To cancel the food delivery

[MonkeyBirdy]

I live overseas and we have this thing here where you can get your dinner delivered every day. So around 4pm a guy arrives on a motorbike with a tiffin box of food for me. I get three dishes per day - one meat, one vegetable and one random which will be either tofu, fish, egg, something like that. It's mostly Indian/Chinese style food. It's home cooked and very cost effective, I don't think I could do the same for cheaper. It's obviously also really convenient.

But lately the food has changed and the woman who organises it confirmed she'd hired a chef whereas before she used to cook herself. The food is now saltier and not so nice tasting plus the proportion of spicy dishes has gone way up which I'm not a fan of. The variety of dishes is reduced as well, it feels like we're getting the same thing over and over again. Doesn't help that I'm just out of the first trimester and I kind of associate it with feeling rough as I really couldn't eat much of it when pregnant. Unfortunate that the change in chef coincided with that first trimester.

DH is all for just carrying on as we are because he still likes the food (he didn't notice the chef had changed plus he really likes spicy food anyway). But I'm so tempted to cancel. Would I be mad to? I haven't cooked regularly since I moved overseas 6 years ago and we've got an 18 month old...I'm just so sick of eating it every day!

I would love this as I am too lazy to cook

In the UK people are saying it’s normal to coco every day however I think it’s much more easy to pick up convenience foods.
For example for my tea tonight I just have to shove the pre- prepared chicken and potatoes in the oven and then microwave the veg!

Yep more heating food than cooking.

@Ragwort

Don't want to sound rude but why are you asking random Mumsnetters what to do ? .

If you don't like it - cancel it. Is the issue that you don't want to have to do the cooking yourself?

My thoughts too! Discuss it with your other half it only affects you two

@tallduckandhandsome

This thread isnt so bad, but the one from a few years ago was ridiculous. It was about something else; the food delivery was just background info, but omg the comments. Mumsnetters just could not get their head around the tiffin boxes being a totally normal, reasonable, affordable and pretty healthy way to eat. So much "take out every day, that's disgusting" and moaning about costs and laziness and all the rest of it. Maybe just a bad bunch online that day, but they showed total disdain for that cultural difference.

Why is everyone moaning about her asking as well?
It's a lifestyle change, she just wanted opinions. Going from dinner delivered everyday to cooking dinner every night is a bit of a change. Nothing wrong with asking people how that change might affect life, as she hasnt cooked for so long.

Most people cook most days. I personally wouldn't want food regularly that I didn't know what was in it, especially for a toddler. I love Indian and Chinese food, but I couldn't eat it everyday, too rich. We eat more basic meals like meat, salad and couscous/new potatoes or pasta with veggies & homemade sauce a lot.

Tonight we have tandoori baked trout (fusion cuisine!) but even homemade curry pastes are full of salt hence only 1-2 times a week. The Asian community has really high rates of type 2 diabetes in the U.K. and diet is a major reason - people would have eaten a lot less food, and mostly rice in the past.

You aren't going to get sympathy for having to cook from Mumsnet!

I think the Asian concept of feeding children and adults the same food is quite surprising for many. There are no kids' menus in Asia.

It's not always unhealthy just because it's delivered (of course the salt is an issue with you saying over salted!)
I'm in the U.K. and can have 5 evening meals delivered for £20!
This was one of my orders

Salsa pasta
Veg stir fry
Chicken and noodle soup
Chicken and gravy with herb potatoes and veg
Garlic grilled chicken with veg rice

I would love this to be a thing over here and I would definitely do it but keep a few days to cook myself. The benefits are different flavours/ tastes and getting a sense of the culture which is often found in food but difficult to access through restaurant type foods. Would the woman consider giving you some recipes to try? If possible I would see if you can find other places doing it in your area as it would be a shame to give it up (it’s convenient and cheap for you and is someone else’s income stream), but you do need to like the food and the repetitive nature would kill me off quite quickly. A little bit jealous.

I find a lot of British people have a "can't get their heads around it" thing with food and kids.
My kids have always just been given whatever we were having that night. No such thing as cooking a meal separately for the kids, and certainly never beige food from the freezer. Just dinner. And they ate it. When we go out, they wont order nuggets and chips instead of tapas or sushi or curry or whatever the cuisine is. They also cook, and have from a very young age. Now they can make meals totally unaided and the response is always "no way, that's a lie" or, from one mumsnetter, "your definition of dinner or unaided must be different from mine" because they just cannot understand that kids all over the world arent treated the same way they treat this kids.
British parents baby their children.

I'm only going from my experience, but the number of children my kids go to school with who have "their" dinner at 4.30/5 alone, and their parents eat the proper adult food at 8/9. Or if they eat together, there is the patent meal and the kids meal. I cant bloody stand having their friends over for dinner because if it's got a herb on it, they're gagging, god forbid there is a spice. And if you serve anything other chicken/chips/pizza you just hear "I dont liiiiike it". And the chewing with their mouths open because they all eat alone so arent learning!!

Maybe my kids just have really badly patented friends but I cant stand British culture around food and kids.

