I've lost the ability to cook

I used to be a great cook - confident to just throw together different things knowing that the flavours I was choosing would work well. I never got flustered cooking and it was always a stress release for me to get into the kitchen. Then came children. My fussy "I DON'T LIKE THAT WHY DID YOU MAKE IT?" children. Because they are both too far on the lightweight side I couldn't always adopt a "well that's all there is so eat it or go hungry" approach, and because DD2 will literally throw up if I push her to eat something she doesn't like my cooking has changed to cater to their requirements. This means plain pasta, sausages, frozen peas that aren't even heated. Serious gourmet stuff there!!

So, after years of this I've lost that ability to just look at what's in my cupboard and go oh yeah, there's dinner. I've also lost the motivation to cook given that the girls are still hopeless and my DH, while appreciative of lots that I cook, is definitely more in favour of the plainer sorts of foods - takes the enjoyment out of it when I know that if I cook something a bit different, heaven forbid that has a sauce, the procedure will be serve to children, nag them (or not) to eat it, scrape entire contents into bin.

Has anyone else been here? Did you manage to get back to enjoying it again? Our diet is shocking now so I really need to start changing things, but I'm struggling to get it underway.

This is SO me, everything you've said! I really miss pottering in the kitchen and I'm sure DH is bored with the grilled meat and three veg. Heck, so am I!!

I'm buying Jamie Oliver's 15 Minute Meals (I have loved the TV series) and the plan is to do a weekly menu from the book (predominately) and attempt to find my groove again.

Glad to hear I'm not alone and hope we both find our feet in the kitchen again. I really miss it.

Yes yes yes!!!

Yep this is so me too. I used to love cooking, creating awesome meals. The kitchen used to be central to our lives. Then our children who werent fussy in the beginning became fussy and then the yummy meals went out the window in favour of stuff that they would eat, plainer more boring things.
In the last 6months, I have been changing the way we eat. I dont give options anymore. If they dont eat, then thats fine with me. I am making a lot of stirfries, a lot of salads. They know we expect them to try everything on their plate. If they dont like it then fine, but they know I dont have options anymore. I except that they dont like chilli and other spices, and thats fine, but what they dont know is I have alwasy put it in, just little amounts so they dont know the difference.
My girls are still fussy eaters, but they are getting better.
Its getting slightly better, but I still have a long way to go. The one big thing that we have done to help get our groove back in the kitchen is one night of the week the girls get what they want for dinner, they eat early and once they are in bed, dh and I have our own date night, with real adult food, we cook together, and make things that are adult rated lol.
So happy Im not alone. And does this message make any sense at all? :lol:

I find meal planning is the key!!

A thermomix would help :p

Yup the thermomix certainly helps ;)

I keep saying I'm going to meal plan, but then I go to the shop and they've got something on special that's not on my menu plan!!

Is that what you do Olive? How many meals do you have on rotation? The one I did had one night of food that I knew the girls really liked, then the next night they had left overs and DH and I had something just for us, and then the third night was a "like it or starve" sort of choice.

I meal pan every week, the night before I go shopping.
I don't really have meals in rotation, I just meal plan what I feel like lol DH doesn't get much say unless im having issues picking meals. I bookmark every recipe I've made or have intentions of making. Some are non thermomix meals, others are, some are normal ones that I convert. I have liked lots of thermomix pages on Fb that give me awesome ideas!
Tonight we're having chicken Kiev

I've made four complete meals in Jack so far, and they've been great for DH and I so I'm definitely keeping them in the repertoire. Looking forward for winter when I can do lots of yummy soups in him.

I'm good at choosing recipes - just the wheels seem to fall off somewhere between the choice part and the cook bit ;-)

Lol!
There are night where DH and I eat different things to the girls too

I have also found dealing with the girls and DH has killed a lot of my cooking mojo. Even meal planning for us does not work, as something will interfere with that (DH saying he is not hungry, nights get mucked up so the meal that needed extra time can no longer be cooked etc), ends up with meal plans cancelled and wasted food.

Yep. That's been my very limited experience with meal planning too Astrid. I feel so guilty come bin day when I throw out so much stuff that's gone bad before I've used it.

Don't know if it would help but I was given a women's weekly cooking for children book, and it goes through all the stages from infant to young child. That might be worth checking out because its friendly for kids but appetizing enough for a normal meal. I have trialed it yet though. Dd eats anything she can at this stage. Hopefully she stays like DH and not me! :)

I throw out much less now that I meal plan...
Lulu use any left over veggies to make veggie stock and fruit can be frozen in pieces fir fruity dream

Yes!
Complicated by the fact that DP is often not home for dinner so only one adult to cook for. DD1 is pretty good but DD2 is ridiculously fussy so for her I make sure I cook a big batch of plain pasta or mashed potato that she can have throughout the week so no cooking separate meals.

Then I will cook something more adventurous for DD1 and I like bolognese, chicken cacciatore, shepherds pie, chicken curry etc. and freeze the leftovers which I can have myself the next week if I'm serving them a really simple non-adult meal like fish fingers and beans.

:

---

I make sure I cook a big batch of plain pasta or mashed potato that she can have throughout the week so no cooking separate meals.

---

This is exactly us and it drives me nuts.

Little_O - DD3 is awesome at the moment too and I'm crossing everything she stays that way and not just copy her sisters.

Olive - do I have to just use a specific weight of vegies, or do you just chuck in whatever amoutn of whatever you have?

Yes,I feel the same. I have started taking DD's dinner out before I finish the cooking process. I.e, keeping her meat plain, removing from the pan and then continuing toads more flavor for DH and I if that makes sense.

Dd is a shocking eater, use to be a good eater then that all changed! :doh:

I seem to have lost the ability to cook too!

But I also HATE meal planning. I don't have a clue what I will feel like on Wednesday!

Yes!!! Me too.
I loved foodie mags and cooked new stuff a lot. Not anymore though. Made even more frustrating when there's only one adult. I should take on Fiona's tips.

Do you mean for stock Lulu? There's a recipe in the edc.

Yup, what Kim said lulu, just change the veggies listed for what you have, stick to overall same weight though.

Thanks lovely

so relieved to find out i am not the only one having problems with this issue.

have never understood how to meal plan. have downloaded the info, printed it out, read it, but been unable to co-ordinate it all, to put it into practice. Can totally understand i would save money/food if i did menu plan.

every day, dd comes up with a new excuse NOT to eat. She refuses to eat Maccas, recently she refused to eat icecream. Let alone what i offer her. The paed wants me to fatten her up, ha, i would just be happy if she ate something. I haven't made a stirfry or anything "normal" to me, for so long, i've forgotten how.

the last time i mustered up the courage to make lasagne, dd refused to eat it (it's supposedly her favourite thing to eat) because "it's too cheesy". This kid adores cheese. i cannot win. i had some myself, it was actually quite nice lasagne.

I am also hopeless at cooking now (DH is 95% cooking and we have NO variety) and hopless at meal planning. This was our major argument for foodmotron but so far we haven't experimented much with meals.