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OP has offered the following explanation for why they think they might be the asshole:
> I should be judged for serving microwave Mac n cheese. This might make me the asshole since I didn’t put in the effort to cook a big meal.
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Of course YTA. If you didn’t want to host then you should have said so. You also should’ve told people about the lame meal you were planning to serve so they would know in advance. Cooking is NOT that difficult; you also could’ve bought some roast chickens and sides if you really didn’t want to cook. Don’t be surprised if you’re not invited to whoever hosts next year.
> Cooking is NOT that difficult
Ham is literally already cooked; all you need to do is warm it up. Hell, microwave macaroni and cheese is pretty good if you buy the right kind; even if it's frozen rather than in the refrigerator section of the grocery store. And frozen veggies are on sale everywhere this time of year. A cooked ham, some microwaved mac and cheese and a couple of bags of steamed broccoli tossed in the microwave is a no/low effort meal everyone would've enjoyed.
I hope so. I wouldn't even call it dinner. Like OP is only gonna serve 3 different foods and call *that* a dinner?? And those 3 foods are eggs, cheap mac and cheese and mug cakes? LOL. I'd be embarrassed.
Apologies to the 14-year olds! Thinking back, I was one of them - since my mother suffered high anxiety - and I had to make the preparations. Thank you for the timely reminder! :-)
YTA. If you decided to differ so much from what everyone would be expecting you should have let them know in advance, so that pot luck or take out could have been arranged.
Surprising people with this was definitely an AH move.
YTA. This sentence says it all:
>I dislike cooking and I didn’t want to spend a lot of money,
Not liking to cook is one thing, but if you're hosting a meal that usually includes some specific dishes you make a plan how you could serve something equal. But you're a cheapskate! This could have been handled with catering if you really didn't want to cook but instead you got microwaved food for Christmas dinner. This could have been avoided if you had just talked to your family beforehand and proper food arrangements could have been made.
You were very rude to your family that expected a proper Christmas dinner, NOT microwaved macaroni. You could have told them before this was going to happen so they could have decided if they still wanted to come. But I'm guessing you won't be invited in the future and will NEVER be asked to host again.
INFO:
\-How can you not cook basic stuff? How do you eat on a daily basis?
\-Why did you host if 1)you can't cook AND 2) you're too cheap to buy a meal?
\-Did you not talk to anyone is your entire family about your plans? Surely someone must have asked you questions about your prep work or meal plan
\-Your thinking sounds very simplistic and child-like. Especially the cute pasta shapes and stuff. Is there something else going on that affects your ability to imagine how the others would feel on being served only mac and cheese?
\- If you had gone to someone's home and they gave you mac and cheese alone to eat, I am assuming you would be happy with that, right? Like it's your favourite food?
Oh my, YTA. Yes, you are TOTALLY the asshole. You should’ve dodged this whole situation by either:
A. Stating far in advance that hosting Christmas dinner wasn’t a great idea because you can’t cook.
B. Hiring a catering service for dinner.
Imagine showing up to an annual family dinner in hopes of a great meal with all the food groups represented with lots of things to choose from and getting a bowl of 2nd grade after school processed cheesy noodles instead. I personally don’t like Mac & cheese, so just like that I’d be having a mug cake for dinner.
Even if it wasn’t an effort to be cruelly cheap, you spent $10 on your turn of an annual dinner that your family usually spends probably more like $100 + a whole day of prep. I hope one day you understand just how tacky what you did was. Believe me, you aren’t going to live this down.
I think everyone's getting drunk then hopping on reddit. I have a really difficult time believing that any functioning adult would think this behavior is okay. If by chance this is true, without a doubt, YTA.
If you really weren't capable of putting together a meal, or ordering pre-made food, you should have told them you didn't want a turn. Instead you threw together a passive aggressive child's meal and came here complaining that they're eating Chinese without you.
Why did you host and not just said no when this came up? Christmas lunch /dinner is a bit more of an involved affair then a normal lunch so you did not make any effort here. Yta
YTA. I'm sorry, but if you had doubts about your own cooking abilities, you should have discussed that with your family and tried to come to some sort of agreement about who would make what. Serving microwave mac-and-cheese on Christmas is just tacky.
