Cooks-what do you make when you don''t "feel" like cooking?

[Hudson_Hawk]

This is a spin-off from yesterday''s thread about what non-cooks eat.

I love to cook and I usually cook at least 6 out of 7 nights every week. We take leftovers for lunch the next day so every night is a new meal. Some days I forget to take a protein out of the freezer or I just don''t feel like cooking. DH cooks but has been working crazy hours lately (8-10 at the office and at least 2-3 at home at night) so he hasn''t been up for taking on the challenge of unmotivated/indecisive nights. Last night was one of these. In a haze of sleep yesterday morning I defrosted ground chicken without thinking of a dish to make. After work I realized I didn''t have anything to really make it tasty (taco seasoning, spaghetti sauce, etc) and I didn''t really feel like cooking a big meal. So we made breakfast burritos of scrambled eggs, bacon and cheese in a brown rice tortilla. This is probably my main go-to meal if I''m feeling unmotivated or low on groceries. IMO when I don''t feel like cooking, pasta and rice take too long.

What do you make when you don''t feel like cooking or haven''t defrosted anything?

 

[elrohwen]

Our big non-cooking meal is Annie's Mac & Cheese with broccoli

We usually make 2 boxes, with two big broccoli crowns, and DH still eats 2 hotdogs covered in baked beans in addition to his portion

I also think DH secretly likes the Kraft stuff better, but I love Annie's so he lets me make that most of the time

I'd say my next easiest meal to make is fajitas. I just cut up some orange bell peppers (DH loves orange things), an onion, some garlic, and jalepenos. Cook together with cumin and various chili powders, then add some chicken (lately I've been shredding the chicken, but sometimes I just cut it up). Serve on tortillas with sour cream and shredded cheese and a steamed veggie on the side.

I never get sick of fajita night.

ETA: I like using shredding chicken because I don't even have to defrost the chicken - I just throw it in boiling water, take it out after 20 min and shred. Otherwise if I haven't defrosted in time, I'm guilty of filling up the freezer bag with hot tap water and letting it sit for 10-20 min. I know this isn't the best way to do it, but it works well enough.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Last night was a lazy night for me as well. I deifnitely need more go-to meals for those types of nights because I always hit a wall on Wednesdays or Thursdays. Breakfast is always a good option for me--D makes omelettes when I''m tired of cooking. Or I just make waffles or french toast with bacon since I can usually whip it up in 15 minutes or so. I also tend to lean on anything sandwichy. Last week when I hit a wall D requested sloppy joes, haha. Last night I just made paninis because they take less than 10 minutes to make and I like them for lunch the next day. I also find quiches easy to put together so long as I don''t get home too late.

I also decided to make a pecan pie last night (I was in more of a baking mood than a cooking mood) and to be honest, I wouldn''t mind a pie for dinner some nights, haha.

 

[lilyfoot]

When I don't feel like cooking, we usually go grab something to eat.

Otherwise, I'd probably have to say steak quesadillas. The steak takes a long time to cook though, so the last time I made them, I cooked the steak the night before (when I was cooking that nights dinner), so the steak quesadillas only took a few minutes to put together.

ETA: Hamburgers (pre-pattied from the g-store) are also super easy. Just plop 'em on the George Foreman and that's all the work involved!

 

[MichelleCarmen]

My non-cooking meal is also Amy''s Mac and Cheese. I stock up on it when it''s on sale b/c it''s about $3.00 a box and each of my kids eat one. So, our lazy meal is: the Amy''s, a steak for my DH and then I nibble on the steak. My other lazy meal on days when I''m trying to save money is the turkey nachos I make. I can''t eat cheese, so on nacho day, I just eat the turkey and tortilla chips. Usually I make that stuff on friday while my kids are playing and DH and I are watching a movie.

 

[JSM]

Salads, definitely. We almost always have leftover meat in the fridge (usually grilled chicken or pork loin lately) and my DH insists we keep the fridge stocked with fresh spinach. Add tomato, veggies, some shredded cheese and dressing (homemade Italian for him, balsamic vinegar for me) and voila! Dinner.

If all else fails, he''ll make a frozen pizza and I''ll eat hummus.

 

[zoebartlett]

After reading MC's post talking about someone who doesn't cook vs. someone who's not savvy in the kitchen, I'll describe myself as not being savvy.

