To not want to cook any more, ever?

[gaelicsheep]

I used to quite enjoy it. Now I don't have the mental or physical energy for it. I never feel like eating what I've cooked, DS turns his nose up at more and more things. If it wasn't for DD (7 months) I really think I'd be just leaving DH to make beans on toast.

Have you heard of cook

It is up to a gram until they are 1.

My aim was always to have a salt-free breakfast, and then an almost salt-free dinner. A couple of stock cubes across enough bolognese or chilli to feed 5-6 adults translates to almost nothing when you are talking about a portion small enough for a

I have a breadmaker. It is one more thing I don't get around to doing any more. I used to put a tiny amount of salt in - half a teaspoon at most - and it tasted great. I need to make more of an effort to do all sorts of things.

I work ft. In my house, there is adults' food and there is children's food. I know the received wisdom is not to give the children a choice, but they don't know mine and life's too short to have food standoffs.

I probably won't try too hard with the 7 month old. Finger foods when she is older or BLW if you want a fancier title.

If you are working and your dcs are in childcare/school and eating well at lunch, I would not really bother that much for dinner. When they were younger, I have just given them sandwiches, even cereal, or some cheese or ham for dinner, just to pretend it is a meal.

As they grow up, they get a lot less fussy about food. Dd 7 is almost finishing her dinner now. It could just be plain rice and grilled chicken or chicken nuggets. Or fish fingers and cheese on potatoes. If I am making pasta, I make a cut down version of the sauce (taking out vegetables, herbs and things I know they won't eat) and mix with plain pasta. Or a plain omelette with cheese. Easy to make whilst you are making the adults' meal.

Even if they did not eat it, I'd be fine because it did not take any effort to make and were very small portions.

LittleDucks - someone else mentioned them. I just looked at their website. At £13.80 minimum delivery charge where I live for orders under £80, going up to nearly £30 for Saturday delivery, I think it's a bit out of our reach. But thanks.

I'm glad to hear it gets better blueshoes! DH will be looking after the DCs. DS is in pre-school mornings only so no lunch provided. It does put more pressure on the evenings. He used to go to a private nursery two days a week before I went on mat leave, and those two days were such a relief knowing he'd had a proper dinner already. Roll on August when he starts school!

YANBU....it is very disheartening when you I make an effeort to prepare a healthy meal from scratch only to have my 3.5 yr old start moaning saying it's 'yucky'. It makes me so cross...luckily DP is quite calm about it but there have been many an cross word said. I also get generally tired of the whole 'what am I going to cook tonight' lark....cook, wash up, clean and so on ad infinitum

I take it you'll be going for school dinners then! I think I will, if they're decent.

Anyway - it does get better, as I said above I used lots of prepared stuff - like stir fry mix, pasta sauce etc. Gradually weaned myself off it as my confidence grew.

I'm hoping to start expanding my repertoire a bit more now, big family comfort food, as I'm getting a bit bored with endless cottage pie and casserole!

I don't cook. I just don't see the point (in one end - out the other). I'd eat baked beans out of a tin and cheese toasties if it was up to me.

Took me years to find dh who does all the shopping and cooking in our house!

gaelic, the dilemma of what to cook. I do meal planning. Even when I was at home on maternity leave. I\dh also do one big shop a week and that's it.

Takes all the thinking out of what we are going to eat on a particular day. I bulk cook for at least 2 dinners. So by Tues, all cooking is done and it is reheating food for the rest of the week with minimal washing up.

It takes the pressure off especially if you are working, hardly any food wastage, meals prepared pretty much from scratch and tasty too!

We have a rice cooker and eat rice at least 3x a week in our household. So really only cooking one meat/fish dish and one vegetable dish to go with that.

I don't agree with chidlren and adult food. I cook one thing, adapted for children (eg,take the mince out of chili con carne before chilli powder added) it saves a lot of hassle. This is purely due to laziness, you understand .

WHy don't you feel like eating what you've cooked?!

I dunno PigValentine. Too tired to be bothered I think. I did macaroni cheese with leek tonight though and ate it. Even DS had a bit.

