Do you hate having to choose whats for dinner every day

[Flowers24]

Every day its the same, every week Monday draws around and i do the weekly shop, maybe its the lockdown life but fed up of it all and just cant think of new ideas all the time, is it just me?

I also enjoy spicy food, DH and DC won't eat it. Also the only one who loves garlic, onions, etc.

Oddly, I enjoyed it much more when Dd was living at home, she'll eat anything and I love to cook so it was my favourite thing to do.
Now its just me it seems so pointless, so although I still do cook sometimes, I find myself eating more and more ready meals, or just random chunks of cheese/cold meats/graze boxes etc

Yes, find choosing, shopping and cooking incredibly tedious and especially after a day at work.

We did have to self isolate over Xmas
and not being able to leave the house meant I had far more free time than usual so I did enjoy cooking then. Just a shame two of my household couldn’t smell or taste 😆.

Me too I started getting Gousto in October and honestly the relief. We are also going to try hello fresh in the next couple of weeks to mix it up a bit see what they have to offer.
My entire household is autistic everyone have something they don't like, one child was incredibly narrow range of food the other is to be honest getting worse, but for some reason they both eat theses meals all of them including onions... absolutely everything every day in fact I have been the only one who has been a bit meh about some of the meals.
My theory is that they can see all of the food, that is in the box, and the recipe card, they get to help choose the weeks recipes and they know what they are having days in advance as surprise is the enemy of autism. Some days I would literally be making up what we where having as I cooked it.
For me no shopping, no thinking, the other members of the house actually now either cook without being told to, because they know what it is we are eating and what to get. (Thinking about this I would go mad if my husband cooked sausages I might have mentally planned for later in the week... like he should know. My sons can't manage to cook on their own it would take all night but they do help us and I can get them to "do a job" because I am not making it up on the spot.
We don't have it every week as some weeks we are not interest in what is on the menu, I thought on paper it was expensive but it has saved us a fortune, seriously cut down on waste (although there is some, we never use up all the chilli, lemons, limes, coriander so I just freeze them for use when I recreate the recipe) and for us we relied heavily on take away and from week one we now only have take away once a week and it has become a treat again rather than "not pizza again"
I have lost not much weight but given we have been in lockdown and had Christmas losing a couple of kilos has been a miracle, and this is because I think it has re taught me portion sizes and I am not eating crap.
it is helping me to meal plan as well and I have discovered both Sainsbury's and Tesco have recipes where the ingredients can automatically be loaded to a order or shopping list, then later I go through and remove all the things I have in my kitchen already as an alternative to the meals in a box, and again this is saving me money as I am using stuff I have. The only down side of this is that it is not weighted out but I work from home so at lunch time I weight out what I need into bowels and then in the evening it it ready the weighing out is the worst part as I used to try and do it whist cooking which doesn't work.

I am a real fan of these meals but I can see I am already using them less, I spoke to my brother who is a chef about them to do over he has been using them for years, he said he probably only get 8-10 a year now but that is enough to reignite his love of cooking.

Yeah but if you plan and cook you cook what you like surely ?
Daughter is uni at home at present.
Have delegated Tuesday dinner as I finish late. It’s a mixed blessing. She takes ages. Uses everything. Believes the timings rather than cooking till it’s cooked. But she’s learning and , a nice warm bath and a gin to keep me out of the way and we do get food.

If it was just cooking for me then I’d be fine. I’d batch cook really spicy food and have the same thing a few of times over the week then just do an omelette or salad on other days. And pre dc I loved cooking - I managed to still enjoy it after cooking 3 meals a day for 20 years. But now I have H and the 3dc, incorporating their food makes it soul crushing.

When my mum has the dc I have to provide their food because they are such picky pains that mum can’t cope with even doing one meal. She says she doesn’t know how I do 5 different meals 3 times a day. There is not one meal that everyone will eat. This is why we spend £300 per month on wagamamas as it’s the only restaurant everyone will eat from. It’s the most depressing part of being a parent. Mainly because I used to love cooking and now it’s ruined.

Yup another one who hates it. Cannot bear the grind of it
Here's what I do.
breakfast is always cereal or toast (now it is help yourself, they are teens)
lunch - there are a set of lunch type things in fridge, but it is pretty much sandwich plus fruit.

I have list of meals, and I have divided it - so list of 30 minute meals and list of prep ahead meals (eg casserole) This list has about 40 /50 meals on it, of which 20 ish are ones I can do with my eyes shut.

Then I have 2 days which are easy. One night dh cooks, and he has to decide and add to the shopping list. Saturday night we always have pizza in front of TV. No brain cooking and preping.

Then on Sunday I plan for the week, and do the online shop. The list of what we are eating goes on the fridge. So in the morning, I just look at list - Oh today it is sausages for example.

Not perfect but it all really helps.

