Hi guys,

I have a bit of a dinner menu issue for my VERY picky husband.

Here is the thing, we have been married forever, he is BORED and sick to death of my go to meals.

I personally eat low carb, but my family does not. I have tried new things, all have been a flop! He has no suggestions, I am OUT OF IDEAS!

He basically likes ground beef based meals, roast beef is fine (no chuck roast or "fatty" cuts) He does like vegetables, and loves cheese, pasta, and bread.

My mother went through this exact problem with my dad at about the same point in marriage, and also struggled with solutions that worked.

UGH! I am getting to the point that I dread cooking for him! Any suggestions? He seems to prefer simple, over brand new ingredients, or multi ingredient ideas. :P

He has no suggestions at all?

Whatever does he do in restaurants?

Why don't you flick through some cook books together and POJA ones you like.

Did you read through the "What's For Dinner" thread on this board? There are some great-sounding dishes there. (Skip Mel's "Road-Kill Chili"!)

Some of the posts list the recipes. If not, I'll bet the initiator will provide it.

tisme, go online and google the menu that you want, with your H's food interest, like "wine sauce pork tenderloin potato skins recipe" and click on the recipes link. You'll get plenty of info there.

shaddup, NG! That is low carb chili!!

I would suggest getting Dana Carpender's 500 Low Carb recipes. I have lots of super recipes out of that book that my whole family loves. It has scads of great entree ideas. You can add carby choices for your family like mac/cheese, potatoes, bread, etc.

That is low carb chili!

A great educational platform is the MB Forum!

1) I innocently thought the only "carb" options for RKC were 2-barrel or 4-barrel.
2) Googling "Texas Roadkill Chili" was a marvel! AquaNet as a marinade?!? Who knew?

Here is a slightly different version of a meatloaf. It is stuffed.

Make your meatloaf however you prefer. But in the middle add hard boiled eggs, cooked italian sausage and provolone cheese. I usually cook this free form verses a loaf pan.

I also have used cooks.com or recipe.com for other ideas.

Or squirrel juice if there is no Aquanet available, silly.

My husband and I are both athletes and train in a similar manner but very different eating styles. I generally make a protein and vegetable dish, that is compatible with a grain dish on the side.

So, for example, he loves ground beef with black roasted red peppers, and I make that up with salsa and keep a bowl of brown rice on the side for me and the kids (he just eats 2-3x normal amount of the protein/vegetable mixture).

You can also make pasta frequently, and use spaghetti squash for your own "pasta" while serving him the actual grain pasta. We just make a sauce separate.

My suggestion is for him to do the cooking.

Men are too messy in the kitchen....

That's why Joyce doesn't let Dr. Harley cook, actually!

But, seriously, if someone has a problem with how Domestic Support is performed, one of Dr. Harley's suggestions is that that job become their responsibility! He needs to take some ownership in solving this problem, not just put it all on her.

Hamburger helper every night, with an added onion and added veggie, plus an added side veggie with cheese sauce sometimes, plus garlic bread or rolls.

Sounds good to me!!!

(I do not eat low carb. )

Try and steam all your veggies (bok choys .. carrots ... brocoli ... etc) in chicken broth ... really makes them SOO yummy!>. add in some chopped garlic to the broth for them to steam in as well ... OMG ... veggies never tasted soo good. WE did this because veggeis were so bland tasting we had a hard time getting the kids to eat it .. now they eat all the veggies usually first.

Are you saying that cleaning the kitchen becomes my HUSBAND'S responsibility?? Or do you mean my responsibility? Because I don't want him messing around in the kitchen!

I feel your H's pain! And I'm the cook! In a year, I serve somewhere between 250-300 different dinners. I am always looking for new recipes, because I get bored eating the same stuff over and over.

Some of my experiments have been less than successful. Sometimes I get frustrated in trying to come up with new meals (for myself--nobody asks me to do this!) so here's what I do:

First, I get a lot of magazines with recipes in them. Good ones, like Saveur, Food&Wine, Real Simple, BHG, etc. This is just something that I do regularly, I have always been a big magazine reader and I've found a way to get subscriptions free (eRewards, I do surveys for mags), so I always have a ton in my house. When I want some suggestions, I hand one to my H and ask him to pick out two or three recipes that look good to him.

And he does! There's never as many choices as a cookbook offers.
That makes it easier to choose.

I totally understand getting bored with the same go-to meals served over and over. I would go nuts. Here's an easy page with (mostly) good recipes, you could show it to him and ask him to pick a few he'd like to have. http://www.womansday.com/food-recipes/month-of-menus/october-2012-month-of-menus

If you pick a full week to make, you can even print out a shopping list.

My mouth is watering. Not in a good way.

Mel, put...the gun...down. We promise that your husband will NOT be in your kitchen!

Thank you all so much for all the great ideas and suggestions! I am so happy i asked you guys, I have been asking people about this problem for months but most would give up once hearing about all the things he won't eat!

I even asked his family for recipes from his childhood thinking that would be a hit, but it wasn't, he said he didn't like it much growing up either! This shopping trip I did talk to him and he was most interested in saving money, so he went through the sale adds and did offer some ideas, so I was happy about that!

I also looked on pinterest and got some basic ideas with a new twist, tried one already, he loved, but flopped with my kids.

Indiegirl, we are NOT very adventurous with restaurants actually! We tend to have go to spots and order the usual...haha!

Neverguesssed, I DO plan to try Melody's road kill chili actually! It is still pretty hot where I live (no fall for us) so just waiting for some chili weather!

Melody, thanks for the cook book suggestion! Went on amazon, great price! Also saw a low carb crock pot book by her, I think I may get also! What are your favorites?

Logansrun, Thanks for meat loaf idea, he does love meat loaf and I have never tried stuffed I will modify to his liking and give it a try!

Alis, yes I do that as often as possible, keeps things simple!

Markos, well, I would agree that could be a solution, but I am a SAHM, he works 6 days a week, so I do feel it is MY job, but he is actually a good cook, but SOOOOOO MESSY, like Melody said, and SO NOT WORTH IT! UGH!

Mrniceguy, yum....thanks for the veggie idea sounds great, gonna plan for next menu idea's, I have been roasting veggies in the oven lately, with EVOO, garlic, and sea salt so good too!

CWMI, Thanks for the link! I am gonna check that out now. I agree that the same go to meals for years IS boring, he is just soooo picky, it is very challenging to be original!

I am determined that I WILL find new menu idea's that WILL be a hit! Before when I was going through my cook books and trying new things, he actually said for me to stop trying new things, but then was still bored and complaining, but I think I may have finally figured out I need to keep it basic, just new twists using only ingredients that I know he likes, just more variety in the rotation! He did pick ALL standards this time but like I said his goal for this time was lower grocery bill!