Personally I started getting into cooking through doing it once a week (usually Sunday night) and using it to save money by making enough for 2-3 meals a week.

One key to doing a weekly cooking time is setting aside the time to do it leisurely. If you're not rushing because you're hungry or in the middle of a busy week you can prep/cleanup properly (I use the time to cleanup my kitchen before the week a bit too).

I save money, eat a bit better, and clean my kitchen more often because I took 1-2 hours out of my weekend during a time I'd just be sitting around mourning the end of the weekend anyway.

I don't do it every weekend if I exhausted myself during the day with other projects... but I used to HATE cooking but I've really started looking forward to it. The end result is really satisfying and I feel like it produces a small ongoing feeling of accomplishment that I've really been missing.

Freezer meals? I've been making weeks worth for the past several months. Relaxing to have a day of just cooking and then never feel like the only food option that suits my current motivation is ordering Dominos! Here's a decent resource for getting started: http://www.30daygourmet.com/products/big-book-of-freezer-coo...

As many of my friends, I love to eat and I love to cook, but unfortunately, my time, kitchen room and budget is limited. So I prefer by far for the same time/budget having let's say 3 poor (joylent/queal) meals and 1 excellent meal than 4 passable meals.

Yeah, I definitely realize there's a big tradeoff here. I try to cook extra for each dinner, so that my lunch the following day is leftovers. (3 sameish-meals in a row is rough but 2 is fine by me).

Another thing that's been helpful is big roasts. turkey breast, pork shoulder, etc are very easy to toss a quick seasoning on throw in the oven for 2-6 hours, plus are pretty cheap ($2-$3 a lb, though a bit of that is bone). Gives you some meat to work into all sorts of things for the week with pretty low effort cooking.

With that, a carb staple and random sauteed veg you can get pretty far.

I don't understand the budget angle, at least if it's referring to the financial budget. One of the first tenants of financial counseling for people who are struggling to pay their bills is that they have to quit eating out immediately. Dave Ramsey has a quip on the radio about that the person who is getting out of debt should not see the inside of a restaurant unless it is his or her second job.

Kitchen room doesn't need to be big. In fact, a small kitchen can be a plus as long as it's organized: it's like the bus is faster between the processing and storage units.

If you look at some of the traditional kitchens in the South of France (just as an example), you'll see tiny spaces with very small counter spaces and limited cooking/sink areas and yet awesome food come out of those kitchens.

I like cooking, but I don't cook often. Because I hate the fact that, with our limited body, we _have_ to eat. One day I may spend two hours having fun at the kitchen, and the following I'm eating instant food. I want to cook (and eat) when I want, not when I have to. And I feel this sentiment is taking me away from the kitchen.[0].

Alternatively, I also prefer to cook only for me. I can take the time I want. Retry as many times as I want. And don't have to take into account the other persons tastes.

[0] And I know this is a juvenile sentiment. I have learned to deal with it but it's just too damn annoying.

> [0] And I know this is a juvenile sentiment. I have learned to deal with it but it's just too damn annoying.

I wouldn't say it's juvenile. Progress is about getting rid of the bullshit you don't like doing in order to have more time for things you like doing.

It's great when you discover that some of the tastiest meals can be extremely simple and quick to make - spaghetti carbonara takes pretty much the time it takes to cook the spaghetti, ie about 9 minutes - how's that for fast food.