Cooking, And A Lack of Joy For It

Cooking has become quite a challenge for me, I can't seem to get past the frustrations that it causes to put meals together on a regular basis. I don't like to eat out often because the nutritional value is lacking, it can be expensive, and it never really sounds good, give or take a few restaraunts that I frequent, but it is convenient.

Typically I will get done with the gym and be starving which means if I don't have something planned I want to get something that will be fast and I will be able to eat almost as soon as I get home. This definitely makes Chipotle sound like a good option except for the expense issue (8-10 bucks a meal) and although I like to believe it is healthier then say Taco Bell, it still probably packs a calorie punch that I am choosing to ignore.

My other option is to pick something up at the grocery store to make. I do this pretty frequently and usually make a meal around the already cooked chickens they sell hot. This isn't a bad option but I don't like having to stop a few times a week to pick up miscellaneous items and I am also faced with leftovers that I know won't get completely eaten. I throw away so much food I feel guilty about it.

I am not sure what the solution is to this problem. I have tried planning meals for the week and going grocery shipping at one time for everything on my list but that will always result in thrown away food because something will come up and I won't be home for dinner or I won't feel like what I was going to make. One thing I do really like is that they are starting to make more individual sized portions of things, vegies in particular. They have these great single serving frozen veggie packs you make in the microwave and they are just enough for one person, no waste! They taste pretty good too, they just need a larger variety. I also have Lean Cusince meals pretty regularly which I like because they are low in calories and also quick and easy and most of them taste pretty good but the portion size is not big enough for dinner for me so I save them for lunch.

Moving on with the cooking deliema, my other issue is I hate cleaning and washing dishes. Not having a dishwasher adds to this problem greatly. I will admit that there has been one or more times when I have chosen to throw a dish or two away instead of clean it. Irrational, perhaps. Lazy, definitely but the only time I do this is if the dish is old and mismatched or if it is tupperware, I will frequently throw out Tupperware because I had leftovers that I didnt eat that I forget about and I am too afraid to open them because of the inevitable horrific smell that will accost me.

I want to come home and relax and not have to work by making a meal and then work again by cleaning up after it. To me, the time isn't always worth it. I used to cook a lot more and I do enjoy preparing meals but only when I have the time and the energy, which hardly seems to happen anymore.