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Simple meals not involving pasta or cheese

28 replies

Cloud44 · 23/11/2024 08:40

As I get older my stomach seems to be becoming more sensitive (is this a thing?) and I don’t think pasta or cheese is that great for me anymore. Any suggestions for quick simple weekday meals that avoid these? I’m not great in the kitchen!

OP posts:
Teeh · 23/11/2024 08:41

Jacket potatoes?

Teeh · 23/11/2024 08:42

With salad and roasted salmon maybe?

IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads · 23/11/2024 08:43

Fishfinger wrap is what I do in a hurry.

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ChaosHol1 · 23/11/2024 08:44

Cooked Diced chicken and bacon and have caesar salad. The supermarkets sell the bags with everything you need in, just leave the cheese off.

AspirationalTallskinnylatte · 23/11/2024 08:44

Things on toast?
Mushrooms, beans, egg, pilchards?

MyOtherCarisAVauxhallZafira · 23/11/2024 08:44

Stir fry? Poke bowls, fajitas, salmon/seabass new pots and veg, vary how you cook the potatoes and which veg you have

AspirationalTallskinnylatte · 23/11/2024 08:45

A Mumsnet massive salad: leaves, something crunchy, something herby, something protieny & a dressing

LoveIsLikeAFartIfYouHaveToPushItsUsuallyShit · 23/11/2024 08:46

Egg fried rice
Stir fry
Any fish with veg and rice/potato really. Takes 15 min
I love broccoli omelettes

LoveIsLikeAFartIfYouHaveToPushItsUsuallyShit · 23/11/2024 08:47

A tip for speed and ease - precook and freeze portions of rice. I always have few in a freezer

AtlasPine · 23/11/2024 08:52

Chunky home made veg soup? Cube veg, sautee for a few mins, add stock, simmer until veg soft and partially blend/mash leaving some nice veggie bits. Add lentils or beans for protein, sprinkle on fried cubed bread and a spoonful of finely chopped bacon cooked to a crisp if you eat meat.

Suatee some mushrooms, celery, onions and peas. Add a cup of dry rice, two cups of water, a mushroom stock cube. Bake in oven until rice is cooked and water absorbed. Serve with a soft boiled or fried egg on top.

Half baked French bread made into garlic bread with a dip of puréed white beans, garlic, olive oil, tahini and smoked paprika. Serve with a tomato salad.

chicken skewers with a drizzle of cashew nut dressing - blend cashews, honey/maple syrup, finely chopped ginger and garlic, soy sauce. You can use peanut putter instead of the cashews. Serve with flat breads and a cucumber salad.

Bjorkdidit · 23/11/2024 08:54

Eggs - scrambled or fried on toast or omelettes - obviously can add fillings and salads.

Cook a piece of fish wrapped in foil with cherry tomatoes or small pieces of other veg eg brocolli or peppers and onions although these might need cooking separately. I know you said you don't want cheese but a dollop of cream cheese (Lidl has a good full fat herb one) will melt down for a bit of a sauce. You could serve with rice or on it's own.

Soup - can be batch cooked and include any variety of veg, pulses with optional meat.

MarketValveForks · 23/11/2024 08:59

Very much with you. Yes a stomach getting more sensitive with age is definitely a thing.

The (non cheesy) dishes you used to do with pasta may work with gnocchi instead (the higher quality ones are made without flour, the cheap ones have some flour so may not be great for you)

Lots of rice based dishes - paella, curry, egg fried rice with lots of extras. Kedgeree.

Noodle stirfrys can be made with rice noodles.

Sweet potato wedges with sausages and a tomato sauce

Chilli on jacket potatoes.

Meadowfinch · 23/11/2024 09:03

Peppers stuffed with parsleyed sausage meat. Bake in the oven for 45 mins. Serve with wholemeal garlic bread.

Do you have a slow cooker? Brown some cubed pork, chopped garlic and chorizo in a pan, then put it in a slow cooker with a can of chopped tomatoes and a can of cannellini beans, and leave to simmer on low for a few hours. A bit like cassoulet.

