AIBU to not want to decide what’s for sodding dinner?

[MellowPinkDeer]

By far, the worst bit of being an adult is decided what’s for dinner. Ask the kids ‘ I don’t mind’ when they do, because they are pretty fussy. Ask DH he ‘isn’t bothered’ but of course SOMEONE has to be bothered or no one is eating anything??

I’m so over being the only person who has to think about this daily nonsense - are these responses from others just purely laziness?

AIBU to just serve up toast every night?!

Amen to that, it drives me mad. In my case its lunch as we meal.plan our evening meals. I just reply with the same energy now, but its easier for me as DC are adults.

It’s absolutely the pits! Could you all get together on a Sunday to decide for the week ahead? If nobody wants to do that, cook what you want and if They don’t like it, they can have toast.

It’s not an issue for me as my husband cooks but I would suggest planning meals in advance or even, going to extremes, have a strict weekly meal rota.

I agree! I like cooking but thinking what to have is draining. DD and DP are the same with their "I don't mind" responses. Meal planning discussions get the same response or they may come up with one suggestion leaving me with the rest.

It’s the worst part of being an adult that no one warned me about. I feel like I’ll be thinking up what we have for Dinner until my last breath! I have started a loose meal plan and it is easier. Wrote it on a whiteboard in the kitchen. Still had a couple of phone calls from DH to ask what’s for Dinner 😆

Jar full of recipe ideas which you pick at random?
but yes totally infuriating and I’d be tempted to give toast, or a bowl of cereal and when they complain say “I thought you didn’t mind”

My mother used to complain about this. I couldn’t see the problem until now, when I feel exactly the same! I’ve got the children to agree on 7 things they’re both prepared to eat. If it’s on the list, they have to eat it once a week. So so tedious. If they could agree on more things it would be a longer list! I agree with those suggesting a weekly meal plan or rota. You’re allowed more than 7 things on it!

So I choose mon- thurs dh decides (and cooks) fri-Sun. I basically do the following-
Monday - soup or salad
Tuesday - pasta/orzo/lentils or noodles
Weds- omlette/jacket potato or fritters
Thurs- Rice/bulgar/cous cous or Pearl barley

So each day I have a base , I choose a sauce and use whatever veg we have to accompany it. So one week it might be leak and potato soup, veggie bolognaise, jacket potatoes cheese and beans and curry. The next week tuna salad, Chinese , omelette and beans and mushroom risotto.

Sit down together and agree a multi-week menu plan (weekly gets too repetitive). Also agree three very simple alternatives for the days when the plan is impossible.

If you like some flexibility, only plan for weeknights, leaving weekends free.

I agree, I hate the thinking more than the cooking. Sometimes when disaster he'll cook he will still ask me. The cooking isn't the issue! It's the thinking!

I made a card game for our house, all the meals have a card, I deal 5 cards each ,each person puts down their preferred meals, and redraws - you have to put down a card

I put in a few trick cards to keep it interesting but I just tell the kids to meal plan for for the week.

Oh God this used to drive me mad when ours were at home! We used to do a bit of loose meal planning when we shopped, so buying ingredients for (for example) spag bol one night, fish and chips another night, sausages/chicken stew for other nights etc etc. Then it wasn't so much having to decide what was for dinner, as just randomly picking an option and whoever was home first would crack on with making it.
Although the kids left home ten year sago, and OH and I now work different hours and rarely eat together, so dinner these days is very often "Ah soddit I'll have a big boel of cereal!" 🤣 🙄

Exactly the same.
And sometimes when I decide on a "wildcard" and try something new they all act disgusted. Also doesn't help that they all like different things to one another so can never please everyone. I pretty much like all food!
Came back from holiday feeling so relaxed and I then realised it was because they were all getting their own meals from the hotel buffet and I had nothing to do with it. Don't even know what they had, and didnt care. Absolute bliss.

I spent a week compiling a list of meals, DC and DH helped. Once it was finished, the DC had to pick a meal off the list each week, DH had to pick 2 and I picked the rest which also let space for takeaways and new ideas to try.

If I chop up my chicken and freeze it it helps me a lot. How sad 🤣

Yes totally with you on this. It’s always me that knows what we have in the fridge or cupboards, so I just end up having to make the decisions somehow. Every night! Well, nearly every night.

Everyone is so passive. Same with making weekend plans. I hate it. I am sort of stopping the weekend plans these days - I’m done.

I hate it too. Noone else cares, until I make something they don't like. The teen can be a little fussy.

I tend to do it once a month. See what's in the freezer already cooked to fill in the gaps we're working late then full in the gaps dh wfh

Still such a chore though but least it's not weekly

Doesn't help I also have to decide on dinners at work for the kids I nanny for so I feel like I'm constantly deciding what's for dinner

Write down what you have for dinner each evening. Scroll back and choose what you fancy if you don’t want to try something new. Reengage with the gormless when they start asking if they can have a particular meal again. You are free.

I hate it too. If I make something new, I get complaints from DC. If I repeat too much, everyone complains. If I try to write a plan for the week I get complaints from DH - I should see what's on offer and spontaneously decide in the shop. Problem is, I'm a really bad cook so I need a recipe to follow, I can't make stuff up as I don't really know what goes with what. I hate it.

Well there are various options, the most obvious being "what are you going to make for us?" to anyone, who asks you.
I sometimes do a country of the week or somewhere we have been on holiday. As our main meal is always lunch, supper is less of an issue and is often soup and salad, Abendbrot or cheese and fruit or some combination of those options.

😆 yep me too. That said, DH will eat nearly anything, so it’s only been a chore since offspring decided to have dislikes!

I refuse to accept "I don't mind" answers.

I've told them clearly ... If I'm asking you, it's because I need you to choose. So pick something, anything.

Any complaints means they make dinner next day.

Put the types of things you like into chat gpt along with a weekly budget and ask it to give you a 4 or 6 week meal plan and cycle through it, life changing!

We have a jar on the bench with meals on pieces of paper and just pull 6 out every Sunday before doing the weekly shop for exactly this reason, neither of us can be arsed deciding😂