Ugh I do not know what to make for dinner. EDITED!!!

[SparklyUnicorn]

I'm going to the store in a bit.  But geesh I have no clue.

 

Is a bag of chips or cookies an acceptable dinner do you think?  :lol:

 

-------

 

I went to the store and while shopping the power cut out.  I came home and we were without power for over 4 hours!  So we really did eat a bunch of junk food.  LOL

 

 

Edited April 8, 2016 by SparklyUnicorn

[Miss Mousie]

Well, I see by your signature that you're low on bacon, so chips and cookies are definitely OK.

 

[Tanaqui]

No, sadly, it's not :(

 

Peach ice cream, however, is two out of four food groups!

[fraidycat]

Absolutely. Chips for supper. Cookies for dessert. Maybe a hot dog or beef jerky for some protein. :D

 

Perfectly acceptable...just not if you do it on a regular basis.

Edited April 7, 2016 by fraidycat

[SKL]

Well, yesterday my kids made some concoction out of cheese and hotdog buns.  :P  And a can of tomato soup.  Later they found they were still hungry, so they asked an auntie to bring McD's.  Shoot me, I was having a rough day yesterday.  :P

[LucyStoner]

A few days ago my sons ate popcorn for dinner. They didn't want anything else and I wasn't cooking unless they were specifically hungry.

 

They appear to still be alive.

Edited April 7, 2016 by LucyStoner

[Miss Mousie]

No, sadly, it's not :(

 

Peach ice cream, however, is two out of four food groups!

 

Harumph!  I take umbrage!

 

Chips are made from potatoes (or corn, depending), and cookies could contain raisins.  And, of course, chocolate, which trumps everything but bacon.

[rebcoola]

Popcorn is regular Sunday dinner here.  

[happi duck]

A few days ago my sons ate popcorn for dinner. They didn't want anything else and I wasn't cooking unless they were specifically hungry.

 

They appear to still be alive.

DD had leftover popcorn for breakfast this morning. People eat grits for breakfast so it seemed fine to me!

[BlsdMama]

I'm going to the store in a bit.  But geesh I have no clue.

 

Is a bag of chips or cookies an acceptable dinner do you think?  :lol:

 

 

Baked fish, tossed salad.  It looks like you made an effort even when, well, ya didn't. :P :D

[happi duck]

Recently I've been hating feeding people. I have the cooking equivalent of writer's block!

[marbel]

I rarely know what to make for dinner.  I love cooking but hate planning it out.  I don't even mind shopping if it doesn't involved wandering aimlessly thinking "what should I buy?  What should I make?  Why do they need dinner again?"

 

Tonight is one of the harder nights.  One of the kids has a class that requires us to leave the house at 5 pm.  Husband gets home between 6 and 6:30.  Sometimes I come home after dropping the kid off, but sometimes I like to stay out and sit in Barnes and Noble and read.   But either way I need food available for both.

 

(My husband could cook dinner, but our life is just not set up that way.  We had quesadillas last night and eat way too much cheese, so I don't feel like I can leave him with that option.  No one but me will eat a hot dog in any form.  Never thought I'd say I miss hot dogs.)

[SparklyUnicorn]

Recently I've been hating feeding people. I have the cooking equivalent of writer's block!

 

Me too.  I like to cook, but I hate coming up with ideas.

[SparklyUnicorn]

I rarely know what to make for dinner.  I love cooking but hate planning it out.  I don't even mind shopping if it doesn't involved wandering aimlessly thinking "what should I buy?  What should I make?  Why do they need dinner again?"

 

Tonight is one of the harder nights.  One of the kids has a class that requires us to leave the house at 5 pm.  Husband gets home between 6 and 6:30.  Sometimes I come home after dropping the kid off, but sometimes I like to stay out and sit in Barnes and Noble and read.   But either way I need food available for both.

 

(My husband could cook dinner, but our life is just not set up that way.  We had quesadillas last night and eat way too much cheese, so I don't feel like I can leave him with that option.  No one but me will eat a hot dog in any form.  Never thought I'd say I miss hot dogs.)

