meals, although at dinner I'll split a papaya or empty a bagged salad into bowls. I cooked rice the other night (for Zippy's chili) and I grilled a couple weeks ago. But otherwise it's frozen dinners... and Costco pizza on the seventh night!

 

[FUEGO]

I think I cook joint meals probably 65-75% of the time. These are meals that me and DW and the kids all eat. Sometimes DW wants her own thing or the kids don't like what the adults are eating so they get something different. Or I don't like what DW makes so I make something different. About six months ago, I realized we were preparing a different meal for each of the four of us and it was a pain, so now the kids are eating more of the same thing the adults eat.

We also do a lot of intentional left over meals where we plan on having at least 1-2 meals out of the left overs, as this comes in handy with kids and busy schedules and for packing lunch the next day. As a result we only cook a real elaborate meal probably 3x on the weekends and 2-3 times during the work week. We rarely eat out, so the remainder of meals are left overs or simple things that I don't consider "cooking a meal" (bag salad, sandwiches, fried eggs and rice, etc). Tonight for example I already had this seafood alfredo pasta sauce from Sunday but had to cook some more noodles. DW boiled water and threw noodles in the pot, then I stirred and drained and poured leftover sauce on top. Then we had mangoes (that I sliced up) and left over watermelon from the weekend (that I cut up).

DW could also stand for DishWasher, since she does probably 80% of the dishwasher loading.

 

[frayne]

All I can say is, whoever invented the micro-wave deserves a Nobel prize.

 

[Moemg]

I am the main cook . I do not mind cooking and I am a pretty good cook . I just hate thinking of menus . If someone would post a list of menus for the week I would happily make them.

 

[Animorph]

I cook a few things. DW can make a few desserts. Mostly we pick out our own frozen dinners and microwave them ourselves.

 

[FIREd]

I am the only cook in our household.

 

[haha]

I cook breakfast, hope to have leftovers for lunch, and then cook dinner almost all nights. If i eat a meal out it is usually lunch. I am not any kind of fancy cook, but my stuff is always very good. Tonight I made Trader Joe frozen sea scallops- the big ones. I partially defrosted them and then sautéed green onions in butter and added the scallops on a low heat. When they were just firm, I added thick cream and brought it back to simmer and served with some green beans.

Last night I had pork loin I made in my pressure cooker, with a sauce made from reduction of pork juices, chopped onion, garlic, celery and carrot and some prepared Dijon stirred in. Brussels sprouts and mixed salad with this. Had this for lunch too.

I would happily never cook again, but necessity is a powerful motivator.

Ha

 

[MichaelB]

I am "The Help". At least, that's what my cat thinks.

As far as cooking, I can and on rare occasion do cook, but it is 99% the purview of the young wife. She loves to cook and reads cookbooks like other people read novels. It shows; she is a truly marvelous cook. I am on permanent KP.

My situation as well, except for the cat.

 

[JOHNNIE36]

DW does all the cooking when we cook. Starting to eat out more and more because we love it and can afford to do it at this stage of the game. She does most of the cooking in the new electric pressure she purchased about six months ago. As part of the deal, I do all the clean up. It's only fair to split up the work. DW always asks when she gets to retire since she's been doing this for 57 years. Big reason we eat out 3-4 times a week.

 

[JOHNNIE36]

Got to thinking about some of the posts I read. We were never big on frozen dinners although DW used to take some of those Healthy Choice selections for her lunch. And, I have had the "hungry man" dinners in the past like the meat loaf and salisbury steak. Not the greatest but will do in a pinch. How about some recommendations for frozen dinners you like? I'm open to all suggestions except those frozen dinners that are made for dieters. I'm a big eater.

 

[rescueme]

All I can say is, whoever invented the micro-wave deserves a Nobel prize.

Agreed!

That, along with Marie Callender's frozen meals are a great combo...

I'm one of those that eats to live - not live to eat, so I'm not picky.

 

[Bestwifeever]

DH is not an easy cook--he has two specialties that take him a couple of hours to make (occasionally he can stretch the process to four hours) that I would whip out in maybe 20 minutes, tops. We would starve if we depended on him.

 

[FinanceDude]

I do............

 

[Ronstar]

I grill, DW cooks.

 

[Marita40]

I live alone and don't particularly like to cook. I try to streamline things as much as possible while still eating healthy. A typical day is eggs, yogurt, and fruit for breakfast; salad and turkey burger for lunch; stir fry for dinner. About every two weeks I grill turkey burgers, chicken, and/or beef and freeze individual portions. The George Foreman grill gets a lot of use! I always have portions of cooked meat and cleaned/chopped veggies in the fridge, so I can make a quick stir fry or grilled meat/veggies for dinner--takes no more than 10-15 minutes. In winter I use the crock pot for soups or chilis.

 

[JOHNNIE36]

I live alone and don't particularly like to cook. I try to streamline things as much as possible while still eating healthy. A typical day is eggs, yogurt, and fruit for breakfast; salad and turkey burger for lunch; stir fry for dinner. About every two weeks I grill turkey burgers, chicken, and/or beef and freeze individual portions. The George Foreman grill gets a lot of use! I always have portions of cooked meat and cleaned/chopped veggies in the fridge, so I can make a quick stir fry or grilled meat/veggies for dinner--takes no more than 10-15 minutes. In winter I use the crock pot for soups or chilis.

Hey Marita, DW just bought one of the new George Foreman grills that come apart in a flash and you just put it in the dishwasher. The top and bottom grilling sections just unclip (after they cool down), rinse them off and into the dishwasher. Neat.

 

[Marita40]

Yep, that's the one I have. I had an earlier one that was a bear to clean because the grids didn't come off. Another tip: after you remove food and unplug, put a wad of wet paper towels on the grill and close it while it cools. This loosens all the food particles and makes it a snap to clean whether by hand or in the dishwasher.