I'm boring myself with my cooking. Hit me with your midweek meals please?

[Megatron]

I'm literally boring myself to death with my own cooking and need some new ideas. I love cooking and not afraid to try new things but time restraints mean that I like things that don't take too long - 40 mins max unless it's just something you bung in the oven. So my usual staples are:

Spaghetti bolognese and various combinations using bolognese sauce.
Fish with lentils and tomatoes and crusty bread.
Sausage, mash and beans
Parmesan chicken, jacket spuds and veg
Chickpea curry, rice and flatbreads
Omelettes/Frittatas
Chinese style pork and rice
Chicken tikka and bombay potatoes
Macaroni cheese
Lentil Shepherds pie

I also have a very fussy 16 year old who snacks constantly but I need ideas for reasonably healthy snacks that he can take out with him. He doesn't like anything it seems.

I do bulgar wheat and salmon.

Roast the salmon in the oven for 20 minutes. Meanwhile fry some onions and whatever veg needs eating (mushrooms, green beans, pepper whatever) and then add boiling stock and bulgar wheat. By the salmon is done the bulgar wheat will be also and you can flake the salmon through.

Tagliatelle with crab, creme fraiche, chilli flakes, olive oil and lemon juice (boil tagliatelle and then mix everything together); could substitute prawns for crab. If you can add some roasted garlic, then that makes it nicer

Chicken korma and naan breads

I can make the ragu and white sauce for the lasagne on the hob in 20 minutes, then it takes 30 minutes in the oven - is that too long for you? I use ready made sofritto from Waitrose which speeds it all up

Paella (BBC easy cook paella recipe - I add king prawns and garlic) - takes 40 minutes including the prep

Red thai salmon fishcakes and sugar snap peas (BBC recipe, I add spring onions and more garlic)

Chorizo and Halloumi bake. Chop up some chorizo, red onion, sweet potato and red pepper and put into a baking tray with some oil and a sprinkling of paprika. Bake for around 45minutes- and hour until the sweet potato is cooked then slice on some Halloumi and return to the over for 5 minutes. I serve it with either cous cous or crusty bread.
Thai curry? I do big batches of thai paste and freeze it so the curry is quite quick, it tend to use up odds and ends from the frige/veg rack.

WellTidy, have you ever used tinned crab for that recipe? I have some to use up. I have no idea how we've ended up with it though, I have no memory of ever buying it!!

A few suggestions-

Lentil dahl with rice
Tonnes of recipes online but I particularly like ones made with fresh ginger. Healthy and filling.

Aubergine and mushroom curry.
This one is nice:
www.theroastedroot.net/roasted-eggplant-and-mushroom-curry/
Might take bit longer than 40 mins but could make big batch

One pot orzo, pepper and sausage stew.

Stir fry garlic, ginger and pork mince til browned. Add in beansprouts and grated carrots and cooked rice ( you can use the microwave sachets for min mess and max speed). Season with soy sauce. Serve with lettuce leaves as wraps/bowls.

I would seriously recommend buying whichever of The Roasting Tin cookery books appeals most to you. There’s the original, quick, veggie and world one and they are all great. All easy and have transformed by midweek cooking. There was a thread about them about a year ago with peoples favourite recipes.

Something like these for snacks?

www.bestrecipes.com.au/recipes/cheesy-vegetable-muffins-recipe/nbmkydhf There are loads of similar recipes online.

Tacos/burritos
Chicken/veg stir fry with noodles
Steak sandwiches with salad/wedges
Burgers
Not what you asked but I sometimes do a large batch of slow-cooked meat on a Sunday and have it a couple of times during week eg- American pulled beef- that’s the latest favourite and serve with rolls and coleslaw. Only takes a few minutes during the week to re-heat.

I feel the same OP, normally love cooking but so over it now. Our staples are;

Sausage and spinach pasta

Fried rice with microwave rice and various leftover veg / meat.

Soy noodles and Salmon

Hot smoked salmon tagliatelle

Spanish tortilla and salad

Club sandwich

Home made burgers & salad.

Chicken & broccoli bake:
1 medium breast per person (or 3 for 4 people if on the larger size) diced & pan fried until almost cooked. Add half a chopped onion & cook for 5 mins.
In an oven dish mix up a sauce with 70ml double cream, half a tub of cream cheese, 1 tablespoon lemon juice & 1 tablespoon of pesto. Stir in the chicken & onion. Blitz a small head of broccoli, or half a large one in the blender until it looks like crumbs, then cover the chicken mix. Sprinkle grated cheese on top & bake at 180 °c for approx 30 mins. I serve with salad in summer, or other veg in winter.

• Chorizo and prawn stir fry
• Vegetable / chicken and vegetable / chorizo and vegetable quesadillas (really easy and quick to make!)

My teenage ds is bored with his usual snacks. He loved baby carrots when he was little and got some in for a change. Expensive but worth it. He make apple and orange juice on silicon molds We have carrot slices, cucumber and red pepper in the fridge anyway. We have cooked chicken and cubes of cheese. He is also having ramen which isn't healthy.

We have added in Tom Kerridge's Beef Biryani from his Fresh Start programme. It freezes really well.

www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/beef_biriyani_96108/amp

The other thing I make is BBC chicken, lemon and oregano tray bake. I prep everything and leave it in bags in the freezer so it it is super fast to cook.
www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/lemon-oregano-chicken-traybake

I'm going to look for that tray bake thread.

