how often do you cook a full meal?

[silverrr]

do you cook a full dinner meal every night, every other day, or something different? i'm newly married and it seems i cook about 4 nights per week.

[Pony]

I would say the same as you, about four times a week. I cook just for DH and I and we do not mind leftovers. As long as they are good!

[Vicanddi]

I was cooking every night, and we were being taken over by leftovers! So, now I cook about 4 or 5 times a week, and have 2 leftover nights, maybe one where we go out. Everybody is happier that way, including the cook!

[Grace]

I cook 5 nights a week. I menu plan for 5 meals, in no particular order. I cook whatever I feel like/have time for from the planned menu on any given night. The other two nights we eat leftovers or go out.

[kristalsnow7]

I cook about 5-6 nights a week. We usually go out on Fridays, and sometimes one other night during the week.

[layla14]

It really varies for us. I guess it depends on the menu or the meal. For example, I have a thing about left over seafood . So if I make seafood it is either gone that night or it goes away.

Some weeks I cook a full meal 5 or 6 nights. Other weeks it seems like I can cook a full meal 3 different nights and there is enough food for us to eat for the week.

Maura

[tbb113]

Single mom with kids that like to EAT, so I cook every night that they are home (at least 5 nights a week, sometimes 6, and if they don't go to their dad's at all...7 nights). I do eat one dinner a week at my mother's if there is both Hebrew School and Teen School....

[RebeccaT]

Just DH and me, and I cook an average of 4 times a week. Sunday-Wednesday, Thursday is usually leftovers because we have a weekly thing at our church in the evening so we eat on the fly. Friday and Saturday usually end up being dinners out, either as a date or with friends.

[Terrytx]

5 to 7 nights a week, depending on leftovers and/or baking muffins and things for other meals.

[KristinK]

I cook 6-7 nights a week, and DF takes any leftovers for lunch. If I'm busy or tired, I might ask him to cook instead, about once or twice a month. Recently (during football season), we've been having Sunday dinner with his parents - although I don't necessarily want to make that a tradition. Occasionally, we'll go out to dinner, but we feel better about making things ourselves - not to mention saving money!

[CompassRose]

I probably cook a full meal maybe two nights a week, at most. That's cos A. works retail. Eating dinner together is such a treat! On the other hand, I try to make a nice breakfast for us both almost every day.

I've got a few easy meals that I make for myself. Most of those are sort of full meals, and I usually plan for at least one more meal's worth of leftovers. If I'm alone but have time, I'll cut down some recipe I want to try which I know wouldn't be to A.'s taste, and fiddle around.

The other thing is that we really eat differently just at the moment -- I'm eating higher protein, and also some kinds of meat, while A. is lacto-ovo veg. Hence, our dinners together are a sort of "cheat" for me, being invariably higher in carbs. And breakfast always seems to involve hen-fruit -- or at least egg sub!

[TerriS]

4-7 nights, depending on our schedule.

[lhall]

4-6 times a week, depending on our schedule.

Leigh

[jphilg]

Probably 5 nights a week....we go out at least once a week, and while we don't do much in the way of leftovers, sometimes food is "reconfigured"...leftover pork tenderloin becomes pork tacos, leftover chicken becomes a grilled chicken salad.

[MiMo]

About three nights a week. One night we usually order in from a delivery place, we eat leftovers for two nights, and we eat out one day on the weekends.

[colleency]

It really varies with our schedule. DH hates leftovers, so I usually aim to cook for 3: 2 dinners and a lunch for me.

For example, I had planned to cook a lot this week, but I actually only cooked once! Hopefully, our schedule will lighten up next week.

My problem is how to get DH to not eat fast food on the night when I'm not home. I try to make something that freezes well once a week. Then I pull out something frozen from a previous week, and he doesn't think of it as a leftover.

[SueK]

I usually cook 5-6 nights a week. We always get takeout on Saturdays, and sometimes Fridays as well. We do get a lot of leftovers, but both DH and I (and sometimes DD) eat them for lunch, so they're not wasted.