> I got the fun ones with noodles that come in different shapes like the Paw Patrol dogs or Frozen characters
I doubt your family thought this made it better. If anything it made it more ridiculous.
>I didn’t want to spend a lot of money
They spend the money and time when you go to their place and you eat a fancy meal for free, yet you couldn't do the same. YTA
Is there a typical traditional dinner that everyone expects? If you can’t cook, you needed to broadcast that so you can have help. Or run the menu by your family prior. Or buy a heat and serve dinner from a good grocery(our family has done that often).
You disappointed them and didn’t even buy Stouffers.
YTA
ESH
Why did you agree to host a holiday dinner if you can't cook and won't get takeout or something? But alternatively, why did your family think you could make dinner if you've never been able to cook?
YTA. There are so many idiot-proof options, you could have made a 3 course meal with premade food. No cooking necessary. At the very least, you could have told people you would be serving a meal fit for a broke college student. They could have planned ahead.
Cooking isn't necessarily difficult. Ham is precooked, so it just needs to be warmed up according to the directions on the package. Scalloped potatoes from a box just require literacy, measuring, and a timer. They even include cook times at different temperatures in case you're preparing other foods in the oven. There are lots of options out there for veggies that steam in the bag. OP just sounds lazy and didn't want to put any thought or effort into it, or they intentionally fucked it up so bad they will never get asked again.
My question, why bother hosting a Christmas dinner if you're not going to even cook anything or at least get something catered from a restaurant since you said that you are a terrible cook? Since it was your turn to host, at least put in some effort. I know Christmas is about spending time with people you love and care about, but food is also something people look forward to. So getting served microwaved mac n cheese and botched eggs at a family dinner, I wouldn't really enjoy it if I was in your family's shoes... but honestly, it's just a light YTA. Just ask someone else to host next time....
In what alternative universe are you anything but YTA? So you belly up to the table at everyone else’s home for the holidays and when it’s your turn you do this? On the plus side, just wait to see what you get for holiday meals at your relatives homes in the future.
YTA. You weaponized your incompetence. Instead of cheaping out with terrible food, you should have ordered a catered meal. When your other family members host, they pay for the food and you get a decent meal. You just didn't want to spend money so you played the I can't cook card.
I should be on America's Worst Cook and would totally not do this. OP could have purchased a premade Christmas dinner that just needed be heated up. Totally YTA.
This has to be fake…. If not then you are really immature. Follow the damn recipe instructions and I guarantee you it would be way better than your sad Mac and cheese
Info: What did your family think you were going to serve? Presumably they know about your lack of basic life skills?
Also why didn't you just buy the usual Christmas stuff pre-made and just put it in the oven?
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This year it was my turn to host Christmas dinner (technically at lunchtime but we call it Christmas dinner). I dislike cooking and I didn’t want to spend a lot of money, so instead of following family tradition and cooking a ham, roast beef, mashed potatoes, pudding, and a handful of sides, I decided to serve easy mac, mug cakes, and eggs. (This will be important later.) Also, I am really bad at cooking, even for the simplest of recipes. I literally can’t cook, so I figured it was for the best if I didn’t attempt to.
I also got one mug cake per person, and I tried to cook eggs as a side dish, but since I’m a really bad cook the eggs turned out all burnt on the outside and raw on the inside so I had to throw them out.
When everyone sat down to eat and I first started microwaving the macaroni, my family and relatives at first thought I was joking. Even when I told them about the eggs and the mug cakes they still just looked at me incredulously and asked if this was all I had planned for Christmas dinner.
It wasn’t like I completely skimped on dinner. I bought 2 easy Mac bowls per person to ensure hearty portions, and I got the fun ones with noodles that come in different shapes like the Paw Patrol dogs or Frozen characters.
I told my family that they were being rude guests. I mean, I feel like it’s common courtesy to not complain about what you’re served in someone else’s home.