 

My husband never cooks.  And I mean literally NEVER.  The one thing that saves his arse is that if I don't cook he doesn't say a word about it.  He'll just eat a block of cheese or whatever he can find. 

[Mom22ns]

Popcorn is regular Sunday dinner here.  

 

A light dinner here on the weekend is sometimes popcorn and smoothies.

[mamiof5]

Spaghetti and a vegetable side? Easy enough :) Tuna sandwiches and chips, and cookies for dessert?

[Pawz4me]

We've been pretty lazy and junk foodie lately due to moving.  Last night was chicken Philly sandwiches (using frozen grilled chicken strips) and oven fries.  You know you haven't been doing all that well in balancing the family diet when you're gosh darn proud of yourself just for making a meal that includes some veggies in the form of sauteed onions and peppers (well, technically peppers are a fruit, but you know what I mean).  :lol:

Edited April 7, 2016 by Pawz4me

[Stratford]

We've had the crud here for weeks and nobody has an appetite.  Our fridge is sadly bare but no one seems to care as long as we have bread for toast and eggs to scramble.  I guess we'll shop eventually....maybe tomorrow.  

[PrairieSong]

How about baked potatoes with toppings? You can include bacon and/or steamed broccoli or just do sour cream, cheese, etc. Raw veggies on the side maybe.

 

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

[zoobie]

I am so tired of cooking for everyone. I have pork tenderloin marinating in the fridge and will blindly pull veggies from freezer to roast.

 

Grab a rotisserie chicken at the store and some salad. Bam.

[Roadrunner]

That works. Plus throw some bananas and milk into the blender. Cookies call for milkshakes! and chocolate.   :D

[PrairieSong]

I also love to make spicy peanut noodles..rice noodles or regular spaghetti..with veggies and a spicy peanut sauce (soy sauce, peanut butter, sriracha, I add a little honey) and chopped peanuts on top (optional). I lightly stir fry veggies (broccoli, carrots, onions, cabbage, mushrooms, whatever) and just throw everything together.

 

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

[JustEm]

I popped some pinto beans the crockpot and when they're done I'll saute some onions, mix them with the beans and give the kids bean burritos. I'll eat my beans without a tortilla and have some sauted kale too. They get a pass on veggies at dinner if they want because they have been munching on veggies all day.

[Mbelle]

Fish stick tacos with bagged coleslaw kit happened here one time. 

[Mbelle]

Personally I'm thinking about a gin and tonic for my own personal supper.  with lime of course for a fruit serving!

[cjzimmer1]

My DH and 3 oldest are gone for 3 days.  Which means, 3 days of no help keeping the 3 year old under control which also means 3 days of not having to cook real food.  It all balances out.  I took the kids to Pizza Hut to use their Book It coupons for lunch and threw a frozen pizza in the oven for the little guy.  Then I went to the specialty mac and cheese place and bought two of the large meals (I had a coupon).  I will eat lovely leftovers for 4 meals.  The kids ate pizza.  For supper they will have some leftover rice from the fridge, some hot dogs from the freezer (I might even thaw them first), and I'll probably hand them a couple of red peppers.  Not sure what they will eat the next two days but I see me handing out lots of odds and ends from the freezer that may or may not go together but definitely don't involve any cooking.

[happi duck]

My husband never cooks. And I mean literally NEVER. The one thing that saves his arse is that if I don't cook he doesn't say a word about it. He'll just eat a block of cheese or whatever he can find.

My poor dh. I will ask him "any ideas for dinner?" and he will thoughtfully answer "xyz?" and I whine at him "that's too much troubllllle! I hate that!"

 

I don't know why I even ask. It's like I secretly enjoy setting him up.

[heartlikealion]

I don't have any defrosted chicken, but if you do here's one

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/8631/easy-slow-cooker-chicken

 

The picture doesn't look that good to me lol. But it was good. I made the rice separately on the stove to make sure it cooked better. Then I threw some of the cooked rice in before the crockpot timer was done. I also didn't cut up the chicken and put full boneless breasts in there.

