Kitchen

[ECBG]

Are you traditional about dinner planning and preperation or not?  I've known quite a lot of couples where the husband is a wonderful cook, and she isn't.

I planned, shopped for and cooked (unless there was grilling) all of the meals when our boys were growing up.  During the normal week now, we have more leftovers.  When there is a new meal, and he says "ribs" for example, I always say "AND.....(what else).  I am not married to a "meat and potato guy at all.  Occasionally, if he wants to grill, he'll come home with a bag of slaw.  Other than slaw, forget it as far as meal planning (a balanced meal).

Between balanced meals and pulling him in from the outside, it's constant battle?

How has this always been handled at your home?

[Meowingkitty]

Not traditional at all. We eat what we eat. Sometimes I put something in the crockpot that will made it for a couple of days, sometimes we order out, sometimes we eat whatever we want. Cheese crisp, grilled cheese, cereal. If I do cook I'll usually make some kind of potato and maybe a vegetable. It just depends on the mood. When I cook I try to make sure we have leftovers for a couple of days. Nothing formal.

[Mz iMac]

No such thang as "dinner planning" in my household.

[noodleann]

My man has never brought home a bag of slaw, but he always comes running when he hears the pop of the Friskies Buffet lid. He tucks into whatever I give him con gusto and always gives me a love rub before he dives in.

I never ask him what he wants. I always surprise him. I think males like that, both the kind who eat at a table and ones that eat on the floor.

[AuntG]

Grew up in a rural area. We ate three meals a day. Would open the screen door and yell "lunch" or "supper" and the guys would come in from the barn. I plan my meals well in advance because we don't shop often and freeze much of what we buy. Husband does all the grilling and most of the clean up. 

[ECBG]

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@ECBG wrote:

Are you traditional about dinner planning and preperation or not?  I've known quite a lot of couples where the husband is a wonderful cook, and she isn't.

I planned, shopped for and cooked (unless there was grilling) all of the meals when our boys were growing up.  During the normal week now, we have more leftovers.  When there is a new meal, and he says "ribs" for example, I always say "AND.....(what else).  I am not married to a "meat and potato guy at all.  Occasionally, if he wants to grill, he'll come home with a bag of slaw.  Other than slaw, forget it as far as meal planning (a balanced meal).

Between balanced meals and pulling him in from the outside, it's constant battle?

How has this always been handled at your home?

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@AuntG Then you understand wher I'm coming when I say "where is the vigetable? or where is the green?"!

[PA Mom-mom]

@AuntG  I'm with you. I've been making three squares for 43 years. Less people to cook for these days, but I have planned out meals a week at a time, because I have worked full time. Now that I'm retired, I can't get out of the routine. DH does all the grilling and most of the smoking, and he decides when that happens. HOWEVER, I would love feedback when I ask "What do you want me to make?" I am so tired of hearing "Whatever you want to make." AARRGG! For example, tonight I said I have a roasting chicken defrosted. I can make just roast chicken,  soup, stewed chicken, chicken salad, something else. Can you guess what they said? 

[PA Mom-mom]

@ECBG  I think "what for starch, what for green" has been my eternal question for lo these many years. It's possible I overthink things, but no, I don't think so. Hahahaha!

[jeanlake]

Enjoying your answers. I take time with grocery lists. We prepare meals at home about half the time and remain flexible the other half. Hubs was used to the corporate world where department friends or clients went out for big lunches. He no longer has the weekly birthday celebrations and snacking at work and has lost 20 pounds since his retirement in January. He lost and I gained about 10 since working from home so much. So we're trying to eat healthy. That's my aggrevation.       

[wildcat fan]

I appreciate input when it comes to meal planning, but mostly I hear that he'll be happy with whatever I want.  He doesn't do much cooking, but he's very good to stop by the grocery store on his way home if I need something, and he often goes shopping with me and adds things to the cart.  When he knows I have a busy schedule at work, he offers to take me out to dinner, or he gets something and brings it home so that I don't have to cook.  Since our schedules are usually pretty crazy, I try to plan a week ahead.  I know he'll always be thrilled with spaghetti and meatballs or scrambled eggs if I'm not feeling creative.  He likes it when I try the recipes I find here in the Q forums.  😊

Compared to my father, I have a gem of a husband when it comes to meal planning.  Dad will sit in his chair and look at my mom and ask, "What do we have to eat/drink?" and she'll run to the kitchen to bring him whatever he asked for.  Although I love him dearly, I'm pretty certain my dad doesn't know which cabinet to open for a glass or plate and which drawer contains the silverware.  My mother has waited on him hand and foot for 60 years and will continue to do so as long as she can.  I have no idea how she's managed that, and just when I wish my husband would do more, I stop and think that I'm lucky he does what he does.

My son, on the other hand, loves to cook.  If/When he marries, his bride will have a hard time getting him out of the kitchen.