Sick of teatime/meal planning

[Allinadayswork80]

I’m just so sick of everything surrounding food in my house. I have a DP who likes a traditional ‘meat and two veg’ and eats like a horse, DD3 and DD12 who is a veggie that won’t eat vegetable based meals so exists on pizza, chips, cheese & bean slices and meat replacement products such as meat free sausages. She will eat peas/carrots/broccoli and DD3 will try most things altho won’t always eat them. I hate hate HATE with a passion trying to meal plan and cook, trying to keep everyone happy and well fed with a healthy and varied diet. It’s the actual bane of my life and I’m sick of it. I constantly feel like I’m failing my family as feel all the other mums provide lovely healthy wholesome meals that their kids will happily eat. I work 4 long days a week so need convenience. Don’t have a huge freezer so difficult to batch cook (especially as it’s usually filled with ‘beige’ (chips, Fishfingers, etc). DH will help in the kitchen a bit but I just feel it’s the same small selection of meals every week and it mostly falls on me. I’m not an overly adventurous cook. Sorry for the rant, that’s it really!

I don’t know anyone that likes dealing with mid week dinners - it’s dull and it never ends.

Since you don’t, you are near full time with a toddler, your Dh needs to step up here, and your 13 year old can do one night a week (kids cook Fridays, it’s a thing)

Can you avoid some cook meals so you can drop anyone cooking say twice a week?

Can you pre-prep some meals eg veggie and not veggie chilli and then everyone has rice and salad with it? Cook in a batch so you have 4 servings of each

If you do 2 days, Dh does 2 days, DD one day and pre-prepped 2 days then that’s easier.

You get them to agree on 4 meals they will both eat for your cook days - he can deal with macaroni cheese I am sure, and she can have a veggie sausage when he’s having pork.

On the nights he is cooking, she fends for herself out of freezer (in which there will be preprepped chilli or whatever) if she doesn’t want it. Same for him the night she cooks.

You will probably have to take on teaching her cooking - start with pasta or something like that.

Think up some easy ideas, call a family meeting with the pair of them, and stick up a rota and a shopping list to add things to.

Thanks, there’s some really helpful suggestions here I appreciate it. I think I need to get more organised and like you say, put rotas, etc in place for everyone to help out. I’m so sick of hearing my DP say “so what you thinking for tea?” !!

DD12 can’t be veggie unless she eats vegetables.
remember you’re the parent here.
(we have a similar issue with DD)

Have a couple of weeks off thinking about everyone else and only cook/ put together your own favourite meals. Anyone who complains can cook for everyone the next night. Only dd3 needs accommodating by you and if she will eat most things just make sure you have a backup like toast available for the nights she won’t eat whatever you’ve fancied for yourself.

Bane of my life too. Veggie DH (actually he eats fish) I’m trying to low carb and reduce our UPF plus fussy kids who like the opposite food to each other.

I tend to cook a veggie version of the same meal, do a couple of purely veggie meals a week and have simple sides (sweetcorn, flat bread) so there is at least something everyone will eat.

Yeah, that didn't work for my parents. I eventually expanded my palate but as a child I was a vegetarian who didn't eat most vegetables (with hindsight, it was my parents traditional way of cooking traditional veg, it changed when I discovered Indian food as a teenager).

A PP is right, you should get the 13 year old cooking. I learned as a young-ish adult using the Eat Vegetarian book by Sam Stern but it was aimed at teenagers. Even if they're just assisting in the beginning, it's a good way to build up.

Jamie Oliver's son has just released a book but it's not vegetarian.

It's very telling that you didn't say what YOU like to eat?

Do you think it's your responsibility to come up with something everyday? It's not...

Also, your husband and both kids can eat veggie food, DH doesn't need meat every day... what does he cook for you?