[happi duck]

Pasta with jarred sauce used to be my go to emergency meal but now I hate it too much.

 

It tastes like failure.

 

:P

[heartlikealion]

Pasta with jarred sauce used to be my go to emergency meal but now I hate it too much.

 

It tastes like failure.

 

:p

 

But have you tried it with a bag of raviolis? I currently have raviolis and no jarred sauce. Dh is like you can make sauce and I'm like ... I'll wait til we go to the store again. Hey, I've tried before. I just can't recreate his marinara. Maybe I'll get the motivation to try again.

 

(I like the meat raviolis).

Edited April 7, 2016 by heartlikealion

[school17777]

I have been uninspired to make dinner all week. Today, three of us are not feeling well. I texted oldest dd this morning to take the chicken out of the freezer so I could make soup. Came down to find a package of chicken breasts. Told dd that "the chicken" doesn't make chicken breasts - there is a whole chicken in the freezer. Power had gone out, so I didn't want to throw them in back in the freezer, so I am making dinner with them. (Just rotel tomatoes, black beans, corn, cream cheese, cheese, and the chicken breasts served on rice.). That's the most dinner I've made all week.

[MrsWeasley]

My default "I don't feel like thinking about dinner" meal is roasted chicken, roasted veggie, and green salad. I am especially found of roasting asparagus this time of year.

Edited April 7, 2016 by MrsWeasley

[Annie G]

A few days ago my sons ate popcorn for dinner. They didn't want anything else and I wasn't cooking unless they were specifically hungry.

 

They appear to still be alive.

 

When we go to a movie we intentionally choose a time that overlaps a meal so we can eat popcorn and call it a meal.  I figure it's expensive so it should be more than a snack.g   So yeah, my kids grew up thinking that popcorn was acceptable as a meal. 

[Mabelen]

I am making sweet potato creamy soup tonight which we will have with left over pesto pasta and sausages.

Husband is coming back tomorrow afternoon from traveling, there is pinto bean stew in the fridge for tomorrow's lunch. I am stealing PrairySong's spicy peanut noodles idea for dinner.

[heartlikealion]

I wish I lived closer to Little Caesar's. A $5 pizza would be nice tonight.

[Seeking Squirrels]

I hate figuring out dinner. My child with SPD has a lot of things she won't eat. Unfortunately, she also has dietary restrictions that eliminate 80% of her already frustratingly short list of things she will. The amount of overlap between what she *can* eat and what she *will* eat causes so much meal time stress. I have been known to cry over the menu and shopping list. 7yo often has a complete meltdown at meal time over something she can't have. I never know what to make.

 

I hate food.

[TammyinTN]

We ordered pizza and greek salad...I'm no help. 

[medawyn]

I wait all week until Friday. It's pizza night - delivery, not homemade. I love cooking, but right now that's my favorite meal ever.

 

Google smitten kitchen's one pot farro. I made that last night with half of a leftover jar of capers thrown in. DH got some leftover chicken with his, bc apparently it's not a meal without meat. It was delicious and easy.

[BarbecueMom]

Thursday is pizza night here. We send the kids downstairs with theirs to watch whatever (Pokemon tonight, apparently) and we watch Agents of Shield and the Big Bang Theory in our room.

 

But yeah, I'd totally do chips and cookies if the pizza flopped or something. Or popcorn.

[MrsRobinson]

I wish I lived closer to Little Caesar's. A $5 pizza would be nice tonight.

We live TOO close to Little Caesar's. "somebody call daddy and tell him to get the $9 meal deal on his way home!" That may or may not have happened today... :D

[creekland]

Fortunately, today was the day the FBLA fundraising sandwiches came in, so hubby and I had ham & cheese on pretzel rolls.  They were incredibly tasty and the only thing we had to do was open them up, heat them in the microwave for 45 seconds (since we like them hot) and add mustard.

 

I bought enough to have one each tomorrow too.

 

I had leftover Chinese for breakfast and a hard boiled egg for lunch.

