47 years is a long time! No wonder burnout has set in! I'm in a similar boat, where as I used to love to cook and plan meals for the family but have had no interest in cooking for the past couple of years. The only time I do is when my DH joins me and we cook together. There are just so many other things I'd rather be doing. Grocery shopping is another part of the equation that doesn't thrill me either. :c(

Yes, I can relate to everything you said. In addition to cooking and cleaning, there is the time spent grocery shopping....BLECH! Fortunately my DH also is fine with whatever I put together or fending for himself. Most nights we put a salad together and call it done. I do find it much easier to maintain my weight with our light dinners, so that's a plus. Tomorrow I'm going all out and putting a slow cooker meal together which will provide leftovers for a night or two.

Yeah, it's a funny thing though....how many recipes that used to be staples, I don't even seem to make or even remember any more, and the new rut seems to be a lot of the "new" same old same old. Maybe dig out an old recipe or two...or I was really inspired to refresh my cooking when I watched rachel ray 30 min meals...maybe a cooking show will help reinvigorate you. Or you can shoot for a new ingredient and see where that leads...or maybe a new cuisine...Asian, Mideast, E. Europe...wherever. That too can jumpstart your cooking inspiration.

Last night we ate at a Turkish restaurant...lots of good healthy food but with different and tasty spices. Yum.

I've only been cooking for close to 40 years and have also
lost interest in cooking. Lucky for me, my husband retired a couple years ago and really enjoys it, so he does about 80 percent of the cooking and I do more of the cleanup, He is also a very good cook.

Oh, I am so not a cook, but as the stay-home wife and parent I do it. About 14 years ago I got a subscription to a menu-planning service, and it changed my life and kitchen. I subscribed for about 3 years, saved all the weekly menus, and now when I do my weekly grocery shopping I just pull out a set. It makes it a little more fun, I make things I never thought I would, and my kids got more variety. My DH is still a much better cook than I am, but at least dinner is ready when he gets home...usually...

Seriously. You need to ask??? I don't care whether you cook for a crew, a few, or little ol' you - who DOESN'T get cooking burnout??!! When I day dream about winning the lottery it includes things like a personal chef and someone to iron my sheets! I don't need/want fancy food, but if someone else made the food decision and prepared it I'd be in heaven. And then crisp sheets at night.......... :-)

I've been at it longer than any of you and, yes, I get burned out in an on & off fashion. Luckily, my husband is very amenable & I may cook or he may cook, or we go to the freezer & see what we stored away from a previous cooking session. And there's always a restaurant:>) Altho I did make potato leek soup for dinner tonite.

I've only been cooking for about 24 years (well, that's still a lot of years) and I have never enjoyed it, so I often experience burnout. Partly because with kids, you can never please everyone and after making a well-balanced meal, it's ever so nice to have someone say "ew, are there cooked carrots in this?" Cooking is my least favorite household chore. I keep telling DH that when the kids are gone and he's retired, he's taking over cooking or we're going out every night!

I'll use any excuse to not cook. Yesterday I had a skin biopsy on my leg with two stitches. It didn't hurt (well, except for the novocaine injection) but it was traumatic for me because I'm a big baby when it comes to anything medical. I was fully able to cook dinner but ordered pizza instead!

Yes, I got it early, but there aren't enough good restaurants around here to eat out that often, so my solution is to have the housekeeper do the shopping and cooking. Ok, I'm lazy!

I only cook when the kids show up. They usually have some favorite growing up. For me there is a tendency to get into a rut of some meal that will go on for a couple of weeks.

I also hate shopping and for some reason the grocery store doesn't work for me anymore. Buy sales of what is needed and haven't an appetite for being a creative cook.

Big Sunday dinners, canning and using fresh or standard ingredients has gone by the wayside. I was always a country cook and used leftovers for great meals too.

