Im fed up having shite dinners

[ssd]

Am mid 50s, working on my feet all day. Im just tired. There was very limited choice and i didnt enjoy what i made.

Oh well.

This might be a help 🤞 could you once a week/fortnight get some big freezer bags and fill with a portion of protein/veg/sauce (am thinking chicken curry ingredients inc the sauce; veggie chilli, beef stew that kind of thing). All raw ingredients in the bag and frozen. At night take one out, leave in slow cooker overnight to defrost, switch it on in morning before work - should be a nice hot meal waiting when you get home? I’ve done this before and a couple of hours spend prepping at weekend can fill the freezer with a good few things? Feel for you, no fun being knackered after a days graft, needing a decent meal and not being able to do it. Hope you get some ideas here xx

It’s so bloody disappointing especially after a hard day.

it’s the thinking what to have that bursts my head. Sometimes I just make the same thing over and over to avoid this problem 🤣

Meal plan so you don't have to think on the day.
I love the Itsu 20 minute meals cook book. Uses fresh veg but often pre-cooked meat (like chicken) for speed. Or just a few ingredients.
Noodles take minutes plus stir fry veg/cooked chicken/made sauce (Hoi din, oyster etc) and it's delicious and speedy.
Microwave rice also great for stir fry.
Eggy bread and bacon.
Stuffed pasta and sauce
Pasta and pesto and cooked chicken
Omelette
Fried halloumi pitta bread and ready made salsa
Fish fingers and oven chips!
Frozen jacket potatoes are good, tin of tuna, sweetcorn and a squirt of mayonnaise.
I don't like spending ages cooking..plus almost everything is improved with cheese and/or sriacha sauce!

My husband of over 20 years has never cooked a single meal. He is extremely fussy about what he will eat aswell. I'm totally sick of being responsible for this utter shit everyday! Who cares? Who bloody cares about dinners? Not me!
I could live on eggs, cereal, paninis, salads, toast. It all bores me to tears. When will this crap ever end?

Yep, it’s the thinking about it, shopping, clearing up…. It’s just a drag sometimes. And I like cooking. Dh does cook but I do the lions share (he does other stuff) and sometimes I either want him to just crack on and cook something nice, and have thought about it before I get home…. Or takeout or easy pub tea.

unfortunately healthy take out non existent where we live…

Sometimes I buy the fresh pasta (variations of ravioli), takes a few minutes to cook, and then add some pesto or shop bought sauce. Dinner in 5 mins. If you fancy extra protein, you could always add half a ton of tuna. And then have the same again the next day. Sometimes I add handfuls of spinach as I feel I need to eat green stuff. Spinach stays for ages which is good.

Gousto costs me £37 or so for 3 x meals for 2 people. No waste, shopping or meal planning I just pick from the app which meals I want. Everything delivered (except salt, oil, flour, butter).

I think it saves so so much it's worth it. Usually leftovers for next day's lunch as well. All cooked from scratch in 20 - 30 minutes.

Fast dinner when shattered would be
can of mackerel in sauce stirred through hot pasta - literally two ingredients & always have them in the cupboard
'posh' fridge soup from a supermarket
ready bag of stir fry
fish cakes with salad

I feel your pain.
I was going to make an omelette but it seemed like too much effort, so then I thought I’d stop at local shop to buy a chicken pie…cba
thankfully I found some sausage rolls in the fridge, I did some oven chips and chopped up a bit of lettuce and other bits to go with it.
(I know that doesn’t make it healthy to those who might be tempted to point it out. I’d had a long day, with not much food. Migraine was threatening to appear but I wanted to avoid the trigger of insufficient or late dinner and I managed to avert it.

on other days yes I do feel motivated to plan ahead and make all kinds of stuff.
latest is chicken breasts in a lime and ginger marinate.squelch together with pestle and mortar, chuck in a plastic bag with the chicken. Bonus points for adding some veg.

Oh gosh yes some days I don’t care about dinners.

when pregnant I was genuinely sick a lot…a typical dinner was half a punnet each of strawberries and raspberries with decent granola and Greek yogurt, it was so fresh and delicious. Probably as nutritious as many of these so called proper dinners.

I'm totally sick of being responsible for this utter shit everyday!

in complete agreement. It’s the deciding what to eat that does me in more than the cooking. I’d live off of toast and cheese every night if it was just me. Whilst my DB, who’s single, cooks to MasterChef quality meals for himself.

I found Gousto harder work than normal tbh and there is so much packaging to dispose of, a really unnecessary amount.

Stir fry kit with straight to work noodles are a good 5 minute meal.

pizzas out of wraps or Naan breads, wraps work surprisingly well. Just add pasta sauce, cheese and whatever veg is in the fridge.

2 or 3 Indian side dishes from the supermarket and cook rice while microwaving.

M and s ready meals?

The amount of unnecessary packaging in Gousto and Hello Fresh drives me nuts. Also, I am not really a follow the instructions type of cook. I am more of a fling everything into a pan and hope for the best cook.

Your post sounds like me from 45mins ago after FINALLY getting overtired toddler and baby to sleep (they kept setting each other off..) I made Tacos. I always keep mini tortillas, sour cream and lettuce in then fill with whatever I’ve got. Tonight was leftover chicken, bit of chorizo, frozen sweetcorn, red onions and tomatoes. start to finish in 10mins.

I love simply cook too! Absolutely brilliant!

I agree with the PP who said to prep veg. I sometimes chop different veg incl onions and put them in the freezer. Then I just grab some of them and put them in a pot, throw curry sauce or make a tray bake with them and some meat. Another option is to roast some on a Sun so they are there to eat during the week.

But if I really can't be bothered, sausages, chips and some of the chopped veg go into the airfryer and it's job done.

OP I completely get what you mean ... the mental load of dinner can just be too much!

For the people saying "only 20 min," thats too long for me. I want no prep.

Op, I get it and I don't work 8 hours with a long commute.

It's so bloody tedious.

I know op, it's hard peddle isn't it.

My cooking output has definitely reached the basic level, let's put it that way!

OP has explained. She’s knackered.

There's a page I follow on Instagram and it's fantastic. She does all sorts of slow cooker meal prep. She gets plastic zip lock bags and puts all of the ingredients in the bag, so it's just a case of cooking that bag on the day you choose. If you get a day where you're able to devote a morning or afternoon to preparing them, you'll have plenty of meals ready for you that you don't need to worry about prepping.

The page is called oatmealmonsters on Instagram. I hope this link works: instagram.com/oatmealmonsters?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

I’ve been buying bagged salads, pasta, and rice bags you can microwave for 90 seconds. Then just need to cook a protein. I also keep ramen noodles in and will cook with spinach and shaved beef or an egg.

I hate cooking and I'm tired.

I will have meat and salad/vegetables most days. I mix the salad up a fair amount so it doesn't get too boring - sometimes apple and walnut or bacon and roasted pepper with chilli or with feta.

So so boring

Get a proper rice cooker. It pretty much does the work for you and they come with steamer baskets so you can steam a protein/veg while your rice cooks.