sarcasticgirl
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Post by sarcasticgirl on Oct 21, 2014 20:14:20 GMT -5
Most nights, I made dinner from scratch. I do often cheat with a packaged frozen veggie, but that's about it. I've been told a few times that this isn't normal... most people don't cook dinner every night. lately, I've been working late more nights than not. when i am home, I forget to take out a protein ahead of time and I am so freaking tired that the thought of cooking makes me wanna scream. If i were single, it wouldn't be an issue. I can prep soup or salad and eat it multiple days, i like leftovers. DH does not. He won't eat warmed over meat... he won't eat the same thing over and over, unless it is PB&J. He is a complete PITA. Left to his own devises, he will eat crap and that's what he's been doing! he's gained several pounds in the last couple of months since my longer hours started.
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ArchietheDragon
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Post by ArchietheDragon on Oct 21, 2014 20:16:03 GMT -5
Taco Tuesday!
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lynnerself
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Post by lynnerself on Oct 21, 2014 20:19:40 GMT -5
My favorite "fast" dinner. BBQ Pulled chicken from Trader Joes (the chicken has a lot less fat than the pork) on hamburger buns, and an instant coleslaw mix from the grocery store.
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msventoux
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Post by msventoux on Oct 21, 2014 20:26:20 GMT -5
I don't make dinner most nights. If I cook it's usually enough for 2-3 nights. The other nights I'll snack on cheese and crackers or veggies and hummus, or have something really easy like waffles, salad or a sandwich. Tonight's dinner was a fried egg sandwich.
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sarcasticgirl
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Post by sarcasticgirl on Oct 21, 2014 20:35:31 GMT -5
I don't make dinner most nights. If I cook it's usually enough for 2-3 nights. The other nights I'll snack on cheese and crackers or veggies and hummus, or have something really easy like waffles, salad or a sandwich. Tonight's dinner was a fried egg sandwich. that sounds like what I ate when single. My favorite dinner was ciabatta bread with goat cheese spinach and scrambled egg whites. nutritious and scrumptious! it wouldn't fly with DH.
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toomuchreality
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Post by toomuchreality on Oct 21, 2014 20:44:30 GMT -5
Stouffer's is one of my best friends!
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Cookies Galore
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Post by Cookies Galore on Oct 21, 2014 21:01:49 GMT -5
Last night I made linguine with homemade sauce (I made a large batch a few weeks ago and had some in the freezer), tonight I made Thai style butternut squash soup, tomorrow is flounder with red skin mashed potatoes and broccoli, haven't thought about Thursday. Typically I cook 3-4 nights a week with leftovers, simple meals (grilled cheese, for example), dining out, and takeout filling in the rest.
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wvugurl26
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Post by wvugurl26 on Oct 21, 2014 21:07:08 GMT -5
Cooking every night is a PIA. That being said I'm gone from home 12 hours a day on a good day. However, since I don't live alone anymore, leftovers are scarce. I try to make late nights something easy like spaghetti or taco salads. Sometimes we have grilled cheese and soup. I also like things that freeze well and make leftovers even with my brother eating. Burritos, calzones and lasagna work well in my house.
That being said my brother was craving stuff so he came home with a loaf of French bread, hummus, two kinds of cheese, chorizo and proscuttio. We grazed on that and Bourbon. Which completely doesn't address your concern about your husband eating crap. I wasn't that hungry or I would have eaten the chicken curry the landlord offered.
The only leftovers my brother won't eat is leftover spaghetti type noodles. If I keep the sauce separate, he'll make fresh noodles to go with the sauce.
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taz157
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Post by taz157 on Oct 21, 2014 21:12:16 GMT -5
Yesterday, we had pork chops baked in the oven, mashed potatoes, cooked (fresh) carrots, and cooked (frozen) corn. Tonight, we had leftovers of last night's dinner. Tomorrow, we will have chicken thighs baked in the oven, plus leftover sides and veggies from last night. On Thursday, who knows what we'll have. On Friday, it's "Fiend for yourself Friday" so who only knows. Typically, DD and I have pasta while DH has eggs and bacon.
Last week, it was a mix of things. A night or 2 was cooked like I did last night. A night or 2 was leftovers. One day was DH's leftovers from his lunch for DD and I. Another day was I had a work function so DH asked DD what she wanted, they had pizza.
