Dinner time issues

[Anonymous]

My husband works late . He gets home around 8. This is not going to change. My kids need a lot of sleep. I do dinner , homework, bath, and bed for both . Bedtime needs to be between 730 and 8. Issue is I am beat by then already did one dinner and clean up and can never figure out what to do about my husband's meal. He likes good food, not a heat up a burrito kind of guy. Ideas for us? It's a pretty big issue in our relationship. No slow cooker either he hates them and doesn't like food cooked in them. Thanks for your ideas!

[Anonymous]

Have him make his own dinner if he can't make the real dinnertime.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have him make his own dinner if he can't make the real dinnertime.

To be honest, as crazy as this sounds, not sure he has cooked a meal in his life. Fwiw I stay home now.

[Anonymous]

Why not ask him what he would like to eat? I think you know him better than we do.

[Anonymous]

OMG. So common! DH is sooo helpless in the kitchen. It's a sore point for me but not worth it. He's vulnerable because ...if I don't feel like it, dinner is mediocre and I move on! Make sure you find the balance you deserve and don't get bogged down.
Trader joe's grilled chicken on a salad. Almost any kind of vegetable baked/roasted (potatoes, sweet potatoes, amazingly parsnips, brussel sprouts, cauliflower with sea salt and olive oil). TJs also has neat little single serve fish, stuffed fish. Easier if he is a meat & potatoes guy. I let things slow bake so if I'm caught up, food is not destroyed. If there are extras--> ziploc bag in the freezer.
The goal is ONE meal that everyone eats and I am almost there. I respect those who hold a hard line and offer 1 meal and you eat it or you don't eat, but that has never been practical.

[Anonymous]

Your kids need to be helping you throughout the day. I'm sure your DH is coming home exhausted and beat and just wants a hot meal. There are so many suggestions in the Food Forum, but really, why don't you just get your kids eating the same stuff DH is, and you can just warm his plate with yours when he gets home. Spinach baked ziti is easy to reheat.

[Anonymous]

You're his slave. That's not a relationship. He can pick up dinner or cook it himself if he refuses what you make! What is he, the king? Gross.

[Anonymous]

You are already making a dinner. Make enough for him and he can heat it up and eat it when he gets home or he can figure out his own dinner. Being a SAHM doesn't mean you are his slave. You've posted this in the older kids forum versus general parenting...are your kids older? If so they can help out with dinner too.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, I'm not sure I understand the problem. You cook dinner, and he doesn't get home in time to eat it "fresh" -- that's his problem. He eats reheated whatever-you-had, or he learns to cook or he drives thru McD's on the way home.

Is he thinking you all should wait for him?

[Anonymous]

My DH is never home for dinner. I make enough for him of whatever the rest of us eat and he heats it up.

[Anonymous]

Can you save a portion of what you're making to cook later? For example, if you're making chicken breasts, don't cook his until he's home.

I'd determine what it is he hates reheated the most (for example is it better to reheat meat and have fresh veggies or visa versa). Teach him how to fresh cook the portion - all the planning and prep would already be done, so it's a compromise.

[Anonymous]

This seems so sad to me. Does your husband really expect you to cook dinner twice? Once for the kids and once for him? I agree with earlier posters than he either nukes his meal in the microwave or he learns to love room temperature food. The only time my husband has ever complained about food was when I was pregnant and so tired that I used to make Perdue chicken hot dogs (ugh I can't believe I ate those things) 3 nights in a row. Hahaha.

[Anonymous]

I agree with PPs. Your husband's dinner is the same as your kids' and it gets heated up when he gets home. Doing evening/bed routine for two kids is exhausting, and after that the kitchen is closed! Maybe stews and casseroles are your friends, as well as hearty soups, quiches/tarts, etc. things you can easily cook in the oven after he gets home (like sausages) might be an option on the occasional day when you cook something for him fresh, since you can just chuck it in the oven without any prep.

[Anonymous]

What about making dinner in the slow cooker a couple nights each week so you can just portion out some for the kids, and then an hour or so later portion out some for you and DH and it'll still be "fresh" and hot.

[Anonymous]

This is simple. Since you are preparing actual meals as you stay at home (which is part of the job description), just let him warm up a plate.