I don't mind cooking, even though making a big meal wears my back out anymore, but the expectation of an elaborate meal every night for 15 years wore on me, especially since my ex-husband was a picky eater. If it wasn't perfect in his eyes, straight in the trash, a big fight, yada yada yada. The man isn't as picky in some ways, but he is in others. He'll eat most vegetables, except the ones I really want to make the most for a meal alone, like cabbage and dried beans. When I was in junior high, mother and I and my middle brother could make a meal on a pot of dried beans for several days, and David was 18-19 years old. I did find a quick beans with sausage & ham that the man likes though. Dusty said he hated it the first time, but now he asks for it. Go figure. Growing up in Denmark where everyone vacations in Italy, when I want lasagna, the man wants me to leave out the ricotta (or cottage cheese) and use jarred alfredo sauce instead, and the flat noodles instead of the ones that most American's use. Well, that's out. He doesn't like pork chops, which my ex-husband calls my signature dish that will "make you wanna slap your momma." He'd rather have a pre-seasoned pork loin. I'd love to call it a Tuesday & throw some steaks on the grill, but he's so picky about how the use of the grill goes that there's not enough time after work on a weekday. (Clean outside, clean inside, cook, clean inside, clean outside, eat, re-cover before bed. Sometimes he's such a d**n engineer!)
If I'm wanting to try a new ethnic dish though, 95% of the time, he's all in. I can surprise him with something new that I know he already likes all the ingredients of and he'll thank me 5 times for cooking and give me an honest opinion on what we should try different or tell me if it's perfect. I make this Thai cashew chicken, which my ex would never have eaten, that he loves. Sometimes I want good southern comfort food though. I made country fried steak the other night. I didn't tell him I was going to, I just started cooking it before he got home. When I've mentioned it before, he's always said it's too much trouble, let's go to Chili's & get it & let them clean up the greasy mess.
I have a bread machine, and I try to keep fresh bread in the house most of the time. When there isn't, and he gets home from work early, he'll sometimes make two of the Danish bread mixes we got in Denmark & we'll freeze half of each loaf for later. Speaking of that, one of the guys at work is begging me to make him some dinner rolls. He's single & has nobody to make bread for him at home. I promised I would for Thanksgiving & he said that's too long to wait.
Another guy's wife is recovering from a fall that broke her ankle and back, and I offered yesterday to make him a pot of chicken & dumplings, but he said that wasn't good for you. Then he proceeded to tell me how much his wife loves them, followed by how much he loves Swedish meatballs, lol. I think I'm going to make both & take them half, since I always make enough for us to eat for 2-3 days.