I should buy a blank notebook and just journal this shit out instead of working it out in-thread.

Oh, but this way you can bookmark and tag things for easy reference. And we can sit on our virtual porches and nod sagely.

Would it help for you to tell us what you have in stock and for us to tell you what to have for dinner? Depression can be very weird (as I know first hand) so maybe that is the LAST thing you want. But say the word and we can do it. (And I know everybody knows better than to tell you what to have for dinner unasked.)

Teppy, there are days when I am very much in the same boat with you wrt dinner and the associated guilt. writing up a meal plan with TCG at the beginning of the week has helped a little and also the crock pot because my energy is gone at the end of the day and my I don't give a fuck has usually increased.

On the other hand if you hairpats rather than solutions say so. There are all sorts of practical ways to deal with the practical problem. But at the same time the fundamental problem is the depression and maybe what you want is sympathy and generally to know we are on your side rather than suggestions. Just remember that for some of us trying to be problem solvers is our instinctive way to show love.

We have the same dinner basically every night. DH is doing Atkins, so he has a cheap cut of meat and a salad. I have a frozen lean cuisine french bread pizza and a piece of fruit. I have this about five times a week, honestly. When we were eating the same thing, we made up for it by cooking a LOT of whatever and eating it many days. I did a crockpot thing once a week or so and we ate that for a few days. Then he made something which we ate the other days.

When I get depressed I not only hate cooking but the stupid dishes give me anxiety. I don't have a dishwasher so the dishes pile up and in my old place there was only 1 sink and it wasn't very deep and the whole set up kind of sucked.

So I'd eat out. A lot. And feel guilty. And trying to get it under control I decided to cut out the dishes, I switched to paper and plastic (bad for the enviornment, good for my mental health) and ate a lot of quick frozen things. Like this brand of meatballs I found I liked, I'd heat them up and heat up a steamer pouch of veggies or pasta/rice and veggies and eat that.

I did find I was able to bake boneless skinless chicken breasts in the oven without it feeling overwhelming. I did a bunch at once and then kept them in the fridge and ate them with frozen veggies and whatnot.

Maybe you can think about what feels the most overwhelming and cut down to the basics.

Yeah cooking in advance and freezing is a huge help for me. I make one dish meals and freeze mulitple 2 person servings. Over the course of a weekend I will freeze twelve 2 person servings in total of three different dishes. Crockpot meals divided and frozen. Not suggesting that for everyone. I know people who that would drive crazy. But I cook two weeknends in a row,s skip the third and don't cook at all on weekdays.

Awww, Tep.

I'd just invest in Trader Joe's meals that you can pop in the microwave and DON'T GIVE HIM A CHOICE.

(Don't give yourself a choice either. Just stack up five things that you know he'll eat and grab the one on top.)

Like he walks into the house, you go grab a frozen lasagna, pop it into the microwave and just hand it to him.

And when you're a little less stressed and your ADs are all calibrated you can get back to dealing with dinner.

Hec is wise. Some of the other stuff probably is too much to deal with while dealing with depression.

I normally love cooking dinner for everyone, but lately I am Steph with regards to dinner, or I would be if I didn't have to feed kids. But I am doing a lot of making fish sticks or pasta or bean burritos for the kids and then not eating because it doesn't look appetizing to me. I do eat breakfast and lunch, but I'm all decisioned out by dinner time.