What constitutes a "home cooked" meal? DH complains not home cooked enough

[Anonymous]

My DH has never complained about any meal I prepared for us (I'm a SAHM, too). Tonight I made something a bit more involved and he said, "Wow, thanks for making that today." I don't think you need advice on how to cook better, I think you need advice for how to deal with an ass husband.

[Anonymous]

I'm with the PPs. Your H should start cooking dinner once in a while if you're cooking isn't "home cooked" enough! I SAH most days (work a couple days a week) and my home cooked dinners can be a 5 hour slow roasted chicken that I had marinated overnight, with mashed potatoes and homemade gravy, and sauteed veggies one night, to chicken enchiladas (with leftover said chicken), store bought enchilada sauce and pre-shredded cheese the next night

[Anonymous]

A little off topic but -- I have a dear friend whose husband used to complain that she would sometimes serve leftovers for dinner. I always thought this was just ridiculous.

They are now divorced.

[Anonymous]

OP, I agree that your DH sounds like an entitled whiner. That being said, I do not consider prepared foods (rotisserie chicken, sides from the Whole Foods hot/cold bar, etc.) "home cooked" even if they're hot and tasty and nutritious. If that's what you're making, maybe he's raising it as a cost issue. On the other hand, if you're using frozen veggies, Shake and Bake, or that kind of thing, he might be wanting to cook more from fresh food for taste or variety.

Either way, he should say so and/or do more of the cooking himself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I agree that your DH sounds like an entitled whiner. That being said, I do not consider prepared foods (rotisserie chicken, sides from the Whole Foods hot/cold bar, etc.) "home cooked" even if they're hot and tasty and nutritious. If that's what you're making, maybe he's raising it as a cost issue. On the other hand, if you're using frozen veggies, Shake and Bake, or that kind of thing, he might be wanting to cook more from fresh food for taste or variety.

Either way, he should say so and/or do more of the cooking himself.

Two posters have now mentioned frozen vegetables as a cop-out. Frozen vegetables are flash frozen shortly after they are picked, preserving high levels of nutrients. "Fresh" vegetables are trucked to stores, after traveling for up to a week, all the time losing part of their nutrient content. I like and use fresh vegetables often in my cooking, but frozen vegetables are not an inferior choice when it comes to feeding a family. Since they don't spoil, having frozen vegetables on hand means that you always have something to serve with a meal.

[Anonymous]

We need some examples of what meals he is objecting to, OP. Are you buying those freezer section meals that you open the bag and throw it in a pan until it all cooks (melts) and then serve? I don't count that as homemade. They are, however, delicious! I found a recipe on pinterest and it adapted it -- I cut up boneless chicken and potatoes. I put them side by side in a baking dish and dumped a packet of Italian seasoning over them and threw on a few slices of butter and cooked it. I cleaned and cut fresh green beans and threw them in a bag in the microwave to cook. I counted that as home made. One day earlier this week I bought a couple of stuffed chicken breasts from the grocery store and cooked them at home and served it with salad and semi-homemade dressing. I do not count that as home made. My husband eats whatever I put in front of him. The chicken, potatoes, and green beans he ate and then ate some of mine. He also eats my pasta that I perenially undercook. I have only made one meal in many years of marriage that he would't eat and he is a super picky eater.

[Anonymous]

Get a new DH.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A little off topic but -- I have a dear friend whose husband used to complain that she would sometimes serve leftovers for dinner. I always thought this was just ridiculous.

They are now divorced.

Mine won't even consider leftovers for any meal, let alone dinner. But he's great in many other ways.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hand him an apron and let him have a crack at it, then.

DH here. I agree with this.

But then again, I prepare 75% of the meals in my household.

[Anonymous]

According to various pots on ths thread I don't homecook either because I use frozen vegetables and rice. So, that fresh chicken I buy (from Whole Foods, thank goodness!) doesn't count, but would if it ad no sides.

[Anonymous]

I also agree with the general theory that buying prepared foods and heating them up =/= home cooked. Hell, I don't consider cooking ground beef for tacos to be "cooking."

I'm also puzzled, though, as to why it matters. Is your husband complaining for cost reasons? Because he thinks you're not eatign healthy enough? Because he's stuck in the 1950s, and thinks that SAHMs should always make "home cooked" meals? I thnk the reasons behind his bitching matter more than whether you actually are making home-cooked meals or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Home cooked meal, to me, is something that is made from scratch. For example: Roasted chicken, mashed potatoes and veggies.

It's not home cooked if the potatoes are boxed and the veggies are the microwave in bag kind. If the chicken came from the grocery store or Sams then it's also a failure.

On the other hand, I'd just be happy if my wife microwaved a tray of food, so I wouldn't complain either way.

As opposed to what, hunting it down and shooting it with my shotgun out yonder on the family farm?

[or did you just mean it's not homemade if you buy one of those rotisserie chickens]?

I assumed she meant one of those rotisserie chickens. I don't consider that home-cooked meal. I also know that the ones you get at Costco for $5 are ridiculously good. I probably don't want to know WHY they're so good, but we get one every time we go. Sometimes two.

[Anonymous]

Ignore the nasty dcum lib women man haters

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Home cooked meal, to me, is something that is made from scratch. For example: Roasted chicken, mashed potatoes and veggies.

It's not home cooked if the potatoes are boxed and the veggies are the microwave in bag kind. If the chicken came from the grocery store or Sams then it's also a failure.

On the other hand, I'd just be happy if my wife microwaved a tray of food, so I wouldn't complain either way.

Are you in the habit of hunting down your family's food after you come home from a long day's work? Wow, what a real man you are!

This whole thread is asinine. OP, the only answer to your question is that your husband sounds like a royal dick. Good luck with that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get a new DH.

Well, this is what happens when you opt out of being self-sufficient and put your entire well-being in the hands of a man. It's copping to a traditional gender role, and now her husband feels entitled to be an asshole. Sorry ladies, but it's the 21st century. You better be pretty damned sure you haven't married a neanderthal before you decide to ditch your career.