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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think it is obvious that you are roasting the chicken...

181 replies

Neverenoughbiscuits · 09/03/2025 18:13

DH and I both been out with different DC today. Had a discussion in the middle of the day around what we were having for dinner (Chicken Caesar salad with diced roast potatoes). Likelihood was that he'd be home first and would get dinner on.

We have a whole chicken (no other chicken) in the fridge for the salad. He sent me a message asking if he "should roast the chicken". I didn't see the message so have just spoken to him and apparently he was waiting for me to reply so hasn't put the chicken on. Given that we have no other chicken and he is aware of what we were having, AIBU to assume that it was bloody obvious what to do with the chicken and that he didn't need me to tell him?

I'm pretty grumpy that we're going to eat really late and he's having a strop because I asked him if he thought we'd be eating it raw.

OP posts:
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ItisIbeserk · 16/03/2025 20:06

@Neverenoughbiscuits just wanted to say thank you. We had the most delicious warm chicken Caesar salad for dinner tonight! We are resolved to add it to the regular rota.

FinallyHere · 12/03/2025 21:50

If you want a man to follow orders

That's it, right there @Riapia

I don't want a command and control structure in my own home. I want a relationship with a sentient adult who does not want or need orders.

FeetLikeFlippers · 12/03/2025 17:01

I’ve been vegetarian for 40 years and have never cooked a chicken but it would have been blindingly obvious to me! Also has DH never heard of Google? Sounds like an excuse to get out of it if you ask me - or an attempt to make sure you never ask him to cook again!

Ilovecleaning · 12/03/2025 15:43

jolota · 12/03/2025 15:14

People are being weirdly pedantic about your use of the chicken.
The actual issue here is that your husband couldn't make a decision by himself to cook some chicken, the only chicken in the fridge, presumably he has eyes so was able to deduce this fact for himself without your assistance, and instead did nothing, and therefore you had no dinner at the appropriate time.
Not really the behaviour I'd expect from a competent adult and it would wind me up if it was a pattern of them not taking responsibility for basic household tasks.

Weirdly pedantic? I don’t think so. I should imagine that people are aware what the thread is about but readers like to add their own takes on it. 😊

BobbyBiscuits · 12/03/2025 15:31

I wouldn't necessarily know if the chicken should be roasted whole, or cut into pieces and baked? But yeah it does seem obvious with hindsight it would need cooking and that was the only chicken.

I could think maybe the whole chicken might be for a full roast another day and maybe I was to buy a couple breasts instead to use for the salad? But only if I was cooking for someone I didn't live with or eat with regularly.
Presuming you've had this exact dish before?

Rubyrhi123 · 12/03/2025 15:25

Weaponised incompetence. He's a grown man and shouldn't need you to tell him to cook chicken. YANBU

MissDoubleU · 12/03/2025 15:23

Neverenoughbiscuits · 09/03/2025 18:40

Also Yorkshire's are not for roast chicken. Beef only in this house.

Show quote history

Yorkshires are for everything.

Normallynumb · 12/03/2025 15:22

I would have thought it's more usual to roast the chicken for one meal then make the salad the next day when chicken is cold
I often used to do a stir fry or pasta dish with leftovers.

Whoarethoseguys · 12/03/2025 15:20

Perhaps he thought you had some cooked chicken and didn't look in the fridge properly.
I wouldn't automatically think that the whole chicken was earmarked for the salad.

jolota · 12/03/2025 15:14

People are being weirdly pedantic about your use of the chicken.
The actual issue here is that your husband couldn't make a decision by himself to cook some chicken, the only chicken in the fridge, presumably he has eyes so was able to deduce this fact for himself without your assistance, and instead did nothing, and therefore you had no dinner at the appropriate time.
Not really the behaviour I'd expect from a competent adult and it would wind me up if it was a pattern of them not taking responsibility for basic household tasks.

ItisIbeserk · 12/03/2025 14:27

When I lived alone, I used to take great pleasure in roasting a chicken and then just making myself a lovely hot sandwich. Roasting is just a cooking method - it's not mandatory to then eat what comes out of the oven in a specific way. You've still got a cooked chicken at the end of it.

Sahara123 · 12/03/2025 14:25

ErrolTheDragon · 09/03/2025 18:29

Of course, I'm surprised how many people on this thread can't imagine that freshly roasted chicken on a Caesar salad would be delicious on an unseasonably warm spring day.

YANBU OP, he should have used a bit of nous and got on and cooked the chicken.

Show quote history

Me too . Warm roast chicken and salad with new potatoes or crispy roast cubes with garlic and rosemary is a big favourite here 🤤

Riapia · 12/03/2025 13:39

If you want a man to follow orders then your orders will need to be very specific and very detailed.
It’s most unreasonable to expect a man to have to make any decisions when carrying out orders.
😉😁😁.

Ilovecleaning · 12/03/2025 13:02

Maddy70 · 12/03/2025 11:08

I would have assumed there is different chicken for a salad and the whole chicken is to be kept for a roast

For chicken salad I always buy a 4 legged chicken so we get a leg each.

Ilovecleaning · 12/03/2025 13:00

PS - and I don’t mean that old daft MN thread about 8 meals from 1 chicken 😃. I mean 1-2 meals. 🐔

Ilovecleaning · 12/03/2025 12:57

I am baffled by the posters who think it’s a waste to roast a chicken for a salad. Why not? And they add that it is a waste to roast a chicken if it’s not for a a full roast chicken dinner. Why?
I often roast a whole chicken to make a variety of meals: hot chicken and stuffing rolls, chicken salad, chicken and chips ( an easy, lazy meal 😊), to strip off the breast make chicken in cream sauce or curry and the use the rest to make soup…plus a traditional Sunday roast. You can still get a whole chicken for under a fiver which is cheap compared with packets of ham and cheese.
Sorry about the derail OP: your chicken Caesar salad sounds lovely and your DH is ridiculous.

Davros · 12/03/2025 11:20

You assumed wrong! 😹

Maddy70 · 12/03/2025 11:08

I would have assumed there is different chicken for a salad and the whole chicken is to be kept for a roast

ItisIbeserk · 12/03/2025 11:01

Having thought more about this in the last couple of days more than I ever had before, we roast a chicken about every ten days, and eat it as a roast dinner in the first instance possibly every third time? So roughly once a month. All the rest of the time we do other things with it.

FinallyHere · 12/03/2025 10:39

NewMarmiteJar · 12/03/2025 00:12

Who the heck roasts a whole chicken for a salad?

Turns out, loads of us do this.

NewMarmiteJar · 12/03/2025 00:12

Who the heck roasts a whole chicken for a salad?

FlipFlopVibe · 11/03/2025 22:09

This is where a pressure cooker is worth every penny. 20 minutes pressure cook, 5 minutes air fry and you’re done

Ilovecleaning · 11/03/2025 17:44

Your DH is a complete nob. I’d go mad.

FinallyHere · 11/03/2025 13:07

TomatoSandwiches · 09/03/2025 19:08

Warm chicken with bacon, crispy potatoes and cold salad dressed leaves is lovely.

This.

ItisIbeserk · 11/03/2025 10:25

You just have to accept the fact that men need step by step instructions

Really? DH doesn't as he's a grown man. I despair at the quantity of posts on MN all over the place that have such very low expectations of men. And what those low expectations let men get away with.