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Dutchess_III's avatar

Did you ever ask you family what they wanted for dinner?

Asked by Dutchess_III (47071points) August 26th, 2021

Or did you just cook what you cooked?
I never asked. I knew what food I had on hand. They didn’t.
I had a staple of about 7 dinners that I rotated through.

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45 Answers

KNOWITALL's avatar

I almost always ask my husband, but there’s just the two of us, so it’s not a hassle.
He cooks as well, and if it’s hot like now, we may eat sandwiches or cereal instead.

zenvelo's avatar

I often ask my kids what they want. I have a repertoire of about 20 dishes I cook on a regular rotation, but our moods change depending on the weather and whatever is going on.

I prefer getting my meats and produce fresh, so I go to the store in the afternoon.

Dutchess_III's avatar

Now that it’s just Rick and me we feed ourselves.

filmfann's avatar

We cooked what we cooked.
Once a week we would allow the kids to object, and get pizza.

YARNLADY's avatar

I ask them on shopping day to be sure I have what they want. After that it varies from day to day. Mostly my choice, since it depends on what is fresh and how hard I want to work.

Dutchess_III's avatar

My cooking tapered off when I became a single mom. I still cooked dinner but it was simple stuff.
One Sunday I divided to fry some chicken.
My son, 9 or 10 at the time, wandered into the kitchen and was watching me curiously.
“What are you doing?” He asked.
“Frying chicken! What does it look like??”
He said “Oh. I thought you were experimenting.” And wandered out.
Smh!

Dutchess_III's avatar

* decided *

Tropical_Willie's avatar

I asked Monday; what my wife wanted and made a 8 pound Lasagna on Tuesday night !

Dutchess_III's avatar

I want lasagna!

seawulf575's avatar

I ask all the time. They always want the same thing: Whatever I want to cook. But I keep asking.

Tropical_Willie's avatar

@Dutchess_III gone !

3 lbs sauce (Basil and Garlic)
1 lb noodles plus water
2 lbs meat (Hot Italian sausage and hamburger fried)
1 lbs Ricotta and two XL eggs mixed with Italian seasonings and garlic powder
half a pound provolone in second layer
half pound grated mozzarella on top

Tropical_Willie's avatar

My mom got the recipe from an Italian Restaurant and Pizza place in the 1950’s and I was making it when I was 12 by myself.

Dutchess_III's avatar

Can you email this to me?

Tropical_Willie's avatar

Lasagna pan won’t fit ! ;>)

Dutchess_III's avatar

My email has changed since we last talked. I’ll PM you.

chyna's avatar

@Tropical_Willie I want the recipe also.

Dutchess_III's avatar

What is “1 pound noodles with water”? You boil the noodles up first?

Tropical_Willie's avatar

Yes, noodles for 12 minutes in boiling water.

Finish it in a 350 * F oven for 40 to 45 minutes

Tropical_Willie's avatar

After taking out of oven and resting for 15 minutes on cooling rack, cut and serve.

janbb's avatar

I use the recipe on the Ronzoni lasagna noodle box. Very similar and is delicious.

sincere's avatar

All the time. I’m tired of planning menus every day!

JLeslie's avatar

I go through spells where I ask my husband a lot of the time, snd then other times I don’t. When I ask I usually give him a choice of two, or maybe I know the meat, but ask him what sides he wants.

Most of our marriage I didn’t ask that often, but when he is in a dieting mode it’s like I need to ask what he wants and what he is willing to eat. It’s so much better when he isn’t dieting.

raum's avatar

Sure. Not like carte blanche. But I will give them options depending on what’s in the fridge.

jca2's avatar

It’s just me and my daughter, and I will give her a few choices. I’m pretty flexible.

Brian1946's avatar

On a rare occasion I will, but I usually ask her where she wants to eat.

Forever_Free's avatar

I always asked. I also usually know what i will be having the day before.
It was a Saturday morning tradition to pull out the monthly food magazines (Food &Wine, Cooking Light, Epicurious, Bon Appetit) and cookbooks to pull a list of meals for the coming week.
It engaged my kids in the process and exposed them (and me) to new meals and tastes. It also created new favorite meals/foods for them that they would request.

It helped me create a shopping list and have enough planned meals ready for the upcoming week. As a single working Dad this was critical.
I could then get home from work, know what I had planned and have a solid healthy (manytimes amazing) meal on the table in 45–60 minutes.

I still do this but with various web sites. I love the process of preparing and cooking a meal.(glass of wine a must). I also love to host.

It was a tradition I started with my kids that have so many wonderful memories tied to it.
My kids (now adults) are doing this on their own now. Both of them love to cook everything. I get a joy from getting a text or call asking me for a recipe or a photo of their creations.

chyna's avatar

^Do you need a wife? :-)

janbb's avatar

@chyna Get in line!

Forever_Free's avatar

@janbb @chyna What do you want for dinner?

Dutchess_III's avatar

You didn’t ask me but….LASAGNA!!

Forever_Free's avatar

@Dutchess_III Penciled in for Monday. How did you know I was making Sunday Red Gravy this weekend and was already planning Lasagna.
Did you peep at my meal plan?

KNOWITALL's avatar

@Forever_Free Ahhhhh, finally, another ‘red gravy’ person!!

People make fun of me for saying gravy instead of spaghetti sauce, but when you make it from scratch, I refuse to call it that. haha! Love it!

Forever_Free's avatar

@KNOWITALL Tomato harvest season brings out the big stock pot for making red gravy! I too refuse to call it anything but what it is.

Cupcake's avatar

We try to plan a “menu” for the week as a family, but mostly use it as a shopping guide. We don’t rigidly stick to it. I have little energy for making dinner (or any decisions) by the end of the work day, so I’ll often ask what others want for dinner. Or just leave it to my husband to figure out.

chyna's avatar

I will eat whatever is served. And I will be grateful for it.

Dutchess_III's avatar

Here. Have these cow brains swimming in red gravy , @chyna!

chyna's avatar

Ok, I draw the line there.
And really, I don’t want my food touching and I don’t like most green foods. But other than that, I’m not picky.

Dutchess_III's avatar

LOLL! I use that cow brains antidote when I’m in “discussions” with people that force their children to eat things they don’t want to eat.

zenvelo's avatar

@Dutchess_III Do you have something against eating beef brains? They are delicious with scrambled eggs or in tacos.

KNOWITALL's avatar

@chyna Fun fact: That’s called brumotactillophobia, a form of OCD.

You should check out the Food Cubby on Amazon. My friend has the same phobia.

Dutchess_III's avatar

I wouldn’t eat them @zenvelo
Too much ick factor. Most people feel the same way.

KNOWITALL's avatar

@Dutchess_III I’ll second that. I grew up with cattle and haven’t had brains, although I’d try it.

raum's avatar

Sesos is actually pretty good!
Though I prefer lengua tacos. Yum.

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