Sometimes I pick up the already cooked fried or rotisserie chicken from the neighborhood grocery store. Also, we've picked up steamed shrimp/crab legs from the neighborhood grocery store too. Sometimes I put something in the slow cooker and we'll have that for a few days until we run out or get sick of it.
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Apple
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Post by Apple on Oct 21, 2014 21:17:56 GMT -5
I cook nearly every night, from scratch, too. I've also heard that it's not normal. I do try to have leftovers a night or two a week though. DS doesn't like to eat the same thing too many times, I'm good for a few days.
Tonight I didn't know what to cook, so I fried up some leftover baked potatoes and cooked some eggs. There was a leftover hamburger patty if DS wanted it.
Stir fry is usually fast and easy, vegetables and chicken or steak. Even if the meat is frozen, I can run it under water for a minute, then leave it in the bowl with water a few minutes, just to thaw enough that I can cut it in thin slices.
Meatloaf cooks faster if you make it in muffin tins (then I freeze leftovers for a quick lunch or dinner later).
Chicken will bake in half hour to 45 minutes (we end up eating late a lot of nights, dinner will be done tonight around 7:30)
Pasta and sauce is pretty quick and easy.
Sometimes I do hamburgers, last night was shepherd's pie.
I cook a bunch of hamburger at once and put it in the freezer, makes later meals faster even if I forget to take it out.
Our dinners during the week are pretty simple though, not a lot of sides.
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sarcasticgirl
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Post by sarcasticgirl on Oct 21, 2014 21:17:57 GMT -5
Thanks for the ideas, guys. I'm going to run with a few of these and figure out how to pack in more veggies and get them pre-prepped in an acceptable way to DH. I'm only slightly annoyed that I work way more than he does and I'm spending so much time on the weekend, trying to prep and come up with idea of stuff he'll eat. Adding in that he's diabetic w/ high blood pressure of course doesn't make things easier. I might just beat him into submission, that would make my life much easier!
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giramomma
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Post by giramomma on Oct 21, 2014 21:28:00 GMT -5
Thanks for the ideas, guys. I'm going to run with a few of these and figure out how to pack in more veggies and get them pre-prepped in an acceptable way to DH. I'm only slightly annoyed that I work way more than he does and I'm spending so much time on the weekend, trying to prep and come up with idea of stuff he'll eat. Adding in that he's diabetic w/ high blood pressure of course doesn't make things easier. I might just beat him into submission, that would make my life much easier! Yes, I'd be a little more than slightly annoyed by this. DH and I meal plan together. It takes 5-10 minutes. We also now get the kids involved in meal planning. Because their food likes/dislikes change every 6.98 seconds. We have a 2ish week rotation, give or take.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2014 21:32:33 GMT -5
I use to either go out for dinner or pick up something on my way home. Or eat something at home that didn't require me turning the stove on, like tortillas and salsa.
The last couple of months, my go to weeknight meals are fish filets or chicken breasts on the George Foreman grill. Still avoiding the stove lol. The fish filets thaw quickly (you supposedly can cook them without thawing them, but I don't know about that on a grill), and if I stick a chicken breast or 2 in the refrigerator to thaw out, I'll usually go ahead and cook it/them the next day. Vegetables are iffy, if its not something I can stick in the microwave, I have to use the darn stove.
If I don't even want to do that, I eat a stupid salad. If I'm super lazy, sliced turkey breast and cheese has replaced chips and dip in the lineup.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2014 21:34:51 GMT -5
I meant to add that I'm about the last person that should have been answering the question!
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wvugurl26
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Post by wvugurl26 on Oct 21, 2014 21:45:54 GMT -5
Thanks for the ideas, guys. I'm going to run with a few of these and figure out how to pack in more veggies and get them pre-prepped in an acceptable way to DH. I'm only slightly annoyed that I work way more than he does and I'm spending so much time on the weekend, trying to prep and come up with idea of stuff he'll eat. Adding in that he's diabetic w/ high blood pressure of course doesn't make things easier. I might just beat him into submission, that would make my life much easier! I totally support the second option!
