Help me cope?

Tink_04

Thank you we have a SC so this is an option but I'm worried the smell will come through the house - I'm living on porridge, toast and plain crisps at the moment with the odd bit of soup when I can, I'm just feeling bad that dh and dd are not getting proper meals as it's me who meal plans shops and cooks usually thought if I could find something easy that could be bunged in the oven that would help.

floss2

Why not do an online shop of things that you can bear, and that your DH could cook with relative ease?

Tink_04

I'm not too worried about feeding me as I'm living on the foods I listed above for now anyway as the ms is really bad, but more looking for ideas of easy foods my dh who's a limited cook can make for him and dd4 so the have some proper meals, he doesn't normally cook much. All I've got so far is pasta bake or jacket potatoes with a topping.

sonastin

This could be a good opportunity to teach your dh how to look after your dd. God forbid something should happen to you or to your new arrival which meant you were stuck in the hospital for a while (or worse), he would have to manage somehow. Better he develops some better catering skills while you're on hand to give advice and encouragement. Write him a specific shopping list and step-by-step instructions for making some more meals.

Heck, how difficult is it for him to grill some meat (pork chop, chicken breast, salmon fillet), boil/mash some spuds and heat/steam/boil some veg. Follow the instructions on the gravy granules pack (maybe not for the salmon) and you've got a healthy meal. Might be a bit dull if that's every day but it saves you having to worry about what they are eating.

lindseykim13

If he's anything like my DH we could possibly end up with food poisoning when he cooks (makes me shudder)
If i'm ill we get take aways lol if i let him loose in the kitchen we 9/10 end up with something ineddible, or he leaves raw meat on the work surfaces. I've trained him to do breakfast and lunch though so getting there.
My advice would be iceland style stuff that can all be oven cooked not ready meals but chicken grills/chips and some mixed veg on the hob.
Fish fingers, mash, veg.
Frozen veg would be easier.

We had corned beef, wedges and frozen veg for dinner as i couldn't be bothered tonight-didn't take long at all.

Home made wedges are easy and yum sliced potatos, oil and pepper on a tray for 30mins in a hot oven.

GL with the morning sickness should pass soon enough, your at the worst bit now but does get better.

Oh and eggs are easy too. Scrambled being the easiest you could mix in grated carrot, toms or something.

AimingForBetter

Hi Tink_04

You have my sympathy. I suffered the same right from the start of my pregnancy and DH made it his mission to find something I could eat, bless him (fruit, crackers and plain baked potatoes were about it). Unfortunately I couldn't go shopping, near any food shops/takeaways or near food smells generally which made life very difficult for months.

If you can work out some simple meals for DH to make and then online shop - mysupermarket is very helpful as you can just print the exact list (saves trying to explain which packs/weight etc) if you don't want to get a delivery.

Pasta & a jar of sauce, sausage with mash & veg, cheese & potato pie with baked beans, rice and veg, eggs, fish, chicken etc are all straightfrorward and if necessary you could direct from another room! As long as DH and DD can eat relatively normally just go with what ever works for you until you feel better.

As sonastin says it would be a good time for DH to learn some new dishes so he can always throw something together and give you a break once the new addition arrives.

It will pass eventually!

HTH, best wishes
AFB

Mrs_Veg_Plot

Congratulations on the pregnancy. You have my sympathy. I spent several weeks living on mashed potato, boiled fish, boiled chicken and plain crisps. I could not bare the sight or smell of food. I only had to see the breakfast trolley arrive at work and I was off.

Could your OH manage to make soups? Most of my soups are a few veg thrown into a pan with a stock tube and then blitzed.

One pot meals are good as well. How about frying an onion (keep the kitchen door shut) and browning some mince. Throw in chopped veg add either a stock cube or tinned tomatoes.

Cauliflower cheese using a pre-prepared sauce if making sauce from scratch is a bit beyond his culinary skills at the moment. I add some chopped ham so he does not feel deprived of meat.

Hope it all passes soon.

rachbc

roast chcken, jacket spuds and salad/ frozen veg. Whack the chicken in whole, shove in the spuds. No prep, easy healthy mea. The chicken will prob do 2 meals at least which DH could turn into a pasta/ risotto or similar

babyshoes

There are lots of 'cheat' foods in the frozen section which can be bunged in the oven/microwave, and aren't too expensive. I'm thinking of elements like frozen mashed potatoes, frozen cauli cheese bake, frozen veg, frozen sausages/chops/kievs etc. I use these types of foods for weeknights when I'm too tired to cook from scratch.

Could your OH manage the following techinques: Grill or bake some sort of meat according to instructions, microwave some frozen mash or a scrubbed fresh potato and microwave some frozen veg? Then all you need is an appropriate sauce / gravy, and there are loads of jars and powders to choose from for that. Not exactly cordon bleu, but perfectly adequate for a week night meal and healthier than instant meals / take away.

A roast is another meal I find very easy, but I don't tend to do it during the week because it needs a while in the oven. I chop up a load of veg into large pieces, such as carrots, parsnips, onions, peppers, mushrooms, spuds, garlic etc and dump it in the roasting pan. Put the meat on top (seasoned if you like), and cook it for the appropriate time in the oven. Remove the meat to a chopping board to rest, scoop the veg out and put the juices in a pan. Add bisto and water while heating to make a gravy of the right consistency. Carve and dish up.

valk_scot

One suggestion to control nausea brought on by cooking smells is to suck something like a Chupa Chup lolly while cooking. I was quite into the strawberry ones but there are several flavours availible. Sniffing strawberry scented soap works as well, but is harder to do while cooking!

Hopefully the MS will tail off in another month or so. But your OH does need to learn to cook a bit more for future times. How about buying him a copy of Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food? It's got some excellent family recipes and is written in good, clear, simple language. I bought it for my 14 year old son when he expressed an interest in cooking and it's become a firm favorite.