Blueshoes - I used to meal plan before I had DS. I need to look into that again, but with much simpler stuff.

Thanks again everyone. Feeling a little better today (despite an utterly horrendous night with DD ).

Re: meal-planning... Would that take some of the pressure of thinking off your shoulders alone? DH and I are both fulltime but because of our different hours I always cook the weeknight meal. We sit down together (in Starbucks ) to plan meals for the week. DD is included, although being 2 she is pretty useless! I HATE being solely responsible for everyone hating dinner (even though I know I'm not...) so having a joint plan takes some of the weight off.

I second slow cooking, by the way. Especially with mince, which even I can't screw up.

Re salt (which always really bothered DH)... Have you found kiddy pitta breads? We used to get them from Sainsbury's. They're small, contain negligible salt and enable sandwich-type affairs for under 1s.

Just wanted to add sympathy. And tell you that I once cried because I had a chicken in the fridge on its use-by date and no time or mental wherewithall to cook it.

And to say that I completely understand the thing with wanting to eat together at 6pm and putting loads of pressure on yourself. Hope it gets better really soon - I'm sure it will. I laughed about that chicken the other day

Yanbu, last night I was almost in tears at the thought of cooking yet another meal. Seriously had to pull myself together.

I would like to thank you though gaelic, I felt much better about doing dinner tonight (pie, mash and broccoli with gravy) knowing it wasn't just me who struggles to find the motivation

Glad you're feeling a bit better, a bit is better than nowt.

Easier to have some Annabel Karmel 'Eat Fussy' microwave meals in the fridge for when you can't be bothered. They freeze too. Waitrose also sell a range of really healthy kids meals and so do M&S. Tesco's kids ready meals are NOT quite so 'good for you' but better than beating yourself up over it all. IMHO its just not worth it ...other easy options are

1. beans with grated cheese
2. cottage cheese with vegs to dip in
3. posh fresh soup plus extra cheese/croutons
4. nibbly bits ie. salady bits, crackers/bread sticks, raisins, cheddar chunks, ham bits, apple pieces, grapes etc. My kids lived on this last one!!

teach your DH to cook?
eg boil water. Throw in pasta. Throw in veg. Add protein + sauce = healthy nutricious meal.

oh sorry, i didnt realise it was that dear for delivery, i used to live near a couple of their shops, food is very good

YANBU. I have a 2 year old and 7 month old too. We are all ill and DH is away for work.

The baby is eating a lot of Ella's Kitchen lumpy purees, accompanied by anything we are having he can munch on. Tonight that was a couple of oven chips, banana and tinned peaches. I figure the baby pouches get some basic protein in him and the rest is a bonus.

The 2 year old had oven chips, frozen chicken things and peas. As did I. Then peaches, banana and yoghurt.

I can hear Annabel Karmel screaming in the distance but often sometimes I am happy to trade homemade grub for my state of mind.

Somehow I thought being a SAHM would bring out the domestic goddess in me ...... now I realise it is bringing out the snack queen who wants to live on cheese on toast and hates having to make proper balanced food and then scrape it off the floor afterwards.

I now aim for 'good enough' feeding of us all, on good weeks I plan carefully and make lots, on bad days we just eat whatever and are grateful to have it!

It's OK LittleDucks - I'm quite used to exhorbitant delivery charges (I don't order from those that charge them though). Sometimes I think I must actually live on the moon, not half an hour from a UK mainland city.

Gaelicsheep, thanks for posting about this, I sometimes have felt I'm the only MNetter who isn't baking something out of Nigella every evening. I personally hate cooking, and my dream is to become rich enough to afford a chef/housekeeper to do all the cooking.

No hope in getting DH to do it, he will cook, but he's no good and neither am I.

I do school dinners for the children, and 'easy' meals in the evening (baked potatoes, filled pasta, even eggy bread). I do use a breadmaker but use no salt, I think it tastes fine.

If I was on my own I would eat cheese on toast and soup all the time and go out to dinner in lovely restaurants.

No-one has ever given me a cookery book for Christmas, obviously they realise that it's just not for me!