Those who eat a minimally processed diet...

[FartingAgainstThunder]

Could you share your favourite dinner recipes please?
I'm aiming to create a four week rolling menu plan and looking for inspiration.

Also, the cheaper the better.
We have a pretty well stocked spice cupboard,so I'm hoping that will help.

Last night we had garlic mushroom omelette with potatoes and peas.

i tend to do a lot of smoky paprika bean stews which can be eaten with most carbs. It also freezes well.

or a stir fry with cashew nuts or tofu, pasta with tomato sauce and toasted pine nuts and halloumi or home made pizza

Stir fry
Cottage pie
Curry
Casseroles
Stews
Lasagne
Pasta bakes
Soups

Have you got a slow cooker?

I don’t tend to use many fixed recipes. I try to have a larder full of dried beans, pulses, quinoa, rice, (plus occasionally potatoes or pasta) and improvise with whatever vegetables I have in the house because they’re in season. At this time of year it’s mostly variations on casserole, dhal or similar one pot dishes for a main meal. (Plus eggs and fish as often as possible - usually for breakfast.)

I make a lentil stew with celery, carrot and onion. Fry, add garlic, add spices and lentils, then some stock and harissa. It's completely delicious and I say that as someone who is often underwhelmed by lentils.

This is a bit of a Mumsnet cliche, but I find a chicken goes quite a long way. We roast it on Sunday. On Monday we use the leftovers in a risotto, pie, egg fried rice etc, then I use the stock made from the bones for another meal (often a sort of beany stew type thing) on Tuesday. But there are only 2 adults and one child in our household so your mileage may vary!

Hot pot
pasta with various sauces, eg bolognaise, chicken cacciatore, bacon mushroom & chilli.
fish, bought fresh or frozen fillets without batter or breadcrumbs just the plain sort, home made chips & veg
home made pizza
frozen plain salmon fillets with veg etc
chilli made with low fat mince, tomatoes etc
a roast joint or roast chicken with roast potatoes, veg
macaroni cheese
shepherds pie
grilled chops
egg & chips
omelette
bacon & eggs
curry using left over chicken etc, or stir fry

I tend to see what veg/tins in cupboard and find recipes using up what we have around the house.

I had a tin of chickpeas and made a five spice satay chickpea dish with rice.

Or if there is a chicken breast, i marinade it in spices with a side.

Stuffed butternut squash with feta.

I often do jacket potatoes but find interesting fillings, like garlic mushrooms or cream cheese with chives or avocado.

I make a lot of sauces in my blender (like pesto) you can tweak flavours when you make them yourself to jazz up the bog standard weekly dinners.

Or if your craving something inparticular (like takeaway of some sort) i just make it at home, its healthier and often i find tastier esp as you can tailor it to your particular taste.

The Hairy Bikers one pot meals book is excellent for this. We're having kitchari tonight, a spiced lentil based dish. If you can get hold of a copy I'd highly recommend it.

I do Mindful Chef and pick recipes with no processed elements (which is most of their recipes).

I also think a 90/10 approach works best with eating a non-processed diet, so you don’t agonise over where to eat out or feel guilty about the odd on-the-go healthy snack that comes out of a packet.

Tomato/ pepper/bean stew very easy
Chop three peppers add bag halved cherry tomatoes and a couple of chopped tomatoes with chilli flakes and add herbs
I use olive oil to sauté or no need of slow cooker, then add tin beans eg kidney and one butter beans and bouillon and tomato chopped toms if happy and simmer or slow cook. I added some red lentils last time just a hearty delicious winter bean stew - the second day we had it on jacket pot

Red Lentils simmered with stock garlic and cherry tomatoes is delicious

I'm about to do the weekly food shop and in my mind this week the menu will broadly be:

Seafood Paella
Sausage and potato tray bake
Smoked salmon and leek risotto
Indonesian stir fried rice with smoked mackeral.
Penne Puttanesca
Chicken pilaf

This week, we’ve got planned:

Pork crackling joint, spiced stewed apple, mash, roasted veg.
Chicken and tomato risotto with rocket salad, baked in the oven
Squid stew with bread
Potato and cauliflower curry with homemade flatbreads (kids make those)
Smoked salmon and lemon pasta
Steak, garlic mushrooms and homemade chips

I don’t make a big thing of avoiding UPFs. I just cook from scratch. It’s pretty easy and there are loads of easier dishes. I keep a big batch of tomato sauce and a million eggs in the fridge for emergency suppers. We avoid ‘wangy’ bread, except for French toast where it’s compulsory. All meat/cheese/ ice cream from the farm shop.

