Anyone else worn down by deciding what to make for dinner daily

[MyBusyUser]

I honestly think one of the most draining parts of ordinary life is having to come up with dinner every single day forever. Not even the cooking necessarily — the deciding. What everyone will eat, what we’ve already had this week, what’s actually in the fridge, whether I can be bothered, whether there’s time. Please tell me I’m not the only person weirdly worn down by the constant “what’s for dinner?” problem.

I have made a two week meal plan. It takes away some of the stress.

I did see a comment on Facebook that the hardest part of being an adult is deciding what to eat everyday

I find it so so SO boring. Planning meals, buying the food, cooking the food. I would love to walk into the kitchen at 6pm like DH does and say “what’s for tea” and be presented with a meal I had had no involvement in preparing or deciding.

I never , ever asked my children what they ‘fancied’. Are you mad?
I had a 3 week rotation and the alternative was a cheese sandwich to any meal. It was very rarely taken up. Same for any visiting child, couldn’t care less if they didn’t like what was on offer : eat dinner or not, have a cheese sandwich or call your dad to pick you up. I am not a robot.

Been like that since I had kids so over 23 years now! I think pre-kids DH and I went out more after work or we’d just stick on a spud or pasta/bought sauce!
Now we’re much more health conscious, I have dodgy digestion and so it’s more complicated.
I do like cooking so it’s more the mental gymnastics than the actual act of preparing the meal.

Yes - and knowing you’ve got to do it virtually every day for the rest of your life! It was easier when the kids were little and got what they were given, now if they don’t like what we’re having they make their own, and then don’t clean the kitchen to my satisfaction…

I love on toast. You need a concerted on toast campaign. 🙂

OMGYES. I swear as soon as I've tidied up one meal it's time to start another. I don't want to meal plan because I think it's important to listen to what our bodies are telling us they need on the day. My kids aren't fussy but they're a bit fancy. Sorry kids, we're fresh out of sushi today...
I remember the first time they went to stay with their dad being horrified realising I still had to feed MYSELF.

If I was rich, that's the one staff I would have. A chef.

Yes, I hate that it somehow falls to me, I do my best to meal plan healthy stuff, then OH arrive home with loads of reduced stuff that throws my plans into disarray and then he'll inform me he's off out anyway, leaving me a load of stuff that needs prepping/ cooking/ freezing so it doesn't go to waste (can't stand wasting stuff!).

Ditto with him picking stuff from the garden and leaving it for me to sort out (pile of rhubarb he's left to wilt in the utility room that I'm pretending not to have seen!)

In my entire time at home from baby/toddler to 19 my mum never asked me what I (or any of us) wanted. I sometimes think we should go back to that way of thinking.

I live alone now (empty nester) and I have developed an aversion to cooking after so many years of it. It’s a nuisance because I’ve got to eat and can’t afford a chef! I tried a meal delivery for a couple of months (cooked food delivered) but most of them were either very average or not particularly nice. So I’m at a bit of a stalemate, I want to eat but I don’t want to cook.

I don't mind asking people what they want to eat. We all have days when we're sick of pasta, or our body needs some iron so we'd like some meat/broccoli. For example, once a month my body really needs steak. Wouldn't ever buy it normally. I think it must be awful as a kid feeling like that but being told you're having something else and being powerless to fix yourself something. Imagine you feel you need protein and you're given pasta for tea.

It's just the monotony of making it all that I hate.

School holidays are the worst. 3 times a day 😰

Would you mind sharing your 6 week rotation?

This is me! ha ha.
Must one day improve my life and do a meal plan. Just the idea is too boring 😂

You're not alone.

It's one of the most tedious things about being an adult.

I really don't think I could come up with 6 weeks' worth of ideas.

I'm quite the opposite.
There are so many recipes I want to try, I'll die before I've worked my way through them all.

I'm sorry to hear about your cat (((hugs)))

First post nailed it. Gousto changed our lives, make sure you do it soon enough that the children cope with the variety and different meals every night...

Yes , that and deciding what to wear each day

Yes I used to feel this way and get frustrated when my husband cooked and yet I still had to decide the what and how... We do a meal delivery box midweek now (Grubby which is a vegan version) and it is life changing. We did it since going back to work full time when my daughter was 1 so it's been 2 years now and I'd be lost without it. We've also tried gousto which is great for families as you can choose the size appropriate for your family.

Im another who has sen restrictions and people not home at meal times to cope with. Firstly I am only doing this until the youngest turns 18 then I will live on fruit and nuts and cheese and they can do whatever they like. Only 5.5 years to go 😫I also do fend for your self Friday which means I will not cook on a Friday help yourself and clean up afterwards I will not be taking any questions you have google or instructions on the back of packets or failing that 4 of them are old enough with their own money and they can always get take out.
This too shall pass

After 46 years I rebelled - I was so sick of it that I said I was not going to cook now…… DH now does 3nights a week and I do 4 - such a relief and we eat better now. We both feel like experimenting with new recipes occasionally.

We now do weekly menu plans. I do the plan, my husband does the shopping, I make shopping list he contributes to, I cook he chops stuff up and washes up. I often cook multiple portions and freeze some and some dinners are easy pasta dishes with salad

we have a three week rotating menu. If we get bored of something I just edit it. Means I never have to decide what’s for tea - I do the shopping based on the repeating meal plan

1 course only no options

Yes! Was literally thinking about this today! It’s exhausting, it’s relentless. I’m hopeless at cooking and find it so boring. Add in fussy eaters and DH on a fitness diet and it’s so tedious I want to pull my hair out