We tend to cook very basic meals and we eat way too many carbs, but pasta is always our go to thing if we don't feel like doing anything else. We eat whole wheat spaghetti with meat sauce and jarred sauce one or two nights per week. We also have nights where we do our own thing (my husband makes ramen and I'll make Annie's white cheddar mac and cheese with chicken and broccoli often). Some nights I'll make breakfast for dinner and we'll have eggs or pancakes.

One of us will also pick up salmon and we love to bake it with teriyaki sauce. That doesn't take a lot of effort because you just throw the fish on a baking sheet in the oven. To go with it, we usually have one of those 90 second Uncle Ben's brown rice microwaveable bags.

If we're feeling *very* lazy, we order out.

 

[kama_s]

I have two super easy dishes to make when I want to be out of the kitchen in less than 30minutes.

The first is quesadillas - we make ours really simple. Chicken breast, salsa, cheese and sour cream.

The second is a sundried tomato pesto chicken fusili. I have this little bottle of amazing SDT pesto, I use a tablespoon, mix with cream and a bit of tomato sauce. Add sauteed portabella mushrooms, chopped suntried tomatoes and chicken and done!

 

[trillionaire]

grilled cheese or a quesadilla

a mini pizza, broiled on a flour tortilla (takes 3 minutes, start to finish, but watch it while it cooks or you will burn it!)

cereal or frozen pizza

beanies and weanies (turkey hot dog with baked beans on top)

one pot meals are good, like red beans and rice with diced turkey sausage

ravioli with red sauce used to be a quick go to meal for me

otherwise I anticipate not wanting to cook and make a big batch of something early in the week.

Also add breakfast for dinner, a cold sandwich or a wrap of some sort.

FI will microwave salmon and canned veggies... takes less than 10 minutes.

 

[TooPatient]

Quick meal when I don''t feel like cooking?

If we have beef (roast or steak) left over I cut it up and can make tacos, fajitas, or schwarma. Those are all very fast and easy. Brown onions & garlic, add the cut up meat, add spices, add pepper etc. (as appropriate for the dish). Serve with tortillas or pita.

Leftover chicken can do the same tacos or schwarma.

Pasta & sauce is always good. Brown some onions & garlic, add a can of Whole Foods diced tomatoes (not drained), add a can of tomato paste, a pinch of oregano. Can add wine or a bit of red wine vinegar.
Leftover meat or some sautéed mushrooms are great in the sauce too.

Cauliflower kuku is great. Brown onions, add garlic cloves, add coursely chopped cauliflower & spices, add the beaten eggs & grated parmesan.

 

[elrohwen]

Date: 12/3/2009 1:01:45 PM
Author: trillionaire
beanies and weanies (turkey hot dog with baked beans on top)

Trill, my DH is the only person I''ve ever met who eats this (especially on a regular basis). And I love your name for it! I''ll definitely have to share that with him.

 

[vespergirl]

Pasta with butter & real parmesan cheese.

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Grilled Cheese.

Any variation of pasta and sauce.

Cereal.

Fried Eggs, Bacon, and Toast or some sort of omelette.

 

[stephbolt]

I keep frozen stir fry veggies and shrimp, both from costco, in the freezer. Throwing those together with soy sauce and spices makes a super quick and easy stir fry dinner, and I''ll do minute rice alongside it. Start to finish it rarely takes longer than fifteen minutes.

 

[kama_s]

Date: 12/3/2009 12:59:16 PM
Author: kama_s
I have two super easy dishes to make when I want to be out of the kitchen in less than 30minutes.

The first is quesadillas - we make ours really simple. Chicken breast, salsa, cheese and sour cream.

The second is a sundried tomato pesto chicken fusili. I have this little bottle of amazing SDT pesto, I use a tablespoon, mix with cream and a bit of tomato sauce. Add sauteed portabella mushrooms, chopped suntried tomatoes and chicken and done!

I forgot to mention, I also put a splash of wine into the pasta sauce. I almost always cook with wine, I love it and can''t help taking a few swigs of it while cooking!!

 

[dragonfly411]

oven pizza

mac n cheese

sandwiches

mashed black beans with cous cous b/c it is so quick

cereal

 

[Octavia]

I didn''t feel like cooking this evening. Hubby''s response? "We can always go out!" My response? "I''m already in my pajamas and have no intention of going anywhere." So, I made creamy potato soup and dug a loaf of crusty bread I made a couple weeks ago out of the freezer. It was quick and easy, and hit the spot pretty well.

I also make giant batches of tomato sauce, both with and without meat, and freeze portions in quart-sized freezer bags. It''s easy to boil up some pasta and thaw the sauce, and the size is perfect for two of us. I love the freezer, it''s just way too small! I wish we lived in a place that was big enough for a chest freezer. We got a pressure cooker as a wedding gift, and it definitely cuts down on cooking time, but I don''t think I''ve really gotten into the swing of using it yet...I''m sure I will, though.