Prawns, garlic, ginger, chilli, spring onion, cherry tomatoes, petits pois. Five spice/garam masala/turmeric/jerk mix/allspice as preferred and stirfry. When hot, stir through hot short grain rice, add splash of Tamari and sea salt flakes, coriander leaves if you have them.

Garlic, ginger, onion, turmeric. Add rice and water. Cook to almost done. Stir prawns and petits pois through, add fish pie mix/salmon/pollock/whatever on top. Put lid on and leave to steam the fish.

We have switched to a very low UPF diet. Usual weekly dinner rota usually looks a bit like this: chicken curry, cottage pie, chicken wings and special fried rice, cajun wraps and salad, chicken skewers and flatbreads, Satay chicken and rice.

Stir fries - veggie with cashews or chicken or beef

Curries - veggie, beef, lamb or chicken with plenty of veg included, with brown rice or home made flatbreads

Veggie or meat chilli with brown rice or wild/red rice

Frittata or shakshuka- loads of veg with egg

Trad roast meat and 4 veg

Grilled or baked fish with steamed or roast veg

Baked potato with home made coleslaw made with greek yoghurt, walnuts and caraway seeds,

Cottage pie with steamed greens

Goulash with mash or rice

Thanks everyone, this is great!
Just putting this here before I go and read all the posts properly, I do have a slow cooker and am hoping to get a bigger one.
Ideally looking to batch cook 3 meals on a Sunday and a Wednesday, Survive on leftovers or soup on a Saturday.

Salmon, prawn veg and potato tray bake for tea tonight.
Prepped the veg this morning - just about to put in oven for 40 mins. Then will make a quick cheese sauce, mix in and nestle salmon and raw prawns on top. Back in oven for 20 mins or so. I might put a bit of tinfoil on top if it starts to catch.

I make 90% of our food from scratch. I buy bread ( but planning on getting back into making my own) and I have some 'freezer staples' for DH when he is home alone as he cannot cook from scratch to save his life ( cleans, washes clothes etc so I can't be too hard). I am semi retired and kids are grown up so it's easier for us.

and i enjoy it! instead of sitting down to watch telly i will do some batch cooking.

Meal planning after doing an inventory of what we have is useful

If you are cooking several meals in one day I'd consider an instant pot or similar ie combo pressure cooker and slow cooker. To my astonishment something pressure cooked tastes identical to something slow cooked, so you can bang out a really tender beef casserole start to finish in under an hour.

I would say don't sweat too much about some processed food - some cured meat and smoked fish in the fridge can make for cheap and quick meals. And I have been known to buy pre made pie or curry paste when I am tired or in a hurry.

Also some advice is a bit mad. I read something today about avoiding flavoured yoghurts - we buy Yeo Valley fruit yoghurts when they are on special and the ingredients are literally yoghurt, fruit puree, corn starch, sugar and fruit juice. Yes a bit sugary but not anything you wouldn't find in your kitchen.

I made a delicious split pea soup the other day with 2/3 dried peas and 1/3 fresh and lots of smoked paprika. Served with quick homemade soda bread.

Dinner is a great book, by the recipetineats lady. Been working my through it over Christmas. It’s quite tortilla heavy, the Mexican section, but you can make your own. The chipotle salmon tacos are utter heaven. Have a mango avo salsa and taco slaw with it so it’s a real rainbow. Very popular with all the family.

Just now I’m making a dal with rice. Will have some steamed broccoli on the side.

Fried chicken is our fav meal. Our own chickens, our own eggs we make the bread etc. delicious! Served with chips and coleslaw