Weekend fun meal ideas

[SandandFog]

Trying to cut back a bit on the spending. We usually go out for tea on a Friday or Saturday night but I want to reduce this to once a month. We are a family of 4, 2 primary age kids.

I feel like we are a bit stuck in a rut with meals and would like to find some ideas for weekend meals that feel a bit more fun than the usual weekday fare of bolognaise, soup, veggie burgers etc.

So far I've come up with tacos! Anyone have any ideas for weekend meals that will replace going out?

Thank you!

Mine get excited by -

Pasta meals - but jazzed up with garlic bread and salad and veg to serve yourself from.

Similarly

Chilli with tortilla chips, cheese, sour cream etc

Curry with popadoms and sides

Stir fry with dumplings or prawn crackers.

Basically exciting additions/sides that they can help themselves to/fight over

How about an indoor picnic with homemade treats such as sausage rolls, scotch eggs etc and lots of piccy bits served on a rug on the floor.

Mine love a fake nandos here, so peri peri chicken with sides of salad, spicy rice, fries, Coleslaw and corn on the cob to self-serve.

We do hot dogs and burgers but in the cinema-style cardboard takeaway wrappers.
Easy to do, and no washing up!

Home made Nando’s is good
Homemade juicy lucy burgers with build your own toppings
Pulled pork buns
Sloppy joes

Yep to takeaway style meals

Make your own pizza
Nachos
Hot dogs
Mezze

Home made pizzas and burgers are always a big hit.
I also do chilli, but served up on a bed of nachos with guacamole, soured cream (or creme fraiche) salsa and cheese.
The kids love a roast too!
And I always try to do interesting puds at the weekends too. We have a competition thing we do every week and if they win they get to choose the pud that weekend!

brilliant idea for a thread.
Sausage and egg McMuffins for dinner - the sausage burgers are sold frozen as "breakfast pork patties". Hash browns.
DIY Nando's with chips or pitta bread
Sushi bowls inspired by a Boots meal deal dish - seasoned sushi rice, grated carrot, sweetcorn, smoked salmon, soy and wasabi.
Simple chicken ramen - easy, quick and not that different to Wagamama. Chicken stock plus chilli, garlic, lots of ginger, spring onion and soy. Surprisingly popular with DC.

During lock down we took it in turns to pick a restaurant, look up their menu online, pick a dish and then recreate it at home. It was really fun!

I've just commented on a Friday night idea thread, I can't find it now but lots of ideas on there.

For us - fakeways and anything mexican are the big hits.

Cheese fondue, one of your friends will have a fondue set floating around in their house so ask around. DC love dipping things in melty cheese.

We also do fake Nando’s.

Good burgers in nice buns with everyone’s own choice of extras always go down well here.

Pulled pork with corn on the cob, coleslaw, potato wedges and brioche buns.

Pizza is always a hit - making your own bases saves the most money and younger kids enjoy making the dough themselves. Add extras like dough balls, olives etc.

For a bit of a treat but not as much as eating out the gousto boxes are fab.

I’ve been meaning to look at the TooGoodToGo app. A fried regularly gets Toby carvery take always for about £3 and she says the portions are enormous.

We like a bit of a homemade fake nandos type meal. You can buy the marinades and sauces in the supermarket...so chicken, chips, corn on the cob, garlic bread, rice etc

We also use the M and S dine in offers (and reduced price in Marks and Waitrose at the end of the day) to try new stuff.

Alternatively, the special Italian/ Greek/ Spanish weeks in Aldi/ Lidl are a good time to stock up on something a bit different for a themed supper.

These are absolutely brilliant ideas! Thank you so much.

Would never have thought of fondu! My mum definitely has a kit I can borrow from the 70s!

Love the idea of the kids cooking their own sausages on a little bbq, they would love that!

These are all fabulous! Thank you

Do you live near a Lidl? You could do a themed meal each week according to what country they feature… Italian, French, Greek, Alps, Portugal ( not next week unfortunately, that’s just wine week)

DIY Nandos- buy some of the sauce and peri salt and add to ordinary grilled chicken and homemade chips, coleslaw, peas- it's all really easy to do at home.

We make fake Nando’s quite a lot on a Saturday night.
We also have ribs regularly and use this recipe with racks of ribs from the butchers. afoodloverskitchen.com/easy-oven-baked-baby-back-ribs/
Another favourite is to slow roast a whole duck and serve with Chinese pancakes, cucumber spring onion and hoisin sauce. Both take a while to cook but minimal effort for maximum flavour.

A grazing platter or party food as it would have been called when I was a child! Everyone says what their favourite party food is & you can even spend some of the weekend making cakes or biscuits for it together. Other cheaper foods are sandwiches, veg sticks & dip, mini savory foods, salad etc. Present it on a big rectangular plate & the kids will think it's their birthday! My daughter loves it. It's a good way to get them to eat fruit & veg too.

I love an indoor picnic! On the living room floor 😊

My mum used to make us French bread pizzas on Saturday night and we were allowed to eat them in the living room watching Chips.

All of these ideas have been great!
I sometimes make barbecue pulled pork in the slow cooker to use in wraps/ as a burger topping/ in a pie etc. it's great if you have people around - just throw loads of salad, grated cheese, dips on the table with some wraps and everything can dive in.
Another favourite in our house is Vietnamese bun cha pork meatballs with a honey and sesame glaze, loads of lovely noodles and crunchy veg, with roasted sesame aubergine....delicious!

Burger loaded fries is popular in our house. Mini burgers made with mince, salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder and fried. Served on top of oven fries, mozzarella cheese, burger sauce and sliced gherkins. If you want to make it healthier stick a side salad on.
Also tortilla chips topped with cheese and chilli, soured cream, jalapeños and guacamole (we prefer homemade).
We've done a Carribbean night with jerk chicken and rice and peas and made rum punch.
Most weekends we do a longer cook so it's always something yummy. We did a curry last week with homemade flatbreads and samosas. There was enough samosa mix left to put in the freezer to make some more in the future.

Make your own California sushi rolls. We add mashed smoked mackerel grated carrot. Make sure you squeeze the liquid out a bit. An omelette cut into strips and picked pepper from a jar. Lidl do the best. Cook no season the sushi rice and roll in seaweed.

It’s cheap enough to make sufficient volume to fill up a family this way. Unlike buying it ready made it in a restaurant. That makes my eyes water