Struggle Meals for Before You're Sad

Struggle Meals for Before You’re Sad

February 8, 2025

“This is what I make when I don’t feel like cooking!”

As soon as a blog post or recipe video opens like that, I know I’m about to see some more complicated shit than I’ve ever posted here. I do not know if these people have inhuman levels of motivation or if they’re just normal and I’m the weirdo for going through periods where I balk at the idea of chopping things, seasoning things, digging a pan out of the horror show that is my cabinet, turning on a burner, paying attention to everything so it doesn’t catch fire, and then serving it.

Sometimes existing is just really, really hard.

In those times, we’re all doing what we are capable of doing. Sometimes it’s getting out of bed, brushing our teeth, and going back to bed. Sometimes it’s keeping it together for a full day of work and then shedding your presentable skin and going goblin mode for the remainder of your evening. Sometimes it’s not losing your shit when you’re using public transit and folks can’t follow basic etiquette.

So when other people say “I don’t feel like cooking,” maybe they do mean they’d prefer to make a fast but beautiful meal with simple ingredients that still require some prep, but when I say “I don’t feel like cooking,” I mean that I am sitting on the couch and either reading or watching TV, but certainly not getting up until it’s time to go to bed.

Maybe it looks like laziness from the outside. From the inside, it feels like I have done all I can do for the day and if I expect one more thing of myself, I will scream.

Here are some of my “I don’t feel like cooking” meals:

A piece of toast topped with a slice of cheese and a single over-easy egg.
A ham sandwich with cheese.
A peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
A scoop of peanut butter spread over one slice of bread that I then fold in half.
Canned soup and crackers.
A bowl of cereal. Waffle Crisp is preferable, but any sugary bullshit will do.
Finally, DoorDash.

However, I personally can usually tell when something like this is lurking just around the corner. When those alarm bells go off, I recommend some meal prep.

Your future downtrodden sad self will thank you (ask me how I know). Make a big batch of stuff that will keep for a while so that on the days when it takes everything you’ve got to make it through the day, you can still feed yourself without spending an exorbitant amount of money on takeout and then feel bad about that too.

Here are some cozy, stick-to-your ribs recipes that turn out in big batches and make great leftovers. And give yourself some grace: the world is on fire and we’re still supposed to just go to work and pay our bills like anything is normal. That’s draining.

Sad Meal Prep

Feeling that sadness lurking around the corner? Better prep with these big batch meals to make sure you have something to eat on days when everything feels impossible.