Husband moaning about dinners

[Willow990]

I meal prep every Sunday for dinners for the week ahead, a typical week looks something like this:

Mon - chilli or spaghetti bolognese
Tuesday - curry (chicken)
Wednesday - fish (salmon usually)
Thursday - stir fry
Friday - Steak

I told DH this morning what I was planning for next week and he asked whether there’s any chance of some variety and for me to try some new dishes. He works long days and I’m usually about to serve up as he walks through the door.

Has anyone got any ideas for how I could freshen things up?

Totally disagree with this and think the exact opposite is true. Far far too many wives tolerate useless husbands. I think more women need to step up and say no, until men get the message. For our daughters sakes.

I’m not projecting. My dhs done the meal plan for the week and most of the cooking too.

Food gets provided in this house, and nobody complains. They wouldn't dare.

Totally disagree with this and think the exact opposite is true. Far far too many wives tolerate useless husbands. I think more women need to step up and say no, until men get the message. For our daughters sakes.
To a point I agree, many wo.en do have useless husbands, but just because a woman maybe the one todo a traditional female job on the house doesn't mean she is being put upon or stuck in the 1950s.

The op asked for receipe ideas.
I'm surprised she hasn't died of boredom making and eating such repetitive meals herself.
She didn't say he was useless. She gave a small snapshot of him by saying he doesn't like cooking, he likes food from scratch,works long hours and is into fitness. Substitute the word cooking for shopping, or cleaning the kitchen and bathroom and you could be describing me. ( shift worker, between 9 and 12 hour days when working including nights, fit for not much when shift ends!) Those are jobs I dont do. DH does.

She said that Dh ' moaned' about the menu and people have used that as a stick to beat him. Most people use the word ' moan' to mean a little grumble, raise a point or mention something they aren't keen on. She didnt say he kicked off and went into a rage because he had to have spag bol.again! (
I dont think many people would be happy having exactly the same meals week in week out. You would feel like you were in an institution!

To get back to tbe point of the thread I've suggested ideas before but the
Roasting tin cook books are fab for easy one tray bakes. I think they have been mentioned before and I have both the meat version and the veggie one and have a lot if good meals from them.
My current go to cookbooks are
Mowgali street food, and ( maybe appropriately) Bored of lunch .The Boosh cook books are good for quick meals that aren't ' in your face' veggie and my meat eating family never complain when recepis from here are served, as a side, their nut riast is fabulous 👌
I agree with someone that said the BBC good food website that's a good resource. So is instagram and pintrest if you search quick family meals or similar.

*BeNiceWhenItsFinished ·
Food gets provided in this house, and nobody complains. They wouldn't dare.

Blimey, so no one can express an opinion on whether they liked it or not, or if it was too salty or a bit plain. How can you improve or know your meal is nice if you don't encourage feedback?
🤔

You could change the recipes that you have listed.
Change the type of pasta, use zucchini instead of pasta, change the sauce.
Curry - Green coconut, chicken, beef, lamb, vary vegies.
Fish - different fish, different sauce, couscous etc.
Stir fry - change many things each week.
Steak - beef and reef, mushroom sauce, green peppercorn. Husband could cook steak and a sauce and salad every Friday.

Simple meals..Make salads, salsas, eggs, fritatas, crumbed cutlets, sausages, thickened mince on toast, tuna or chicken mornay. Buy husband a recipe book for him to experiment.

Challenge your spouse to pre cook one or two new meals every weekend.

What is Cajun salmon? Do you have a recipe?

Complaining/moaning is very different to a polite ''Can I have less salt next time, please? Thanks for cooking, it was lovely as usual''.

Its too straightforward to justify a recipe tbh. I just dip salmon fillets in olive oil then sprinkle cajun seasoning on them, then lightly fry until they turn a nice blackened colour. Serve with rice and salsa. You can make a bit of a sauce using a knob of butter, half a glass of white wine, garlic, coriander, lime and a little more of the cajun seasoning and salt and pepper to taste if you think its too dry without.

Sounds good. Thanks. It's what we would call blackened salmon in the US!

Ah, familiar after all. Sorry it wasn't anything new and exciting. Just an easy way to make salmon a bit more interesting.

I appreciate you taking the time to explain it!

I don't need to improve - my cooking is marvellous. There is never anything to complain about. 😂
When DH cooks, I wouldn't ever complain about his cooking either. We both enjoy having meals cooked for one another, and appreciate the effort. Other family members don't live here, but still turn up to be fed once a week or so.

The point I was making (tongue-in-cheek, although you didn't appear to realise that) was that if anyone complains about what someone else has done in this house, it immediately becomes their job. Which I why I haven't ironed anything belonging to DH for over 20 years.

When DH cooks, I wouldn't ever complain about his cooking either. We both enjoy having meals cooked for one another, and appreciate the effort. Other family members don't live here, but still turn up to be fed once a week or so.

I dont think there's any harm in, for example me cooking a meal and Dh saying he didn't like it. I think fair enough, I won't make that one again.
I do ask what was up though. Usually its not to his taste if I've done a new recipe or been a bit heavy handed with a seasoning. I'd rather be told what was wrong or they just didn't like it than keep on doing the same thing and them not enjoying it.
I've 2 sons that keep turning up as well. I think they have a habit of staring in the fridge and don't realise they do it! 🤣

It is hard as most people do end up cooking the same things. I change mine every week but I do repeat the same food a lot. I tend to be on a rota! This week I cooked:
Monday chicken casserole with potatoes
Tuesday: chicken fajita wraps
Wednesday; saltimbocca alla romana please look up that one so easy but tasty.
Thursday: salmon with rice
Friday: spinach and ricotta cannelloni
Tonight joys of joy my husband is on bbq duty.

Hope this helps.

Your menus look great to me!

I searched BBC, once without amplifying the search parameters.........OOOOOOH!

Get this book “The Roasting Tin” by Rukmini Iyer … it is fabulous, healthy and so simple. Delicious one tray oven baked recipes. That will sort him out in a healthy way.

I hope the author puts you on commission, @Annief64 - I’ve just ordered a copy on your recommendation!

Hey why don’t you both come up with some new ideas - there are so many quick and easy recipes online so you don’t have to prep every meal in advance. Do some batch cooking, bolognese one week, turn it into a lasagne for the next. Make a big pot of savoury mince or beef stew, use for pies or with dumplings or a cheese mash topping. Try some different curries - Thai, Indian, Chinese etc. There are some great salmon recipes online too, but do you like other fish? Aldi and Lidl’s both have frozen chunky cod or haddock in breadcrumbs/batter that are handy standbys. Make your own pizzas, fajitas, tacos, chilli. Look for some one pan recipes on line - BBC good food is always a good place to start. Definitely look out for Jon Watts and Lucy Lord online, they both have easy and delicious recipes and have excellent books to inspire you.

Check out Jon Watts and Lucy Lord online, they will inspire you.

Sounds so much like it was written by AI which if so is really sad

Well I can assure you it’s not, just my ideas, no worries if you don’t like them.

Meat pies 🥧 and seasonal veg
Chicken & veg kebabs on couscous
Mince casserole with dumplings
Sausage and root vegetable mash with onion gravy
Beef Stroganoff and rice
Beef bourguignon and baby potatoes

Tell him to make you a list of at least 10 suggestions.