How can I encourage DP to learn some cooking skills?

[Jolleigh]

Not too sure if this is the best place for this...apologies if not.

DP cooks 1 evening a week to give me a night off (he gets a greater proportion of cleaning chores to make up for this) and frankly, he can't cook. Sounds horrible, but there's not another way of phrasing it. I don't mean to be mean

His 'creations' are always saucy one-pot type things, with a base of pureed tinned tomatoes which is flavoured with condiments. It always tastes exactly the same (kind of like mustard with a bit of tobasco). The meat could be anything but is always horrendously tough. The veg is whatever there is in the house. Today he's added cooked rice to the pot and an hour later, it's still on the hob.

He's very touchy about cooking so I want to gently steer rather than be critical. Does anyone have any tips on perhaps getting him to follow a recipe? I like my non-cooking night but I'd love it if I could look forward to the food too.

The only alternative he occasionally makes is kind of a chicken stuffed with cheese, served with double or sometimes triple carbs

My dh has been cooking once a week for a while, after three weeks of sausages, potato waffles and ketchup I had to intervene. I meal plan from cookbooks- dh has an input, I suggest about ten meals, ask what he fancies, or if I've missed anything he wants. Then I ask which meal he wants to cook He always picks the easiest (or rather what he thinks is the easiest) and I tell him which book and page number to use. As we only have the ingredients to the meals in the plan that's what he cooks.
It's working, though even using a recipe can go wrong as he doesn't read or prepare before starting cooking. But I've no qualms in criticising his offerings if they're bad (as he does mine)
Surely you know when you've made a crap meal? I've made loads, slaved for hours to sit down take a bite and think shit, this is awful! It happens, why should you sit and eat it, he can taste it too?

The photo cookbook series for iPad also available as Frame by Frame cookbooks are really good. My teenage son a reluctant cook with poor organisational skills (Aspergers) managed to produce the most delicious chorizo, chilli and chickpea casserole using a recipe from one of the books. The books are visually appealing with step by step photo and written instruction. www.amazon.co.uk/frame-cookbook/s?ie=UTF8&keywords=frame%20by%20frame%20cookbook&page=1&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Aframe%20by%20frame%20cookbook
www.thephotocookbook.com/

Could you get both of you a course to go on? Then it isn't criticism, it's a shared experience.

Or have meals planned and then be too tired etc to cook it and sit in the kitchen giving instructions. I've had to do that when feeding a baby too