Do you think the grocery stores have changed beyond what we were used to? All the food that is now full of unknown ingredients? A good roast doesn't even make great gravy and have to add canned broth to get there. The vegetables and fruit are also a guessing game as to their freshness/taste. Even buying bananas is gambling, nothing seems to taste the same as remembered. Then I'm irritated the money was spent. I've even found this in current local farmers markets during the past few years, just doesn't feel the same as once was.

This may be regional, being able to buy variety or what is available. Or perhaps growing up in CA, then living on farms with fresh everything. Now in snow town, limited is an understatement.

I think grocery stores have changed. There is a larger variety of products available, with fruits and vegetables I never knew as a child, and more ready-to-eat products to buy. Frozen foods are a lot better than they used to be.

I really like to cook this time of year. I Apple Cider brined a pork roast for two and a half days and slathered it with coriander seeds before roasting with onions and potatoes last night. Now I'm a new fan of brining. The recipe was on the cover of Bon Appitite and it was yummy. Thinking of making something like it for Xmas.

I subscribe to Bon Appitite and can't wait to go through the new issues. I made Caramelized Chicken earlier this week. I love cool weather cooking. I like to make complicated dishes that cost entirely too much money to make.

Summers are hard for me as it is too hot to cook. I can't take standing over the BBQ much. If i don't feel like cooking, I simply do not.

I think it takes more interesting recipes to get rid of the boredom of cooking. I have been cooking for 44 years. My Le Crueset pieces inspire me to cook. I love cooking with them.

I guess we all reach a point of burnout - we just vary on the timing and reasons.

I have used a meal prep kitchen for a number of years. (I go to Dream Dinners, but there are others - this is not an ad, just a satisfied customer recommendation). I go once a month and prepare 12 meals chosen from a menu of ~15-18 options, bring them home and freeze them. I pull a few out of the freezer to thaw each week. Come dinner time it is easy to finish the prep and cook each meal. For me it helps temendously with the planning, shopping and timing issues we have as a busy family with two working parents.

It really helped us get out of our rut and try some new things as well. Plus the meals are generally healthy, with good portion control so that has helped us eat better too.

Like others, I also use a meal planner, emeals, which even gives the option of a specific store that you might shop at for the grocery list. I can not believe how much better this has made meal time for us. We love to try new things and so this gave us so much more variety without having to give it any thought. I still like to add in a good recipe that I have found somewhere else or tweak the recipes to my liking, but I do it when I am inspired to do it, and on the days when I am uninspired, the meal is completely planned out for me and I have all of the ingredients for it. That actually makes it more fun for me to cook and shop for groceries.

It looks like there are other sites that do this for you also, I would highly recommend looking into one of these options!

I love to cook (and love to shop for groceries)--both are like meditation for me. But I will confess that where I used to pull off a several-course meal for several people with aplomb--nightly--it is no longer as easy since I've gotten used to simpler meals for just the 2 of us. Every once in a while I will fall into a slump. It's easily cured by rummaging through my vast collection of cookbooks, or buying seasonal produce and trying new things.

My husband is furloughed and promised he'd try his hand at meal prep; the last time he did was when he was in his PhD program. So far, zilch.

Oh, I subscribe to cooking mags, too, Goldust. I look forward to them, I devour them cover to cover. I thoroughly read the recipes and can smell the aromas.. I can taste them. And, most often, that's where it ends. As opposed to past times when I couldn't try new recipes fast enough:)

Can you talk about the L/C cookware and what you like about it? I've considered purchasing a trial piece but always talk myself out of it rationalizing, right or wrong, that it is simply cast iron cookware with an enamel coating.

I do like cooking. Some of my favorites are project type cooking where I can spend a lot of time in the kitchen, doing multiple steps, making something completely unlike what I had known as a child and savoring it. My husband generally likes to sample those things and my oldest 2 children generally like those as well.

However, every day cooking, it is just another chore. There is a certain amount of time to get food on the table and trying to meld together flavor and nutritional needs with time constraints and financial limitations is generally a chore for me. A lot of those times I am just not that interested in food period. Even really good food can be just okay to me during those phases. Whenever I find myself in those ruts, I just do the best I possibly can and if anybody is unhappy with it, they are welcome to come up with other meal ideas with the caveat that they have to help prepare it. Honestly, when I am in those ruts, I do not even find restaurant food all that stimulating either.

