Do you guys have unlimited pots and pans? I have a huge kitchen with lots of pots & pans, but as much as I cook I pretty much have to wash dishes every day. My knives certainly have to be washed & sanitized every day, as well as my cutting boards.
The more food you cook from scratch the more tools/utensils you'll use. There's just no way I can let dishes pile up for a week.
Do you only cook enough for that one meal or do you have leftovers throughout the week?
I can see hand-washing a pan or two that you use more often, but do y'all only have 3 plates, 3 forks, 3 glasses, etc?
I have four large (like 24x18") cutting boards that I use for veggies/fruit, and two smaller boards that I use exclusively for meat. Different boards for different things to prevent cross-contamination.
I have a full set of pots & pans, a butcher's block of knives plus another set of lesser-quality knives that I use for junk cutting (like cutting bone or simple stuff like opening packages of meat so I don't contaminate my good knives), and those cheap-o knives go in the dishwasher. My good knives I wash by hand.
I have a blender & food processor, prep bowls of just about every size and shape, and miscellaneous other bowls/pots/pans like cast iron, non-stick, etc. Stuff for specialty things like omelettes or whatever. I run the gamut of that stuff usually every week, between making marinades, sauces, side dishes, etc.
I usually cook a large meal on Sunday night, then eat the leftovers for lunch through the week at work. I make a separate meal every night, and usually we don't have leftovers, but if we do we can heat that up if plans change or weather prevents grilling and I'm supposed to grill on Thursday, say.