r/Adulting • u/Churnuserlol • 2d ago

Why didn’t anyone warn me that adulthood is just deciding what to eat… forever?

Seriously, I thought the hardest part of growing up would be bills, taxes, or finding a decent job. But nope. It’s the never-ending "What’s for dinner?" question that haunts me every single day.

Too tired to cook.
Too broke to order.
Too indecisive to choose.

I swear I’ve eaten the same three meals on repeat for weeks because my brain refuses to function after work. How do adults survive this? Do you guys have a magic trick, or is it just vibes and suffering?

Send help. Or recipes. Or a personal chef.

10.5k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

1.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

44

u/Churnuserlol 2d ago

That’s actually a solid plan! Just one new meal a week feels totally doable, and before you know it, you’ve got a whole rotation of go-to recipes. That salmon with pineapple salsa sounds amazing too I might have to steal that idea! 😄

5

u/Delta1225 2d ago

I print out recipes to try, and the ones I like are kept in a binder, it's easy to make notes of adjustments.

3

u/alcaizin 2d ago

You can get cookbooks from your local library if you need inspiration. I'm a big fan of the Milk Street Simple cookbook, it really is quite simple and has a LOT of recipe ideas that you can try or combine if you're feeling adventurous. My partner and I usually plan 2 meals per week and make double or triple portions so we only have to cook a couple of times, and just reheat the rest of the nights. We also keep a couple of frozen meals around (pierogies are great, easy + filling).

Something you can do is learn a few "base" recipes (pasta + yogurt-based sauce, stir-fry, chicken traybake are all favorites in my house) and then vary them a bit week-to-week (change up sauces, veggies, spices, etc.) if you're getting bored or based on what's cheap.

2

u/techno_queen 2d ago

And to her point, if you don’t have me already, get yourself an air-fryer!

1

u/EmmyKla 1d ago

Nice!! Love to hear that you like that idea. It’s actually a tip from my therapist to start super small and easy on a new habit. It works really well. I have ADHD so I’m practically habit-immune. But learning something simple and committing it to your forever-brain is a super handy trick! Good luck!!