 

I kinda like this type of meal planning.   :coolgleamA:

 

I'll admit to also giving up on the idea that eating healthily does anything meaningful for some of us, so I no longer care about that aspect.

[Spryte]

DH is traveling, and I'm sick of cooking, too.

 

We made pizza. Gluten free crust, sauce and pepperoni with black olives for one, plain cheese for the other kid.

 

I'm having clementines, cereal, and coffee. :D

[PinkTulip]

The worst thing about dinner is that you have to make it Every. Single. Day! If I only had to cook 3-4 times a week, I would be much happier, but my family seems to get hungry more often than that.

[school17777]

The worst thing about dinner is that you have to make it Every. Single. Day! If I only had to cook 3-4 times a week, I would be much happier, but my family seems to get hungry more often than that.

I feel the same way!

[AnnE-girl]

The worst thing about dinner is that you have to make it Every. Single. Day! If I only had to cook 3-4 times a week, I would be much happier, but my family seems to get hungry more often than that.

I plan at least one leftover night most weeks. It helps to cut down the actual cooking a little bit, along with a convenience food meal or two.

 

Tonight DH and I had chili that I made today, DS had a leftover pork chop since he doesn't like chili, and I made a box of Annie's shells and cheese for DD because the chili was too spicy and none of the leftovers (we also had lasagna from yesterday) appealed to her. I'm not usually that accommodating.

[heartlikealion]

I made dinner tonight and then I remembered how much my OCD with raw meat/juices affects my ability to function in the kitchen as I'm paranoid I got salmonella all over the place and the new thermometer is apparently not an instant one so that's probably why it didn't seem right. Maybe if I'm lucky there's a Hawaiian Little Caesar's pizza in my future this weekend.

 

Do people really find popcorn that filling?? lol I see a theme on this message board.

[marbel]

I was thinking about this thread this morning, while, of course, thinking about what to make for dinner tonight. 

 

It's ridiculous that I am so often trying to figure out what to cook. I have many cookbooks, a binder full of recipes we like, an Evernote folder full of recipes, a recipe box on the New York Times cooking website, and multiple recipe sites sending ideas into my inbox every single day!   There is no reason that we are not having good dinners every night, pre-planned and executed calmly.  

 

Tonight we will have garlicky ribs with collards.   (In case you look at the recipe and decide to try it... I've found that the temp is too high and the cooking time too short. The ribs are not very tender and the greens can get way too crisp/burned.  I cook them more slowly, then turn up the heat at the end to crisp everything.  I'm thinking of sticking the ribs in the crockpot to get a start cooking, then transfer to the oven with the green for a shorter cooking time.)

[El...]

I am making sweet potato creamy soup tonight which we will have with left over pesto pasta and sausages.

Husband is coming back tomorrow afternoon from traveling, there is pinto bean stew in the fridge for tomorrow's lunch. I am stealing PrairySong's spicy peanut noodles idea for dinner.

 

I just went through all my cookbooks and made a long list of the things that look good for the summer.  I got really hungry doing that.  I hope that will speed up my plan-making, so I can just go down the list when I don't feel inspired.  We'll see.

 

Also, I really want a recipe for sweet potato soup!  Do you mind sharing?

[Lizzie in Ma]

Story of my life, lol.  I am happy with popcorn and a beer, but apparently other people want actual food. ;)  Oh it it has to be low fat, gluten free, sugar free actual food, so that's fun.

I always feel so incredibly accomplished when I make a crockpot meal in the morning and don't have to worry about supper all day.

Edited April 8, 2016 by Lizzie in Ma

[Mbelle]

I am going through a taco phase.  I found about 5 different food truck style taco recipes.  I put the meat in the crock by lunch time with all the seasonings.  I try to keep some fresh ingredients on hand..jalapeno, the farmer style cheese or just a bag of pre shredded, purple onion and cilantro.  It's simple and people think it's cool.  Corn tortilla's up the flavor.  I just follow the meat directions, the toppings are what I have on hand.  Put the cilantro in a glass with water in the fridge and it will last awhile.