Worst thing about being an adult...... deciding what to have for dinner every night!

[Pollydollydoodle]

Just this ^
Am I the only one that despairs every morning at the thought of what to make for tea that night.

Every fucking day, the pain is real!!

And yes, if I was organised, I could meal plan and only have the pain once a week or whatever.

But... how do you know in advance what you fancy, or don't fancy? And how do you cope when meetings unexpectedly run into the evening and you're not ready to even start cooking until late? The meal plan says cook curry/spag bol or something that takes a lot of prep and/or cooking time...

(Yes, I know, it's excuses that could probably be overcome 🤣)

I've tried meal planning but I often don't fancy what I've planned, and if I really don't fancy it I can't eat it. I've pretty much given up now. Tonight I had microwave rice and veg with chicken nuggets. I just want someone else to think about it AND cook it.

Yes, the thinking!!!

It works if you do it on a 10 day plan then it's not as restrictive and you don't eat the same meal every day but still easy to do

I live alone so I just do
Beige tea
Salads
Jacket potato
Omelette
Something on toast/quesadilla
Whatever I have batch cooked (big variety of stuff!)

God yes, I really enjoy cooking, I love food. But the whole family meal organisation does my head in, I HATE it.

I've tried meal planning but I often don't fancy what I've planned, and if I really don't fancy it I can't eat it.

It's nice to see others think like this too. Everyone I know seems to sing the praises of meal planning but I would hate the rigidity of it. One night I know I wouldn't be hungry enough for what we had planned and that would throw the whole thing out of whack.

Excuse my French but deciding what to make for dinner every night is the bane of my fucking life.

I like to put this on the family WhatsApp when I've had enough of doing tea.

We had Hello Fresh for a while which mixed it up well for us, but cost became an issue. I've started using an app called Lollipop that talks to Sainsbury's for C&V or delivery and it's been great. You can add your own recipes too. Sadly doesn't send anyone to cook for you though! (I don't work for them!)

Absolutely!!! Or they say something like "are we having this again"! 🙄

This is the single worst thing about being an adult.

I use Gousto for a few weeks when we get stuck in a meal rut, always get some good ideas from it that can be replicated afterwards.

I do agree that the thinking of meals is the worst chore. DD has school dinners now and I am so glad I don't have to do a packed lunch too.

You are definitely winning at life!

I hate it too. I'm planning an extra week ahead at the moment, which helps a little.

@Blamunge why on earth is he not shopping and cooking for you some of the time?

I've tried meal planning but I often don't fancy what I've planned, and if I really don't fancy it I can't eat it.

I must admit I don't really get the 'if I don't fancy it I can't eat it' thing, but you can plan a whole week's meals without necessarily rigidly deciding what to have on which day. And any time you really don't fancy whatever is left for that day of the week, put it in the freezer. Then you'll end up with plenty of things in the freezer to choose from when you don't fancy what you've got in the fridge.

Interesting. Do you stick to it on every day though? I just know if every Monday was lasagna day I would not want lasagna on Monday! I’m really contrary like that. But then it would be so time saving. The woman I know, I always imagined shopping was very easy, because she would need the exact same grocery order every single week.

I'd quite happily eat poached egg on toast some nights but 3 growing teens and DH would have something to say! I regularly do the "I'm not doing this any more" rant and they dig in and help for a while but then before I know it, it's left to me again!

No he wouldn’t accept that, he wants a proper cooked meal after being out at work for 11 hours. Tonight DC had dinner at my mums and I really couldn’t be bothered to trail all the way to the supermarket and cook. So I told DH I had a tummy ache and didn’t want any dinner, so he went to buy himself fish and chips. While he was out I sneaked a sandwich. If he found out I was eating he’d get annoyed and say if I’m hungry why didn’t I cook a meal for us both? The only way I can get out of cooking is to pretend I don’t want to eat anything.

How does this work? Surely you meals yourself poached eggs on toast, and when they have ‘something to say’ you draw them a little map of the house so they can find their way to the kitchen. Don’t rant or rave, just let them make their own meals if they don’t like what you provide.

I often find people have a lot less to say when they’re given the opportunity to show you how it’s done.

I meal plan for the week on Sunday so have 5 meals in mind and in the freezer and decide the night before what to eat. There are 4 of us, two teens and DH & me

Its not awful, but I hear you, it is tedious!

Alternative would be to decide each night, which would be even worse!

I hate it and it doesn’t help that I make everyone different meals. I get no thanks for it either.

This is absolutely ridiculous. Do you make sure to lie down by the front door after his long day of work so he can adequately wipe his feet?

This is a problem I used to have which I have now managed to solve (with help from my super organised DH).

We plan it all in advance, order grocery shop online on Sunday evening, meals are on a 3 week rotation so they don't get too boring (he has a spreadsheet to keep track!), and we have the odd night left blank for takeaways/ going out/ spontaneous cooking etc. Been doing this for about 4 years now and it's amazing. Obviously we sometimes add in new meals or take out ones we're bored with.

It requires a bit of thought on a Sunday evening but generally worth it because it really does take so much effort and stress out of the whole thing. Changed my life.

I consider myself very lucky then. Whatever we are having the DC are happy to eat it and often say it is their favourite etc! Maybe they are easy to please!

I’ve been in since 4pm when I picked up DC from school. So when he comes in at 7pm he expects me to have cooked. If I really can’t be bothered I have to lie and say I have a bad tummy so can he pick up a takeaway for himself, because there’s no other excuse for me not having cooked.

No it's not just you.

I hate it. But I feel like things have improved now I have a certain number of solid 'go to' recipes I can switch between and generally have the ingredients in.

Friday is the night I don't want to cook so I don't fight it and go with crap from the freezer.
Tuesdays is screwed by swimming so has become 'Egg Tuesday' which has the benefit of being meat free
Wednesday is cubs so it's quick and easy or here's one I made earlier.

That leaves me with just four nights to think about and that makes it a hell of a lot easier and less of a chore.