To give up on dinners entirely?

[Goodgravythisisfantastic]

So bloody sick of thinking about food. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, every day, every week, every month. Who cares?

Tonight we had beans on toast with sausages and fried egg. Son (nearly 3) ecstatically happy. I realised everyone is happier with the simpler meals and I'm happier for cooking them.

I'm ready to give up and cook only beans on toast, baked potatoes, tuna pasta, fish finger sandwiches, toasties with soup, and chicken burgers.

YABU- stop being lazy and cook a decent meal ffs
YANBU- embrace the lazy dinners. Everyone's happier. In fact here are some lazy dinner ideas of my own...

Thanks in advance! 😴🥱🥔🥪🍳🌭🫘

A lot of dinners during the week are simple here. My aim is to just get calories in the 5 yr old because she is just so hungry after school and eats really early. Examples of what she's eaten in last few days:
A wrap made into a pizza under the grill and a hot cross bun
Tuna sweetcorn sandwich, fruit smoothie and piece of home made apple cake
Boiled egg with hummus and crackers, apple dipped in cashew butter
Simple version of roast dinner (basically ate chicken and potatoes with gravy)
Spaghetti from a batch cook, frozen
Chicken goujons and a boiled egg with ketchup plus toast with cream cheese

Adults eat an amalgamation of what she has with added elements (e.g. add salad or additional protein) or I just cook something really simple for us a bit later after she has eaten, e.g some kind of protein with roast veg or packet rice. Or a stir-fry.

At the weekends we do all generally eat together and the same meal. It just doesn't work so well during the weeknights.

😂😂

I am with you OP, worst thing about parenthood is the constant bloody catering. I find it so annoying my kids are so fussy and my DH gets in too late for us to all eat together. It means two lots of thinking about dinner every night and its the worst.
I always make sure the kids have a healthy tea but after doing so I absolutely cannot summon the energy to cook properly for me and DH.
We use a recipe box thing a few nights a week now which means we eat lots more variety and veg and it takes off the mental load somewhat.
Other nights its beans on toast or soup. I just don't care enough!

Sounds good to me 🙌

Ha this , what you want for dinner? Don't mind whatever you want . Fucking helpful!

I love cooking so actually enjoy meal planning. But appreciate what you’re saying it takes up so much time thinking, buying, etc.

May life easier for yourself and what causes you less stress.

Tonight we had burgers (husband) chicken burger (me) and fish fingers with the rest of yesterdays tin of beans and a slice of brioche bread (son) followed by yoghurt with banana and strawberries.

The chicken burger was whole breast and there was salad, guacamole and pickles to appease those who think we're all going to die of scurvy.

I accidentally bought the yoghurt with sugar in and I also drank a cream soda 🙌🏻

I’m this is our 3 year old currently. Sandwiches or cereal for every meal! We are just going with it. I remember our older one going through a similar phase. He now eats more variety.

@Goodgravythisisfantastic my daughter is having chicken burgers and chips today and she feels ooh la la posh because she's got the good stuff - Bird's Eye and Aunt Bessie.

Sure is!

And the eternal laundry pile, which would give Mount Everest a run for its money 😂😂🫣

I adore youtube meal stuff.

My favourites are;

Victoria Foulger (UK- 3 teen sons family of 5)

Sonya's Prep (Chicago, Orthodox Jewish woman who makes the most amazing meals with loads of spices)

'What;s for Tea' (A Scottish woman whose name I sadly forget)

They are proper family meals with the focus on feeding real families in what is a real and busy life. I particularly love Victoria Foulger as she has no nonsense food and meal plans and the focus is often on filling the tummies of growing healthy teen lads.

Highly recommend all of them.

As long as everyone is fed and noone died it's a good day

Yes. At least half the week. He's just always thinking of food, plus I do the food shopping/meal planning

Me and dh both work as chefs....lazy dinners are a go to in the house as none of us can be bothered making a proper from scratch dinner. I mean maybe 2 or 3 times a week when it's one of our days off we spend the day making something from scratch but most nights it's something from the freezer or pasta bakes or baked potatoes. There is some nice meals that can be done quick though, the kids love baby potatoes with grilled salmon and broccoli with a cream cheese sauce and that literally takes 15/20 minutes. There's absolutely nothing wrong with lazy dinners though as long as everyone is fed and happy

I remember explaining to my bil why I was less than enthusiastic about cooking these days.
Years of being responsible for every meal, snack, drink. Having to fantastically predict what everybody wanted ahead of time. Trying to remember who ate what now and what foods were 'out.' How no 3 people ate the same thing. No eating leftovers! Getting zero thanks and zero input on menu planning but seeing screwed up noses at my choices.
My dsis nodded along totally agreeing with me. So I do a lovely varied buffet now or take-out for visitors. I am not missing out on the company by being stuck in the kitchen.

I say i don't cook from scratch much but ive made a veggie moussaka , salad and garlic bread for tea.
I think tomorrow will be something easy.
I do make a mixed veg couscous, spicy quorn fillet, roast vine tomatoes and basil dressing thats relatively easy. But im getting over cooking from scratch...its not appreciated all the effort you put in.

For dinner tonight I am planning crumpets, butter and honey served with hot chocolate. (Dcs get cooked meals at school).

Probably dreadful by some standards but fuck me people will be going to bed happy.

Bliss ❤️

Can l come round?

This is why kids need a cooked meal at school in the day!

Absolutely love this coming from a chef 😁

Yes we definitely have go to quick but "healthier" dinners. We eat a lot of salmon. So salmon with cous cous, potatoes done various ways, veg, salad, in wraps etc etc.

But my son won't touch it.

My new motto 🙌🏻

😁 good on her!

When I was growing up things like egg, chips and beans were a normal dinner. We ate salad every single day in the summer: some garden lettuce, sliced tomato and onion, either a boiled egg, a couple of slices of cold meat or some grated cheese with a pineapple ring. We either had a few chips or Ayrshire potatoes with green tails and butter with it, and, if we were really lucky, a spoonful of heinz tinned vegetable salad or coleslaw.
In the winter, we ate mince and tatties, stovies, soup and egg sandwiches, macaroni cheese, egg and chips, sausage, mash and beans, fish fingers, chips and peas, or toast and beans/spaghetti with cheese. Things like spag bol, lasagne or chilli didn't start to make an appearance till I was in my teens.
There's nothing wrong with simple food.

I've been meal planning, shopping, cooking and cleaning for 3 meals a day for not a kick in the arse off 40years and I am so, so sick of it all. If I have a night in on my own, I eat a bag of crisps or a hot cross bun or something. I just cannot be bothered with any of it any more.

@Goodgravythisisfantastic she wasn't impressed with the chicken. Said it didn't have much flavour 🙁

Needs more garlic mayo