A couple of months ago I also started trawling the threads on here for ideas, and every week for about 8 weeks did one new dish per week. About half of those have been added to the list. One or two we have played with until we liked it. Others have not been repeated, but kids enjoying the variety too.

upthekyber
It sounds as if you could get round some of the problems by having a list of the week's meals on the fridge?

Surely that would solve a lot of the issues around surprise, and struggling to work out what you are cooking while cooking it etc?

I instantly loved not being asked what’s for dinner when my marriage ended ! I then cooked for 2 teens for a decade who had more sense than to complain about what they were given although I tried to make stuff they enjoyed
Now living on my own and wfh I’ve started to enjoy cooking again and have upped my game but it would be lovely to occasionally eat a meal I haven’t had to think about

This is why self catering is not a holiday for me. I shop multiple times a day and lay on my sun bed thinking about meals for the next couple of day...’but if I get sausages then x won’t eat them, so I’ll have to get some chicken legs too, and they won’t sell the only frozen hash browns that y will eat, so I’ll need to get a baguette, but only if it’s soft and the apartment doesn’t have a grater so z won’t eat cheese unless it’s grated...’ and in the end no one likes it because it’s all different and I eat food I don’t want and feel miserable while everyone complains they are hungry and eat 6 packets of crisps each while I mentally think about what I’ll get for breakfast ...’x and y don’t eat milk so no cereal, they don’t like the bread because it tastes funny, I’ll get bacon but will need 3 packs because it’s so thin, y and z don’t eat eggs...’

I like self catering because:
I can get take aways and not eat in a restaurant.
I can eat breakfast in my pj's, rather than get fully dressed before eating anything. Difficult to get a lazy morning when hotel breakfasts end at 9, although holiday hotels may be later.
Eating only at restaurants means wasted food, as I can often not eat full portions. If self catering I can take some back with me.

It does not mean I have to cook, unless I want to.

@MrsKoala

This is why self catering is not a holiday for me. I shop multiple times a day and lay on my sun bed thinking about meals for the next couple of day...’but if I get sausages then x won’t eat them, so I’ll have to get some chicken legs too, and they won’t sell the only frozen hash browns that y will eat, so I’ll need to get a baguette, but only if it’s soft and the apartment doesn’t have a grater so z won’t eat cheese unless it’s grated...’ and in the end no one likes it because it’s all different and I eat food I don’t want and feel miserable while everyone complains they are hungry and eat 6 packets of crisps each while I mentally think about what I’ll get for breakfast ...’x and y don’t eat milk so no cereal, they don’t like the bread because it tastes funny, I’ll get bacon but will need 3 packs because it’s so thin, y and z don’t eat eggs...’

Oh yes to this!

My family are really good, no fussy eaters.
But we go away regularly to a place in the middle of nowhere, 30 minutes to a supermarket. Local = fab delicious artisan shops which cost as arm and a leg.
Harder ot cook, as you can't rustle up a quick meal as ingredients different, and anyway it is hot, and best time of day by pool ends up = go inside and cook.

4 years ago I told my family we were taking it in turns, we would all go to the supermarket on first day and had to come back with one meal each to cook, we ate out on other 2 days.
youngest was 9, she got to cook with dad. other 2 were 12 and 14, and they just made a meal. It wasn't fancy, ds always did BBQ - fine.
It revolutionised holidays.
Woudl still like to go catered but can't afford it.

Whenever we go self catering we eat out every night, its not a holiday if you have to cook!

My absolute pet peeve is when I finish work late, am stressed and tired, and DP tried to 'help' by suggesting we have a takeaway... when I've already done the hard work of working out what we are going to have, done the shopping and defrosted anything that's needed.

@Lweji

I like self catering because: I can get take aways and not eat in a restaurant. I can eat breakfast in my pj's, rather than get fully dressed before eating anything. Difficult to get a lazy morning when hotel breakfasts end at 9, although holiday hotels may be later. Eating only at restaurants means wasted food, as I can often not eat full portions. If self catering I can take some back with me.

It does not mean I have to cook, unless I want to.

The hotels we stay at have food served all day and it’s help yourself so no need to have any wasted food or rush to get to breakfast before 9 (my kids sleep till 11 as are usually up till 1am).

Personally, if it was just me on my own I’d prefer self catering because I like eating in different restaurants with different views/specialities etc. But I’d not be able to do that with the dc so AI is the next best thing. It works out cheaper for us too as H is a big eater and the kids don’t eat the food in restaurants because it’s too different, so we end up buying more.

Pre dc I’d rent a little apartment on the beach, potter down to the market and pick up a massive peach and a fresh pastry and sit on my balcony and enjoy it in peace. But now it’s ‘this sausage smellllllllllssss funnneeeeeeeee’ and ‘the eggs are too yellow’ .