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Ryan
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Post by Ryan on Oct 21, 2014 21:56:36 GMT -5
My wife has a lot of guilt about not cooking every night even though I don't really care that much. Personally, as long as we can eat moderately healthy, I don't really care what we have for dinner. It's tough to really cook a meal from scratch because of the time involved and the cleanup...and because the kids will be 50/50 on whether they really want to eat. So usually we do really simple stuff like turkey meatballs, tacos, chicken/rice, etc. And then we'll pickup pre-made stuff at the grocery store or butcher and tell ourselves that it's almost as cheap as making it from scratch My wife tends to butcher the recipes a bit by trying to make them more healthy. Like I'll have this salad recipe that I like and my wife will kind of modify it to the point where it no longer resembles the original recipe. Since my mom gave her the recipe and I ate it growing up, I try not to offer too many pointers on how to make it better e.g. "You know, my mom used to cut the chicken MUCH smaller." Doing that sort of stuff usually results in her telling me that I should just make it.
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Knee Deep in Water Chloe
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Post by Knee Deep in Water Chloe on Oct 22, 2014 0:11:22 GMT -5
Yes, we cook at least four nights per week. We have a full team effort going though, so I'm sorry you don't have that part. one night is usually leftovers. Last week's plan was Monday: spaghetti (older daughter cooked) tuesday: cheeseburgers, sweet potatoe fries, and carrots (younger daughter cooked) Wednesday: left overs Thursday: baked chicken and garden salad (DH cooked) friday: tacos with beef, beans, bell pepper, cheese, salsa, ands our cream (I cooked)
we bought premade the sauce, noodles, fries, buns, and taco shells. When I stayed home, those are all things I would have made from scratch.
this week's plan is monday: pork chops, carrots, dinner roll (DH cooked) tuesday: I had leftover steak from Saturday. DH and the girls were on a field trip and just got back Wednesday: egg rolls, potstickers, rice, asparagus (older daughter will cook) tnrusday: meatloaf, baked potatoes, garden salad (I will cook) friday: grilled chicken and garden salad (either DH or I will cook) the eggrolls and potstickers are the only thing we've purchased premade. The dinner rolls, DH made over the weekend.
we we try to avoid the carb/starch side at least two nights per week
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Oct 22, 2014 0:44:22 GMT -5
I cook most nights, but tonight did Chinese take out as I was up to my eyeballs in drafting the better part of the afternoon.
Sunday, we grilled strip steaks. Monday, I made pasta sauce using sausage I had picked up from the butcher this weekend and had it over angel hair pasta.. Tomorrow night, we'll have pork chops and acorn squash. Not sure about Thur since we get our CSA box, so will wait to see what we get.
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bobosensei
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Post by bobosensei on Oct 22, 2014 0:59:20 GMT -5
I cook nearly every night, though some nights we do leftovers if I have been cooking lots and making big portions. Even when I worked full time I did all the cooking every night. I like to do big pots of soups because there are lunch leftovers for me. This is especially good in fall and winter. During spring and summer I can make myself a salad or sandwich for lunch, but in cool weather I like something that warms me up. Last night we had grilled chicken thighs in a Jamie Oliver marinade, and boiled then baked smashed potatoes on the side. The night before I was short on time so did a sausage, potato, onion, and bell pepper dish in the oven with italian seasoning. I like that with that you just leave it in the oven so you can do other things. We had squash soup over the weekend, homemade pizzas on Friday, but I can't remember what else we had recently. I do try to use things up before they go bad so I did a spinach salad with fresh cranberries on it, and I also remember baking fish with a cranberry sauce though I don't recall what the side was.
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quince
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Post by quince on Oct 22, 2014 1:43:12 GMT -5
I do most of the cooking, but we don't eat in all the time, mostly because 3 nights a week, we're at our dojo, so we just pick up something quick along the way. I have been thinking about putting together sandwiches or something, but we like the restaurants around here, and can afford it, so not so high priority.
Cooking in: Pasta too often. Fajitas, sausage and peppers, salmon, broccoli salad, super lazy nights get mac and cheese or fish sticks. Neither husband nor I are picky- we'll eat anything, leftovers, large batch cooking...the kid is the hardest, because it helps to have something he can eat. Bleu cheese wedge salads aren't really his style, and his molars are still coming in, so anything too chewy as far as protein or to fibrous as far as veggies end up rejected and on the floor.
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jinksd1
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Post by jinksd1 on Oct 22, 2014 2:48:12 GMT -5
I'm the cook in my household (I'm a much better cook, and it's part of our agreement on how we split up chores). We're very frugal (my monthly grocery budget for the two of us is under $180 total), so I do mostly cook from scratch.
