Feeling burned out on cooking?

You remember those "less busy days" when cooking and getting dinner on the table wasn't even something you had to think twice about?

Lately, those quick, go to meals just haven't felt very inspiring and let's face it, "inspiring" left the door a week ago and now I am just plain tired.

So here's my Top 4 Things I do When I Don't Feel Like Doing Anything in the Kitchen.

1. Freezer Meals To the Rescue

Give yourself a night off and go with the freezer meals. That's right, freezer Lasagna, freezer Chow Mein, freezer Chicken Cordon Bleu. Cooking at home is typically quicker and healthier than fast food anyway.

2. Treat Every Meal Like a Snack

Call it Cooking Strike, Lite Edition. There’s something very freeing about living in the moment and making every meal a snack. This idea works well whether you have kids or not, to be honest, since kids tend to eat every meal like they’re snacking anyway.

Call a Snack Week at your house and stock up on Cheerios, cheese, crackers, grapes, some deli meat, good bread for toast (that sourdough needs to go somewhere!), salsa from the grocery store, chips, bananas, peanut butter, tortillas, shredded cheese, frozen waffles, and popcorn shrimp. Snack your way through the days and evenings; give your kids boxed mac and cheese for dinner. Tell your husband to fend for themself. Scrambled eggs are the lap of luxury in Snack Week, and granola too.

3. Get Serious About Batch Cooking

This strategy is the most practical answer for the burned-out cook who still, in the end, just has to cook: If there’s no escaping it, get it over with quickly.

This is my approach (and not one that resonates with everyone). But for me, this is the primary way I cope: Instead of facing cooking fresh every night, I try to prep enough on the weekends so that on weeknights I eat proudly off my prior achievement.

4. Host a FFY Night (my personal favorite 😉)

This one just happens to be my favorite. If you do it too often, you'll probably be feeling a little guilty, but in a pinch (and sometimes not) it's the go to!

What's FFY Night? It's Fend For Yourself Night!

Everyone is on their own! Everyone is happy. It's genius!

If you're not careful though, you could convince yourself the family dinner hour is not that important, which of course would be wrong - but if you're looking for a break, this is it.

Enjoy the night off!

xo Michelle