Oh, and desserts for those times you crave chocolate but don''t want to do any work? Whip up a batch of your favorite cookie dough, drop it onto a cookie sheet as though you were about to make cookies (but you can space the mounds much closer together) and pop the cookie sheet in the freezer for 20-30 minutes. After the dough is pretty solid, toss all the little dough balls into a freezer bag, squish as much air out as you can, and keep in the freezer until you crave cookies. Then, just pop a few balls onto a cookie sheet and bake according to the recipe (may need an extra minute, may not). I love having freshly baked, homemade chocolate chip cookies in 15 minutes or less

 

[HollyS]

When I don''t feel like cooking, and we don''t feel like going out, we rely on Marie Callendar''s frozen entrees like Turky and Stuffing. Or Honey Roasted Chicken. They''re fairly low in calories, not outrageously high in fat, and kinda middle of the road on sodium content. Big enough and tasty enough to satisfy, and not horribly bad for us.

Or,

Canned chicken, pre-shredded cheese, salsa, and tortillas make a very quick quesadilla.
Grilled cheese and a good canned soup is easy, tasty, and fast.
Sweet Sue Chicken and Dumplings is comfort food in a can. Seriously. Just like homemade.
Bertolli (or other) refrigerated pastas from my grocer''s deli cooler. With jar sauce.

Or,

If I have the time, but I just don''t want to expend effort, I''ll throw a roast, veggies, and seasonings in the oven for pot roast. Add some water after it browns and walk away. Ignore it. When the whole house smells yummy, it''s time to eat!

 

[tyty333]

If I dont feel like cooking...I cook a box of pasta, throw in about 4 handfulls of frozen brocoli at the end...in the meantime cook a bag
of frozen cooked fahita meat in the micro. When pasta/brocoli is done, drain it, put it back into pot, throw fahita chicken in then a
jar of alfredo sauce. Stir it all up and serve. My kids love it and its so easy.

EDIT - this can also be made with frozed pre-cooked/peeled/deveined shrimp.

 

[cellososweet]

quesadillas
soup and grilled cheese
fried egg sandwiches with tobasco and veggie sausage
salads (if I''m in the mood for chopping. I usually pre-chop a bunch of veggies in the beginning of the week in case I have a lazy day)
frozen pizza or enchiladas from trader joes
stir-fry veggies and rice w/ teriyaki sauce (we get frozen brown rice from trader joes for our lazy days. Rice in 3 minutes. Beautiful!)
tortellini in hot broth. Tortellini cooks in 5-7 minutes for a small batch. 11-13 for a bigger batch. Trader Joes has good dried ones
nachos (throw black beans, salsa, and cheddar cheese into the wok with a smidge of oil, heat on medium for 5 minutes. throw it in a bowl and dig in with chips and sour cream)
veggie burgers or veggie chik''n burgers with fries (I microwave the frozen fries for 4 minutes to thaw them out, then they only take 10 minutes in the oven instead of 15-20).

I''m a homemaker, so I don''t have very many lazy days unless I''m not feeling well (which has been happening more and more now that I''m preggers). But, those are my go-to meals if I need something quick.

 

[pinkstars]

If it''s one of those days where cooking seems far too daunting and I actually have some meat that is already cooked(almost always chicken.) Then I boil some egg noodles, put some precooked chicken into a pan with a little bit of olive oil, season it with some salt, pepper, chili powder, paprika, maybe some onion powder. Then I drain the egg noodles, add a touch of worcestershire sauce(not too much,) add in the chicken and that''s dinner. Mmmm, I think it''s pretty tasty. I may just make some tonight, or some sort of tasty burrito.
We also really like having leftover taco meat(home made taco seasoning from the joy of cooking) and putting some cheese, sour cream and meat into a burrito and putting it into the George Foreman to stay together.

 

[Arcadian]

I get a break on leftover night. There are times when I now I''ll be too busy to cook so I whip out the crock pot. Last night was pea soup, tonight may also be pea soup lol

-A

 

[FrekeChild]

Mac and cheese.
Bertolli''s pasta stuff.
Grilled cheese.
Go out for dinner.

 

[April20]

When we don''t want to cook, we drive down to the local pub and let them cook for us.

