I wish I enjoyed cooking!

Ha ha! Ginny42 My DH says those letters will be etched on my headstone, the number of times I’ve read out a recipe and then not bothered!

Must admit I love cooking (for other people, I find it’s an effort just for me) and your salmon recipe sounds delicious- I’m sure it would also work on a thinly sliced chicken fillet so might give one or t’other a go!

Crikey you've made me realise I'm not as bad as I thought! I do take short cuts though and I only have myself to think about.

I use the microwave a lot and have special dishes for it. E.g. Salmon fillet: cut slits in the top and pop in slices of garlic, a few cherry tomatoes around the sides and a couple of grapes, scraping of pesto on the top. Cook for 2 mins. Meanwhile a handful of bought pre-chopped cabbage, in a pan with a couple of sprigs of broccoli - five or six mins max. Done.

I sometimes substitute a meal with cereal on the grounds that they have added vitamins etc. plus the milk. I make an effort when my GS is here and make things he likes.

Can't stand cookery programmes of any kind and never read my cookery books, they're just decoration. My mother used to say, if you can read you can cook anything. Mmm. IF you cba.

Someone's been busy.

I love cooking but hate the preparation so my husband offers to do that bit.
My family love my roasts and take what`s left home.
What I can`t stand is working out what to have every flipping day.

cooking at lunchtime, eating properly then, it is the natural way to do it. It is how we ate when I was a child, everyone home for lunch and it was nice to get back to that after retirement. I don`t enjoy cooking but this is the meal I cook for, simple foods, a mix of plain veg and some fish or meat or an omlette. At least I know that I have eaten well. Getting up early every day, I find it best to do all the chores am, including my veg prep. I use that lunchtime meal as a dividing line and I relax in the afternoon. My last mini meal is around 4.30, just something simple like soup and a cheese sandwich or yoghurt with fresh berries and some granola.

Whether we like cooking or not, eating that 5+ a day is top priority and I usually easily manage 9 a day. Plus proteins and calcium foods. Whether we like cooking or not, we need the intake to stay healthy, to fuel our bodies, they demand more nutrients as we age but luckily we don`t need to bathe our foods in fancy sauces

I also hate cooking, always have done. So much effort and then the kids turned their noses up, Luckily DH discovered he loved it and started by doing all the weekend cooking and then after retirement took over all the cooking. Sadly he passed away in April and I find it one of the hardest things to do to cook a meal just for me. I do make the effort because he made me promise I would. I try to cook at lunchtime if I am home as I really find it a chore at the end of the day.

I know I was rather exaggerating with the 14 meals a week, but even if it's a snack, I like to ring the changes.

@ JackyB - 14 meals a week
We have our main meal at lunchtime, just a snack in the evening, which each make for ourself.
So it's only 7. And some of those I make with leftovers from the previous day. eg I've got a beef and bean casserole going in the slow cooker with a little mince and gravy added from yesterday. Later I'm adding preboiled potatoes, and dumplings.

So nice to read this post and realise I am not the only one who hates cooking. So many cookery shows and healthy eating advice you get the impression everyone is a whiz in the kitchen.

I live on my own and after many years of cooking for a family I just can't be bothered anymore.

Oh, I don't enjoy the eating so much. (Various gastric problems). I just enjoy the planning, preparation, making the table look nice and even clearing up after.

My mother was not a good cook, she overcooked everything to the point that some foods, particularly meat, were virtually inedible, so I had to learn to cook pretty quickly.

I hate food shopping, planning meals, food prep and clearing up, but I love eating though.

My daughter cooks lots of 'fancy' meals, more often than not from scratch, no shop bought sauces or jars, don't know where she gets it from, don't think it's me lol!

What annoys me is that generally it's us women who are expected to plan meals and cook. My DH sometimes asks, What are we having to eat tonight? It REALLY annoys me. One day I said to him, What would you do if I asked YOU that question? And one day I did just that. Honestly, he just looked blank and went pale.

I love shutting myself in the kitchen and pottering about making a meal, especially if I'm following a new recipe. It's like a little holiday.

I sit down at the weekend and plan the week ahead, sometimes leafing through recipe books, old magazines or the internet to find ideas.

However, I only enjoy preparing a meal properly if the kitchen is nice and clean and tidy first. Otherwise, I sometimes just don't bother and let him get himself a slice of bread.

If I ask DH for a suggestion, or to tell me what he would like to eat, he can never think of anything. Honestly! I've had to think up 14 meals a week for over 40 years - he doesn't seem to appreciate that. (I always have an idea for something to cook, even if he does have to get his own in the end)

We have an air fryer-only used it for roasts or chips yet but delish!
I, too, don’t enjoy cooking. DH is a very good cook and enjoys it too. When our DDs were at home, as I reached home first, I usually cooked and they’d look
at it and ask what it was!! Good job I’m not sensitive; a friend’s sons used to pick up their plates and smell the meal-no she didn’t like cooking either! Lol!

I agree, you can't beat chip pan chips, when you're really hungry. When I had a deep fryer I used it outside, we had an outside electric connection.
I still have memories of the days when DS1 came home from an evening out and cooked himself chips at midnight.
The greasy smell woke me up, but relief he was home safe.

I have a chip pan gonegirl - as those of you who have met me can probably tell!!

We always have steak on Friday evenings and every other Friday have it with real chips, garlic mushrooms, roasted cherry tomatoes and onion rings. I keep the chip pan clean by soaking it in Vanish and then putting it through the dishwasher.

I rarely use it inbetween times.

yes, a cook and a chauffeur

Sorry Esther1 no words of advise I to could have written this
If I won the lottery my first luxury would be a cook

I love cooking - spending the day in the kitchen is so relaxing.

Can anyone but me ruin a packet mix? it’s like concrete I reckon my teeth will go but I can’t throw it out too much of a waste

I hate all the mess too, and the washing up.
Husband says "I'll do the washing up" but I know it will take hours because he's a bit obssessive so I give everything a quick rinse and put it away before he sees.
I still make some of our bread - I've got a kneading machine now. I enjoy it so wouldn't want to stop that.

I don't mind cooking but my baking is not as good as three of my sisters. I hate all the mess too.

I don't think air fryers would be much good Callistemon. I think it would be like comparing low fat potato wedges with actual roast potatos. It's the fat that makes them so delicious.

No, it doesn't have children, just lids!

If I could have one person to help in the house, it would be a cook/chef. It's the thinking of ideas and catering to other people's fancies and all the rest of it that gets to me. Also the lack of longevity of food annoys me. I like crafts and get pleasure from seeing what I've made but food - pouff! and it's gone!

Having said which, I like messing about in the kitchen with Xmas cakes or fancy things, it's the humdrum daily that I don't like.