We usually eat out or get takeout once per week. Then I usually cook at least two meals a week that result in leftovers that we have for lunch and dinner the next day or two after (soup, pasta, large casserole, or something else that reheats without losing much quality...not grilled meat, for example).
The other nights, I typically make something that takes 15-30 minutes to make and is for that night only (or maybe for the next day's lunch, too). Those meals are often a protein that has been pan-fried or grilled (fish, steak, chicken breast, etc.) with a vegetable and one other side (herbed buttered noodles, mac and cheese, baked potato, egg-fried rice, etc.). Alternately, I might do a one-pan meal or small casserole that only takes a short amount of time to throw together, or something like a taco salad, burgers, or paninis that doesn't take much prep time.
For nights when I'm exhausted or really can't bring myself to cook much, I will do something very simple like tuna melts, BLTs, canned soup, grilled cheese sandwiches, eggs or an omelet, loaded nachos, or even dip with protein in it (bean dip, Buffalo chicken dip, etc.) to go with tortilla chips. Or I'll tell my husband he has to make dinner or fend for himself, though that's rare.
If your husband is going to be overly picky (and I'm not talking about hating a certain kind of food...for my DH it's peas) and refuse to eat leftovers or act like he's in a restaurant and can order what he likes, then he needs to be more involved in the meal planning, preparation, and/or actual cooking). Sure, he doesn't like warmed-over meat, but certainly there must be some kind of leftover he can bring himself to eat (soup and pasta dishes are often better the second day, and don't have that dried overcooked meat texture). And too bad if he doesn't like having something simple for dinner like an egg sandwich or salad with meat in it. Surely it won't kill him to have an occasional meal that isn't exactly what he prefers that night.
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marvholly
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Post by marvholly on Oct 22, 2014 5:52:10 GMT -5
I tend to batch cook at least 1x/week. This week it was a chigken, vegetable, mushroom & barely soup. Made 4 servings-2 went into the freezer. I have plans for other soups, sweet & sour meatballs, cheese blintz, chili, stew.......When I cook chicken I make a LOT and freeze then repurpose the leftovers as salads, mexican, stir frys......
I have a basic meal plan that I pretty much follow most weeks: 2 veggie meals 2 fish meals 2 chicken meals 1 ground meat meal
About 1x/month I do eat red meat. I will add a carb and a salad and/or fresh veg.
Tonight is planned veggie 7 I'll be grabbing a lentil stuffed red pepper from the freezer.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 22, 2014 6:07:19 GMT -5
Thanks for the ideas, guys. I'm going to run with a few of these and figure out how to pack in more veggies and get them pre-prepped in an acceptable way to DH. I'm only slightly annoyed that I work way more than he does and I'm spending so much time on the weekend, trying to prep and come up with idea of stuff he'll eat. Adding in that he's diabetic w/ high blood pressure of course doesn't make things easier. I might just beat him into submission, that would make my life much easier! honestly, I would make what I want and he can either eat it, make his own food, or go hungry. I always find it amusing that people who won't make a special meal or a separate meal for a child will be more than happy to do it for a husband.
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Oct 22, 2014 7:35:32 GMT -5
so he refuses to eat leftovers, won't cook, and will just eat crap if you aren't cooking? ugh. I'm sorry you have an adult child to raise. my life is a little up in the air these days, so I'm not cooking much at all. dinners are either something out wherever I am, leftovers of something my sister's made a batch of, or nuking a can of soup like I did the other night. prior to spending months living in a listing/showroom, I would batch cook things and freeze - chilis, sauce, pulled chicken. on nights that I didn't have a lot of time to cook, I could thaw/reheat any of those options and have dinner in 20 minutes. would your DH be able/willing to pull healthy options from the freezer and reheat on nights that you are too busy to cook? that would let you do whatever easy thing you feel like, that he wouldn't touch.