There are many countries where the kids eat first! Kids need to sleep, diner at 8 or 9 is too late for little ones who have to be up at 6 or 7.

I find people who generalise are not as superior as they believe they are, and their little darlings not as educated or open-minded as they believe they are either.

(and I am not British..)

@MonkeyBirdy

Ok you're obviously one of those people who thinks that anywhere outside the UK is an unhygienic cesspit but that's really not the case. When I say I'm not concerned about the hygiene I mean I'm pretty sure that the hygiene standards are fine

^this! If it’s not Europe or North America, it couldn’t possibly pass muster 🙄

@kindaclassy

There are also many countries were families eat together, or the kids eat earlier but a parent sits with them, and the kids eat "adult food" instead what British people call child friendly meals.

It's not just a fancy of mine. There are many countries were kids menus dont exist. But in Britain, they're everywhere, because kids here are never expected to just eat the type of food being served. It's always an kids menu, and it always has chips and chicken nuggets on it.

[quote Librariesmakeshhhhappen]@tallduckandhandsome

This thread isnt so bad, but the one from a few years ago was ridiculous. It was about something else; the food delivery was just background info, but omg the comments. Mumsnetters just could not get their head around the tiffin boxes being a totally normal, reasonable, affordable and pretty healthy way to eat. So much "take out every day, that's disgusting" and moaning about costs and laziness and all the rest of it. Maybe just a bad bunch online that day, but they showed total disdain for that cultural difference.[/quote]
Ah ok that’s not good!

I love the food culture in Asian countries.

but the number of children my kids go to school with who have "their" dinner at 4.30/5 alone, and their parents eat the proper adult food at 8/9.

I think British parents take bedtimes quite seriously compared to other countries, hence why children eat earlier so the kids can be in bed by 7 or 8.

Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Most teachers would probably say it's a good thing as they don't really want to be teaching grumpy and over-tired kids who fall asleep in class. It does mean parents are bound to their routine, though, and it's more difficult to eat out and stay out late on holiday.

As a compromise, we eat together at 6pm and my 3 yo is normally in bed by 7.30/8pm. We need to leave the house by 8.30am on most days so I wouldn't want them in bed any later than that. I think it's poor parenting if children don't get sufficient sleep.

If I could affordable have someone else cook for me every day I would. But I wouldn't eat spicy food every day so I guess it depends on how much you dislike the food

@Jellybabiesforbreakfast

FGD. My point wasnt the kids eating early. It was them eating ALONE. Parents could just eat with their kids earlier. Or they could sit at the table as a family while the kids eat (obvisouly not the parent still at work). But instead, kids are stuck ingrown of the TV with "kid friendly food".

My kids have sometimes eaten before me, but it's the same food I'm going to have later. I'm not making a kid meal. They eat the same food as everyone else. And I sit with them.

Giving my kids proper food does not mean they stay up till all hours. Jesus christ.

Iborgia I have seen that film "The Lunchbox" too and really enjoyed it because I love the actor Irrfan Khan (who has sadly since died)

• misses point of thread -

I changed the deliver to only Monday and Wednesday! So I'm glad I made this trivial thread that I should have kept to myself haha.

Oh god bedtimes are a whole other issue. DD sleeps around 9/10pm and that's very normal for little ones here 😳 (partly due to longer working hours I think - DH often isn't home till 8pm and then we all like to have dinner together). Might have to change when DD is old enough to be getting up early for school though.

@Librariesmakeshhhhappen. Giving my kids proper food does not mean they stay up till all hours. Jesus christ.

I'm glad to hear that. But in some European countries, eating together as a family (which is lovely and should be the norm) does seem to go hand in hand with little children staying up until 9 or 10 at night even if they have school the next day. Because eating at 8/9 rather than at 5 or 6pm is the norm and children are expected just to fit in with that. I agree the content of the meal is a different matter and we eat the same as our DC here so no separate children's food.

@MonkeyBirdy. That's the problem with meals and bedtimes! I think a late bedtime works for little ones so long as they don't have to get up for nursery/school the next day - you can eat together and spend time together as a family after work. But when they have to be up at 7, it's much trickier and separate meals is one solution (though agree it doesn't mean you have to feed them rubbish!).

If this is a common thing, then I'm sure there are alternative providers around! Ask some neighbours/work colleagues/local fb group who they use?

Saying that though, MN probably isn't the best place for this question. This is primarily a UK audience, and this sort of food delivery is SO culturally different from here, we probably haven't got good advice to give!

Anyone else reading this and just daydreaming about how amazing it would be not to meal plan, shop and cook every day....

@Dishwashersaurous

Anyone else reading this and just daydreaming about how amazing it would be not to meal plan, shop and cook every day....

It's amazing and that's why it's so hard to give up even of the food isn't as good as before. Cause like you say it's not just cooking but the meal planning, shopping - I imagine that takes up loads of time.

@MonkeyBirdy. Cooking everyday is a bit of a pain! I'd put up with a lot not to have to do that.

What does your 18 month old eat? Presumably she eats the same as you? Or is it too salty for her?