How often do you cook? Have the same few things in rotation? Cook for anyone else too? Prep multiple days at a time or cook every day? I personally work a weird schedule so I prep food 5 days at a time. Also only eat one big meal a day. That could be anything in my dozenish meals rotation. I prep for my girlfriend too but shes simple. For her I cut up some vegetables (bell peppers, cauliflower, celery and carrots usually) then cook up a couple pounds of seasoned meat (chicken breast or 90/10 ground beef). What about you?
I cook every day, I don’t meal prep. Why would I want to spend almost an entire sunday prepping when I can spend half an hour cooking every day?
I exclusively work 12 hour shifts with a 45 minute commute each way. Time on work days is real precious. Knowing I have a good meal a few minutes in the microwave/air fryer away stops me from getting something shitty on the way home. Granted I have a lot of days off (14 a month). So I’m a bit more lax during my 7 straight off.
Yep you really gotta go to bed by 8 to 9 pm after getting home at 6:30pm to get 7 to 8 hours of sleep.
The main issue for me with half your commute time is eating ASAP because going to bed directly after eating = GERD risk. So food being ready as soon as I get home is important.
Much more time efficient to cook 12 portions of something at once than cook something individually 12 times.
If you have a big enough freezer you still get lots of verity of meals. (And can still cook stuff ad-hoc)
I can cook a decent meal in half an hour, often less. That’s time efficient enough.