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.

Chicken/beef fajitas with onions and peppers in tortilla wraps with cheese, lettuce, guacamole and salsa.

Cut meat into strips or buy mini fillets.
Marinate in 2tbsp lemon or lime juice, a teaspoon of chilli powder and/or fajita seasoning to taste, a tbsp oil and a crushed garlic clove. Leave for 30 mins/1 hour in the fridge.
Cut the onions and peppers into strips.
Fry it all together.
Warm the tortilla wraps.
Serve with grated cheese, salsa, guacamole etc. Easy peasy!

IDB & WellTidy I use tinned crab for crab, chilli and flat leaf parsley linguine. Works a treat. It is obviously not quite the same as fresh picked crab but it’s much much cheaper. And in the cupboard for when the urge strikes!

I know the feeling of being in a cooking rut.
DS early 20s and has a massive appetite.
Regulars here which are fine but im bored.
Fajitas- stir fry whatever veg, chilli and strips of steak or halloumi. Serve in tortillas with some fried rice on the side for DS.
Crispy chicken wraps. Strips of chicken dipped in egg and rolled in spiced flour then fried.
Goulash and rice
Spicy beef casserole
Sunday roast
Pulled ham
Spaghetti rustica - stir fry some veg and chillies add a few prawns and diced bacon. Use cashews for vegetarians. Stir into cooked spaghetti.

How about chicken pesto pasta?

Fry chicken chunks with onions, peppers, mushrooms and garlic
Add 1/2 pesto (I’m fine with Sacla) 1/2 creme fraiche and stir
Mix with freshly cooked pasta and serve.

I do the Philadelphia carbonara but add fried onions to the bacon to bulk it out a bit. Sometimes some sweet corn as well. I can do this one quickly, even needing to do a dairy free one as well as a dairy one.

Pasta puttanesca is super fast and a huge hit here. I do this one but use whatever sausages we have and add chilli flakes www.myrecipes.com/recipe/italian-sausage-puttanesca

When I'm stuck for inspiration I often order these little prep pots from Spiceentice or JD seasonings; they have a load of different dishes - you have to still buy the fresh ingredients but it gives you the recipe and spice/flavouring mixes which is really handy when you're not sure if you'll like something and don't want to commit to buying 10000's of different herbs and spices if they're not already in your cupboard! I normally try the dish, and if I like it buy the actual spices to do my own in the future.
Some of my favourites include Chinese chicken curry, Katsu Curry, Homemade kebabs or burgers but there's tons on there to try!

jdseasonings.com/

https://www.spicentice.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIgI8hdGV6gIVycqyCh14PwpcEAAYASAAEgL4CDD_BwE

Chorizo macaroni cheese?

Add diced fried chorizo to the cheese sauce before baking/grilling.

Chorizo tomato pasta

Fry onions and garlic in butter (nicer than oil for this one) add diced aubergine, peppers etc.
Add tinned tomatoes and 2 tsp honey cook for 20- 30 minutes.

Dry fry diced chorizo and add to the sauce along with Italian herbs herbs and black pepper

Serve over pasta adding 1tsp Parmesan per person.

Our favourites include:

Chicken and broccoli bake - cooked chicken, one head of broccoli, a fried onion. Mix together and add a tin of condensed mushroom soup (I find chicken too rich) and equal quantity of mayonnaise. Too with crisps if you're my mil or mashed potatoes if you're me and bake. Use the same mix to make chicken pie.

One-pot fajitas - fry up onion, chicken, peppers, spring onion and a tin of Tesco taco bean mix. Serve with rice and wraps.

Spanish chicken - a one tray dish. Chicken, fancy peppers (the long thin ones if you can get them), bag of baby potatoes, small amount of chopped chorizo, garlic, zest and juice of 2 oranges. Mix with lots of snakes paprika and olive oil. Bake till potatoes soft.

Home made burgers and wedges

Salmon/chicken seasoned and baked in a tray with little potatoes, add asparagus and long stem broccoli for last 10 mins.

Some great ideas here that I'm noting down!

