Everyone is focused on the cooking time and not the punchline, which is still needing to do the dishes.

That's why I get take-outs, don't have to do the dishes.

Also, can we take a moment to talk about how great the performance of whomever that woman in the meme is? Looks like an Oscar worthy performance to me.

I used to feel this way about cooking. I started trying to find joy in the repetitive parts of life, so they didn't seem so annoying. It's definitely a journey, but if you keep at it, you get to a point where cooking feels like a creative outlet. Once you have enough experience to create something new from your pantry and quit following recipes verbatim you'll have fun. It took me a few years to get there, but you're going to have to cook your entire life anyway, might as well get something out of it.

You are both cooking too slowly and eating too fast

What are you cooking that takes 2 hours every day? I cook most of my own meals and i don’t often go over an hour of cooking and most of that is just waiting.

I know the standard advice is to wash dishes as you cook, but I never know when the cooking is passive enough to warrant doing dishes. If I stop staring at the thing I’m doing I get distracted and it burns.

Clean the dishes while waiting for your food to cook and then leave the remaining dishes you didn't clean because you were still using them until the next dish run.

I always cook as much of whatever I'm making as I can, then put it in containers in the fridge or freezer (depending on the dish and how much).

And I have some base recipes that I cook that are easy to quickly make other things with. One thing I've done for almost two decades now is make a basic kinda "half-bolognese" (can't think of a better English description right now). Just onion, garlic, meat (or in my case vegan alternative), salt, pepper and some stock of your choice. Then freeze that divided into a couple of portions per bag or container. Very easy to use for a lot of recipes.

I also buy bags of dried beans (way cheaper than undried or pre-soaked) and soak those then freeze them like above, same thing there with being good bases for many things.

One of my current favourite recipe that's quick, cheap and filling without any of the above prep is falafel in tomato sauce. A local brand here in Sweden makes almost weirdly nice falafel that's $5 for 800g (28oz), which is like 50 falafel balls. I put the falafel in my air-fryer (oven or frying pan works just as well) and while those cook I sauté some onion and garlic in olive oil then add spices (the current version I love is with some smoked paprika, cumin, oregano, thyme, black pepper, lots of turmeric, a bit of soy sauce, a stock cube and either MSG or other umami base). Then add the falafel once done and crushed tomatoes and let cook for a few minutes. Works great with rice, pasta, potatoes in whatever variation you like, couscous, and my current fav which is coarse bulgur with vermicelli (roasted noodles). I wouldn't have guessed it before trying but the falafel is so good in the sauce!

That's why you cook enough for 15 meals and re heat it over the week.

You're cooking the wrong recipes if its taking 2 hours every time.

Big batch of pasta gang represent.

As someone who has been cooking for himself for a long time, cook large amounts and refrigerate each serving in separate microwavable containers for later.

I also try to make things that can all go onto a single plate to create less cleanup.

I heard dishwashers are actually more energy efficient than hand-washing, so no that's one problem mostly solved. As others commented cook portions that last two or three days or freeze some of it.

1. Eat slower than 10 minutes. My God have some company over. If you're spending 2 hours cooking there's no way doubling the recipe takes much longer.

2. Make the company or your significant other do the dishes. If you're in a situation where you're cooking for two hours then doing the dishes yourself, something is wrong.

This is why my SO and I try to clean as we cook so it's easier for later.

I had this whole comment typed up but I genuinely don't know where to start because I don't have this problem. If you do, and you want some help, let me know and we can work something out together.

I cook and clean for an entire family inside of 40-50 minutes 5 nights a week. All of that is mostly "from scratch" and delicious. At some point it becomes a skill issue.

imagine thinking cooking is the hard part of adulting

Skill issue

I mean... just yesterday I slow cooked something for 8 hours and ate in 30 minutes with some left over. That doesn't mean I have to treat it all as "cooking time".

If I am cooking something more labor intensive then I may just simultaneously cook something else for the week/meal prep/clean used dishes in the gaps in time.

Still It does feel like that sometimes. The only other thing you can really do is cook enough portions for a few meals so that you can reheat for later meals.

I just got my first ever dishwasher and it's a game changer.