Apparently most people have 6 meals they make on a loop? How about you?

[BarrelOfOtters]

Some random study I read.

It's probably about right..

stirfry
fajitas
a roast of some kind (not every week)
salmon and veg
sea bass with veg
fishfingers chips and peas (or similar)
a curry - usually prawn.

The person above who posted a photo of a lengthy list of meals and the boast that they would go 2+ months without repeating a meal? Well they can fuck right off to the far side of beyond and back again. The original post was recognising that we as a genre, mothers, don't and cannot do this kind of shit. And your post is so holier than thou I cannot even. I try a new recipe maybe once a month if that, and if anyone out of the 6 of us eats it I count it as a win. If I like it too

@DrFoxtrot the harissa chicken and peppers traybake is a Jamie Oliver recipe from his five ingredients book. I’m sure it’s online too. It’s basically red onions and peppers in the bottom of a deep roasting tray, with a flattened whole chicken on top, and you rub harissa and red wine vinegar and seasoning into the scores chicken before cooking. And then dress with mint to serve. We have flatbreads and potato wedges with it.

In full agreement. Who has the time for that even. It's a bit much.

I'd say each to their own, but claiming to be 'shocked and depressed' by those of us on the thread lost my sympathy.

@WellTidy thank you! I'm going to give it a go!

JaninaDuszejko We are similar with cultural thing, husband is French and his family are obsessed with food. When they ask about a holiday they ask for details of every meal. His mother spends her life cooking and is very proud of that. I come from a family where nobody cared much about food, holidays are all about experiences and activities. So we have far more than 6 meals but dh does all the cooking and we get takeaways.

I've been cooking a lot from here after finding him on Instagram. Easy recipes, no daft ingredients
https://www.dontgobaconmyheart.co.uk

I mean really most stuff boils down to meat/fish plus carb plus veg
So I could count the mash pie type stuff I do as one meal but it's different. And the same
Chicken/leek/mushroom and mash pie
Sausage and onion mash pie
Cottage pie
Chicken/ham/cheese sauce mash pie

Same with pasta. I mean yeah it's different ingredients but technically it's all lumped under pasta whether it's a carbonara or pasta bake

Fajitas
Fish rice bowl
Roast
Macaroni cheese
Tomato pasta bake
Pizza

Probably about right for us because the kids are pains in the arse- not too fussy but one is pescatarian and they don't like much of the same things. Obviously we have other meals like sausages / jacket potatoes / omelette etc on occasion

Just to say I find the idea of batch cooking slightly odd I know no one in real life that does this, how do you find the time and why would you want to pre plan all meals, why would you want to eat frozen meals instead of freshly cooked, how do you know what you will fancy on the day? Like if it's hot I don't want a big stodgy meal or if it rains I might want more comforting food what if you have cooked something and then u don't fancy it on the day? ,all sounds incredibly boring and terribly organised but if that works for you jolly good

I would love to be someone who could just whip something up, I'm so envious of people like that. I do the food boxes as I need the inspiration and thr variety. For years I did probably a 2-3 week rotation but now I can't stand those meals so need to find some new inspiration. I absolutely loathe cooking.

I do a two week meal plan and I don't have the same main meal on it twice.

How much and what I cook depends on my health but I have a huge collection of cookbooks and I love planning and making a meal.

Mostly I'm on my own but sometimes I cook for friends.

If my health isn't up to cooking I get meals on wheels, my local council allows anyone to order them, they have have a sort of typically British menu but also Indian and Caribbean food so even if I'm ordering MOW I'll have a variety.

Husband and I share the cooking and we usually decide in the morning what we are having that night.

we start with the protein:
Salmon, chicken, prawn/seafood, halloumi/Mozarella, mince (beef/lamb), sausage/bacon

Add in the carb:
Rice (basmati/paella/risotto), bulgar wheat, pasta (orzo, lasagne, spaghetti), bean, lentils, noodle, potato, flat bread

Then bulk up with:
All the veg/salad (based on what’s in season/growing in the garden)

Typical meals using a combination of the above are:
Chicken schwarma
Stir fry
Orzo (chorizo & Mozarella)
Risotto (prawn)
Halloumi & bulgar
Salmon & roasted veg
Fajitas
Chilli burritos
Quiche & salad
Thai curry
Indian curry
Pasta
Paella
Pizza

Lasagne
Roast
Fisherman’s pie
BBQ
Steak & chips
Sausage, mash & veg

Certain foods are lunch foods for us so soups, eggs, bread so we wouldn’t eat those for dinner. Veg isn’t mentioned much above we aim for half a plate full of veg but it depends what we have in the fridge/garden. We eat quite seasonally so more carbs/potato’s in the winter, more lighter foods in the spring summer.

@neverenoughchelseaboots how do you not repeat in 6 weeks, genuinely?! That's amazing! Hit me up with some new (inexpensive) ideas if you get time! I

Thai green chicken curry with rice
carbonara
chilli
Gammon joint and salad and new pots
roast
soup
Caesar salad
fish and chips
used to do spaghetti Bolognese often but I got sick of itgot
satay chicken curry

@AmniMajus all sounds amazing! I'll be round later, what we having? 😂

I think my problem is I hate cooking. Household of seven, 4 adults, three kids but two kids have SEN so I always have to cook separate meals for them. Shared cooking between me and my mum.