MrsKoala

Sure, if you go to resorts. The type of hotel I tend to go to is less package holiday.
But just making the point that self catering doesn't mean that we have to cook. And usually offers more flexibility in terms of eating in or out. Sometimes I really want to relax rather than sit in a restaurant and wait for the food, or even negotiate a buffet.

I totally agree Lweji, buffets on a resort are their own level of hell. But it’s the least worst option at the moment. Like you I’ve gone SC and still eaten out every day but choosing and eating in a restaurant with mine would not be a relaxing holiday for me. I know parents of fussies that love self catering and cook in because it’s easier, but that’s not for me either.

We used to eurocamp in France and I’d shop before and drive over with all the acceptable foods, and even when we fly AI I pack 6 packs of hotdogs and various bits to keep in the apartment, but now with brexit that looks like it’ll be out the window.

Anyone want to try a Gousto I'm sure I can put a link up. I've seen it done so if anyone wants it I'll figure it out

@Flowers24, yanbu!

I would enjoy meal planning if it wasn't for the other fussy members of my family, who obviously all have different dislikes and even worse, the dislikes of 1 of my dc changes regularly (usually after you've just stocked up on what it is they have suddenly decided they no longer like!).

It makes it so hard to cook varied, healthy, tasty meals as I refuse to cook several different dishes at every meal time.

It's really taken the fun out of it, especially since my dh and 1 of my dc decided to get healthy and follow a Mediterranean style of eating, but without too much pasta/bread, etc, as now I have to spend hours working out the calorie content of each meal, which takes hours!!

One dc only likes a certain shape of pasta and insists it tastes different to the penne pasta they substituted for my asked for choice of conchoglie pasta in my last shop. Last year they ate penne pasta and they'll eat all the Bachelor's pasta 'n' sauces which have tube pasta, etc....apparently that's different though 🤔🙄

What's worse is that when I'm struggling for ideas, no one 'minds' what we eat or has a clue what to suggest.
One dc eats very little fruit or veg any more (wasn't fussy when younger), loves potatoes and doesn't like spice.

The other only likes certain types of pasta, loves spice, hates thinking healthy food is being fed to her, dislikes a lot of the things my other dc will eat.

My dh likes salty food, likes a bit of spice, eats everything separately/weirdly, doesn't really like potatoes, likes a variety but is quick to critique and just won't even pretend to like it or eat it if he doesn't. Never 'minds' what we eat and even when he cooks he still asks me what to cook so I'm still doing the mental load.

When the dc cook they want lots of help or advice so I often may as well do it myself.

Our menu this week (breakfast, lunch and dinner):

Mon
Brkfst: Stove top apple and cinnamon porridge with sprinkle of mixed seeds.
Lunch: tuna mayo with green salad and handful of grapes
Dinner: Roast chicken, New potatoes, green beans, broccoli, and cauliflower cheese.

Tues
Bfkfst: homemade oat granola bar with berries
Lunch: ½wrap with tinned salmon in mayo, salad and an apple.
Dinner: sushi

Weds
Brkfst: 100g Greek yogurt with berries and mixed seeds and drizzle of honey
Lunch: oat and raisin drop scones served with fruit, 10g cheese or cheese string
Dinner: chicken and bacon pieces fried up with leftover boiled potatoes, courgette and onion.

Thurs
Brkfst: overnight oats with apple and blueberries and 1dsp chopped nuts
Lunch: Choco banana and fudge high protein muffin (homemade) plus 20g cheese or ham
Dinner: coconut dhal with cauliflower rice

Fri
Brkfst: 2 poached eggs on 1 slice homemade toasted sourdough bread.
Lunch: ham and cheese with hummus and carrot and/or cucumber sticks
Dinner: sweet n sour chicken with basmati rice.

Sat
Brkfst: oat bran galettes with Greek yogurt and tangerines
Lunch: ½tin of beans or spaghetti hoops with 1 slice homemade toasted sourdough bread. Or fried mushrooms with creme fraiche and garlic served on 1 slice sourdough toast.
Dinner: baked nachos with tomato salsa and cheese, served with sour cream and guacamole.

Sun
Brunch: fried green bananas with bacon, mushrooms and onion.
Dinner: BBQ with salad, rolls and sauces. Ice cream cone, eg, Cornetto or Magnum, for dessert.

Yes, and I live on my own and hate it too!

Haven't RTFT so it may already have been suggested, but I spent an afternoon going through all our recipes, wiring them down in categories (fish/chicken etc.) and then used that to build an 8-week menu. Now we just repeat that, and just mix it up occasionally (e.g. roast lamb on Sunday because it's Easter). So much easier and for one afternoon of effort has removed the hassle each week!

And we go self-catering every year - it just means we eat in different restaurants every night rather than the hotel one. The only meal I cook on holiday is toast for breakfast!