I like to cook but I'm just not motivated to do much after I get home from work. So that means I have to spend a good part of my weekend planning meals, grocery shopping and preparing some stuff that will get us through the week. Sometimes I do better than others. Sometimes we buy prepared food at Costco. Sometimes we go out or get takeout.

DH used to travel a lot so I could get by with very simple eating that wouldn't qualify as a meal to him. Now he's home all the time. Yogurt and a bowl of brussels sprouts is not his idea of dinner. I think this has contributed to my burnout or whatever it is.

This made me laugh out loud as I had yogurt and a bowl of brussel sprouts just a few days ago! And hubby fended for himself. :) I am trying to lose some weight and finding I really don't need a big meal in the evening. Sometimes I just make a green juice and have that with a yogurt. (I am addicted to pomegranate greek yogurt)

Big time burnout here! I did make a delicious crockpot beef stew -- and then chicken soup to clean out the kitchen and then .......... burnout! sigh.

The fridge and the cupboards are empty -- and for once -- I'm not looking forward to replenishing them ... sigh.

Already had a burger and pizza this week (not good choices but fast and easy -- sigh)

Hoping this situation turns around soonest! :)

I like my Le Creuset because I can deeply caramelize onion, celery and what have you without burning the food. The deep color adds flavor. Le Creuset cookware is in their element when deglazing.

They sear (roasts, etc) like no other and they are easy to clean. I can't get the same results with other cookware. Yes, I do have regular cast iron skillets i like but the LC Dutch ovens are wonderful. I envision ruining other cookware by the way I use my Le Creuset. I like to sear meat almost black without it tasting burned. I can do that.

The roasting pans are great too. Heavy but worth every single pound. Lol. I use my Braiser all the time to reduce sauces. I should sell them. Actually I buy many used.

Jreuter, I used to get lots of our meals from Dinner A'Fare--- until they closed because of the poor economy. That one was 45 min away, which wasn't bad, but the next closest location was two hours away, so that was the end of that. I felt the price was fantastic for the quality of meats and ingredients they used. And if you couldn't get there to make the meals yourself you could pay a nominal fee for them to do it for you to pick up. I miss it!

"I'm having Cheerios for dinner, dear. What are you having?" That's where I am these days.

I never enjoyed cooking, except for company. The day to day stuff was a chore and a bore. I always felt like Mary Tyler Moore in the opening scene where she rolls her eyes and throws a package of meat in the cart. I did less and less the older the kids got because I got tired of making nice meals and then they would say they were going for pizza with friends or over someone's house, etc. DH traveled every week back then so it made it easier to step away and just make sure the fridge was stocked so everyone could eat as schedules permitted. The nights we were all home I did make an effort, tough usually something simple. They are grown and gone...DH still travels but not as much lately, but we usually fend for ourselves.d. He claims he loves to cook but always makes the same two things, neither of which I like! We have both agreed to cook more when we are retired...when we have more time and energy to plan and execute.

This is a picture of the first batch of roasted Roma tomatoes I made today. I had 'help' harvesting from my 23 month old great grandson. Prepping time resulted in my house, already under construction, a disaster.

I need to repeat this tomorrow. Family scarfed them up already.

gold, those just make me sad, even though they look tempting. We got an extra early freeze on the 28th and so I have to wait until July of next year for more.

Well, I feel better in that I'm not alone in my burnout!! I did make a nice dinner last night, and have determined I need to make it more of a priority & plan ahead more, so that I can start earlier in the day when I have more energy.

I can totally see why people who no longer have kids at home eat out a lot. We really enjoy our home, though, and do prefer to stay in, at least during the week. Need to shop like they do in Paris...pull along my cart which I do have & shop daily! I'm pretty good at coming up with something nutritious & ok if I have basics on hand plus lots of veggies & fruits.