Pan fried trout (takes 5 minutes max), new potatoes or potato salad, green beans/frozen peas/broccoli.

Instead of macaroni cheese, streaky bacon/lardons and cherry tomatoes in sauce, layer of mozzarella on top. You could still add cheese to the sauce but it's quite rich without it. Cut big cherries in half and use plenty of them. For two people I use 4 streaky rashers and 250g of tomatoes and a mozzarella ball, I'm not sure of the weight but they're a standard size I think. Fry up the rashers, and break them up into little bits, cut any larger tomatoes, boil the pasta for a couple of minutes to soften it, make sufficient white sauce for your dish - it should be runny enough to coat everything and enough to cover everything, top with mozzarella and bake.

Thai Red Curry.

@NoWuckingForries could you post the link if you find it please?
Wagamama has posted videos for some of their recipes on their Facebook page. The Firecracker chicken is amazing. Make up the sauce and keep it in the fridge before hand then it's just a matter of bunging everything in a wok to cook.

I do a variation on this - you can switch the veg and cheese about depending on what you have in:

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chicken-broccoli-pasta-bake

An easy chicken satay curry:

Brown chicken in a pan with a chopped onion and a couple of chopped garlic cloves, add in Thai red curry paste, peanut butter, and a tin of coconut milk. I tend to add a chopped red pepper, and some coriander at the chicken stage. Serve with rice, naan, etc.

Chorizo and red pepper pasta:

Chop the chorizo and heat until it oozes oil. Add a chopped onion (I like it cut in rings) and garlic. Once the onion's soft, add a red pepper cut into biggish chunks, some smoked paprika, and if you want them, chilli flakes. Bung in a tin of chopped tomatoes, and a handful of frozen peas. Serve with pasta.

Another favourite here is a veggie sausage traybake. Basically roast whatever veg you have for about half an hour - I tend to use onions, squash, sweet potato, tomatoes on the vine, peppers - with olive oil and a bit of fennel and cumin, then add veggie sausages on top for 20 minutes. So easy and tasty.

@CoffeeBeansGalore "chicken and broccoli bake" is a family recipe of ours and I regret to inform you that you are making it wrong! ;) (although yours does sound delicious!)

The (very rough) recipe is:

• Chop chicken breasts and fry in a frying pan
• Chop broccoli into small florets and boil
• Cut potatoes into slices and boil until just tender
• Add cooked chicken and broccoli to a casserole dish
• Top with the cooked slices of potato
• Mix a tin of condensed chicken soup with milk in a saucepan and stir while it simmers and combines
• Pour sauce over the chicken, broccoli and potato
• Sprinkle grated cheese on top
• Cook in the oven until the cheese is golden and bubbling

I've no idea where the recipe came from but my family have been making it for at least 3 generations that I know of

For snacks, my 16 yo lives on apple wedges with peanut butter.

Easiest dinner ever, chorizo slices with onion and garlic stir fried. Add pasta and broccoli, chuck in salt pepper and Parmesan. Eat.

Chicken and spinach filo pie - chicken and spinach cooked put with flour and garlic and white wine, scrunch up some filo on top and oven for 20 mins. We have it with whatever green veg we have.

If you have a slow cooker you can chuck a load of tomatoes, some aubergine, anchovies, garlic and red wine in and leave it for 8 hours for a delicious spaghetti sauce.

Curried chicken and mango salad - meat is marinaded in the freezer and just fry it up and add to lettuce, cucumber, mint and (pre-diced mango)

Oh, another nice easy one is "fake Nando's". They do a peri-peri rub for chicken which you can get in Sainsbury's etc. It just gets whacked in the oven, then serve in pita breads with salad, coleslaw, and Uncle Ben's "Mexican Rice". I sometimes do some grilled halloumi, or sliced avocado to go in the pitas too.

IDB I’ve never used tinned crab as I didn’t know you could get it! I will look out for it. I buy fresh as it lasts a few weeks and we don’t eat it more than once a month.

tortilla with home made guacamole, salsa and spiced beef or chicken
homemade burgers with sweet potato fries and salads
salmon roasted with sweet chilli and soy with stir fry ginger and garlic veg and rice or noodles
feta, pine nut and spinach filo (spanakopita) with salads
good sausages with mash, onion gravy or homemade onion chutney or fried onions, peas and spicy mixed baked beans

I also buy dry spice rubs from Waitrose, add some lemon or lime juice and marinade diced chicken breast. Fry up the chicken. Make a raita (natural yoghurt and some mint sauce from a far) and serve with wraps. Easy as.

Fajitas take more effort but are still easy enough - sliced onions, carrots and peppers, fried In a large shallow pan. Add shredded chicken and pour on a packet of dry fajita spice mix and combine. Serve with sour cream and tortilla wraps.

Thank you, these are great!

DS is the most fussy eater - struggles with certain textures too. He DOES like carrots though so those cheesy muffins with carrots and courgette could be a real winner for him. He's really into cycling and I need him to eat properly or he ends up snacking on shite because he's so hungry. He'll make a pathetic effort with an apple sometimes but he could probably do with some quite carb/protein heavy snacks too.

Loving the recipes, please keep them coming.

We're having bbq every night this week because of the hot weather.

Pork souvlaki
Garlic chicken
Lamb kofte
Halloumi and bulgar salad

Tonight we are having Mexican lasagne..