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?

Oh yes, a Moroccan tagine type dish. You can freeze and then reheat and serve with cous cous.

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Fuck yes.

No-one enjoys the grind of family cooking.
When you're at home you're doing childcare. That's the deal - he works while you do childcare.

Therefore you should be splitting the evening meal prep.

I bet he finds plenty of time for the gym/home weights.

He's a judgey fucker when it's someone else's time that's affected, isn't he?!
Maybe he could redirect some of his time spent on fitness towards batch cooking meals that do meet his approval. Or googling recipes that are a similar faff level to what you're already making.

I said way back about cooking in themes and that I don't do that alot anymore.

What I have started doing though is I have so many cookbooks and love reading them but rarely use them. So last week I chose a book at random (Nosh for Busy Mums and Dads) and I am literally just going through them day by day. Start at the start. Takes all the thinking away. I DO however shop for groceries daily. Our Aldi is 200 m down the road from us and I just go in and buy what we need at that time.

It takes the thinking away for me and I have tried dishes that I think I would not liked. (There is a honey chicken dish that I was a bit iffy about but it was delicious).

@Willow990 Cook some chicken breast or ham and have it with salad
change one of the night to fajitas
pork chips in the oven crush garlic and have with rice and steamed veg

all quick meals

Maybe OP's DH could do this?

God if someone served me up a lovely dinner they had cooked from scratch every night as I walked in the door from work, I would think I had died and gone to heaven — I certainly wouldn’t be complaining! Your dinners sound lovely, OP!

This is what is on my menu this week:
Saturday: buffalo chicken with rice, peppers, cheese, spring onions and ranch
Sunday: harissa chicken in flatbreads with hummus and a mint and cucumber salad
Monday: Shop bought Mexican marinated frying steaks, rice, kidney beans, smashed avocado
Tuesday: teriyaki mackerel (from a tin) with broccoli and noodles
Wednesday: Burgers, chips and salad
Thursday: Lamb kofta wraps with chickpeas, hummus and roasted red peppers

You could mix up your curry by doing something like katsu curry or a Thai curry rather than an Indian one. Other things we often have are:

• Paprika pancetta tomato spaghetti and salad
• Sausages in a big tray with veg and potatoes
• Baked eggs in spaghetti with chorizo, spinach and crème fraiche
• Carbonara
• Chicken Zorba (chicken marinated in tumeric and lime) with hummus and yoghurt in pitas with salad

You could also try mixing up your curries and stir fry’s by using different meats and sauces - I love a pork mince stir fry for example

Make a bigger batch of bolognese sauce and use it to do 1 shepherds pie with a mix of sweet & white potato, and 1 lasagne. For the lasagne make a bigger batch of bechmel and use it to make the sauce for creamy chicken pasta. That’s what I do 😊 then just 2 others dinners to think of and I would stick to the salmon and steak on a Friday x

I get some of the sparky comments but I have always done all the cooking. DH worked/works very long hours and I like cooking. Perhaps a bit more variety:

Cod bake: bed of spinach, cod, rich cheese sauce with peas and croquet potatoes.

Lamb chops, Greek salad and new potatoes - perhaps oven baked with a bit of rosemary

Chicken thighs marinaded in garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and paprika with cous, cous jazzed up with lemon juice and flat leaf parsley.

A portion of bol, misled with rice, stuffed into peppers - cheese on top.

Pasta with chorizo and melt through a boursin with a side salad.

Pork chops, cauli cheese, mushrooms and chips.

Roadt chicken, salad and coleslaw with new potatoes

Left over chicken made into a pasta bake with brocoli, chi cken stock, slug of wine, nice and cheesy.

Salmon fillets, pesto pasta, salad.

Smoked haddock on a bed of spinach, poached eggs, topped with cheese and sizzled under the grill.

Perhaps a bought fish pie for mid week.

Omelette, bread and butter, mixed salad.

Just a few of my ideas.

Ask him to have a chat with work colleagues about meals they have, come up with a few ideas of things he would like instead, find recipes for those dishes and write a shopping list for next weekend.

A couple of ideas for a change for your fish days- fish tacos or smoked haddock (or Basa as its cheaper), leek and mushroom risotto.

If your dh wants more variety he can sort that out himself

Split the cooking 50/50

Working late doesn't stop you from contributing to meal planning.

We dont meal prep but eat lots of things that are quick to orepare and cook.

eg Fajitas make on the day.quick and easy.
Chicken chow mein ditto
Greek lamb kebabs with salad and dip in flatbreads.
Paprika butter chicken with chickpea couscous and roast veg.
Saebass salad and sautéed potato's with lemon .caper dressing

I think people are being harsh, you cook because you’re home earlier and enjoy it more which is fair enough. DH is just suggesting variety - I wouldn’t want to eat the same thing every week either.
How about trying some casseroles, you can chuck it all in a slow cooker in the morning. Or tray bakes which you can prep and leave in the fridge until ready to cook, or just a nice salad and grilled chicken seeing as it’s summer

Standing in solidarity with Zoggy

Do you have a slow cooker and/or an air fryer?

I batch cook for me in slow cooker -make bolognese sauce and can do a sweet potato mash or pasta. Have been trying out plant based 'mince'
Also, pork and apple (cider and dijon mustard added)

I also make up my own recipes - chicken thighs or drumsticks, tomatoes, basil, mushrooms, etc..

I freeze a lot too

Air fryer is so quick and easy to do (and healthy I think!)

Air fryer chicken drumsticks e.g https://www.budgetbytes.com/air-fryer-chicken-drumsticks/

If he wants variety, he can come up with suggestions, rather than the OP having to do all the thinking and come up with ideas that he'll reject because they don't fit into his preferences re nutrition and taste.

I’m interested to hear what your DH suggestions are for mixing it up?

This one.

So not only does he want you to cook, to serve him as he walk through the door, he also wants you to work out what he wants to eat.

If he wants something specific, he should at the very bare minimum give you some ideas.

Me too.

Also DH is retired, I work. He's a chef & enjoys cooking, I'm a good cook, but not a chef & don't enjoy cooking. So DH does the bulk of the cooking. I cook probably twice a week.

If I get fed up with DH's choice of menu (which I sometimes do) I will say 'I'll cook tonight darling, you have the night off - sit down, have a glass of wine'.

That's very different though because you are offering to cook when you get fed up. You aren't moaning and that's the point, if you aren't happy with the menu then do it yourself and don't moan about it.