I know how to cook, but I find no joy in it. It’s time consuming and I find it to be an absolute chore to do, especially after a day of work. It’s gotten to the point where I’ll literally just work an extra hour to get an hour of OT pay so that I can just quickly go to a decent restaurant after work and get food that’s enjoyable without the chore of having to cook.
My question to all of you is how did you make cooking enjoyable? I have some dishes I can make that I love, but when it takes 30 minutes to prepare and cook, it just doesn’t feel as great when I could be doing other things in my life.
Any and all advice is appreciated! If you have any favorite dishes that are very fast to cook and prep I’d be happy to hear them too!
24 comments
I usually put on a show or a movie to watch while I’m doing it
i listen to music or a podcast whilst cooking. But to make it fun instead of less boring, try making new things and make it for someone! Seeing my gf’s reaction to new exciting food is priceless!
I listen to a podcast or a debate or something. Turns into a relaxing experience for me.
Music/podcast and I drink or smoke weed while cooking.. its a great way to unwind from work.
Music and wine
Knowing that I’m preparing something from scratch, or package assisted brings me a bit of joy
Since I was going to watch a movie or TV anyway, I just put something on as I begin my prep and cooking no minute wasted
You sound like you need a pressure/slow cooker things should be done cooking, or close to done when you arrive home from work
Dude if you don’t like it, you don’t like it.
IDK if you don’t like something I’m not sure what you can do to like it. Changing your feelings are hard..Maybe cook in advance, and freeze it so all you have to do on weekdays is microwave it?
I’m not sure about being enjoyable. I like to cook, so I don’t quite know how to make it better. What I can say is that a change of attitude can help. Instead of worrying about what you could be doing, focus on the fact that you can’t be interrupted, and take the time to focus on what you are doing. Think of cooking as a skill to be developed. You’re cutting technique can probably be improved, or learning a new cooking method can make the process interesting. Playing with new spices can be interesting (sometimes problematic). Cooking with your gf can be cool too. I also listen to podcasts while I’m cooking, but that’s just bonus to the cooking.
You might never enjoy cooking and you are not alone in that. Blast some music while you cook. Cook in bulk. Maybe get a slow cooker. Look for recipes to make big batches. Make stews, chili, and casseroles. Double or triple the recipes and freeze in portions so you can heat them up for easy meals during the week.
You might already do this but my enjoyment of cooking went way up when I stopped measuring ingredients and starting experimenting. I watch sam the cooking guy on youtube, and found that I can now throw together some of his excellent dishes in 5-10 mins without reading a recipe, I just know the proportions of ingredients and go for it.
You’re probably overthinking it a bit. I cook dinner for myself almost every day and it rarely takes 30 minutes to prep and cook. I actually think having to order and go pick up food from somewhere takes more time and way more money.
Try cooking simpler things – get some chicken breasts and spices and try that – it should take less than 10 minutes to make something decent. Throw in a vegetable in the same pan and voila. Throw a potato in the microwave for 5 minutes.
Really, unless you’re cooking for a family every night, most things take very little time to cook. The longest thing I cook is probably salmon which takes around 20 minutes. Throw some music or a podcast on, your food, a pan, and you can be done before you know it.
Having someone else to cook for.
When I was married, I cooked every day and I got really good and enjoyed it.
Now single, while I still like cooking, I HATE prepping and I hate cleaning up. Also, it’s hard to adjust portions of many things for one person. You can only eat the same thing so many days in a row before you say screw it and end up throwing out half a lasagna.
I own a tablet near exclusively for this purpose.
YouTube, podcasts and live sports on a screen I can move around the kitchen with me.
My advice is to try and reduce how much time you spend cooking before trying to force yourself to enjoy it, since that’s generally easier. Doing things like making larger portions to have leftovers (either eat the next few days or freeze for later), prep a lot of a common ingredients for the weeks cooking at once (if using a lot of diced onion all week, dice it all on day 1), and focusing on quick recipes can go a long way.
I’ve never made any of her recipes, but Rachael Ray’s 30 minute meals may be worth a look since her whole focus was on minimal time investment back then.
I’d recommend that you make things that make the dishes later in the week less complicated. Things like sauerkraut, kimchi, mint sauce, tempeh, mustard, hot sauce etc. I’d emphasize the foods that are easier to eat in larger amounts like sauerkraut (after you get used to it). I’ll often have premade rice, sauerkraut and meat, eggs or falafel as a really quick supper during the week. Beans, lentils and rice can also be made ahead of time and frozen so you can leave it to thaw during the day. It’s a slightly different approach to meal prep that gives you a little more flexibility during the week.
Maybe stop trying to love cooking aunt do it for another reason. Try new recipes and make it about creativity. Or use it to save time and money by cooking large batches of things that can be frozen and thawed later. You could even use cooking as a way to save as much money as you can so you can go out to eat at restaurants more frequently than if you spent money more frequently by simply going out to eat mediocre meals.
High quality equipment makes it fun for me. I bought a huge top of the line end grain cutting board, and an excellent carbon steel chef’s knife. Just holding it is kinda fun. And it makes vegetable processing more enjoyable, which is the bulk of the effort in my kitchen. A wicked sharp edge that flies through material also improves the experience. Finally, I try not to rush it, and treat it more as a meditative experience. Rushing makes it all about the end result, but to enjoy cooking you have to find the joy in the process, which comes back to the quality of your equipment and the degree to which it enables you—along with good technique—to do a really nice job. Like, “damn I diced the shit out of that onion” is literally something I usually feel after dicing an onion because I know a good technique and a sharp knife that makes it feel effortless.
Listen to music.
I don’t actually enjoy it, but I enjoy the sense of pride and accomplishment I get when I finish. I’m being serious. It’s like any chore
Good music, wine etc
Do this…buy a cookbook – The Joy of Cooking comes to mind. It’s pricey BUT..open it up and reading how to do *something…*make a gravy or poach and egg. Do it on a Saturday or Sunday and then pick something simple to do.
Follow the recipe – learn what braising is or how to whip something. Learning to cook something nice is the difference, it is a sense of accomplishment AND it is the perfect sort of event that you can invite people over and wow them with what you can cook. You need to equate food with enjoyment in living. And over time you learn the short cuts to keep your spices and items to whip up something fast.
I can make Gumbo in about 30 – 45 minutes from chopping the Trinity to cooking on the stove. I’ve done it so much and it’s kinda a go to dinner that can scale if you need to feed a lot of people
I get you, I love cooking but really hate cooking. I’m just not interested to cook something after 12 hours of being away from work and taking care of a dog. I usually get some bread and call it a night. It’s different if you are cooking for someone else, though.
Start caring about what you’re eating and that will li!ely motivate you. When you really get into it your view in restaurants will likely change quite a bit.