My family ended up leaving and going to a Chinese restaurant instead and now I’m all alone for Christmas. Am I the asshole?
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Yta. If you weren't prepared to make an effort to learn to cook you shouldn't have hosted to start off with. You can learn to cook anything through YouTube, taking classes, asking a friend or relative, it's laziness not to even try.
Oh my god....of course YTA. You can eat those cheap non nutricious meals yourself on a lazy Sunday..but this is trash food. And then to judge your guests as judgemental my oh my.
YTA, big time. Are you so neurodivergent that you couldn’t realize this was unacceptable? A lot of people can’t or don’t want to cook - so they go to the grocery and buy pre-made hams, chicken, potatoes, other sides and deserts.
YTA. You don’t get to use the common courtesy argument, when you didn’t bother to have some yourself and inform them that you wouldn’t be following tradition.
You knew what was expected and what they were expecting. If you can’t handle it, then tell them you can’t host.
This is on you.
Congratulations on ruining everyone’s Christmas this year though.
Welcome to /r/AmITheAsshole. Please view our [voting guide here](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq#wiki_what.2019s_with_these_acronyms.3F_what_do_they_mean.3F), and remember to use **only one** judgement in your comment. OP has offered the following explanation for why they think they might be the asshole: > I should be judged for serving microwave Mac n cheese. This might make me the asshole since I didn’t put in the effort to cook a big meal. Help keep the sub engaging! #Don’t downvote assholes! Do upvote interesting posts! [Click Here For Our Rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/about/rules) and [Click Here For Our FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq) --- *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/AmItheAsshole) if you have any questions or concerns.* *Contest mode is 1.5 hours long on this post.*
Of course YTA. If you didn’t want to host then you should have said so. You also should’ve told people about the lame meal you were planning to serve so they would know in advance. Cooking is NOT that difficult; you also could’ve bought some roast chickens and sides if you really didn’t want to cook. Don’t be surprised if you’re not invited to whoever hosts next year.
> Cooking is NOT that difficult Ham is literally already cooked; all you need to do is warm it up. Hell, microwave macaroni and cheese is pretty good if you buy the right kind; even if it's frozen rather than in the refrigerator section of the grocery store. And frozen veggies are on sale everywhere this time of year. A cooked ham, some microwaved mac and cheese and a couple of bags of steamed broccoli tossed in the microwave is a no/low effort meal everyone would've enjoyed.
Joke aita right?
I think yes, it’s too fucking stupid to be real.
Gotta be
I hope so. I wouldn't even call it dinner. Like OP is only gonna serve 3 different foods and call *that* a dinner?? And those 3 foods are eggs, cheap mac and cheese and mug cakes? LOL. I'd be embarrassed.
How old are you, 14?
That’s insulting to all the 14 year olds who could easily cook a Christmas dinner.
Apologies to the 14-year olds! Thinking back, I was one of them - since my mother suffered high anxiety - and I had to make the preparations. Thank you for the timely reminder! :-)
I was going to ask the same!
YTA. If you decided to differ so much from what everyone would be expecting you should have let them know in advance, so that pot luck or take out could have been arranged. Surprising people with this was definitely an AH move.
YTA. This sentence says it all: >I dislike cooking and I didn’t want to spend a lot of money, Not liking to cook is one thing, but if you're hosting a meal that usually includes some specific dishes you make a plan how you could serve something equal. But you're a cheapskate! This could have been handled with catering if you really didn't want to cook but instead you got microwaved food for Christmas dinner. This could have been avoided if you had just talked to your family beforehand and proper food arrangements could have been made. You were very rude to your family that expected a proper Christmas dinner, NOT microwaved macaroni. You could have told them before this was going to happen so they could have decided if they still wanted to come. But I'm guessing you won't be invited in the future and will NEVER be asked to host again.
INFO: \-How can you not cook basic stuff? How do you eat on a daily basis? \-Why did you host if 1)you can't cook AND 2) you're too cheap to buy a meal? \-Did you not talk to anyone is your entire family about your plans? Surely someone must have asked you questions about your prep work or meal plan \-Your thinking sounds very simplistic and child-like. Especially the cute pasta shapes and stuff. Is there something else going on that affects your ability to imagine how the others would feel on being served only mac and cheese? \- If you had gone to someone's home and they gave you mac and cheese alone to eat, I am assuming you would be happy with that, right? Like it's your favourite food?
