People who love cooking for their families every single bloody day……

[Zippidydoodah]

…..and I’m sure there must be someone out there! 😜

Please could you inspire me? All I feel is seething resentment and verging on rage that I have to cook every. Single. Night.

I’ve tried “dump bags”- horrible name but amazing concept- nobody liked them.

The kids eat way too much beige and we don’t eat anywhere near enough vegetables. I’m genuinely scared for our future health!

Help us……please!

Thank you! 😊

A dump bag is when you prep the raw ingredients in a bag/Tupperware and then shove it in the freezer. You get it out to defrost and then put it in the slow cooker or on a tray (tray bake) to cook.

I enjoy cooking. It’s deciding what the fuck to make which meets some of it meets everyone’s requirements. Soul destroying.

That’s such a lot of effort! 😭

Saying that, I used to do a lovely hidden veg tomato sauce so I’ll do another huge batch of that. 👍

Yes!! Soul destroying is accurate!

If I just had to cook for myself, I’d have loads of veggie curries, ratatouille, etc. I’m not veggie but happy without meat.

Second the PP who said that beans on toast is a meal 😋
Honestly, it doesn't have to take forever to cook for it to be a worthwhile meal.
I'll do "quick meals" a few times a week, which can be e.g. packet rice, air fryer chicken strips and boiled veg (anything I've got e.g. carrots, brocoli, corn on the cob).
No need for complex, just chuck in some protein, veg and carbs

If you have an onion plus some red peppers and tomatoes, you can quickly make a soup that is similar to Heinz cream of tomato I add creme fraiche, but you can add cream, or nothing at all. Similar to Heinz, not the same, but served with nice bread, it's a meal for us if there's a pudding afterwards. For years, my kids had 'red soup' or 'green soup' (leek and potato) once a week to sneak in veg.

You can whizz up a lot of tomatoes, peppers and onions into tomato sauce for pasta or on a pizza. Home made baked beans can be a good way of adding a lot of veg and not a lot of cooking if you use tinned beans.

I've grown to enjoy it though sometimes it's a chore as our family dietary needs are quite complex. I do a meal plan and alternate a low prep meal with a more complex dish. We go for family style dining so different dishes that people can self serve from. Low prep meal might be chicken strips in wraps with iceberg lettuce and a variety of veg sticks (peppers, cucumber, celery, carrots). Mexican is also popular - i do chilli, griddled chicken, veg sticks, rice and baked potatoes, so people can choose the bits they like. Bbc goodfood is a great starting point for recipes

None of my kids like baked beans!! Are they even kids?! 😂

I feel your pain. It does get better - I was going to suggest Simply Cook (£10 for four recipe kits each fortnight and they never require more than 3-4 ingredients for you to buy) and I get my kids to choose the recipes.

That gives us 2 each week for 'interesting' freshly cooked meals (and widens their range of what they're eating) and I mix that up with a few staples (Mac cheese, bolognese, sausages/mash etc). I am a single parent with demanding career and used to love cooking - having a family nearly destroyed that but they are now teens and it's getting better.

Don't be hard on yourself. It's hideous when they reject it.

I do

• pizza night
• curry (or fish finger night)
• salmon night
• pasta night
• soft or hard taco night
• noodle night
• something different - roast dinner, peri peri chicken, steak, something interesting from the supermarket

I do brunch as well at the weekend - cooked breakfast, waffles, pancake tray bake, eggs royale - then I only have to make two meals and not three.

They have school dinners and toast or nothing for breakfast. If we make pizza from scratch that’s an hour, everything else is less. I try and do 2 portions of veg in a meal. I cook a large chicken, shred and use that as the meat for curry and noodles which speeds those meals up. My dh can cook these meals so we can share the work. It’s hard and thankless op.

The most successful of our meals are things like this; “home style” things like wraps with stuff to fill them, and Mexican food with bits and bobs to suit everyone.

Do you have any of your meal plans at all? Sorry if that’s super cheeky but I’d love to plonk some food infront of everyone and be satisfied that they’ve eaten well!