Brown chicken thighs, mushrooms and garlic, tip into a slow cooker with a glass of white wine and some thyme if you have it. Leave to simmer for the afternoon, then add some cream, and serve with rice.

DiscoBeat · 23/11/2024 09:14

I made these last night, they were Delicious and the whole family enjoyed them. I might make a vegetarian version next time.

Simple meals not involving pasta or cheese
TheDogBartholomew · 23/11/2024 09:20

Roasted vegetables with a poached egg or a piece of baked fish.

DilemmaDelilah · 23/11/2024 09:29

My stomach is also very sensitive! My go to is rice. It doesn't take long to cook and it can be jazzed up with anything you like really! I do also eat a lot of pasta but I know you cant.

I have learned that fried rice isn't that great for me, so I usually have it plain, but it can be hot or cold. If I'm feeling particularly fragile I'll have it with some cooked chicken or smoked haddock. If I'm feeling really strong then spicy chicken goes down very well (not much of it, and no chilli). In the middle is all sorts of things!

My sensitivities are anything fatty and too much fibre, so I have to be careful about vegetables and fruit. Potatoes are good. A stew or casserole of lean meat with carrots and other not too fibrous, well cooked veg is good. I try to avoid too much onion or garlic but I do still eat them. I can flavour things up with mild curry spices or other things like that - I don't like chilli or pepper (the condiment) anyway but I wouldn't be able to eat those. I enjoy a roast dinner, but I usually feel better if I have boiled potatoes rather than roasties.

I use BOB skimmed milk, so I can have sauces made with milk and they still taste good. It really does taste OK, and not thin like ordinary skimmed milk.

Is it the wheat in pasta that makes you unwell? I find pasta easy to eat, and bread, so I do eat quite a lot of those. My diet has a lot of carbohydrates as they are easy for me to digest. It's not great for my diabetes.... but the alternative is great discomfort, probably ending up with malnutrition as all my food goes straight in and out with little time for digestion in between.

DilemmaDelilah · 23/11/2024 09:31

@Meadowfinch - I wouldn't be able to eat any of your suggestions, they do sound nice though.

AlwaysFreezing · 23/11/2024 09:32

Have you tried gnocchi? Ready in minutes.

AnnaDelvorkina · 23/11/2024 09:37

Soup
Omelette or scrambled or poached eggs with avocado or mushrooms or ham
Boiled eggs
Toasted bread for a sandwich of tuna mixed with any cucumber/ tomatoes/ radis bed /peppers (whatever you have) cut into tiny tiny cubes
Tinned mackerel with salad leaves
Tuna and tomato salad with olive oil and a little red onion or some - preferably grilled - peppers
Pitta with humus and salad leaves

applestewing · 23/11/2024 09:40

Chicken or salmon in a tray with roasted veg like courgette, onion & peppers
With cous cous or add potato or sweet potato to the tray

ginasevern · 23/11/2024 09:48

I live on my own and I often do a "little dinner". I cook a pork chop (or a chicken breast or lamb chop) in the oven and serve with ready made supermarket mash (the fresh sort, not instant) and some ready prepped veg, like trimmed sprouts and broccoli. Then I make a nice thick gravy. It really takes no time and not much washing up either.

Verbena193 · 23/11/2024 12:45

Chicken broth. Not quick to cook but very quick to reheat.

Roughly chop onion, celery, carrots. Add chicken on the bone of your choice. Cook in slow cooker or in oven on a low heat. Drain off and keep the broth, flake up the chicken and add to the broth.

Delicious and very stomach friendly.

Mylifeisamesssuchamess · 23/11/2024 13:09

Jacket potato and tuna
Jacket potato and beans
Eggs on toast
Beans on toast
Toastie
Stir fry packet with chicken/Quorn pieces/beef
There's some nice pre made soups in the chilled sections of supermarkets
Chicken breast with veg and potato
Omelate

Birdscratch · 23/11/2024 13:15

What BreatheandFocus said. Bung it all in a roasting tin dinners with rice or grains (microwaveable packets) if you feel it needs extra.