[Alethea]

Another 5-6 a weeker here. We almost always go out once a week, sometimes twice.

[Robyn1007]

I would say I cook a full meal about 2-3 times a week. Since I am usually cooking only for myself I tend to make a big pot of something on Sundays and eat leftovers in various forms through about Wednesday or Thursday. By the time I get home most nights I am so tired from work and long commutes I don't have enough energy to do much more than heat something up.

[kima]

I cook 5-6 nights a week. The other night (s) are usually leftovers or something super simple (like grill cheese sandwiches, veggie burgers etc). I use to cook 7 nights a week but as my girls are grown and I have been at this for over 24 years I am petering out

[Molli526]

I cook about 4-5 times a week, depending on the amount of leftovers. We usually go out once a week as well.

[Cooky]

I won't cook on Friday or Saturday unless its a special occasion. Friday is family eat in/out from/at a resturant and Saturday is soup and sandwich day, or DH and I go out, alone! On Sunday's I cook a full meal and try to plan leftovers for Monday or Tuesday, and will typically cook Monday or Tuesday through Thursday.

That has basically always been our schedule, except when first married and before any kids, we ate out one other day during the week. We are slowly going back to that schedule.

Also, when I first got married, I didn't want to be in the kitchen all day, everyday, so I bought cookbooks that featured fast meals that were good. When DD1 and DS1 were first married we gave them a family gift of Rachel Ray's cookbooks for 30 minute meals, along with some other cookbooks that featured wholesome meals that didn't take long to prepare. They love these books. Some of the other books I bought them are Cooking Light Five Star, The Best of Cooking Light, Tyler Florence, King Arthur, Betty Crocker, Bisquick, The Joy of Cooking and a set of several Cooks Illustrated.

[wallycat]

We rarely if ever go out to eat...we like it that way.
I cook every night...if there's a night I don't feel like cooking, I thaw something from the freezer or we open a can.

I do enjoy cooking and experimenting, so almost every night we get something new, leftovers for lunch, so that in the evening I can make something new again.
But again, there's always frozen, canned or leftovers for times I just am not in the mood.

[Paula H]

My boyfriend and I take turns cooking - two nights it's his responsibility, two nights it's mine, then back to him, and so on. We usually have leftovers on the second of our nights though.

[rinsav]

I cook about 4 nights a week on average, Monday - Thursday. I just cook for DH and myself and he takes any left-overs to work. Friday and Saturday we go out to dinner, either by ourselves or with friends. Sundays we often just have soup (out of a can ), order take-out, make homemade pizza, or grill (in nicer weather).

[stefania4]

We cook 4 or 5 nights a week. On really busy weeks - if I'm out of town for 3 days and/or DH is in the midst of his busy season - it's usually less.

[Ms. Chevious]

Full meal, as in sides and everything? Never. Once or twice a week I might cook one entree-type thing but never more than that.

[sneezles]

Originally posted by colleency
It really varies with our schedule. DH hates leftovers, so I usually aim to cook for 3: 2 dinners and a lunch for me.

My, I'd be dead in the water if my DH didn't like leftovers! Now, granted, I don't care to eat the same meal 3 nights in a row but if it's a particularly tasty meal I'm a bit flexible. DH, however, will eat it until it's gone ! Works out nicely now that he's here all the time (he's retired) and I was a bit concerned with him eating at the café at lunch every day since everything is fried or griddled.
So to answer the ? I cook dinner on the average 6 nights a week cause DH eats the leftovers for lunch. Today we had lunch with his mom and her SO so I get to "cook" salad for supper!

[VitaBrevisEst]

i generally cook Mon-Tues-Weds nights, we have leftovers Thurs and Fri, I'll cook again Saturday and/or Sunday, and we finish leftovers at lunch those days. I also do planned leftovers, make something that can be reworked into an entirely new meal the second time around. we eat out once/month, and almost never do take-out. i like to know what i'm eating.

[Peggy]

I cook a full meal six nights a week. Leftovers are eaten up at lunch the next day. We usually eat out one night a week - either at a restaurant or at friend's.

Peggy