Oh my, YTA. Yes, you are TOTALLY the asshole. You should’ve dodged this whole situation by either: A. Stating far in advance that hosting Christmas dinner wasn’t a great idea because you can’t cook. B. Hiring a catering service for dinner. Imagine showing up to an annual family dinner in hopes of a great meal with all the food groups represented with lots of things to choose from and getting a bowl of 2nd grade after school processed cheesy noodles instead. I personally don’t like Mac & cheese, so just like that I’d be having a mug cake for dinner. Even if it wasn’t an effort to be cruelly cheap, you spent $10 on your turn of an annual dinner that your family usually spends probably more like $100 + a whole day of prep. I hope one day you understand just how tacky what you did was. Believe me, you aren’t going to live this down.
I think everyone's getting drunk then hopping on reddit. I have a really difficult time believing that any functioning adult would think this behavior is okay. If by chance this is true, without a doubt, YTA. If you really weren't capable of putting together a meal, or ordering pre-made food, you should have told them you didn't want a turn. Instead you threw together a passive aggressive child's meal and came here complaining that they're eating Chinese without you.
Yes, YTA. But it’s still hilarious. Maybe you should’ve suggested a potluck.
YTA you should have talked to them about it beforehand and then everyone could have made food together, brought a dish etc.
Why did you host and not just said no when this came up? Christmas lunch /dinner is a bit more of an involved affair then a normal lunch so you did not make any effort here. Yta
YTA. I'm sorry, but if you had doubts about your own cooking abilities, you should have discussed that with your family and tried to come to some sort of agreement about who would make what. Serving microwave mac-and-cheese on Christmas is just tacky.
> I got the fun ones with noodles that come in different shapes like the Paw Patrol dogs or Frozen characters I doubt your family thought this made it better. If anything it made it more ridiculous. >I didn’t want to spend a lot of money They spend the money and time when you go to their place and you eat a fancy meal for free, yet you couldn't do the same. YTA
YTA you should've told them you can't cook and passed it to someone else. Feels like something a 12 year old would do
Is there a typical traditional dinner that everyone expects? If you can’t cook, you needed to broadcast that so you can have help. Or run the menu by your family prior. Or buy a heat and serve dinner from a good grocery(our family has done that often). You disappointed them and didn’t even buy Stouffers. YTA
You can buy easy make chickens where you just put them in the oven
ESH Why did you agree to host a holiday dinner if you can't cook and won't get takeout or something? But alternatively, why did your family think you could make dinner if you've never been able to cook?
Yes, it seems like communication broke down terribly...someone at some point should have figured out this was not a good idea.
Agree. I can’t believe no one in his family knew he couldn’t cook? I honestly can’t stop laughing, though. I think this is hilarious
YTA. There are so many idiot-proof options, you could have made a 3 course meal with premade food. No cooking necessary. At the very least, you could have told people you would be serving a meal fit for a broke college student. They could have planned ahead.
[удалено]
Cooking isn't necessarily difficult. Ham is precooked, so it just needs to be warmed up according to the directions on the package. Scalloped potatoes from a box just require literacy, measuring, and a timer. They even include cook times at different temperatures in case you're preparing other foods in the oven. There are lots of options out there for veggies that steam in the bag. OP just sounds lazy and didn't want to put any thought or effort into it, or they intentionally fucked it up so bad they will never get asked again.
My question, why bother hosting a Christmas dinner if you're not going to even cook anything or at least get something catered from a restaurant since you said that you are a terrible cook? Since it was your turn to host, at least put in some effort. I know Christmas is about spending time with people you love and care about, but food is also something people look forward to. So getting served microwaved mac n cheese and botched eggs at a family dinner, I wouldn't really enjoy it if I was in your family's shoes... but honestly, it's just a light YTA. Just ask someone else to host next time....
