To hate having to think of dinner

[Lovethetimeyouhave]

I'm so fed up, I don't mind actually cooking the meal, but the thinking up of what to have for the entire week has begun to bore me! I try and do new meals and use Pinterest but I'm so fed up.

So aibu to ask for any of your ideas for the following week? I need to do the online shop so it can come tomorrow! The fridge is empty

It’s just the endlessness of it, isn’t it? I quite enjoy cooking, but sometimes I just think ‘I’ve got to do this FOREVER. Until I die or am old enough for Wiltshire Farm Foods’.

It’s the same with ironing. I don’t need any new clothes - if anything, I have too many. Then sometimes I look at a top I think if I have to iron it one more time I’ll set light to it and then throw the iron out of the window.

honestly, you think it's the kids, then they leave and you realise you have learned to hate cooking but at least you can have cheese on toast and ice cream and have no guilt about 5 a day

oh god yes ironing. The stuff I have to iron is at the bottom of a pile, never to be worn. I might as well never buy anything that needs ironing again. I am destined to try and smooth all clothes on me or wear shirts only with a jersey to work .

I had a date with someone who ironed their pillowcases and I immediately wondered what sort of life he had had

I love the idea of each person choosing one of the week's meals.

I have a fussy 10 year old, a lovely 15 y/o who never complains 😍, I'm on WW and DH is meat & potatoes. I've got a 7-day chalkboard in the kitchen that never gets used Do from now on, they can each choose a fave meal to have.

Yeah it's numbing.
Most nights, all i want is egg, toast, cheese, crackers.
Having to think and rustle up a proper dinner is a ballache.

Posted too soon in my excitement! 😆

We'll fill in the meals the week before, then food shop on Saturday. If anyone forgets to choose s meal, it'll default to soup. I love soup but they all hate it (no idea why) so it'll motivate them.

I just floated the idea to DS2, and his delighted cry of, "Hot dogs!" has shown me the fatal flaw.

My small print includes the need to be balanced meals, so hot dogs would be fine and the bun would count as a carb (might be 50/50) but there would need to be a veg/ salad element they would choose what.There are quorn hotdogs that are pretty healthy as an alternative.

very little fish in these suggestions. we have fish 2-4 times a week: salmon, cod, haddock, sea bass, fish fingers!

Salmon- oven baked with jackets/ salad
Other white fish- baked on a bed of roast veg (they go in first!) Red peppers, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, aubergines, courgettes, whatever you fancy,

I've just discovered filo pastry and make parcels with veg, feta cheese etc in them. It's really easy and there's loads of simple recipies online.

Shamelessly placemarking because I struggle with dinner plans every day. I thought I had it tonight and I cooked a nice meal for my husband aaaannnd I cocked it up and he’s now munching on a fish finger sandwich.

I used to buy the same few things from the supermarket each week and everyone was getting bored with same old, same old. Then back in April I joined Slimming World and started cooking all my meals from scratch. I enjoy it and the family are enjoying new dishes. Friday evening is my planning time as I go shopping Saturday morning and need to know what ingredients to top up with. Some favourites are:

Sticky chicken
Broccoli pasta bake
Teriyaki beef and noodles
Creamy mustard pork with mushrooms
Cottage pie
Easy chicken curry
Ginger and soy salmon
Home made spag bol
Pizza topped chicken breasts
Chicken in oyster sauce
Beef and bean hotpot bake
Hoisin beef stir fry

Just Google for Slimming World recipes - there's plenty of websites with them on.

Oh wow thank you to all you lovely people who feel the same as me! It really is such a chore and I'm still doing it!!! I'm going through your lists now so hopefully be done soon! Also the moaning about every meal is what annoys me too, well if it's so bad don't eat it! I took dp plate away today after constant jibes that I never put jalapenos in the chilli and complaining, I never usually put them in anyway!!

