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.

It’s a massive pain cooking for yourself when out all day though. If you do a big shop the fresh stuff goes off before you get to the end of the week. A few small shops is effort.
I am looking forward to being thinner when the boy goes to Uni next year though.

This is why we Hello Fresh. I pick my meals the week before. I put away my delivery. And 9/10 it's fast, simple to cook, but delicious and has required minimal effort or thought.

How lovely for you and all the others who've recommended similar. OP is on minimum wage. Can she afford Hello Fresh or Cook meals?

Yes, course she’s home by 4.🙄. Long commute she said. Even if her post didn’t actually say that (which it did) applying a bit of common sense would tell you her commute is likely to be more than 7.5 minutes each way.

i think she’s home well after 6. Which is closer OP, 4pm or after 6?

Great work on the chicken by the way, sounds good.

You forgot the batch cook, batch cook, batch cook And slow cooker, slow cooker, slow cooker

Well tomorrow im working and will get home at 8, leaving the house about 8ish. So a long day on my feet. I'm making soup for either lunchtime or coming home with a toasty or similar. I've never looked at Hello fresh or anything similar. I just know its too much money.
Anyway thanks for nice answers
I did just come on to have a moan, seems lots of us feel similar some days after work.

@ssd I do know what it feels like, yup. In fact I've got some stew in a bloody saucepan in the fridge - all it needs is heating up on the hob, and I just feel like I can't be bothered to go downstairs and do it. Like I'm too tired to care.

I do actually cook! I make loads of things, from scratch 99% of the time. I'd bought a ready meal for a change but it wasn't great and i was tired and moany. And the thing i don't like about batch cooking is the reheating it up, i never find it tastes as good.

Sounds like a good plan for tomorrow. Even those of us who quite enjoy cooking have days where we just can't be arsed. I think that's pretty normal tbh.

I suppose the trick for you is to have some things that you can make with little effort that are still tasty and nutritious. I think some things don't taste as nice reheated but other things are nicer reheated. Spag bol and any spicy rice type dish always seem better to me, I'm also quite happy with reheated macaroni cheese or things like goulash. Stovies is another one that does well reheated.

A quick idea is something like ramen noodles with stuff added in such as any leftover meat and/or some frozen veg. DS is pretty fussy in general but he'll do noodles with a (drained) tin of mackerel and he'll poach an egg in it and have that for lunch with a slice of bread

When i really really can't be bothered then it's usually some sort of frozen breaded chicken or fish with chips or frozen mash and peas/sweetcorn or beans. If I'm really hungry though that is an over half hour investment in the oven time that I might not be happy with :)

These all require cooking!

ssd - i feel the same about Hello Fresh and similar. Just because it's expensive and all comes in a box, doesn't mean i'll have the time or energy to cook it, more than i would a bag of groceries from asda.....

Sometimes you just want someone else to have done the thinking etc and present you with a meal.

I think if you look into an Instant Pot, this may be your quick dinner solution. It cooks a chicken in 25 mins, risotto in 5 etc. I can throw something in from frozen and it makes something in no time.

My airfryer is also great for tired nights. I get a few bits and pieces out of the freezer, stick it in there and dinner is served in 10/15 mins, with no real effort from me. Mind you I freeze single serves of various veg suitable for roasting or serves of veg sides, knowing that I will want to assemble Can't Be Bothered dinners. I stick a protein in to cook at the same time.

I know what you mean but some a fail safe, like spag bol.

Omelette

My go to after a long day at work on y on my feet was a big bowl of cereal. No prep, healthy, no washing up either

Omelette and baked potato

Sea bass or other fish fried fir few minutes and stir fry veg. Pouch rice.

Wholemeal pasta with sauce from the freezer (previously made and frozen tomato sauce, in jars) with sprinkled cheese

Bagged salad with a pre cooked chicken portion, or nuts, cheese, eggs or tinned fish. Serve with sliced tomatoes of beetroot plus decent bread

Flatbreads with salad, mayo, avocado, cheese, salad, or any combination.

How is it healthy?

I batch cook rice every couple of days and steamed veg and keep in fridge in Tupperware. Then can microwave that in a bowl with a fried egg on top or a tin of tuna or grated cheese and it’s still a hot meal but very quick to put together. Kids will eat it too.

How do you avoid the food poisoning risk from rice?

Often recook rice - never had food poisoning from it!

I am clearly a Bad Mother because we often don't have a "cooked" meal in the evening, especially in summer. Just bread, crackers, cheese, hard boiled eggs, salad stuff, houmous, crackers, potato salad, coleslaw, salad with mix beans or lentils and stuff, whatever (not all of the above but whichever ones are available!). Plus yoghurt/fruit/treat as people wish. I suspect this is peak laziness and I'm about to get slammed!

I make loads of different soups, freeze them all, just take one out and have with crusty bread. I don't label them so it's always a surprise 😂

Lots of good advice here, OP, Good food helps improve your health and energy, and I hope these ideas will give you a boost. Meanwhile I’m sending a hug and sympathy. Xx