Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Husband has ruined dinner

394 replies

OnAJetPlane26 · 23/08/2026 16:24

I’m been upstairs packing for a holiday so asked husband to cook dinner, all of the ingredients for a shepards pie are in the fridge/cupboard.
Came down and thought.. That smells nothing like shepards pie. He has poured an entire jar of Passata and half a jar of parsley into the meat.
Im going to beans on toast. My AIBU is this..
YABU.. Sounds fine to me.
YANBU.. He has made bolognese with mash potatoes and gravy.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
6
Pipsquiggle · 23/08/2026 17:29

Sounds like deliberate incompetence to me

TheForbiddenMoon · 23/08/2026 17:29

Beans on toast is better with a bit of cheddar cheese on top. Little bit of salt and pepper.

If you've never tried it. do it. It's lovely.

ThisStarHere · 23/08/2026 17:28

OnAJetPlane26 · 23/08/2026 17:22

It was supposed to be light hearted.

Show quote history

It's okay OP, your thread has been semi-hijacked anyway by the '...herbs in A JAR???' preening Grin

Holeymoley28 · 23/08/2026 17:28

I got smoked brisket ready in two hours if you want to pop round op. His dinner sounds terrible

MiceSpiders · 23/08/2026 17:28

Opus3 · 23/08/2026 17:26

Oh mint is fantastic to do! I use my ninja air fryer on the dehydrate setting. You can likely get the same results in an oven.

My mint and oregano is getting to the point of being enough to dry. Makes the house smell gorgeous too!

I dry fruit too when it's turning, to put in drinks.

Show quote history

I feel a new fad coming on...... Dried fruit for drinks also sounds like a great idea and if I let it go the oregano will be plentiful enough soon too. Our oven has all kinds of weird settings, including air fry and prove, so need to dig out the manual and see if any are dehydrate

PhaedraTwo · 23/08/2026 17:28

Knickerstoya · 23/08/2026 17:17

Still not a glass jar though.

Show quote history

Glass jar of dried parsley. From Waitrose; almost certainly bought because a recipe in the Guardian Feast weekend supplement said use dried parsley.

If you're doing savoury baking dried parsley, chives and mint work better than fresh herbs.

Husband has ruined dinner
WheresThatCatGoneNow · 23/08/2026 17:28

OnAJetPlane26 · 23/08/2026 17:22

It was supposed to be light hearted.

Show quote history

That's not how it came across.

Almost as though you were looking for an excuse to fall out about something.

Great start to your holiday 🤔

OneZanyPoet · 23/08/2026 17:27

The addition of half a jar of dried parsley to anything is going to be disgusting surely? Do people even put parsley in bolognese? Like coriander leaf, it’s better in fresh things like salads or as a garnish on hot food.

I actually did a double take at jar (was imagining parsley pesto) and I feel dumb now, but this just isn’t a herb I use in its dried form. If you’d said half a jar of oregano I would have understood instantly 😅

NoWordForFluffy · 23/08/2026 17:27

pinotnow · 23/08/2026 17:26

They are small jars, not tubs. And you do pour herbs in, or shake to be more accurate.

Show quote history

I have small jars of some things and large cylindrical tubs of others.

tilypu · 23/08/2026 17:27

Cherrysoup · 23/08/2026 17:24

Did you even try it? Doesn’t sound too awful.

Show quote history

Maybe read Ops posts and you'll find out?

(Yes, she did)

pinotnow · 23/08/2026 17:26

chirrupybird · 23/08/2026 17:11

Usually in tubs not jars, jars sound more like some sort of paste or something.

Show quote history

They are small jars, not tubs. And you do pour herbs in, or shake to be more accurate.

Opus3 · 23/08/2026 17:26

MiceSpiders · 23/08/2026 17:05

How do you dry it? I've got a glut of mint at the moment and whilst the rosemary will last into the winter in the garden the mint will not, oven? Airing cupboard...... I can imagine freshly dried mint would do lovely things to lamb gravy

Show quote history

Oh mint is fantastic to do! I use my ninja air fryer on the dehydrate setting. You can likely get the same results in an oven.

