What I Eat When I Don’t Feel Like Cooking

When my husband is home I tend to be less productive, that’s just a fact! He does a lot of hanging around and it makes me want to hang with him. The weekend signals that it’s time to relax and take a break from the go-go-go of the weekdays.
I don’t do laundry, the kitchen stays messy, and I typically lack the motivation to cook. I wanted to quickly share what my family eats when I don’t feel like cooking!
 
{this post contains affiliate links}
 

1. Smoothies and Popcorn

I do meal replacement smoothies and juices a lot but we all end up eating popcorn and smoothies for at least one meal a week. It’s not the most nutritious dinner but it saves my sanity and gives me a break when I need one. 

We use Orville Redenbacker GMO FREE Popcorn Kernels from Costco in our air popper and coat our popcorn with a healthy sprinkling of sea salt and coconut oil. This is probably one of my kiddos favorite dinners and is usually accompanied by a family movie in mamas bed. 

 

2. Tuna Fish and Chips/Wraps

When I first met my husband he would invite me over to his place for dinner. He made three things well: DiGiorno’s, Frozen Bean and Cheese Burritos (the cheap ones from Walmart that come in those orange packages, lol), and tuna fish. 

Well the tuna fish stuck. Daddy makes two things in our house now, oatmeal and tuna fish. Once or twice a week when I don’t feel like cooking Brady prepares wild caught tuna (Wild Planet from Costco) with homemade mayo and organic sweet relish. We eat it as a lettuce wrap or sometimes we eat them with organic tortilla chips (Kirkland or Late July brand). 

3. Guacamole/Hummus

instantloss.com

 

Ya’ll know me by now. You know I love my dips. We love to eat veggie platters that consist of a ton of raw veggies and a bowl of hummus or guacamole. All I have to do is put a bunch of stuff on a plate, I usually always have a batch of hummus or guac made up in the fridge. This is a simple meal that covers all the nutritional bases I strive to hit at every meal: lots of veggies, healthy fat, fiber, and protein. 

You can find my homemade guacamole here.

And my hummus here and here. 

 

 

4. Hard Boiled Eggs

Part of my meal prep for the week consists of making 8-12 hard boiled eggs. I keep these on hand for snacks, breakfast, and salads throughout the week. On Sundays I usually eat a couple hard boiled for breakfast while everyone runs around crazy getting ready for Church.

  

I make my hard boiled eggs in my Instant Pot Pressure Cooker with a stainless steel steamer basket. I use the 5-5-5 method which means I cook them for 5 minutes on Manual High Pressure, I allow the pot to naturally release the pressure for 5 minutes, and I put the eggs into an ice bath for 5 minutes to stop the cooking process. 

5. Scrounge Around

Sometimes I wander around the kitchen aimlessly, feeling unmotivated, with three little people close on my heels begging for food and complaining about hunger. There are things that I could prepare but sometimes a mama just wants to sit down! These are the moments that I used to call Daddy and ask him to pick up pizza on the way home. I haven’t done in that in over 7 months now, and I don’t want to break my streak, so I scrounge. 

One kid wants raisins, bananas, leftover blender muffins, and deli turkey for dinner? Sure! Another wants last nights leftovers? Perfect. I’m not even hungry but know that I need to eat something? Spinach, strawberries, lemon juice, chia seeds, and almond milk into the blender, instant dinner! And it’s way healthier than Pizza Hut or Papa Johns. 
 
I’m no perfect mama. I don’t put a pin worthy dinner on the table every night. My husband doesn’t always like what I cook and sometimes he makes himself something else. My kids complain and whine just like normal children. I get tired and feel like running away to Target just like you. 
 
Making these big changes isn’t easy but it does get easier over time. Calling the pizza man or asking Brady to bring something home doesn’t even enter my mind now. We roll with what we have on hand and I’m more sensitive to myself and my temperament on the days when I feel overwhelmed. It’s a marathon not a sprint and I know that even on the nights when we eat popcorn and drink smoothies we’re doing better than we did before and that is so satisfying. 

     

14 Comments

  1. Great ideas! What kind of smoothies do your kids like? I haven’t been able to find one my kids will eat!

  2. Love this thank you for all you do truly an inspiration. How does does guacamole and your hummus last in the fridge?

  3. Thanks for these ideas. I don’t even have children and I feel guilty if I don’t cook a decent dinner every night. My husband ate cocktail shrimp with ketchup for dinner last night and was happy as a clam, so I’ll just be thankful he’s easy to please!

  4. My go to meal lately has been a spinach omelette. Fast, good, healthy! Sometimes I add half an Avocado diced on top with a few tsp salsa!!! Yum!

    Gonna try this veggie platter and dip!!! Awesome ideas!!!
    Tuna salad or Chicken salad lettuce wraps are a great idea also!!!

  5. Amazing ideas, thank you! Quick question, I am hypothyroid. I’ve been told to avoid raw kale, broccoli, raw spinach etc because of this. When making a green smoothie, would I wilt or steam the greens first, and keep them in the fridge so they’re handy for the smoothie?

  6. Ha! to Number 5…we call that “charcuterie platter” at our house, but I just drag it all out to the counter and tell them to pick what they want! 🙂

  7. Reading this brought tears to my eyes. THANK YOU for always keepin it real and offering real world solutions. These are awesome replacements for ordering out. Sending my sincere thanks for all that you do for our community!!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.