May I ask what your mid week family meals are?

[gallopingglio]

Struggling for inspiration for a family of 4.
We usually cook things like spaghetti bolognaise and chicken rice and sauce, roasts, cottage’s pie, or chops but we’re all bored of it and need new ideas.
I’ve looked in lots of books but it all looks a bit too far fetched.

Any ideas welcome, or examples of your weekly meal plan if you have one.

https://pinchofnom.com/recipes/chinese-chicken-and-broccoli/

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chicken-chorizo-jambalaya

these are a couple of our favourites, we add extra peppers to the jambalaya and increase quantities so there is enough left overs to reheat for work lunch the next day

I like quick, easy meals through the week (we all snack loads on fruit and raw veg, which means I can do quick meals guilt free 😂).

We had pizza and pasta tonight (both from M&S). Hot dog buns with crispy fries are something mega quick that everyone likes. I usually buy an M&S family pie for through the week too, and we have it with their veg layer.

Chicken gnocchi. I only make midweek meals that have 15 mins prep time or less.
Dry fry chicken chunks for about 4 minutes. Put in large baking dish. Add 2 pots of red pesto, 1 pint of chicken stock, a packet of gnocchi, chop up 2 mozzarella balls, add 3 chopped peppers. I used red, orange and yellow ones. Give it a mix. Add a drizzle of cream over top. In oven for 40 minutes. My teen boys love it with garlic bread or crusty bread to mop up pesto sauce. Serves 4.

Another favourite in my house is salmon cooked with lime juice and eaten with a tray of Mediterranean vegetables. Courgettes chipped up, a red onion , 3 peppers chopped up, some aubergine, seasoning and a drizzle of olive oil on top. I put salmon in foil, squirt over lime juice, put in air fryer for 20 minutes.

Agree about some recipe books being too far-fetched. I like Jamie Oliver’s books because they’re not over-complicated and don’t need unusual ingredients. Online, BBC Good Food is useful.

Roast chicken
Sea Bass with Mediterranean veg
curry with leftover chicken
Samon with cheese and almonds
maybe stir fry..

Does no one just eat fish fingers anymore?

In this week's rotation we have creamy chorizo orzo (sounds far posher than it deserves), chilli con carne, spag bol, shepherd's pie, Asian Pork mince (it does have a proper name but I don't remember it), a chicken pot pie and a chicken Caesar salad.

I try to cook one thing and use it for two meals so this week's roast beef became the next day's crispy beef noodle salad (Jamie Oliver crispy lamb noodle salad recipe, but works fine with any red meat)

Then last night we had salmon with roasted veg and cous cous. The leftover roasted veg will be used in a roasted veg, pesto and goats cheese tart tonight.

A huge, slow cooker sausage and chorizo casserole does two meals (but probably not consecutive days so that goes in the freezer for another week)

Fish pie is quick if you use pre made mash so I double up and make two bases, one goes in the fridge.

I also chop up lots of salad veg into silicone bags on Sundays and Wednesdays and store them in the fridge. Makes it easy to pull together a meal quickly, just add a protein (chicken, fish, cheese) and a carb (rice, couscous, pasta, bread). The options are huge so it's simple but not boring.

OP, I noticed that your menu is very meat-heavy. What about fish? Or salads? They can be very hearty. Or vegetarian dishes for a change? A friend made peach and chickpea curry once - was lovely.

I cooked a lot for my late dad when he was that age. I got a bit fed up with conservative food too, but at that age their systems often can’t cope very well with spicy things. My dad also didn’t do well with oily or greasy things as he got older.

ETA: My dad also became underweight through having cancer. Normally when making mashed potatoes for myself I would just use a bit of semi-skimmed milk and a bit of marge, but when my dad started to lose weight I made the mash with double cream and Kerrygold butter. If the mash is also VERY mashed - almost puréed - it slips down easily and is a good way of getting calories into someone if made with the butter and double cream. I’d also offer him a Magnum ice cream for dessert as he loved those and again, precious calories. And cold, so easier to get down if appetite is waning since cold things have less taste. Hope these tips help a bit.

We get a weekly Gousto
delivery for midweek. I just pick them on the app and they appear on the doorstep Sunday evening. I like the fact I don’t have to make a plan, someone where has done that for me.

We use lots of their ten minute meals and vegetarian options in the week, saving meat for the weekends. Teens cook a meal on rotation. Twice a week.

I’m about to be very boring. Look away now if you don’t like fun sponges:

I’ve noticed that a lot of people are eating sausage/chorizo/bacon. I’ve got out of the way of eating these as I’m a Brit in America and their sausages and bacon are both rubbish. So it’s easy for me to avoid them. I don’t avoid them
bc I’m good, I do so because proper sausages and bacon aren’t available here, and neither are my beloved sausage rolls.

My point is to issue a public-service reminder. We know that sausage, ham, and bacon products are not good for us at all, and are a big contributor to colon cancer. I’m no vegetarian but I do like some veggie dishes, and we would all be better off swapping out the processed meat for veggie dishes.

Off to bed now and will sleep in my hard hat and flack jacket!

Extra thought: I’ve lived in America for almost twenty years. Maybe the public-service warnings about processed meat are louder over here, because most people I know avoid these meats. I was quite surprised to see so many people listing them. In case the message hasn’t been broadcast as firmly in the U.K., I want to reiterate that it’s now an established fact that processed meats are definitive factor in developing colon cancer. All red meats, but especially sausage, chorizo, bacon, and ham.