I learned to do that by watching "Ready Steady cook" in the 1990s.

My two weeks for this week - only dinners

Chicken tray bake - I'll cook too much chicken and make chicken fritters for lunch the following day

Steak and mushrooms

Meatballs in tomato sauce - I'll mix sausage meat with mince then cut that in half before adding onions, garlic and herbs for the meatballs, the other half is used to stuff the peppers the next day

Stuffed peppers - use the mince mix and add chopped mushrooms, spring onions and cashew nuts

Mushroom and cream pasta

Salmon tray bake

Roast dinner - I might cheat and get this from Iceland

Curry + Bhajis - again Iceland Bhajis and I'll use whatever is in the fridge to make the curry

Lemon and garlic sautéed cabbage

Tomato and bacon - really simple, fry bacon until it is crispy, add chopped tomatoes and boiling water and simmer for about 10 mins.

Pork with mustard and cream

Chicken with red wine - do this in the slow cooker

Hummus, and Meze - bought from supermarket and just put on a plate

Fishcakes and cauliflower cheese - probably bought from Iceland but sometimes I do home made

I make the same meals on rotation but occasionally go wild and cook something different. Family of fussy eaters though so mostly goes down like a lead balloon. I generally make:

Shepherds/cottage pie
Spag bol
Chilli
Lasagne
Pizza
Roasts
Burgers
Stir fry
Curry

Cheat meals of chips, beans, sausage, jacket potatoes or a fry up sometimes

Pasta with spinach + protein,
Noodles with spinach + eggs
Pork Gyoza with spinach
Gnocchi with protein, spinach, Brussels sprouts
Black Beans with Feta cheese
Caprese Salad

The past few months I've been insanely busy with work so we've had these pretty much on rotation during that time. Usually bulk make it for multiple meals. I'm looking for my work load to come down a bit at the beginning of June to be able to eat some new things!

We tend to have the same meals but I do try and make something different from time to time. Our usuals are:

Pasta, Pesto & bacon
Fish cake, chips & veg
Stir fry
Quorn or chicken curry
Pizza
Spaghetti bol or chilli

On Sunday, we might have a roast or salmon or shepherd's pie.

There are quite a few other thing we have but not frequently.

No way. How boring. Food should be enjoyable. We only repeat absolute favourites if requested by the kids but generally have a monthly cycle with lots of totally new recipes a couple of times a week - but I do love to cook.

Why do we buy so many cook books though if most folk are only making six different meals?

Ha yeah

Fajitas
Spag bol
Chilli con carne
Curry
Lasagna
Roast dinner
Bangers n mash
Full English breakfast

When I'm lazy....pizza or burger.

@Koalaslippers maybe not meals but you put the same message twice in a row 😂😂😂

If I had 6 I would be happy! Family of fussy eaters, allergies and a vegetarian so we have a real mixed bag of meals.

Main ones: pasta and tomato sauce, pasta and pesto, the odd m and s ready meal with veg, a roast, fajitas, stir fry. That is basically it! Interspersed with beans on toast, omelette, curry for me and DH. The teens are in and out all week so often just make their own.

It's not really. DH and I both work FT, jave 3DC and have the mythical MN high income but because I grew up in a food obsessed house we cook a lot. We get bored eating the same things all the time so spend time on cooking. It's about what is important to you and what you enjoy, sure other people spend more time doing other things that are important to them that we don't do.

But it does mean I can think of more than 6 meals that we would consider 'a quick lunch' before even thinking of more complex dinners:
Omelette
Pasta, pesto and peas
Fish fingers sandwich
Quesadillas
Beans on toast
Pasta arribiata
Bagel with smoked salmon and crwam cheese
Soup
Tuna, beans and pasta

Here you go. I have a colour coded spreadsheet which distributes them by type so that there’s not too much similar stuff in a week.

Greens mac and cheese (Jamie Oliver recipe)
Kedgeree
Halloumi, pomegranate and rocket wraps
Mixed bean chilli
Risotto
Vegetable or goats cheese and red onion tart
Salmon and sweet potato rosti
Steak pudding
gnocchi with sage and butternut squash
black bean burrito
chicken style veggie burgers
crab linguine
cauliflower roasted in harissa with cous cous
lentil dhal
fish and chips
falafels or beetroot keftedes and flat breads
beef style veggie burgers
fish tacos
chicken tikka masala
veg sausage toad in the hole
sweetcorn fritters and wedges
prawn red or green thai curry
orzo and roast veg with goats cheese
pizza
quorn goujon wraps
chickpea curry
mixed bean enchiladas
quorn fajitas
pad Thai
stir fry
salmon and lentils
butternut squash stew and cous cous
beetroot, feta and roast peppers in sourdough toast
fish cakes
pea and zaatar fritters (ottelenghi)
Indian style fish burrito

Most can be cooked in under 45 mins because I do it between the school run and 5pm dinner but I do sometimes prep the veg etc on my lunch because I work from home.

@JaninaDuszejko I can cook all those without thinking too, and do, but generally speaking in a month there’ll be a rotation of favourites….that we have the ingredients in for and fit in the routine.

I can open the fridge and make a bean stew and salad with whatever carb we have. But even though I love food, am a good cook and eat healthily….love veg…we’re busy, dh isn’t an instinctive cook….we tend towards the old favourites.