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.

My trouble is I'm a really plain eater. And I'm fussy. I remember driving my parents mad. There's so much great advice here and thank you to everyone but i wouldn't eat most of it. I'd pick it apart. I should be veggie but i only like a few vegetables too....i spent my time slow cooking, freezing leftovers, buying ingredients ,all of food for the dh and dc so they get decent grub, but don't eat it myself. I could literally have baked potato, cheese and pickle every night for dinner and not care. And please dont tell me to try it, even cooking it makes me boak.

One of the easiest things I make that I enjoy are salami pizzas. Just keep a few frozen bases in, put some sauce and cheese on, salami and cook. Always tasty. If I was being more creative I'd put ham, tomato, mushroom, onion etc on it. But it's one thing myself and the kids will eat without complaining. If I want to pat myself on the back for a healthier meal I microwave some veg that come in those steamer packs.

Another good one is a potato, stick some holes in it, microwave for 5 mins. Cut into it, put butter, cheese and coleslaw on.

Sorry that did have paragraphs when I typed it

I read your post as more wanting to moan a bit- understandable- than looking for nifty moringa and turmeric recipes.

when you’re tired isn’t the time to be trying new things :) if that’s what you like, eat that. Well, okay also take a multivitamin and maybe mix it up a bit with other things you will eat that are of a similar Level of prep (soup and toast, scrambled egg on toast) plus personally I would insist on one vegetable and fruit with it/after it, but that’s up to you

frozen baked potatoes aren’t much more expensive (like a penny or two per potato) than fresh & are 5 minutes in the microwave,

I don’t know where my capital letters are and CBa to fix it soz.

My favourite meal is frozen baked potato - 5 mins in microwave. Sweet chilli salmon from Iceland - 3 minutes in microwave. Big bag of mixed vegetables from any supermarket - 3 minutes in microwave. Put it all together on plate, a little olive oil and salt to sprinkle over. Delicious!

beans on toast sounds a good plain meal op

Yes @Aaron69 the fix for someone who works full time with a long commute is definitely to squeeze in a quick trip to India or China to learn how to cook authentic dishes from those countries...

OP I get it. It's not just the cooking but also the deciding, shopping, etc. We used to be real foodies but since the pandemic have lost all interest.

The thing with something like Gousto is that it takes away all the thinking and checking if you’ve got the right ingredients. It’s all there in the box, enough of everything for all the people and of you choose the 10/20 min ones they can be really quick (there’s also traybakes which might take longer cooking time but only have 5 min prep)

If you’re paying full price it’s not a cheap way to do it but they always have introductory offers on boxes so your first 4 or 6 boxes are pretty cheap. After that you’ll have loads of recipe cards and you can obviously use those again. We don’t get it any more but we still have a Gousto recipe at least once a week because they’re good and easy.

My friend was saying she had a code for 60% off the other week so it was cheaper than buying all the ingredients separately for that box.

I know it's always suggested on here, (and other PPs have mentioned it upthread!) But honestly give batch cooking a go. It really saved me.

There will be a day, at some point, where either you or your husband (ideally both) have the time and energy to make just one meal from scratch. It doesn't need to be some sort of fancy, fabulous feast. Just something. Even a quick Bolognese or a really basic curry type thing. Make a shitload of it, as much as will fit in the pan. Label and freeze the portions. That's a few dinners sorted where all you have to add is rice/pasta etc. (If you really want to you can batch cook your rice and pasta and freeze it, but I never bother)

I also like to do massive batches of mashed potato. It only takes 30 mins, including the peeling and chopping the potatoes, and it freezes very well. That's a nice side dish sorted for a load of different things, just a push of a microwave button away!

Another good one to do is Jamie's easy beef stew. It's about 20 mins of actual hands on cooking and then it goes into the oven for 4-6 hours. You don't even have to stir it. It's really nice. Goes well with a side of mashed potatoes 🙂

If you do this every now and again you end up with a freezer full of "ready meals" that have been made exactly how you like them, with fresh ingredients.

