Do you still have energy to cook after a 12 hour shift?

Beldar_the_Cenobite, CNA · Sep 19, 2016

I'm planning to buy a crock pot so I can come home to hot meals but I keep pushing it back. My schedule is pretty full with working, school, and studying. By the end of the day, all I want is me time or sleep time. I try to cook on the days I have 8 hour days of work or when I just have school. So far it hasn't worked out. I have meals that I can cook in big portions for leftovers but getting myself to do it is the hard part. I do keep quick frozen and canned foods so I at least don't buy take out all the time.

If you want to get into cooking I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend America's Test Kitchen. They do thorough reviews on equipment and they science recipes of all kinds.

They have reviews on Crockpots. There is one they recommend by Kitchen Aid but it's got mixed reviews. I think Crock Pot brand is very popular. A lot of people swear up and down about crockpots because it self cooks and you can make left overs. It's like cooking once a week.

Oh, ATK requires a subscription but it's only 70 bucks a year for all three of their online subscriptions: America's Test Kitchen, Cook Country, and Cooks Illustrated. I haven't renewed mine yet because of a possible career change...

ThatBigGuy · Sep 19, 2016

I cook something in a skillet about 75% of the time. Breakfast for dinner is one of my favorites, but I also enjoy hot sandwiches. Hamburger helper and frozen chinese skillet dinners are pretty easy and quick. I've even fired up the grill a few times for brats.

I will mention that I am nearly always willing to sacrifice sleep for food.

martymoose, BSN, RN · Sep 19, 2016

no. i dont have the energy. i usually am on my feet from start to finish with no meaningful break. all i want to see is a chair or my bed.

Beldar_the_Cenobite, CNA · Sep 19, 2016

I cook something in a skillet about 75% of the time. Breakfast for dinner is one of my favorites, but I also enjoy hot sandwiches. Hamburger helper and frozen chinese skillet dinners are pretty easy and quick. I've even fired up the grill a few times for brats.
I will mention that I am nearly always willing to sacrifice sleep for food.

LOL I'm actually the opposite of sleep and food. If I could be cryogenically frozen while asleep, I'd choose that over food. Dude, breakfast for dinner is the BOMB:angrybird11: You have the diet I have. My mom can't stand hamburger helper because that was all my dad would make for her when they were married. :roflmao: Just like he can't stand Chicken Friccasee because that's all she'd make for him for a year straight .

LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN · Sep 19, 2016

Since I work mid shift, I try (bring the operative word) to have pre cooked meals to last the days I work; if I work a day shift I do come home and cook occasionally; when I work nights I cook early enough to have dinner before work.

I will say, above all-a slow cooker can be your best friend. :up:

Cat365 · Sep 19, 2016

I work nights. I come in remove contacts, brush my teeth, check to make sure the cat has food (I've learned if the cat isn't fed she will wait until I'm sleeping to stick her claws in my butt and howl until I feed her), strip off my clothes, and fall in bed.

I cook on my days off and freeze anything I can't eat in a couple of days. This means I have leftovers and frozen homemade foods. I also like cereal, fruit, and salads which don't require cooking. I'm not picky about assigning food to certain meals. I'll eat a ham dinner for breakfast and pancakes for supper. There are some weeks I don't cook at all, but the cat doesn't care.

evastone, BSN, RN · Sep 19, 2016

Nope. I don't do much cooking these days. I generally work nights so I don't cook the day of the shift and the day after the shift. I maybe cook once a week. Otherwise, my husband picks up takeout or cooks for us. I once went half a year without cooking. Sleep is sacred. :angrybird9:

Bo,RN · Sep 19, 2016

I LOVE my crockpot. I use the (bag like) liners so clean up is easy.

JerseyTomatoMDCrab, BSN · Sep 19, 2016

This is a good question! The answer is no. Never.

When I worked nights and lived at home, my lovely mother would save me a plate of whatever the family had for dinner the night before and heat it up for me when I got home. Gosh I miss those days, I was so lucky. She would drink her coffee while I chowed down on lasagna, stir-fry, shrimp scampi, chili, rice and beans... Sometimes my stepfather or sister would still be home and we would spend a little time together before everybody left and I went to sleep. Those were happy times.

When I moved in with my boyfriend and worked nights, I was usually so tired from my long commute home that I didn't really have the energy to eat. I typically just went to bed but that often resulted in me waking up at noon, shaking and covered in sweat from hypoglycemia so I started eating a small snack like a granola bar or apple on my way home.

Once I started working day shift, my boyfriend would usually cook something and I would have leftovers when I got home. If I had a really bad day, he would make something I loved a lot to cheer me up. What a guy! I have a nice family.

Now that I work in a school, I have the time and energy to cook pretty much whatever I want. It's nice!

DeeAngel · Sep 19, 2016

You really have to cook on your days off and freeze meals. It's honestly the easiest way to deal with it.

kiszi, RN · Sep 19, 2016

I cook something in a skillet about 75% of the time. Breakfast for dinner is one of my favorites, but I also enjoy hot sandwiches. Hamburger helper and frozen chinese skillet dinners are pretty easy and quick. I've even fired up the grill a few times for brats.
I will mention that I am nearly always willing to sacrifice sleep for food.

Breakfast for dinner & hot sandwiches--yes please!

Sacrifice sleep for food? Noooo.

NICUNurseEliz · Sep 19, 2016

Sometimes I cook, depending on how bad my shift was and how much energy I have.

Every few weeks, I cook freezer meals in bulk. I make pans of Mac and cheese and enchiladas that can be popped into the oven, bags for meals that can go right into the slow cooker such as pulled pork or chicken, rice and broccoli, and individual bowls of chili/soup that I freeze in individual containers. I also freeze burritos and breakfast burritos that can be heated up in about 3 minutes in the microwave.

If I'm not making a freezer meal, I stick with something super basic like tacos or a quesadilla or I'll throw some chicken in the oven with BBQ sauce and heat up a bag of frozen vegetables. Sometimes there will be enough for leftovers and I can just pack them up for my lunch if I work the next day.