Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3

Original poster

...to really, really not want to eat my MILs dinner?

55 replies

Galdem · 21/02/2011 17:29

She is making some sort of steamed salmon thing. It has been on the hob for about two hours. The broccoli/green beans have been boiling for an hour. AN HOUR. It smells like school dinners.

I know I have to be polite/grateful and eat it. She is just trying to be nice. But I feel so, so, so sick at the thought of eating it. Could I feign sudden sickness?

OP posts:

tulpe · 21/02/2011 17:30

YANBU

I would feign illness. Sounds vile!

BendyBob · 21/02/2011 17:32

OMG I was going to say yabu but in this case...Salmon and vegetables only take a few minutes to cook not hours. Poor you..

Catsmamma · 21/02/2011 17:32

can you fake stomach cramps and run to the bathroom??

Original poster

Galdem · 21/02/2011 17:32

She used to be a good cook, years ago. But she has become really odd. The over cooking veg thing is awful. I really struggle to eat over cooked greens.

OP posts:

Sn0wflake · 21/02/2011 17:33

Migraine (sp)?

manicbmc · 21/02/2011 17:34

Ew yuck I feel your pain. My ex's mother's idea of a good meal was boiled mince. Not seared and simmered with stock and veg - just boiled mince with onion in water. It was rank.

Put lots of ketchup on it?

Kryshees · 21/02/2011 17:35

Oh no...I think we must have the same MIL!

Hubby was amazed when we moved in together that mashed potatoes can have butter AND milk in it to make it nice, rather than just mashed up potatoes...

She does er 'brown' food very well!!

Perhaps eat a little and say your on a diet, then offer to cook for her next time so she can chat to her son!!

Original poster

Galdem · 21/02/2011 17:35

She is dishing up in a minute. That's the other thing. I don't eat dinner until about 7.30/8pm, usually, and am not even hungry. Shit. I am going to have to eat it, aren't I? Ketchup won't cut it. I think I'm going to have to reach for the hot chilli sauce to mask the taste

OP posts:

squeakytoy · 21/02/2011 17:35

eughhhh... salmon cooks in minutes... as do veggies...

I would start doing a few dashes to the loo making loud groaning sounds, then take to my bed.

nomoreheels · 21/02/2011 17:36

Disgusting. Just push it around on your plate for a bit and then jump up to clear the table to "help". Straight into the bin with some kitchen roll etc on top to disguise it. Eat at home later.

TattyDevine · 21/02/2011 17:37

You could make like a mother-in-law and do the honest direct thing.

So pretend you are the mother in law and she is the daughter.

You dont eat it, and you say why. They do it to us! Do it back!

"Sorry, I prefer green veg to be a little more al-dente, and salmon isn't really my thing, unless its been griddled for a couple of minutes each side. Seriously, you may as well open a can if you are going to do that to it". Dab mouth in a genteel fashion. Blink. Take a sip of wine.

Etc.

squeakytoy · 21/02/2011 17:37

develop an allergy to fish?

zipzap · 21/02/2011 17:39

Could you ask her very nicely - when she is serving up - that you have recently realised you have an intolerance to those very veggies she is happening to serve up and the only thing you can stomach is frozen peas/carrots/salad (ie whatever she has in that hasn't yet been prepared and you can cook/do quickly while she is serving everything else up...

then watch as everybody else realises they have a recently remembered intolerance to those veggies too

you might not end up with your favourite veggies or even some that aren't what you would choose to put with salmon but at least they might be edible.

also suggest trying to douse it in hollandaise sauce or some such, even mayo to take salmon taste away. you've probably got time to nip to the shops for it , she might be just about ready to serve up when you get back...

how would having a mouthful and then having a chat with her about healthy cooking go down...

LadyGlencoraPalliser · 21/02/2011 17:40

I once faked a migraine to get out of eating SIL's fish pie. I had to lie on the sofa, starving for a couple of hours though.

manicbmc · 21/02/2011 17:40

Omg the 'mashed' potatoes with no butter or milk - just a shed load of salt and very very lumpy.

I'm having flashbacks!

I have a steak and stout casserole cooking.

hillyhilly · 21/02/2011 17:41

I feel your pain, I'm going to see my Dad tomorrow, I suspect he's put the cabbage on already.
My poor mum spent 40 years of marriage telling him not to cook it all and not to put it on yet but never managed to change him.
I thought I was a really fussy eater until I left home and realised it was Mum and Dad;s cooking that I didn't like!

squeakytoy · 21/02/2011 17:41

got it!!

ask if you can take your salmon home to have on a sandwich later, as you feel a bit poorly at the moment and want to enjoy it rather than force it down..

then feed it to the neighbourhood cat later

Psammead · 21/02/2011 17:42

Eat it. It's not to your taste and it does sound oddly cooked, but someone has made the effort to make you food. It's not going to kill you (probably).

I think it's a bit rude to be bitching about it online as she's cooking for you.

DurhamDurham · 21/02/2011 17:42

It'll be over cooked and limp but she is cooking for you. Eat it and be nice. Anything else will cause bad feeling.

I would love my mil to cook me a meal, she expects me to wait on her whenever we see each other. I know which one I would prefer.

Eglu · 21/02/2011 17:45

That sounds awful. My MIL adds so much salt to some things I can't eat them. We were once having something with chips and some broccoli on the side so she boiled it in about 3 tons of salt. It was overcooked and so salty that I just couldn't force it down.

Pancakeflipper · 21/02/2011 17:46

Can you not dump it onto someone else's plate when not looking?

My MIL once made a very delicious fish pie. I was in very early stages of pregnancy and the smell of smoked fish was making me seriously heave. But she'd spent all afternoon creating this master piece so I couldnt say anything because she was sooooo proud. So I kept drinking my water really quickly and she'd get me another and whilst her back was turned I'd dump some of it onto my BIL. He was very surprised but far too polite to say a word. In fact he's never mentioned it but always sits next to me at meals.

EdgarAleNPie · 21/02/2011 17:46

although i have been there (eating salmon done for at least twice the necessary time, due to Ex-bf mother having done a 'food hygeine' course that tells you to murderfresh fish for that long)

you need to grin and eat it with every sign of enjoyment.

YNBU not to like it though.

TitsalinaBumSquash · 21/02/2011 17:47

Rofl my Nan used to put my Grandad's dinner on (what ever it was) about 10am for him to have a 5pm promptly.

HecateQueenOfWitches · 21/02/2011 17:49

boiling veg for an HOUR? Surely that's soup?

smokeybacon · 21/02/2011 17:50

Sounds just like my MIL. Her specialities include:

Pork chops cooked to perfection. If you like leather cooked in orange juice.

Roast chicken done in tin foil so it's slimy. With veg Boiled for hours.

In fact everything is served with boiled veg. Even if she has experimented with something exotic like couscous.

Flip

1 2 3