It might also have something to do with having been in Italy for a couple of weeks & I haven't yet gotten my "groove" back....heh heh.

Gold, your tomatoes look so delicious! Thanks for your thoughts on the L/C. I may give it a try.

Lizzie, at least you have some imagination in the kitchen with what you have on hand. My daughter is like that, too. She clearly didn't get the gene from me. I need recipes, inspiration, and direction:) Our dinner tonight was good and the house smelled divine all day. I'll prob. cook "real" meals a couple times/week now that the weather is turning..

As an aside, I feel fortunate that when we first married DH was adamant about not cooking nightly dinners. We both feel better when we eat on the lighter side so it works for both of us.

When I was growing up, dad did the food shopping and we never had to figure it out...he bought what was on sale and we cooked and ate it.

Lately I've been enjoying the frozen pre-cooked shrimp...so quick and easy... the other night I made it with sauteed garlic in EVOO, lemon juice, pesto and chopped grape tomatoes, some white wine and cream, with a sprinkle of parm on top over fettucini. Yummy.

I'm also a big fan of the crock pot as it does the cooking for me. I made sausage and peppers with a bunch of chopped tomatoes and onion...how crazy it is that it's October and we're still harvesting tomatoes...we used to always have a frost just after labor day!

This is a good thread. We go out a fair amount (never fast food, that's just us) but honestly, it's a better meal at home. I'd love to follow a "I just made this and it was wonderful" thread. Here's a good thread where I've found more than one new favorite.

Last night, we made Breezy's 'Penne with Brown Butter, Arugula, Tomatoes, and Toasted Pine Nuts' pasta (for maybe the 7th time? Lately, I'm substituting 1.5 tsp kosher salt for the amount requested and that's just right).

Today, we had it for lunch. YUM!

Here is a link that might be useful: Winter Recipes - look for Breezy

I did make a fantastic dinner tonight. We have friends visiting from out of town and it was a birthday dinner. Of course I took a day off work to do all the shopping and some of the prep for this and other meals for the guests. It has been more fun because it was a special occasion. However I do feel like I've been slaving away for two days straight.

We try to rotate what we cook so it makes the decision process easier:

vegetarian
poultry
vegetarian
beef
vegetarian
poultry
vegetarian
pork

and we try to eat fish at least 2 x per week.

some eat to live, others live to eat...

i am a bit of both...

i enjoy cooking tremendously (and if i must say so, am darn good at it)

but sometime i go through spells where i just 'eat to live'

i will nosh on salads, eggs, sandwiches.....very casual fare

always with a good wine however -gg

but then i will get the desire to create new dishes or recreate old favorites with new flavors and flair...

admittedly, i have the urge to create much more when i have family and friends.....if it is just me and DH we are very content with soup and a salad

I hate it now. I'm so sick of trying to figure out what to make for dinner every night, that I could just SCREAM...I just don't know what to make anymore, it's hard. And the price of food has gone up so much in So Cal, that you can't afford to eat. UGGG

I enjoy cooking but I have alot going on and there are times when I am pressured because I must have TIME to cook. I find meal planning helps as does the crock pot, making a meal that will feed us more than once (leftovers which is pretty easy since there are just two of us), etc. I do NOT enjoy grocery shopping at all.

I try lots of new recipes - lately thanks to Pinterest and Facebook. Many are keepers although I've tried a few that were definitely not.

Tonight is a chicken/dressing casserole with roasted sweet potatoes and I have not decided what other veggie - or perhaps I will do a salad instead. Keeping salad items ready and on hand is another big help for us.

tina

Make an effort to try a new ingredient or vegetable to add interest.

I never tried chinese 5 spice before and now I really like the flavor.

Tonight I made lasagna in the LeCreuset baking dish. I am on fall break from school, so I had time. It really cooks great. Lasagna is easy prep, but it still has to cook for 1:15.

But yes, I am in a rut lately, too. At least with change of seasons I can cook more soups and pot roasts. I have a fair amount of cookbooks plus I get Weight Watchers and Rachael Ray magazines.