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Honored Contributor
Posts: 11,014
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

I am 54 and go back and forth on cooking or just assembling like a salad or something very simple.  Sometimes I just want what I used to cook when I was married and raising my son so I will make a very miniature version of that particular dinner meatloaf ect.... 

I even did once a turkey and dressing one year just cut recipes way down and stored in freezer for over the next several months.  It was nice to stop cooking for so long but then I just decided to cook what I wanted as much or as little and "health" it up where I can.  (less sugar less salt)

I found I enjoy the experimenting and creating more than the eating!!  I do share sometimes but there are too many days and years left to not enjoy cooking or not cooking.

"Live frugally, but love extravagantly."
Honored Contributor
Posts: 25,929
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Personally, if I did not want to cook I would not invite guests for Thanksgiving dinner - just my thoughts on it. I would never invite company for take out food.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 18,504
Registered: ‎05-23-2010

I have had that reaction as well, assuming that because you don't, you can't - as if everyone who could possibly, would always naturally.

 

I have never had a hubby and kids to cook for. My mother didn't enjoy cooking so her teaching of me was minimal to none. Yet I have always enjoyed food and did my share of cooking when I was young. I enjoyed trying new recipes, the process of putting it all together, and eating the finished product. And what I made was usually good!

 

Trouble was, with no one to cook FOR, after awhile you kind of lose the incentive. No, you can't always "just freeze it" (how big do people think apt-sized refrigerators are, anyway?) because some things don't re-heat well and after two meals you just don't want the rest.

 

Yes, I could "cook" myself a chicken breast or a steak & veggies, but there was no point to cooking entire involved meals and throwing two-thirds of the food away. No, I did not have relatives or neighbors I could share with. 

 

So, I have not cooked for many years, but I certainly could, and would, if there was anyone to share it with.

Life without Mexican food is no life at all
Honored Contributor
Posts: 18,504
Registered: ‎05-23-2010

@151949 wrote:

@QueenDanceALot wrote:

I cook just so I can eat.  It's not exactly a passion.

 

If I could eat out every day I WOULD.

 

 


I have many neighbors who don't cook anymore since they retired - they eat out 2 or 3 times a day - and it is showing on them - they are all gaining a lot of weight. Restaurant food tends to be very rich and high in things like butter, cream, sugar & salt.


 

 

If you order things high in butter, cream, sugar and salt. That's a choice. There are other things on the menu. And if that's all that's in the menu, there are choices of restaurants as well.

Life without Mexican food is no life at all
Honored Contributor
Posts: 12,928
Registered: ‎11-01-2010

I honestly don't know. I can cook & I cook well. But I'd rather do just about anything other than spend time in the kitchen. I don't enjoy cooking. I cook for myself because It is the only way to get healthy meals. I keep it simple and spend as little time as possible in the kitchen.

 

I don't volunteer to cook EVER. If I have to take something for a potluck of some such thing at work and can't get out of it I will buy something instead of cooking. (I rarely eat the foods at these events because they usually contain ingredients that I avoid.) Because of this people think that I can't cook.

 

I don't invite people over for meals. Can't imagine why someone who does not like to cook would do that. If someone wants to invite me to their place for a meal they won't get an invite from me in return. Because of this people think that I can't cook.

 

I can cook but I don't want to if I can avoid it. 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 8,235
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

@Chrystaltree2, LOL, I can certainly identify with you!  I love that we now live in the world of convenience, there are so many items out there now that you can buy that are just as good as "homemade"!  I only cook for two, except when the granddaughters come over, and I just don't think I am that great of a cook!  I prefer to buy items already prepared to making something, and it not turn out right or making someone sick, etc.!

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 7,328
Registered: ‎08-20-2012

     When there were several people living in this house and I didn't work, I became "Susie Homemaker"!!!  I look back and laugh at myself now!!  Planned meals, made up weekly menus, tried new recipes...yikes!!  I cooked and cooked and most dishes were really good.  But once I started working many hours a week, including weekends...my desire to cook just died!!   Currently, I really use my slow cooker...just place  ingredients and turn on the machine!!!

      I remember one time cooking a great, complex Turkey Day meal for a family holiday - turkey and all the fixings!  Well, all the men in the group wanted to see the football game, so everyone rushed through the dinner.  I was so furious...that was the last time I agreed to host and cook for a huge TDay meal.  After that, we had great holiday meals planned, cooked and served by hotel kitchens!!!  Smiley Happy

Honored Contributor
Posts: 12,889
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Why do people think....

[ Edited ]

@Moonchilde wrote:

@151949 wrote:

@QueenDanceALot wrote:

I cook just so I can eat.  It's not exactly a passion.

 

If I could eat out every day I WOULD.

 

 


I have many neighbors who don't cook anymore since they retired - they eat out 2 or 3 times a day - and it is showing on them - they are all gaining a lot of weight. Restaurant food tends to be very rich and high in things like butter, cream, sugar & salt.


 

 

If you order things high in butter, cream, sugar and salt. That's a choice. There are other things on the menu. And if that's all that's in the menu, there are choices of restaurants as well.


 

I agree. As I mentioned in my earlier post, my husband and I eat lunch out just about every day. I've lost 107 pounds (only 1 pound to go!) and eat in restaurants all the time. But.....I'm very strict with what I eat. If it's a restaurant we go to regularly, I know exactly what to order. If it's a restaurant we haven't been to before, I look at the menu online before we go to see what the choices are so I know going in what I'll order. 

 


Why is it, when I have a 50/50 guess at something, I'm always 100% wrong?
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Honored Contributor
Posts: 11,014
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

@QueenDanceALot wrote:

@Puppy Lips wrote:

I have always wondered what "skill level" you have to be at to actually say that you CAN cook.  My Mom hated to cook and did as little as possible.  I think I am doing better than her, but just very basic meals,  Is Hamburger Helper cooking?  LOL


My mom was Queen of the Swanson TV Dinner and the occasional burnt and dried out pork chop!

 

When I first moved out and got my own place I was really good at browning some Corned Beef Hash and my browning skills came in very handy when it was Hamburger Helper nite!

 

 


As a newlywed my poor husband suffered through horrible meals since I had no ideal what I was doing.  On the night I fixed him barbecue wieners (had them in elementary school) he asked me if I had never heard of Hamburger Helper.  He was not trying to be funny but was just desperate.  I said no, but it sounded like I needed an introduction.  I got good with and without the "helpers" but boy were they great until I learned how to cook.

"Live frugally, but love extravagantly."
Honored Contributor
Posts: 11,153
Registered: ‎05-22-2012

@Kachina624 wrote:

I guess people figure if you could, you would.


 

And yet, if you have a housekeeper, no one assumes you don't know how to clean a toilet or wash a window. If you have a gardener, no one assumes you can't mow a lawn or pull a weed. If you have a driver, people don't assume you can't drive. If you have a personal assistant, people don't assume you are incapable of answering a phone, writing a letter, or running an errand on your own. 

 

Cooking isn't any different to me than any of those things. Some people would rather pay someone else to do something for them, not because they can't, but because it's not a priority to them and they can afford not to.