littlefish

Yes, so many of us women had this routine. It became a habit for me to start drinking while preparing dinner. I felt I needed a "reward" for working all day and then coming home to work some more, when I often did not feel like cooking. So, a couple of glasses of wine got me through it.

Here are a couple of tips, (oops, did I say tips...), that helped me.
I love to cook so I often made overly elaborate meals. The alcoholic in me also wanted to make overly elaborate meals: if something is too simple, of course, I have to complicate it!

So, one of the things I do these days is make super fast meals. That is something I've never done, so it is fun seeing how fast I can throw something together. I never looked at "quick" recipes before, but I sure do now.

I also decided I wanted to avoid cooking altogether some evenings, partly to get over that craving time. So on weekends, or on weekdays when I have a little more time, I make large quantities of foods that freeze well: several trays of lasagne, spaghetti sauce in large amounts, or enchiladas.

I have also shifted my cooking time. On weekends I'll choose dinners that can be made ahead of time and prepare them in the morning or early afternoon. That also helps me avoid the dinner-time cravings: I just heat up the dinner minutes before we are ready to eat.

And, yes, I often feel that great sense of relief that I have gotten through dinner time!