I am DONE cooking for my family

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I love to cook, and I cook well but I cannot make chicken and dumplings in a single pot and a single bowl. What about a cutting board, utensils, knives, measuring spoons, etc? To say you only dirty a bowl and a pot really oversimplifies the fact that cooking from scratch does involve some degree of effort.

I could make chicken and dumplings with a pot, a bowl, a knife, and a spoon, plus a measuring cup and a measuring spoon that don't really need washing because they're only for dry ingredients. I probably wouldn't, but I could.

But I agree with the OP -- it's not the dishwashing that gets me down, it's the complaining.

I make chicken and dumplings in the slow cooker and it is super easy and everyone likes it. It's not the HEALTHIEST thing I cook, but I only make it like twice a year probably. All that gets dirty is the crock pot, can opener, and dishes to eat it out of.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cooking is a waste of time and energy. And then there's the clean up, ugh! I throw some chicken or fish in the oven and a bag of vegetables in the microwave to steam. Sometimes rice or pasta to go with it. I will occasionally make a stew or soup soup (that only I eat, kids won't touch). That's the extent of my cooking.

Wow. I feel sad for your kids. We try to eat a variety of ethnic foods. I don't enjoy cooking, either (I only knew how to use the microwave), but I enjoy eating different foods and want my kids to enjoy it, too, so I learned. Sure, sometimes they don't like it the first or second time, or never, but often times they come to like it. It makes going out to eat or going over to someone's house for dinner a lot easier. My DH does the cleanup if I cook.

Be adventurous. Try something different. We expose our kids to so many different experiences. I include food in this category.

+1. Couldn't have said it better myself, we do exactly the same things in our family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I love to cook, and I cook well but I cannot make chicken and dumplings in a single pot and a single bowl. What about a cutting board, utensils, knives, measuring spoons, etc? To say you only dirty a bowl and a pot really oversimplifies the fact that cooking from scratch does involve some degree of effort.

I could make chicken and dumplings with a pot, a bowl, a knife, and a spoon, plus a measuring cup and a measuring spoon that don't really need washing because they're only for dry ingredients. I probably wouldn't, but I could.

But I agree with the OP -- it's not the dishwashing that gets me down, it's the complaining.

I make chicken and dumplings in the slow cooker and it is super easy and everyone likes it. It's not the HEALTHIEST thing I cook, but I only make it like twice a year probably. All that gets dirty is the crock pot, can opener, and dishes to eat it out of.

I usually sear meat before putting in the slow cooker. Do you toss it in raw? Would love to save that step...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I love to cook, and I cook well but I cannot make chicken and dumplings in a single pot and a single bowl. What about a cutting board, utensils, knives, measuring spoons, etc? To say you only dirty a bowl and a pot really oversimplifies the fact that cooking from scratch does involve some degree of effort.

I could make chicken and dumplings with a pot, a bowl, a knife, and a spoon, plus a measuring cup and a measuring spoon that don't really need washing because they're only for dry ingredients. I probably wouldn't, but I could.

But I agree with the OP -- it's not the dishwashing that gets me down, it's the complaining.

I make chicken and dumplings in the slow cooker and it is super easy and everyone likes it. It's not the HEALTHIEST thing I cook, but I only make it like twice a year probably. All that gets dirty is the crock pot, can opener, and dishes to eat it out of.

I usually sear meat before putting in the slow cooker. Do you toss it in raw? Would love to save that step...

Raw. Sometimes even frozen chicken.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I love to cook, and I cook well but I cannot make chicken and dumplings in a single pot and a single bowl. What about a cutting board, utensils, knives, measuring spoons, etc? To say you only dirty a bowl and a pot really oversimplifies the fact that cooking from scratch does involve some degree of effort.

I could make chicken and dumplings with a pot, a bowl, a knife, and a spoon, plus a measuring cup and a measuring spoon that don't really need washing because they're only for dry ingredients. I probably wouldn't, but I could.

But I agree with the OP -- it's not the dishwashing that gets me down, it's the complaining.

I make chicken and dumplings in the slow cooker and it is super easy and everyone likes it. It's not the HEALTHIEST thing I cook, but I only make it like twice a year probably. All that gets dirty is the crock pot, can opener, and dishes to eat it out of.

I usually sear meat before putting in the slow cooker. Do you toss it in raw? Would love to save that step...

store bought rotisserie chicken cooked down in the pot I'm using to cook the rest of the meal.