Oh god I absolutely love food but loathe cooking for the family.
Dh does the majority of it (he’s out one night a week so I ‘cool’, something like a very quick pasta or salmon, potatoes and veg) and he spends at least 2 hours a night in the kitchen happily cooking. He says he winds down after work cooking - who am I to argue?!
Tonight we had shoulder of lamb, parmesan parsnips, baked leeks, green beans and roast potatoes with gravy. He said tomorrow he’s going to make a lamb hotpot with the leftover meat.
A bit like you op, if I just have myself to feed of an evening I’ll always go for something veggie cos it’s quick and I’ll pretty much eat anything if it means I can be in and out of the kitchen in under half an hour, I hate it so much!

@85reasons thank you so much 💐

I enjoy cooking but sometimes lose my cooking mojo.

i don’t do much batch cook as sometimes cook 2 or 3 meals worth in one go (eg of stew or bolognese) and then freeze the extra. It’s not much extra effort over making one meal and over time you can build it up.

my kids don’t always eat what we do though - my eldest in particular is very particular about what he eats.

How old are your children?
Mine hated everything at one stage or another but I just kept putting tiny bits on their plates and over the years things changed- no pressure at meal times and praise for eating what they did like.
Vitamins daily too .
It's brutal in the younger years but it does get better.

@SomethingFun thank you too! Great ideas 😊

My kids range from 6-13! It’s good to know that things might improve as they get older. My older son, in particular, survives on I don’t even know what.

Absolutely happy to share. This weeks was as below:

Monday: chicken wraps with veg sticks & sweet potato wedges

Tuesday: burgers in buns, hasselback potatoes, baked beans, corn on the cob, salad & veg sticks

Wednesday: chicken & bacon pasta bake with garlic bread & steamed veg

Thursday: lemon pepper chicken, stir fried veg, Singapore noodles, spring rolls & prawn crackers

Friday: beef casserole with baked potatoes and/or cornbread

Sat: sausages, mash & peas/sweetcorn

Sun: lasagne with salad & dough balls

I loved it for the 1st 18 years and now I am completely over it. We have 1 pescatarian and 1 who thinks no meat isn't a meal, so everything we do has to be split halfway through to combine different elements to the base. My dh and I are low carb so that's another element added. It's bloody tedious and exhausting. Dh and I share the load, but I increasingly feel like I never want to cook ever again.

@mamajong thank you!! That all looks like food I could prepare and everyone would eat at least some of it! 😊

Do you and DH eat round the table with the DCs?

We try to, and maybe manage 4-5 days out of 7.

Some weeks it’s every day and some (like when he’s working late and I have things like parents evening etc) it’s only a few days.

Get the kids involved in the cooking. Meal planning and shopping too. Start with them each picking a meal and you helping with the intention of them having responsibility for a meal a week when old enough. I found physical recipe books are more fun for them to pick meals from that looking up on devices.

Work on the kids manners. Not just no devices at the table and no tv but teach them to say thank you for the meal and clear their plate. Makes a massive difference how you feel about cooking when they thank you for it! And they love it when you thank them for the meal on their days (mine are too young to cook independently but I still thank them when they help and thier little faces light up) I'm failing but I'm trying to teach mine to say thanks even when they don't like a meal and teach them how to politely inform me they were not a fan without being rude and making me feel unappreciated when they tell me it's disgusting. Then have a rota for who washes up if you don't do it as you cook (I love cooking but HATE the clear up).

I'd say batch cooking is always good. Shepherds pie, fish pie, lasagna, bolognese, curry etc so much can be made and frozen. Hide veg by grating it eg I grate courgette into most sauces or carrots in bolognese. Cheese coated veg can be popular? Broccoli or cauliflower cheese also freezes well.

I'm also very strict that the only snacks in the house are fruit. We don't do desert in the week other than fruit or yogurt. I wouldn't mind a nice desert but there was definitely a correlation with them saying they were full after a measly amount when they knew there was desert. Also never force them to eat/finish their meal- don't make it a battle- they don't have to eat but there is only fruit if they don't. Unless you are dealing with neurodivergence this does work after a few days!