Cooking for an awkward DH and me on WW

MrsNorthman

Hi

I am currently on WW, trying to lose some weight, last week I made the mistake of buying quorn, now although both me and DD thought it was nice and honestly couldn't tell any difference, DH was mortified, he ate it all but just purely because it wasn't proper mince he refuses to ever eat it again.

I regularly get pestered by DH "whats for dinner" "what do you want for dinner", but when asked himself he always says either "whatever" or "I dont know".

Our most common meals were spag bol/pasta, chilli, shepherds pie, stew and hunters chicken, although DH doesn't seem to want these any more. Apparently pasta is boring so I cant cook that, he doesn't like cheese or pastry either.

Im looking for meal ideas that will be WW friendly but also something different for DH, otherwise im cutting him off and he can fend for himself.

Also cost is an issue, DH is a butcher, but knowing what I know about where he works there are a lot of things I wont have from there.

Thank you for reading and for any suggestions.

krlyr

If he wants "whatever", give him "whatever" - if he doesn't want to eat it, tough!

Why not sit down one evening and plan out meals for the next week or two? It really helps with the whole not knowing what to eat and helps you waste less food too generally. You could surf a recipe website together and pick things you like the sound of, try a few new ideas perhaps.

Maybe pick some things that can be slightly adapted to suit you and OH - so bangers and mash - cook yourself veggie sausages and him meat ones. Batch cook some quorn 'toppers' and meat 'toppers' like bolognese, chilli, etc. and freeze in single person portions - so when you cook a batch of pasta or a jacket potato, you and DD can reheat the quorn ones and you can bung a meaty one on OH's dinner instead. If you want something like fajitas, cook the peppers and onion seperately and then do a batch of quorn 'chicken' and a batch of actual chicken and then you can all help yourselves to whichever you fancy.

Or even just let him fend for himself - some single portions of mashed potato, HM wedges, etc. for him to reheat if he really doesn't want to eat what you've cooked for yourself/DD (and freeze his unwanted portion for another day) - my OH finds it handy when he has to fend for himself at dinner times as there's always some kind of meat & side combination to do himself a homemade dinner in the microwave.

Tish_P

Is some allergy or phobia preventing him from cooking his own bleedin' dinner?

MrsNorthman

Yes its called lazyt**titis, that and miserablet**titis, he gets both, often!

He works, therefore I do everything in the house, which dont get me wrong I am fine doing so, its the fact that he moans about what I do cook, yet is unwilling to provide suggestions for anything else.

If he said I right fancy eating ....... tonight, that would be ok, but he doesn't.

The thing is, I really enjoy food, probably why I am dieting, but DH is very hard to please food wise. I think he prefers liquid dinners!

Theres times like yesterday, I offered to make lunch for him with me and the kids, he said no hes not hungry, so a few hours later he starts moaning hes hungry, I make suggestions, none of which are good enough, so he didnt bother eating, im sorry but when im hungry or "starving" as he put it, I will eat anything.

LAM2011

Try having a look at some of the Hairy Dieters recipes on the BBC website.

I too am trying to lose some weight - using a mixture of WW/Rosemary Conley and general healthy guidelines. My OH has a huge appetite but fortunately is really not fussy. But his idea of dieting is a nice big salad with a side plate of chips!

I batch cook my mince and his separately as krlyr above suggested.

My favourites :

Grilled gammon, pineapple and peas and oven chips (I only have a few).

Boiled chicken breast, steamed peas carrots and baby potatoes with gravy.

OH has mash or chips with most things so just put a portion out for him.

Grilled pork chop / steak and salad.

Jacket potatoes with a curry filling (I just have a much smaller portion)

I fry some chicken pieces (low cal spray) with onions and mushrooms and we have them in wraps (he adds chips!)

Good luck - I hate having to think up ideas that are filling for him and slimming for me.

madkoi

I am on WW too but I am very lucky my OH eats anything I cook him. I sometimes buy the chicken breasts 3 for a tenner & freeze them into portions. I then use some of the chicken with the cook in the bag sachets like Cajun Chicken or BBQ chicken, add some veg or salad with it for less than 6pro points. Or Pork chops ( I give OH 2 chops & me 1) again add lots of veg with it to bulk it up.
Spag Bol made with Tesco Lighter choices frozen mince, add lots of peppers, carrots, red onions etc to bulk it up. Or same principle but add chilli powder etc.
If he doesnt give you suggestions on what he wants to eat then he doesnt really have a place to moan about it, & if he continues tell him to fend for himself!

valk_scot

I don't work outside the home, my OH is the wage earner. Even so he's learned that moaning about the menu is not wise, no matter how boring it is or how much he'd prefer something else. There's four of us here, it can't be his favourite every night! If everyone gets a favorite once per week and the other three times I make what suits re time and budget then he (and the kids) can eat it or starve as far as I'm concerned.

It took time to train him though. I used to quite regularly plate it up, he'd say he didn't want it and when he said he was hungry three hours later I'd point him in the direction of the freezer where his dinner would now be neatly squeezed into a plastic tub. Actually this worked quite well, there was often a choice of frozen meals for him though admittedly some things didn't freeze as well as others. He eventually figured out it was simpler and indeed tastier to eat it while it was hot and on a plate.

So why not try this tactic on your OH? If you're Head Domestic Engineer you make the decisions after all.

Sweet_Pea_2

I can sympathise with you, I have the worlds fussiest eater in my OH too. I have been on a diet, (GI) and have successfully lost a fair bit of weight since Christmas and unfortunately I resorted to cooking seperate meals for himself, who hasn't been on a diet and seperate for me, and quite often seperate things for the kids too. To be honest I don't really mind doing this, as long as I can shut everyone out of the kitchen as mine is quite small and it can be a bit stressful as I rush manically around the kitchen like Jamies 30 minute meals on fast forward, but I dish all the meals up at the same time and we all sit at the table together although we are eating different meals.

His fussiness is in charge of all washing up, dishwasher loading and unloading and sandwich making, and also knows better than to moan too much about whats on his plate either!

Butterfly_Brain

I would just point him to the kitchen

Sambucus_Nigra

I'd stop asking him what he wants and just serve up what you want - and if he moans just say 'whatever'.

pigpen

If he isn't prepared to have any input in what you have for dinner or the preparation of it then he gets what he is given.. I'd say we are having X for dinner do you want some? if he says yes then he gets some if he says no he does his own dinner.. if you want quorn or steak or 1lb of lard go for it.. ..