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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:
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6
Mumalala · 23/08/2026 16:40

Vulturesoverhead · 23/08/2026 16:32

Oh give over. If you cook, you know full well you can get dry herbs. If you don’t, you’re not the cook you think you are.

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I'm not the only one on this thread who is surprised by parsley in a jar. I assumed it was some sort of paste, like the jars of minced garlic and ginger you can buy.

We've got all sorts of dried herbs and spices, but not parsley. Recipes normally ask for fresh parsley, so we buy that frequently. Our guinea pigs also love fresh parsley, so get any leftovers. Not sure what they'd make of dried parsley.

Createausername1970 · 23/08/2026 16:40

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.

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You haven't tried it so how do you know it's disgusting?

You eat all the component parts, so there is nothing you don't like, it's just different to what you are used to. I add tomato ketchup or tomato puree to shepherds pie.

Honestly, I think you are being unreasonable to not even try it. My DS sometimes does dinner and we get some weird concoctions that he has found on YouTube or TicTok. We always eat it and say "next time, try it with less chilli" or whatever, if it's particularly weird.

I wouldn't dream of refusing to even try something DH had cooked if there was nothing in it I actively disliked.

Error404FucksNotFound · 23/08/2026 16:36

FlatCatYellowMat · 23/08/2026 16:35

People don't know about dried herbs? Do they just avert their eyes from the wall of herbs and spices in the supermarket?

I'd eat it. Can't see the problem. If you'd have chilli on a jacket potato it's not that far off.

What's a supermarket?
Wink

BMW58 · 23/08/2026 16:36

Raptors · 23/08/2026 16:32

To be fair I have plenty of dried herbs but some things like parsley are ridiculously cheap to buy fresh so never thought to buy a jar of dried parsley, nothing middle class about me. 🤣

Sure, but handy to have in stock if its all you need and the nearest shop that sells fresh is a bus ride away and its pissing with rain 🙂

WildlyInappropriate · 23/08/2026 16:36

Plenty of people do put tomatoes into shepherds pie - I don’t, but it’s not unheard of. And parsley is a perfectly ok addition - he hasn’t made bolognese if he hasn’t used oregano so it won’t taste like that.

You should try it and unclench a bit, I think. Tomatoey mince with some cheesy mash sounds like a perfectly good dinner to me. Sometimes it’s worth having something done a bit differently from how you’d do it in order not to have had to produce it yourself.

Raptors · 23/08/2026 16:36

OnAJetPlane26 · 23/08/2026 16:35

I tried a spoonful of his, it was gross.
I started a thread because I wanted to.

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I suspect you had no intention of liking it to be honest.

Tryagain26 · 23/08/2026 16:36

It won't be shepherds pie but it is still edible. I would eat it

FlatCatYellowMat · 23/08/2026 16:35

People don't know about dried herbs? Do they just avert their eyes from the wall of herbs and spices in the supermarket?

I'd eat it. Can't see the problem. If you'd have chilli on a jacket potato it's not that far off.

strawlight · 23/08/2026 16:35

OnAJetPlane26 · 23/08/2026 16:35

I tried a spoonful of his, it was gross.
I started a thread because I wanted to.

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Gross in what way?

daisyydaisyy · 23/08/2026 16:35

Askandyforcompo · 23/08/2026 16:26

Surely it's not inedible?

I didn't know you could get parsley in a jar.

Yeah just like those dried herbs you can get? I’ve got it and put it on a lot of meals as a little pop of colour and flavour. You can get rosemary, thyme, oregano etc etc

Original poster
OnAJetPlane26 · 23/08/2026 16:35

Catza · 23/08/2026 16:32

You don't know how it tastes because you haven't tried it. In any case, why start a thread if you already made your mind up?
The meal sounds fine to me. Not Michelin star but not "grim" either.

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I tried a spoonful of his, it was gross.
I started a thread because I wanted to.

OP posts:
luckylavender · 23/08/2026 16:35

OnAJetPlane26 · 23/08/2026 16:29

He’s eating it and so is DS, DS said it tastes nothing like shepards pie but is nice. I’m not touching it, grim.

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Seems a bit pointless. Just eat it.

Random321 · 23/08/2026 16:34

He's cooked dinner for you and you haven't even tasted it before dismissing it.

Bad form really.

MellowSubmarine · 23/08/2026 16:33

If I made a dinner that my DH called disgusting and grim, as opposed to just “not my thing, I’ll eat something else” I’d be annoyed.

He hasn’t made something with ingredients he knows you hate, or something completely inedible (he and your son are eating it). He’s just not made a shepherd’s pie.

tinyspiny · 23/08/2026 16:33

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.

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It might not taste disgusting , your own child has said it’s ok

Vulturesoverhead · 23/08/2026 16:32

Mumalala · 23/08/2026 16:28

How do you get parsley in a jar?

Oh give over. If you cook, you know full well you can get dry herbs. If you don’t, you’re not the cook you think you are.

Error404FucksNotFound · 23/08/2026 16:32

Itsa10fromLen · 23/08/2026 16:30

It’s giving middle class isn’t it? 😂

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It's giving something.

Tattlers are going to bloody love this 🤣

Opus3 · 23/08/2026 16:32

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say these people who don't know about dried herbs have never been near a spice section...

Raptors · 23/08/2026 16:32

To be fair I have plenty of dried herbs but some things like parsley are ridiculously cheap to buy fresh so never thought to buy a jar of dried parsley, nothing middle class about me. 🤣

BMW58 · 23/08/2026 16:32

Et voila

Damn, photo fail 🙄

Catza · 23/08/2026 16:32

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

You don't know how it tastes because you haven't tried it. In any case, why start a thread if you already made your mind up?
The meal sounds fine to me. Not Michelin star but not "grim" either.

Knickerstoya · 23/08/2026 16:31

jars of dried herbs exist. I’d have eaten it.

Error404FucksNotFound · 23/08/2026 16:31

Pssst...
You can also get sage, basil, thyme, lemon grass, pepper, nutmeg... god, the list is endless.

Opus3 · 23/08/2026 16:31

Yeah, sure. Nobody knew about dried parsley 🙄 FFS

I dry my own and put it in jars, oregano, rosemary and sage too!

OP it really doesn't sound that bad.

Itsa10fromLen · 23/08/2026 16:30

MelonSorbet · 23/08/2026 16:29

LOL at all the incredulity about jarred parsley!

It’s giving middle class isn’t it? 😂