I feel your pain. We have pasta on a Tuesday and fish and chips on a Wednesday, curry on a Friday IF we are all home, but if not it varies. We like stand n stuff tacos as a simple meal, also, savoury crepes stuffed with ham/cheese (children) or Cajun chicken (dh and I). Toad in the hole is another yummy but easy meal x

I hate meal planning at the moment but that may just be the depression talking

We tend to make enough for leftovers so we only have to think of 3/4 meals a week. Although admittedly that's harder when DSD is here as she dislikes having the same thing two days in a row.

Meals we generally keep coming back to are:
Chilli con carne
Spag bol
Cottage pie (or is it shepherds? The one with beef anyway)
Beef / lamb / chicken stew
Beef goulash
Spicy bean burgers and sweet potato chips
Southwestern stuffed sweet potatoes
Frozen pie and chips
Cajun chicken and veg
Gammon rice and veg
Gammon and roasted vegetables
Fajitas
Enchiladas
Baked potato and beans
Various different curries using a cookbook we were given for Christmas
Spicy sausage pasta
One pot roasted red pepper pasta
Tomato and mozzarella gnocchi bake
Lasagne
Slimming world meatballs in spicy tomato sauce
Coriander chicken and spiced rice
Chicken and sweet potato pie
Chicken and chorizo stew
Jamie Oliver's sausage meat pasta
Toad in the hole
Stuffed pepper

Spring/ summer we tend to then eat a lot of salad and stir fry

HATE. IT.

Somehow DH has managed to shirk this completely...

Current favourite is 'Greek potatoes'. Pat boil and fry new potatoes, add onion slices and carry on frying till yummy. Sprinkle with oregano. Plate up with fresh parsley, feta & a fried egg. Lots of s&p.

Sweet potato quesadilla s - roast sweet potatos with spices of your choice - cumin, paprika, chilli are good - mash/crush. Layer tortilla with s. potato, Black beans and cheese and fry/grill.

Bookmarking this thread...

It is hideous isn't it? The only way we can manage this issue without strangling is by meal planning before we do our weekly shop. Depending on the timing, we sometimes did the planning in the supermarket cafe with a cup of tea... I don't think it's right that the whole thing should be left to one person to deal with, it's very much a team game. So contributions and suggestions from everyone (although it helps that we are only DH, DS and I; DS is fussy but DH and I are not)

I have similar lists written down that PPs have, and refer to those for inspiration. We do always tend to have pizza on Wednesday night and I look forward to that for the simplicity of it

Planning makes it all so much easier; I look at the weekly chalkboard to see what's written up for the evening, so I know what to take out of the freezer. Also taking notes of the BB dates so the shortest dated items get used first. It works for us and has taken a lot of the anguish and wrangling out of the whole sorry procedure...

I'm so glad I'm not the only one, bane of my life!! 2 very fussy ds who both like/dislike different things and a dh who doesn't like basic food. I'm tearing my hair out, but going to use some of your suggestions, this is a useful thread!!

We have a good food subscription which brings a constant source of quick to cook recipes for mid week and more complicated things for a weekend. There's also a huge array of cookbooks built up over the years. We have our favourite meals which we cook more often, but even those only appear once maybe twice a month at most. We hate eating the same stuff all the time and like to try new things.

Same trouble here except

I have a DC that does not eat Chicken, Cheese, pasta, fish or Pizza.

I have another DC that won't eat mince or chips

Another DC The only vegetable they eat is carrots

And of course I have one last DC that won't eat carrots and peas but will generally eat anything else.

Actually the last DC in the above won't eat pies.

But what about lunches......?

I used to love cooking. Could easily spend a whole day shopping and preparing a delicious dinner party meal.

Now my main criteria are:

1. no shopping - stuff already in cupboard
2. takes < 20 mins to cook
3. needs no more than 2 pans.
4. can I incorporate things about to go off in the fridge.

Tonight we had bean stew including left over carrot soup and baked beans. Was quite nice.

Oh gosh lunches too make me want to pull my eyes out! There are some brilliant ideas here too :)

When I was a kid we had the same things on each night of the week e.g. lamb stew Monday, liver Tuesday etc. I used to think when I grow up I won't do this - but now I do but with different dishes.