Meal ideas please.

[LadyMacbethWasMisunderstood]

Family of 5. 2 adults, 2 teens and an 8 year old. Not fussy. No special requirements. I’m a decent cook. But we are all so bored with everything I’m serving up now.

I’m desperate for new ideas. I make soup and bake and don’t mind learning new skills.

To give you an idea of the sort of things I’ve been cooking in the last few weeks.

Soup - carrot, chicken noodle, minestrone.
Mushroom risotto
Spaghetti bolognese, spaghetti carbonara,
All sorts of pasta with chicken or roasted veg
Chicken burgers
Savoury bread pudding
Chicken pie
Nut roast
Paella
Chilli con carne
Spinach filo pie
Halloumi curry.

About half our meals are meat free

Thank you.

There’s no fish on your list, so fish pie, fish fillets baked with lemons, fish soup such as Cullen Skink or Asian style broth with vegetables & fish chunks, Goan fish curry.

You are right. It hasn’t feature as I’ve been doing click and collect from the supermarket rather than our usual fish place. I’ve never made Goan fish curry. Will look that up. Need to get back into fish. Thanks.

Forgot kedgeree!

In addition to some on your list, key things we eat are:

• various lentil dals, with rice or naan
• homemade pizza
• homemade wraps with black beans and salad

Salmon in soy/rice wine /ginger with greens and rice

• chickpea curry
• frittata
• Pasta with chickpeas, cabbage, lemon breadcrumbs
• pasta e fagioli
• spring vegetable risotto
• Vietnamese pork mince lettuce wraps

We made burgers with sausage meat in ciabatta with mustard and grated apple this week. Also nachos, huevos ranchos, Spanish omelette.

Fajitas
Lasagne
BBQ
Roast chicken/pork/beef/lamb
Mousaka
Stuffed peppers/mushrooms
Curries
Spanish chicken (Delia recipe)
Sausages
Pizza (make your own or not )

Delegate - can the teens cook? My teenager made a lovely pasta dish with prawns the other day.

My 'go to sauce' for pork and chicken (haven't tried for fish but don't see why it wouldn't work). Fry chopped onion or shallots until soft. Add 100ml of stock + 100mil of white wine or white port and reduce by about half. Add in 200ml of single cream and reduce slightly. Squeeze in some lemon juice and whisk in a knob of butter. Bloody gorgeous.

Oh, and savoury pancakes - mine are with spinach, cheese and ham - are fab for the days you just can't be bothered to cook.

Fajitas
Spicy rice with prawns
Prawn noodles with black bean sauce
Chicken ginger noodles
Veggie chilli with jacket spuds
Fish Gratin
Mixed seafood pasta bake

Some great ideas thank you.

I don’t mind the cooking. It is quite relaxing. I’m just running out of ideas. It has been really helpful here to read what others eat. Some things I’ve never cooked and I’ll definitely give them a go.

I made these last week, delicious and very easy!

www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/vietnamese-style-meatballs-with-chili-sauce.html

Baked potatoes and salad (lots of different fillings)
Chilli pasta bake
Different curries - meat and veg
Campfire stew
Various things with salad - quiche / fish cakes / ham & boiled eggs
Tray bakes - paprika potato wedges / any veg / chicken and or chorizo and sausages
Sausage or pork steaks and mash / wedges
Fried with broccoli, peas and chicken / ham / egg
Stir fry / noodles
Omelettes / frittata

Like pp yes to more fish - salmon with lemon or harrissa or sweet chilli with salad or rice and veg, cod with pesto or chorizo or cooked on cubed potatoes, garlic and tomatoes

Also if you have a slow cooker - really easy to stick a joint in in the morning - pork for pulled pork, beef brisket, whole chicken, ham etc, leave it all day and then have with veg / potatoes or salad for tea and leftovers the next day

Some of my go to meals you may like based on what you've been having:

• Aubergine Parmigiana
• Pad Thai (prawn or chicken)
• Smoked fish pie
• Frittata with loads of roasted veges and cheese in it, serve with chutney and garlic bread

Salmon fillets wrapped in Fill pastry.

I second tray bakes - dead easy and lots of variations possible. Good for fish too - which seemed the obvious omission to me as well.

Following

Chicken katsu curry
Homemade chicken kiev
Tuna or salmon fish cakes
Tabbouleh and kebab
Pork or chicken souvlaki tzatziki greek salad
Lasagne
Spanokopita
Tagine with couscous

Two of our favourite meals are

5 spice chicken thighs - I get the bone in ones but trim the skin because there can be a lot. Then I make a marinade of Chinese 5 spice mix, soya sauce, crushed garlic and runny honey. Smear it over the thighs first thing in the morning. Bung them in the oven for 30/40 mins (depending on size and serve with egg fried rice/veg or noodles/veg.

Our other favourite is Lamb koftas - lamb mince etc (I use cumin, garlic etc), make into Koftas and serve with warm pitta breads, Greek Salad/feta, grilled halloumi and some cous cous with griddled peppers mixed in.

I’ve been making a lot of the following:

Lasagne
Chilli with rice / leftovers with baked potato
Fish pie
Thai prawn curry
Frittata / omelette
Chipotle chicken wraps with sour cream, salsa and guacamole
Enchiladas
Pizza
Honey and soy chicken with stir fried veg and noodles
Stuffed mushrooms and peppers
Tagine with roasted butternut squash
BBQ chicken / burgers / sausages with veg kebabs (adding slices of chorizo makes these even better)
Piri piri chicken roasted with peppers, cherry tomatoes, onion and fennel