[Anonymous]

19:57, that only works when one of your picky eaters is not your spouse. No one ever says ew, they just look at a meal with what I call "the face" which is mostly anxiety about not knowing the taste or the texture before trying it. And the going hungry thing, again, only works if your spouse backs you up on it. Mine does not and will not thanks to years of a family of origin dictating that kids who choose not to eat dinner sit at the table until dinner is eaten or bedtime whichever was first. Thanks, MIL & FIL!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Throw a hot pocket in front of them and tell them to knock themselves out.

Cook lovely things for yourself. Enjoy the flavor and nourishment.

Who the f does this? Dirtying a bunch of dishes and wasting ingredients to cook one portion for one person? That is ridiculous advice.

Uh, single people who want to eat well and nutritionally? What did you eat when you were single? Or did you go from your mama's trailer straight to your DH's?

Bran flakes with almond milk
Yogurt with all-bran
Pita with turkey or hummus
Fruit
Cheese
Salad
Progresso light soups

Cooking for one person sucks. Why bother?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Bran flakes with almond milk
Yogurt with all-bran
Pita with turkey or hummus
Fruit
Cheese
Salad
Progresso light soups

Cooking for one person sucks. Why bother?

Because sometimes a person wants a hot meal at home? Though probably you do heat up the canned soup.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Bran flakes with almond milk
Yogurt with all-bran
Pita with turkey or hummus
Fruit
Cheese
Salad
Progresso light soups

Cooking for one person sucks. Why bother?

Because sometimes a person wants a hot meal at home? Though probably you do heat up the canned soup.

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Either way it's one dish and one spoon. Food is just calories to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Either way it's one dish and one spoon. Food is just calories to me.

If I weren't heating up the soup, I wouldn't bother with the bowl. Eat the cold soup straight out of the can. Then you only have to wash the spoon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Either way it's one dish and one spoon. Food is just calories to me.

If I weren't heating up the soup, I wouldn't bother with the bowl. Eat the cold soup straight out of the can. Then you only have to wash the spoon.

When I eat it cold it's because I've poured into into a bowl intending to heat it up, but then can't be bothered to take the extra step of heating it up. I am exceptionally lazy when it comes to food. I have a hard time reconciling the notion of doing more work for something that is ultimately just going to make you fat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Either way it's one dish and one spoon. Food is just calories to me.

If I weren't heating up the soup, I wouldn't bother with the bowl. Eat the cold soup straight out of the can. Then you only have to wash the spoon.

When I eat it cold it's because I've poured into into a bowl intending to heat it up, but then can't be bothered to take the extra step of heating it up. I am exceptionally lazy when it comes to food. I have a hard time reconciling the notion of doing more work for something that is ultimately just going to make you fat.

You know this isn't a pro-ana website, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:19:57, that only works when one of your picky eaters is not your spouse. No one ever says ew, they just look at a meal with what I call "the face" which is mostly anxiety about not knowing the taste or the texture before trying it. And the going hungry thing, again, only works if your spouse backs you up on it. Mine does not and will not thanks to years of a family of origin dictating that kids who choose not to eat dinner sit at the table until dinner is eaten or bedtime whichever was first. Thanks, MIL & FIL!

I wouldn't support going hungry either. Why should anyone, child or not, be forced to eat food they don't like?
I like the PB&J recommendation from earlier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hear you. I loathe cooking weeknight meals for my picky eating family. Every now and then I hit upon a recipe they like, but more often than not I have one or two at the table picking at their plate making faces at what I have cooked for them. If I left it up to my husband we would have McDonalds for 5 dinners a week.

My kids don't always like what I cook, either. But we have a rule, if someone cooks for you, say thank you, and don't make a face. It's very rude. This includes if your parent cooks for you. I tell my kids - if you made me a drawing and I said, "ew" or "that's not very pretty", would it not hurt your feelings?

They are 6 and 9 now so it's sunk in. I can still tell when they don't like something, but they've learned to not make a face and shut up and eat it. I'm not cooking anything else, and they are not eating anything else other than what I cooked. So, the alternative is to go hungry.

AMEN!
I almost want to print this out and hang it up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Throw a hot pocket in front of them and tell them to knock themselves out.

Cook lovely things for yourself. Enjoy the flavor and nourishment.

Who the f does this? Dirtying a bunch of dishes and wasting ingredients to cook one portion for one person? That is ridiculous advice.

Uh, single people who want to eat well and nutritionally? What did you eat when you were single? Or did you go from your mama's trailer straight to your DH's?

Bran flakes with almond milk
Yogurt with all-bran
Pita with turkey or hummus
Fruit
Cheese
Salad
Progresso light soups

Cooking for one person sucks. Why bother?

Besides the salad, that list of food sounds awful. I'd rather go hungry.