My mon-thurs meals this week and last are:
Jacket potatoes
Salmon with salad
Veg risotto
Linguine with artichoke and lemon
Falafel hummus and salad
Sticky mushrooms with rice
Quorn escalopes with chips
Spanakopitta

@GoldenPlover 😊 Mine was a low carb recipe for when my daughter was following a diet, but we liked it so much so just keep making it 😁

Home version of pad thai is always popular here. Noodles (rice for "authentic", udon if they're in the cupboard) with prawns, chicken, any other left over meats, whatever veg is in the fridge and a sauce of oyster sauce, rice wine vinegar, fish sauce, soy sauce and brown sugar. Add chilli flakes if you like them. Stir fry meat and veg, cook noodles, add sauce to stir fry to coat and thicken then thrown in the noodles to get them saucy too. Crack an egg in at the end to scramble and add some coriander leaves/chopped scallions/crushed peanuts depending on what you have in/enjoy.

Chicken Breast - I cut them in half so they cook quicker

Not pot noodle plate

Lemon Honey Chicken

Hoisin Wraps

These come to mind first all are good hot, room temp and cold in wraps and salad.

Chicken chow mein

Marinate chicken chunks in 4 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tbsp sesame oil, crushed garlic clove, 1-2cm ginger, 1heaped tsp schwartz Chinese 5 spice (Schwartz is nicer than own brand) for 30 minutes.
Stir fry chicken, add pack of stir fry mixed veg.
Can add chow mein pouch/jar sauce or/
1 Tbsp hoisin sauce and more light soy sauce and a splash of dry sherry (cheaper than rice wine!)
Boil egg noodles
Mix together.

This thread is great. My only contribution is risotto - it's quick, delicious, and can use up literally anything! With slightly different spices and ingredients, and sangria on the side, it becomes fake paella. You can even pop it in the oven if you don't want to do all the stirring.

-stir fry
-pad thai
-Thai green curry
-oven roast salmon either with smoked paprika or with teriyaki sauce
-chili con carne
-jerk chicken(requires marinating overnight) with rice and peas
-midetiranian veg tray bake with chicken thighs/legs/wings
-steak with chips/spinach/cauliflower cheese
-pasta with meatballs
-pasta with mushrooms in a cream sauce
-fajitas with steak/chicken
-mac and cheese
-mushroom risotto
-grilled chicken breasts with courgettes/asparagus/green beans
-grilled lamb chops with sautéed potatoes/boiled baby potatoes

This week's meals are -

Moules frites
Chicken curry
Baked fish and veg
Chorizo risotto
Mediterranean veg slices with lamb kebabs
Moroccan pork and puy lentils

Last night I made Jamie Oliver's 'my mate Pete's lamb curry', raita and a katchumber (Father's day treat), lunchtime for my Dad today I made a ham and cheese omelette. Tonight the kids are choosing sausage and mash

Pasta Puttanesca (so easy and cheap)
Salmon and asparagus baked in tinfoil with butter, lemon and dill
Prawn, garlic and lemon pasta
Easy fish pie (without the creamy sauce and with a sweet potato top)
homemade pesto (seriously easy) with pasta
Minestrone soup
Stuffed aubergines
Daal
Patatas Bravas

Mary Berry's Moroccan lamb tagine
MB's Salmon with Ginger Caramel
Chilli king prawn linguine
Halloumi and vegetable kebabs, potato wedges and sour cream

I was trying to find this recipe for those who mentioned tinned crab. This sounds good, though not tried it.

Prawn, lemon, creme fraiche pasta - spaghetti or taglitelle. So so easy and yum. It's on the BBC good food website, easy to find. Use more prawns is my recommendation and plenty of lemon zest.

Toad in the hole
Stir fry
Shepherds pie
Fish pie
Pizza and chips - buy pizza bases and add your own toppings
Lasagne

I usually batch cook large quantities of bolognese, and then de-frost and use for slag Bol, shepherds pie, lasagne etc.

Ooh also stroganoff! Either with left over pork or beef, or just mixed mushrooms. Serve with rice.

Stir fry with dried egg noodles, sauce from jar or fresh sachets, or make from scratch and whatever else you went in it. We'll have shredded cabbage or pak Choi, mange tout, broccoli, carrot etc. Sometimes have pork or beef in it, sweet and sour is my favourite.

@Standrewsschool chuckling at your slag Bol , my phone changes it to that top 🤣🤣