I reckon as you like only a limited range of foods, plan a week - eat the same meal each day of the week until you get bored of it then swap it for something else.
One of my friends does this - she has a whiteboard and writes the meal they're having on it for the week and shops for those ingredients. So she never has to think during the week what to have and knows the ingredients are there.

Butter is your friend for a gentle sauté or scramble.
Anything cooked in butter will be quick, easy & delicious.

Buttery scrambled eggs on buttered toast.
Mushrooms gently sautéed in butter on toast or thrown onto pasta.
Pasta tossed with butter fried garlic, add store- bought sauce if needed or squirt of tomato purée.
Beans on toast, with knob of butter melted in, on buttery toast.
Poached eggs on buttered toast.

Sod the saturated fat, you’re over tired & need comfort food to make your world a butter place.

I hear you op

I will often roast a chicken at the start of the week, and then use it for various meals in the week.
I also am really happy with just cheese, some salad and various bits. Budget is tight so just one 'nice' item makes a world of difference

I remember working retail and some days I'd come in and have to choose food or sleep.

I buy salads already made up,bags of cooked chicken breasts and some already cooked prawns.

Or soup,add prawns and you have a decent dinner.

Beans on toast

Baked potato and cheese

Sandwiches

Supermarket quiche and salad

If you're tired and don't enjoy cooking, just keep it as simple as possible

when i used to work late my dh would cook

I find the butchers a real help with this. Or a farm shop. They'll do a very high quality meat stir fry and you can ask for as little or much as you like. They're often full of veg & sauce already. I get about 300-400g which serves me+ 2 kids and then a second leftovers meal for me. When you get home it's just 10 mins stir fry and it's ready. Have with rice or wraps if you like. Easy to reheat on subsequent days.

OP has said she's a vegetarian.

This is brilliant! I’ll probably never get round to actually doing it, but it’s such a good idea!

Are you being deliberately obtuse?
Can take one hour to get to work, i am assuming the OP works at 9, ends at 5 (ish) and then another hour to get home

@TheBlessedCheesemaker that sounds absolutely delicious. I have one of those lentil packs in the cupboard and I never know what to do with it.

Making peace with eating the same thing a few days in a row helps hugely, but I think OP's probably got that covered already. So much easier than all the freezing, defrosting and reheating.

No she hasn't .

She says she's a plain eater. Plain foods are easier OP - plain chicken & noodles? Rice, peas and ham? Scrambled egg and toast? Jacket potato & beans? Plain chicken & potato wedges? Pitta breads with whatever you like in.

I see you have the 'joy' of preparing meals for others in your household too? This must raise the level of fatigue surrounding food. Guess the bulk of thinking and prepping falls to you? Swines.

When I do have to prep food for others, I have a radio on in the kitchen on the worktop where I prepare food. Buttons are pre set to stations where I know I'll find good comedy sketch shows, news coverage and sport chat. Listening to it distracts me from the boredom of the task and, on a good day, transports me out of the mundane.

Why are you doing a long commute for a poverty wage job? Are there no companies nearer your house? No WFH jobs hiring?

Eurgh I hear you OP. Hate cooking, hate food shopping, hate having to section meat to freeze and then de-frost. Detest thinking about what to cook. I literally eat the same meals all the time, these are:

Sea bass fillets with Mediterranean veg and new potatoes (just fling the sea bass and Mediterranean veg in the oven and boil the new potatoes)

Pizza/ fish fingers/ chicken nuggets and chips and peas.

Homemade lasagne but fuck me it's a ball ache, I do this once per week and we have it over 2 nights with veg, or sometimes chips if it's a smaller portion.

Quiche, salad and coleslaw, which my husband hates but it's just so easy lol, quiche in oven for 15 mins, bag of salad with some salad dressing drizzled on and dump a load of coleslaw on the plate. Et Voila.

Mushroom and pea risotto with lots of cream. Again, bit of a ballache, well actually it takes about 30-40 mins but it all bloody sticks to the bottom of the non-stick pan 🙄 So washing up takes forever!

Sausages, (frozen, packet) mash, gravy and veg.

Oh and a chicken curry with naan bread or something else that my husband cooks.

That's about it and I detest every second of making any of those, lol. I need to be a millionaire so I can hire a live-in chef 😩