We also batch cook pasta and rice and keep them in the fridge. We''ll pull out enough of the pasta or rice to make a plate each and spice it up however we feel like it. It makes it super easy to have a quick meal when the main things are already done and just need some finishing.

 

[Sabine]

If I forget to defrost something or just don''t feel like cooking, we have 3 options.
1- our goto is actually baked ziti. I cook the pasta, throw it together with a jar of sauce, throw in whatever cheese I have, and bake.
2- scrambled egg and cheese on a bagel (with whatever meat we may have, bacon, ham, etc).
3- last minute is soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, and the soup is often ramen Dh and I still like it every once in a while!

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Date: 12/3/2009 7:48:54 PM
Author: cellososweet
quesadillas

soup and grilled cheese

fried egg sandwiches with tobasco and veggie sausage

salads (if I''m in the mood for chopping. I usually pre-chop a bunch of veggies in the beginning of the week in case I have a lazy day)

frozen pizza or enchiladas from trader joes

stir-fry veggies and rice w/ teriyaki sauce (we get frozen brown rice from trader joes for our lazy days. Rice in 3 minutes. Beautiful!)

tortellini in hot broth. Tortellini cooks in 5-7 minutes for a small batch. 11-13 for a bigger batch. Trader Joes has good dried ones

nachos (throw black beans, salsa, and cheddar cheese into the wok with a smidge of oil, heat on medium for 5 minutes. throw it in a bowl and dig in with chips and sour cream)

veggie burgers or veggie chik''n burgers with fries (I microwave the frozen fries for 4 minutes to thaw them out, then they only take 10 minutes in the oven instead of 15-20).


I''m a homemaker, so I don''t have very many lazy days unless I''m not feeling well (which has been happening more and more now that I''m preggers). But, those are my go-to meals if I need something quick.

This is one of my all time favorite comfort foods. My mom used to make it during the winter, it''s easy and cheap! top it with shredded parm and serve with crusty bread and butter...YUM!!!

 

[anchor31]

Usually it''s pasta or eggs.

 

[Bia]

Quesadillas!

I usually make them with sautéed mushrooms/onions/yellow peppers and goat cheese (mozz/cheddar/manchengo work well too). FI lovvvvvvvvvvves these! Super easy.

Pasta is also easy. I make a tomato-balsamic sauce that's really yummy. I just cut up some little cherry tomatoes and sauté them with garlic, add a 1/3 c of Balsamic vinegar and maybe some white wine- let simmer for 15 min or so. Add basil (or any delicate leafy green) and toss with some pasta. Add parmesan or romano and PRESTO! Quick and yummy pasta dish.

Let's see...what else do I make in a pinch? OH! Portobello burgers! Easy! Just place two big portebello mushroom caps on a skillet or grill and let them cook. Flip a couple times and then once they are almost done add a slice of whatever cheese you like. Lightly toast whatever buns/bread you prefer and dress up your burger. I usually use lettuce, tomato, red onion and a mayo/ketchup mix. They are super easy to make and very satisfying when you want a burger. NO, they don't taste like a burger but they give you that burger bite you want. I crave burgers all the time but FI isn't big on meat so this is a great alternative. But sometimes I do have to make the real thing - when I do, I use buffalo meat and they come out yummy too!

eta: oops! I just saw you didn't like pasta when you're not in a cooking mood

 

[sunnyd]

This is a good thread for me. I only feel like cooking 3 nights a week.

Pasta is always our go-to. We keep meat sauce in the freezer ready to go. Our we make a sauceless version with frozen shrimp, veggies, olive oil, parm and spices.

Stir frys are also so easy, especially now that we have a good rice cooker! Chicken, veggies, sauce, eat on rice. Voila.

We also keep an assortment of easy stuff in the freezer/pantry - pizzas, DH has to have his corndogs..., burgers to throw on the Foreman, and Kraft Dinner, of course!

The boxed jambalaya (low sodium) by Zatarains is really good! Throw in a sausage and it''s done in 20mins.

 

[Haven]

I keep frozen servings of my homemade meat sauce in the freezer, so if I really don''t feel like cooking I''ll reheat that and make some pasta.
Or, we''ll eat:
- Cereal
- A frozen pizza
- Cottage cheese and pita with hummus
- Sandwiches
- I''ll use leftovers and turn them into something else.
- If I *really* don''t want to make any effort, there''s always delivery!

I rarely skip cooking during the week, though. Even when my schedule was crazy I always enjoyed it. It relaxes me to be in the kitchen and focused entirely on what I''m doing. It''s like I zone out and don''t think about anything else that''s otherwise been on my mind.