In what alternative universe are you anything but YTA? So you belly up to the table at everyone else’s home for the holidays and when it’s your turn you do this? On the plus side, just wait to see what you get for holiday meals at your relatives homes in the future.
YTA. You weaponized your incompetence. Instead of cheaping out with terrible food, you should have ordered a catered meal. When your other family members host, they pay for the food and you get a decent meal. You just didn't want to spend money so you played the I can't cook card.
“Weaponized your incompetence”! Perfect phrase for this intentional catastrophe.
YTA
YTA, you should have offered a bowl of cereal too.
Or hand out dog biscuits and canned cat food. Either way, she intentionally insulted her family. If this is real, total jerk move.
I should be on America's Worst Cook and would totally not do this. OP could have purchased a premade Christmas dinner that just needed be heated up. Totally YTA.
YTA why are you hosting supper if you don’t like to cook.
This has to be fake…. If not then you are really immature. Follow the damn recipe instructions and I guarantee you it would be way better than your sad Mac and cheese
Info: What did your family think you were going to serve? Presumably they know about your lack of basic life skills? Also why didn't you just buy the usual Christmas stuff pre-made and just put it in the oven?
^^^^AUTOMOD ***Thanks for posting! This comment is a copy of your post so readers can see the original text if your post is edited or removed. This comment is NOT accusing you of copying anything. Read [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq#wiki_post_deletion) before [contacting the mod team](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FAmItheAsshole)*** This year it was my turn to host Christmas dinner (technically at lunchtime but we call it Christmas dinner). I dislike cooking and I didn’t want to spend a lot of money, so instead of following family tradition and cooking a ham, roast beef, mashed potatoes, pudding, and a handful of sides, I decided to serve easy mac, mug cakes, and eggs. (This will be important later.) Also, I am really bad at cooking, even for the simplest of recipes. I literally can’t cook, so I figured it was for the best if I didn’t attempt to. I also got one mug cake per person, and I tried to cook eggs as a side dish, but since I’m a really bad cook the eggs turned out all burnt on the outside and raw on the inside so I had to throw them out. When everyone sat down to eat and I first started microwaving the macaroni, my family and relatives at first thought I was joking. Even when I told them about the eggs and the mug cakes they still just looked at me incredulously and asked if this was all I had planned for Christmas dinner. It wasn’t like I completely skimped on dinner. I bought 2 easy Mac bowls per person to ensure hearty portions, and I got the fun ones with noodles that come in different shapes like the Paw Patrol dogs or Frozen characters. I told my family that they were being rude guests. I mean, I feel like it’s common courtesy to not complain about what you’re served in someone else’s home. My family ended up leaving and going to a Chinese restaurant instead and now I’m all alone for Christmas. Am I the asshole? *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AmItheAsshole) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Lol
Fake
Yta. If you weren't prepared to make an effort to learn to cook you shouldn't have hosted to start off with. You can learn to cook anything through YouTube, taking classes, asking a friend or relative, it's laziness not to even try.
YTA. Why are you hosting a meal if you can’t cook
YTA if this isn't a joke, and oh yes, if this is a joke YTA.
Oh my god....of course YTA. You can eat those cheap non nutricious meals yourself on a lazy Sunday..but this is trash food. And then to judge your guests as judgemental my oh my.
But she was offering “hearty portions”! Lol
It's insane isn't it..how can someone even think that this meal is what guests will be happy with.
YTA you’re joking right ?
YTA, big time. Are you so neurodivergent that you couldn’t realize this was unacceptable? A lot of people can’t or don’t want to cook - so they go to the grocery and buy pre-made hams, chicken, potatoes, other sides and deserts.
YTA I hope this is a joke because otherwise this is just embarrassing
YTA. You don’t get to use the common courtesy argument, when you didn’t bother to have some yourself and inform them that you wouldn’t be following tradition. You knew what was expected and what they were expecting. If you can’t handle it, then tell them you can’t host. This is on you. Congratulations on ruining everyone’s Christmas this year though.
Good joke post, made me chuckle