I (husband) prepare the dinner's during the week. I went online and bought all of the America's Test Kitchen's 30 Minute Meal books/magazines. Pretty simple and most are pretty tasty.

My kid loves to help me cook but still...

DS: "What's for dinner?"
Me: "Chicken"
DS: "I don't like chicken!"

Gah! Kid, its a good thing you are cute!

Anonymous wrote:OP: Start teaching your kids to cook. Most kids love to cook, and later you will be glad.

Later, my house would be burned to the ground.

I am so with you. My kids have food allergies and are picky, plus DH observes religious restrictions and is himself a terrible cook. Going to a restaurant is one of my favorite things in the world.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have wanted to say, "What? You want to eat? Again? No! No more eating!"

OP here. Yes, this exactly!!

Me too! I dread dinner. And I dread the inevitable "what are we having for dinnnerrr???" whine that my kids give me the second I pick them up from aftercare. It wouldn't be so bad if they actually ate anything other than chicken cutlets and quesadillas. I used to love to cook before kids. But once we made the commitment to eating a family meal and all of us eating the same thing, I feel like real cooking has become a thing of the past. Many nights I give up and just cook something that I know DH and I will like and figure we'll make the kids try it and if they don't like it they can have cereal. I always say if I didn't have to feed my kids, parenting would be a breeze.

OP, I feel you. Single mom with a full time day job here...and I actually LIKE cooking, in theory, but it IS a chore.

Now that my son is eleven, he cooks one night a week. And frankly I don't care if it's PB&J as long as it isn't me making it. Fortunately, he is still into the novelty.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I LOVE to cook, and hate cooking dinner. I'd rather cook and elaborate meal for 20 people than whip up something quickly for the 3 of us.

Me too. Probably because the 20 people I would invite for dinner will all rave, whereas the people I live with just push food around on their plate and are "full" after three bites. Ingrates.

Isn't amazing how much a difference an appreciative audience makes?

Self-inflicted difficulty is that I don't like leftovers for dinner, although I love them for lunch. And none of us really care for cold sandwiches.

What helps:
* a long list of meals that are acceptable to everyone and can be on the table within 30 minutes of getting home.
* using the grill most nights (means DH cooks the meat and I have less to do in the kitchen; for some reason if the meat is cooked inside, I have to do the meat and the veggies without burning anything and carrying on a conversation and supervising homework)
* crock pot once a week
* planning ahead (make a menu and shop only once a week)
* good marinades
* breakfast for dinner every now and then

yes, i feel this way sometimes. and then i buy some "healthy" frozen food and fresh veg and serve it for about a week and get back on track. i also just started eating at my cafeteria at work every day for lunch--and i LOVE it. someone cooks for me! the food is ok, inexpensive but a little overcooked. i get a lean protein and 2 sides of veg.

DC will be out of the house in 3 years (hopefully), and I never have to hear again when I walk through the door "What's for dinner?" UGH!! The absolute worse part of the day! I could survive on edamame, scambled eggs and salad. I look forward to never cooking a full dinner again!

Yeah, I love to cook but I went through a serious "I don't want to cook another damn meal for anyone" phase during the winter. What got us through was a lot of scavanging-type meals. I'd make sure there were hard boiled eggs, cooked pasta, cooked beans, tortillas, and veggies in the fridge and then I'd just sort of set it on the table and tell everyone to have at it. Assemble it yourself, people. And I had my six year old make dinner one night. That was funny. He made cold cut sandwiches and hated them. But DH and I thought they were great since we didn't have to do any work!

OP: Start teaching your kids to cook. Most kids love to cook, and later you will be glad.

Anonymous wrote:I LOVE to cook, and hate cooking dinner. I'd rather cook and elaborate meal for 20 people than whip up something quickly for the 3 of us.

Me too. Probably because the 20 people I would invite for dinner will all rave, whereas the people I live with just push food around on their plate and are "full" after three bites. Ingrates.

I used to love cooking but then DH decided he wants to be gluten free. He's worse than a child. At least my kid will eat what I make.

And no, I don't SAH. FT working mom here. Yes, I'm an idiot for accommodating when there's no medical need for this.

I empty the dishwasher in the morning so it's always empty at night for dinner dishes.
My solution is GRILLING!! We grill a lot, year round. I marinate/ spice rub the chicken in the morning, or prep burgers and then grill them when I get home. No clean up!!

I don't mind the cooking so much as the dishes. We eat no grain, no sugar, local, organic, from scratch, etc., and the hardest part of all that nonsense is the the never ending mountain of dishes. Especially on days when I don't get a chance to clear out the dishwasher in the morning. On those days I get home, clean the dishwasher, reload it with all the breakfast dishes, then add whatever dishes were in lunchboxes, THEN start dinner and end up creating: MORE DISHES! Shoot me now.