My mint and oregano is getting to the point of being enough to dry. Makes the house smell gorgeous too!

I dry fruit too when it's turning, to put in drinks.

Armorlux · 23/08/2026 17:25

Admit it OP; you're not adventurous with food but your DH is bursting with new ideas! How do you think new recipes are invented?!

I always put tomato in shepherd's pie,and a few other ingredients too. No one has ever complained.
Ime dried parsley tastes of nothing so you must have found the exception there.

ThisStarHere · 23/08/2026 17:25

I've literally just arrived back from France this weekend, with the dried herbs IN GLASS JARS from a little shop in Brittany that my DS likes for cooking his steaks with. See, even the French Grin

That little knot of posters trying to prove their foodie credentials by claiming to have never even SEEN a jar of dried herbs are genuinely funny Grin

chamednange · 23/08/2026 17:25

Maybe I’m grotty and hungry, but bolognese with mash and gravy doesn’t actually sound that disgusting to me.

I’ve heard of people using gravy granules in their bolognese, and I’ve had bolognese with jacket potato before which was delicious.
I’ve got a portion of bolognese in the freezer and I was just wondering what to have for dinner, please thank your husband for inspiring me.

diddl · 23/08/2026 17:24

SewYellowLikeButter · 23/08/2026 17:21

Bourguignon often has both tomato paste (just a more concentrated Passata) and beef stock.

Show quote history

True.

Cherrysoup · 23/08/2026 17:24

OnAJetPlane26 · 23/08/2026 16:30

I’m not making a point, beans on toast is nicer, why would I eat a dinner that in my opinion tastes disgusting.

Show quote history

Did you even try it? Doesn’t sound too awful.

Knickerstoya · 23/08/2026 17:22

FlatCatYellowMat · 23/08/2026 17:21

Yes, Costco also does big plastic jars (I'd call them jars - taller than wide and seethrough) - but the vast majority of people don't need half a kilo of dried parsley in one go, and buy it in little glass jars from the supermarket (and they still go out of date by the time you're getting to the end of it).

Show quote history

I use the mixed herbs up in plenty of time!!

tilypu · 23/08/2026 17:22

NoWordForFluffy · 23/08/2026 17:18

Nonsense. Yellow rice (as we call it) is lovely.

Show quote history

As long as they have used only a little saffron or turmeric.

But it does sound like ops OH rather overdoes things like that...

Original poster
OnAJetPlane26 · 23/08/2026 17:22

Createausername1970 · 23/08/2026 17:16

So, pray tell.... what is the point of your post?

Show quote history

It was supposed to be light hearted.

OP posts:
FlatCatYellowMat · 23/08/2026 17:21

Knickerstoya · 23/08/2026 17:19

I have big plastic tubs of dried herbs that I got from the cash n carry but clearly I’m not middle class 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Show quote history

Yes, Costco also does big plastic jars (I'd call them jars - taller than wide and seethrough) - but the vast majority of people don't need half a kilo of dried parsley in one go, and buy it in little glass jars from the supermarket (and they still go out of date by the time you're getting to the end of it).

SewYellowLikeButter · 23/08/2026 17:21

diddl · 23/08/2026 17:19

Were the gravy & passata both in with the mince?

Not sure about that if so.

Bourguignon often has both tomato paste (just a more concentrated Passata) and beef stock.

diddl · 23/08/2026 17:20

Mumalala · 23/08/2026 16:28

How do you get parsley in a jar?

Take the lid off & put it in?

Megifer · 23/08/2026 17:20

Op it'll be fine, I use passatta or chopped tomatoes in a cottage pie. Stick a couple of beef stock cubes/pots in, some mixed herbs if you have them, and you'll wonder why youve not used it before.

And lolz at all the "parsley in a jar?" faux surprise posts.

SewYellowLikeButter · 23/08/2026 17:19

chirrupybird · 23/08/2026 17:11

Usually in tubs not jars, jars sound more like some sort of paste or something.

Show quote history

If it’s glass it’s a jar. Every supermarket sells dried herbs in glass jars. That doesn’t mean they’re in big jam jars they’re in herb jars.