I did warn you that I was about to be a fun sponge!

I do 😂 its my go to meal when I cant be bothered, dc have nuggets we have fish fingers & mash.

This week we’re having

garlic chicken breasts
chilli con carne
Jamaican jerk sausages
chicken burgers
jacket potatoes

Family of 4 - this week is

Mon- lamb chops, Persian rice, Greek salad with homemade flatbreads and tzatziki
tues- salmon kebabs, roasted veg and Singapore noodles
weds- turkey meatballs & roasted veg
thurs-beef stroganoff with either rice/j po and broccoli
fri - jerk chicken, rice and peas and salad

I’m in the office 3 days a week so tend to do meals that can be prepped in advance and require assembly so on the table in about 30 mins.

Sausage casserole (hairy biker recipe) with jacket potato or crusty bread
Chicken curry (bbc easy chicken curry recipe but I add spinach and extra chilli flakes for heat)
Oven baked cod in breadcrumbs with air fryer chips
Chicken Arabiatta pasta with extra added veg
Beef chilli (my own recipe with lots of added chopped veg)
Salmon tray bake (coated with harissa paste/olive oil) basically salmon fillets on top of sliced potatoes, mixed peppers, courgettes or whatever veg you fancy
Paella

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Pigs in blankets and roasted root veg in a giant Yorkshire with gravy
Paella
Sticky Korean chicken with vegetable rice and salad, my friend made this for dinner
Crispy pork belly with egg fried rice and stir fried veg
Tofu in chilli sauce with noodles and vegetables
Chicken Kiev's with orzo pasta, roasted tomatoes, stem broccoli and asparagus
Pan fried sea bass, rice, stir fried veg and side salad.

I am retired so plenty of time to cook, heavy on the Asian side as I’m half Chinese. I do eat fishfingers as a sandwich for lunch sometimes @Itsokaytomorrowisanewday My parents ran a restaurant so taught me how to cook English and Chinese food.

I also made an old fashioned steamed sponge pudding with homemade custard, we had Stilton and crackers a couple of other nights. Appetite is huge currently as so cold.

Ours vary a lot depending on commitments and time, but a few tips I would suggest:

Always have a eg a frittata in the fridge for a quick and easy filling and nutritious meal. Very quick and easy to make, relatively cheap and I tend to make a huge one.

Always have one or two simple meals a week. Jacket spud s with all the trimmings, beans on toast with veggie sticks and other healthy items.

Make a large amount of soup. Quick, easy and cheap and great for when the kids get back from school preventing junk consumption.

Always make far too much of whatever meal such that you'll have leftovers. Lunch for tomorrow or left over roast chicken for a risotto.
Things like chilli and Bolognese always taste better the next day anyway.

Make a large tray bake, flapjack for the coming week.

Frittata/ spanish omelettes are another quick meal, and the kids like savoury pancakes

I find it all a bit of a drag, so I try to plan leftovers into the week so we have a bit of an easier time every other day or so.

So this week, roast chicken, stuffing, roast potatoes, carrots, parsnips, sprouts at the weekend.
Homemade pie with all the leftovers from the roast, with mashed potatoes and peas.
Other things I use leftover chicken for are chicken in tarragon sauce, noodle soup, pasta with chicken and pesto, curry, paella.
So I make a roast then pick one leftovers meal to follow after.

Spaghetti Bolognese one night, then Lasagne with half the Bolognese sauce another.

Sausage and mash or toad in the hole one night with eight sausages, then a pasta sauce with the remaining four sausages another.

Fish pie, I make double the filling, then we have the other half with added broccoli, cauliflower and spinach baked with cheese on top and served with rice.

We usually have pizza night midweek too.

If you don’t want to have similar things in the same week you could just freeze the second portions. But my family are used to this way of eating, and actually quite like the predictability!

I use the BBC good food one!

However against all mumsnet beliefs I sometimes use a packet mix as I work 70 hour weeks 🙈 the Schwartz real Greek one is very very good!

Yesterday was chicken cacciatore orzo (BBC Good Food)
Country Vegetable Pie (Mary Berry) - using up last of Xmas cheap parsnips & carrots
Tomato Olive Tart (Mary Berry) - also using up last of Xmas olives
Frittata with chorizo, courgette and Spanish cheese - ingredients from a reduced tapas dish from Sainsburys!
Pear & Blueberry Galette (Mary Berry) - will be having it for lunchtime treats
March Pork Casserole (Hamlyn All colour Cookbook) - trying new recipes from this book
Red Lentil Dahl

I cook a lot of Mary Berry recipes - they work for me - a safe option!

I made this the other night with chicken breasts rather than thigh fillets as I had chicken breasts in the freezer. It's an excellent recipe - tastes great, not too fussy or time-consuming to put together. We had it with carrots, cauliflower and broccoli. Really good. https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chicken-arrabbiata-stew-parmesan-dumplings

Tonight I plan to make this: https://www.lostrecipesfound.com/russian-vegetable-pie-with-whole-wheat-nut-flour-crust/ It's adapted from a recipe in a book I've had for over 40 years but I've never got round to making this before. As it is full of vegetables, I don't think it will need anything else with it. I will probably make the pastry and filling elements this morning and assemble later on.