How To Make Yourself Cook When You're Stressed

When you're stressed from work, home life, or anything else it can be nearly impossible to will yourself into that kitchen to whip up a meal for yourself and family. It's so much easier to grab a sub $15 meal from Little Caesar's or to drive down to Burger King or McDonalds to raid the dollar menu. The hardest part about cooking, for me at least, is the inconvenience of it.

I run multiple websites, own a SaaS firm and have 4 kids and wife to tend to. I'm often teetering between takeout and home cooking but, I'm proud to say that I've been spending more time in the kitchen than in drive-thrus as of late...even when I'm stressed, angry, or sad. I'll share with you my go-to strategies for getting myself out of a rut long enough to make a meal after we first explore what prevents us from cooking in the first place.

Why don't I want to cook?

Most people find the act of cooking intimidating. There are so many different dishes, ingredients, food allergies, and other complicated aspects that it can be overwhelming for some. So, you're not alone in not wanting to drag your butt into the kitchen and slave over a hot stove.

In my experience the main deterrents from cooking are here.

1. My chicken always comes out bland - Unless I'm making chicken wings in an air fryer, my chicken dishes always come out tasteless, over/undercooked and inedible.

2. I cannot land on a dish everyone will eat - My oldest son is the pickiest eater to ever walk the Earth so finding something the he'll eat normally means making two different dishes.

3. It is much easier to order - Having someone else cook for you is the American way. It's quicker and frees up hours. But doing so only contributes growing obesity rates and instills poor nutritional habits into your younglings.

4. It seems cheaper to get takeout - I'll touch more on this later but buying a bundled meal from Wendy's for less than $7 or $8 is much more appealing than dropping $20 for organic chicken and $10 to $15 on veggies and rice.

Why does takeout seem easier?

Takeout is easy because it skips the hardest part: deciding what to cook and doing it. You get to bypass prep, cleanup, and the decision-making fatigue that sets in at 6pm when you're mentally fried from the day.

But here's the catch. Most of those $10 meals don't satisfy. You're still hungry in 2 hours, and you've downed a thousand calories without even chewing for more than 10 minutes.

How I force myself to cook when I'm stressed out

1. I reduce my meal decisions down to 3 go-to dishes

• Air fryer chicken wings + bagged salad + rice
• Turkey tacos with store-bought pico
• Salmon bites with microwave jasmine rice and frozen broccoli

2. I cook before I get too hungry

If you wait until your stomach is growling, the kitchen feels like a prison. I start small, early, and distracted. In addition to this, it becomes exponentially more difficult to avoid those delicious, familiar tastes that comprise dollar menus all over America. Fast food companies know exactly how to prey on those hunger impulses, so you'll need a bit of psychology on your side to win the unseen war.

If you're super hungry try a bowl of greek yogurt. Its somewhat filling, the taste is palatable, and it has a high protein yield at the expense of minimal calories. And, it could just be me, but eating plain greek yogurt tends to cut my appetite due to the bland taste and consistency.

3. I keep my expectations embarrassingly low

Nobody is giving me a Michelin star. My goal is: “Did it taste okay, and did my kids eat it without screaming?” That's a win. If your goal is have everyone ranting and raving about your culinary skills you'll be setting yourself up for failure and introducing a powerful deterrent to your goals.

4. I use takeout to reset, not to quit

Takeout isn't the enemy. It's a pressure release valve. But I try to avoid the takeout spiral, where one night turns into five. If I order food one night, I try to prep groceries for the next morning so I don't let the slump snowball. Its so easy to fallow out of sync with healthy/frugal living.

Missing a single workout or skipping cooking even once can have a nasty snowball effect thats nearly impossible to recover from. No one's perfect but do your best not to make bad habits your norm.

Is cooking really cheaper than takeout?

Yes... and no. Groceries feel expensive because you're paying for a lot of potential. Meanwhile, $60 in takeout gets you 3 meals max. And, in many cases, you won't have much left over for the next day. Where I save the most is by avoiding “emergency” takeout. If I have rice, eggs, and frozen veggies at all times, I can cook something.

Meal ideas for when you're too stressed to think

• Ground turkey rice bowls: Sauté turkey, season it, dump on rice, add avocado or cheese if you have it.
• Microwave fajitas: Use frozen pepper strips and precut chicken. Tortilla, ranch. Done.
• Breakfast for dinner: Scrambled eggs, toast, and a smoothie.
• Bagged salad + rotisserie chicken: It's a full meal with no cooking.

How to keep yourself motivated to cook

Motivation is manufactured. I:

• Keep frozen meals as backups
• Listen to music or podcasts while cooking
• Batch prep one thing each week (like rice or grilled chicken)

Eating healthy and saving money is a battle but Fueling Food is here to help

If you're reading this while debating fast food... no shame. But even a basic home-cooked meal made while stressed out usually tastes better. Not because it's “better,” but because you made it happen. That matters. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got kids yelling and a half-thawed pack of drumsticks on the counter. I guess I'm cooking tonight.