Do you cook something different for dinner every night?

[ErinAndTonic]

Just wondering what other people do... I tend to cook a recipe either for myself or for my partner and I.. it always makes at least 4 portions once I work out the nutritional info etc. Makes sense as well to get multiple portions from the effort and washing up etc 😅 (this makes it sound like I don't enjoy cooking when I do - but I mean from a time perspective)

So often end up having 2-3 meals of the same thing in a week. Unless I freeze it. I also find it quite cumbersome to organise 5 different dinners every night (I wing it on the weekends).

I'm starting to meal plan, repeat more for breakfast/lunches and aim for more variety at dinner time and this led me to thinking I wonder how everyone else is doing it 🤔

If you have a dinner that's different every evening, do you tend to eat the same thing for breakfast/lunch?

Some if you would be horrified.
I have a 3 weeks rotating menu and each evening meal is different lol.

But we have a ‘freezer meal’ on it (batch cooked, often with a slow cooker) about twice a week too,

When I lived alone I often did; it didn’t bother me. Now with a family they moan if we eat the same thing each week so definitely would moan about the same thing 2-3 times in a week

My DH isn't a fan of leftovers. The closest we get are two days of accompaniments. So last week we did two mexican meals in a row to use up the salsa, crema, and pickled red onions but one day was veggie mince tacos and the other was black bean and sweet potato arepas. We do the similar for Indian food where we vary the mains but use up the fresh bits we make that don't keep well.

We occasionally have the same thing two days running, for instance if I’ve made a cottage pie we’ll have it with veg the first night and I’ll finish it off the next night with baked beans.

I have meals on a 19-21 day rotation depending on the season, so we have something different every night for three weeks. And then we start again. I cook pretty much everything from scratch, but I don’t work, so that isn’t a problem for me.

I would have no problem eating the same meal two days in a row.

I prefer to do something different with the leftovers or freeze them rather than eat the same meal several times in a row but dh would be quite happy as long as he liked it the first time. In fact if he suspects it might disappear into the freezer he’ll request it for the next days’s dinner before he’s finished eating

Meals in our house vary depending on who's in and who's cooking, altho that is usually my husband. I rarely cook anything myself unless I'm on a night shift during the week. And I'm passed hungry by the time I get in at 8 pm, so I just do myself a sarni or grab a bowl of muesli. Nobody cooks on a Friday night.

I guess this is what I try to do too. If I make a stir fry type thing, I'll happily have it for dinner either 2 nights in a row, or if I don't fancy it I'll have something else and then eat it the next day - but one day with rice and another with noodles.

I don't mind repeating a meal twice but there have been times when I've had more and eaten it 3 times and then I'm driven up the wall and don't want it again 😅 I do massively vary what I eat week to week, but I guess less variation within the week itself sometimes.

Guess it doesn't help that my freezer is jammed full so I don't have the luxury of freezing too many leftovers til I tackle that!

This is how I see it sometimes. I struggle with energy and having much free time (adhd doesn't help here at all) so I guess I simplify it to try and make life easier for myself - but at the same time then get bored..

I make something on a Monday morning and we will have 2 nights in a row. Sometimes with different sides but I'd rather we had something home cooked

I can relate to you here - I also have a lengthy commute on office days. On at home days there's definitely more flex in the evenings to switch it up a bit more.

Probably should have clarified that I very rarely repeat recipes week to week unless they're extreme favourites - so may have several meals the same within a week, but then likely wouldn't cook that meal for a good month after.

I can imagine if you rotate similar meals weekly or so that repeating them would definitely be overkill.

No! I’ve literally eaten some combination of grilled chicken/salmon, rice and vegetables at every lunch/dinner for the best part of a decade. If I’m feeling adventurous I’ll have beans on toast/tuna jacket potato/pasta but otherwise that’s it 😂 now I have 2 kids though (toddler and baby) so I need to start cooking things that are a bit more interesting…

Sounds like you just need to plan a couple of freezer meals for a few weeks, then you can rotate?

Yeah I think so. Just need to buy in some fresh veg and work my way through - then I can do some of the tips above. Need to organise my freezer drawers into a logical order so I can better find things too.

If it works for you and you're happy with it why not! My mum is like this and I think she enjoys the simplicity.

I love to try new recipes but need to shuffle how I do it a bit, I think!

Yep

OH is the cook and actually enjoys it so we tend to have different dishes depending on his mood. If we have a roast then there'll be plenty for sandwiches next day. He also likes to bake so there's often pudding and cake, especially if the gc are here.

I need to exercise more!

Yes, I couldn't bear to eat the same thing two or three times in a row. If I batch cook, I freeze the rest.

Oh god, how have you not keeled over from sheer boredom? Chicken, rice and veg is the most depressing meal ever

You're not alone.

There's only 2 of us and we're happy to finish off leftovers the next evening. I think all this 'I'd lose my mind' having the same thing 2 nights in a row is a bit dramatic.

Well it stems from wanting something healthy that is also low effort as I’m incredibly lazy. So I generally can’t be bothered to cook anything more exciting than that and I’d rather be bored than make anything high effort 😂

Pretty much otherwise cooking gets incredibly boring.

I do freeze extra portions for DH as I'm away during the week and it's not more difficult to do an extra bit. But even he doesn't then repeat the meal in the same week.

Yes something different every day

I like to vary it, so I factor making enough to freeze when I cook things, for another day. We also both have lunch at home every day (+ kids when they're not at school) so get incentive with leftovers for lunches.