‘Better to live on the corner of a roof than with a nagging wife’

I can see more than a few blokes out there vigorously nodding their head in agreement at this proverb. I’m by no means the perfect wife but I have taken this proverb to heart and try really hard not to nag. There are so many things that us wives would like to nag our husbands about: help with the kids, help clean the house, go for a medical check, watch less sport on TV, come home early from work, help with the cooking…

Until a few weeks ago cooking in our home was solely a female job – apart from tea and toast which I greatly appreciated in bed on a lazy weekend. But that has all changed – without even one tiny nag. Masterchef on TV probably started it off. But what finally did it for my husband was a weekend away with his mates. They fished, they watched rugby, they drank lots of beer – and they cooked. No not just baked beans on toast. There was fresh fish smoked over Earl Grey tea leaves, smoked fish patties, pumpkin, spinach and feta patties, bruschetta, gourmet chips, crispy fried fish, salsa and salads.

A few days later my husband came into the room holding open the recipe section of a magazine. “I think I’ll make these,” he announced, showing me the recipes. I tried not to fall over in shock. “That’s a great idea,” I spluttered out of my almost speechless mouth. And he did!

I now get a night off cooking most weeks as he whips up fantastic meatloaf (made with lean mince, onion, grated carrots and rolled oats) and delicious apple berry crumble (made with grated apples – skin on, berries, rolled oats and spice) – so healthy.

And you know how boys love to copy their dad? Our 8-year-old now makes pizza from scratch every week – and I have to admit it tastes better than mine used to. Tonight we’re expanding his repertoire to chocolate brownie – made the healthy way with canned apple to replace most of the butter. You can get the recipe from the NZ Healthy Food Guide magazine website.

I’ve now joined the ranks of those fortunate women whose men cook – and I’m loving it!

Recipes to follow in next post…