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sarcasticgirl
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Post by sarcasticgirl on Oct 22, 2014 7:44:51 GMT -5
Thanks for the ideas, guys. I'm going to run with a few of these and figure out how to pack in more veggies and get them pre-prepped in an acceptable way to DH. I'm only slightly annoyed that I work way more than he does and I'm spending so much time on the weekend, trying to prep and come up with idea of stuff he'll eat. Adding in that he's diabetic w/ high blood pressure of course doesn't make things easier. I might just beat him into submission, that would make my life much easier! honestly, I would make what I want and he can either eat it, make his own food, or go hungry. I always find it amusing that people who won't make a special meal or a separate meal for a child will be more than happy to do it for a husband. He's more than happy to make his own food... But it is usually crap like pizza or 2 PB&J sandwiches and a huge glass of skim milk or something along those lines, which certainly isn't good for him and has way more sugar and carbs than a diabetic should be eating in one meal. If he didn't have health issues, I wouldn't care. But sometimes he is like a child and left to his own, he makes shitty choices- I'm trying to keep that to a minimum. Sent from my HTC One_M8 using proboards
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 22, 2014 7:48:20 GMT -5
I would never have time to cook dinner every night. Half the time I'm not home until around 7 and younger son needs to be to bed by 7:30. The days I'm home by 5 there are a hundred other things I want/need to do instead...so we eat a lot of leftovers from weekend batch cooking and easy things like tacos or breakfast for dinner.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 22, 2014 7:50:59 GMT -5
honestly, I would make what I want and he can either eat it, make his own food, or go hungry. I always find it amusing that people who won't make a special meal or a separate meal for a child will be more than happy to do it for a husband. He's more than happy to make his own food... But it is usually crap like pizza or 2 PB&J sandwiches and a huge glass of skim milk or something along those lines, which certainly isn't good for him and has way more sugar and carbs than a diabetic should be eating in one meal. If he didn't have health issues, I wouldn't care. But sometimes he is like a child and left to his own, he makes shitty choices- I'm trying to keep that to a minimum. Sent from my HTC One_M8 using proboards if that works for you, fine, but I disagree....if he wants to be unhealthy, he's an adult and can make that decision.
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yogiii
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Post by yogiii on Oct 22, 2014 7:51:52 GMT -5
I would never have time to cook dinner every night. Half the time I'm not home until around 7 and younger son needs to be to bed by 7:30. The days I'm home by 5 there are a hundred other things I want/need to do instead...so we eat a lot of leftovers from weekend batch cooking and easy things like tacos or breakfast for dinner. We batch cook two huge meals on the weekend and that's what we have during the week. If we're short one day then we'll have scrambled eggs or something like that to fill the gap. I don't know what we'll do when the kids get a little older and don't want to eat the same thing 3 days in a row (or they eat so much it isn't feasible anyway). I suppose at that point it will at least be a little easier for me to cook after work because they won't be whining and crying for me to hold them right?
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sarcasticgirl
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Post by sarcasticgirl on Oct 22, 2014 7:52:18 GMT -5
so he refuses to eat leftovers, won't cook, and will just eat crap if you aren't cooking? ugh. I'm sorry you have an adult child to raise. my life is a little up in the air these days, so I'm not cooking much at all. dinners are either something out wherever I am, leftovers of something my sister's made a batch of, or nuking a can of soup like I did the other night. prior to spending months living in a listing/showroom, I would batch cook things and freeze - chilis, sauce, pulled chicken. on nights that I didn't have a lot of time to cook, I could thaw/reheat any of those options and have dinner in 20 minutes. would your DH be able/willing to pull healthy options from the freezer and reheat on nights that you are too busy to cook? that would let you do whatever easy thing you feel like, that he wouldn't touch. To be fair- we grill nearly half the nights in the summer- and he does the grilling and meat prep. He still grills during the colder months, just not as often. Sent from my HTC One_M8 using proboards
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 22, 2014 7:55:38 GMT -5
I would never have time to cook dinner every night. Half the time I'm not home until around 7 and younger son needs to be to bed by 7:30. The days I'm home by 5 there are a hundred other things I want/need to do instead...so we eat a lot of leftovers from weekend batch cooking and easy things like tacos or breakfast for dinner. We batch cook two huge meals on the weekend and that's what we have during the week. If we're short one day then we'll have scrambled eggs or something like that to fill the gap. I don't know what we'll do when the kids get a little older and don't want to eat the same thing 3 days in a row (or they eat so much it isn't feasible anyway). I suppose at that point it will at least be a little easier for me to cook after work because they won't be whining and crying for me to hold them right? My 12 year old often does not want whatever I'm serving, but he'll just make something else on his own. Since he'll usually make a chicken wrap or an egg and cheese, I figure that's healthy enough.
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