To never know what to COOK!?

[MrsOverTheRoad]

We're a family of four...me, DH and two DDs aged 13 and 9. We don't like a lot of meat...we're not vegetarian but there's a definite trend in our family where we'll have something like, chicken or roast lamb and then none of us will fancy meat again for a good few days.

Things are rather complicated by the fact that DD2 is fussy and DH can't eat lentils.

I would for example make a lentil curry as one stand by meatless meal but he can't eat it and DD2 wont...she'd just have the rice and some separate salad/bread and cheese or tuna.

Nobody likes sausages and DD2 wont' eat falafels...we all like homemade pizza though...and roast veg...my reliable meals are as follows

Pizza
Big mixture of roasted veg with or without chicken
Homemade chicken nuggets with wedges and veg

And that's IT! All the other things, at least one person will complain they can't/won't eat it.

It's mainly DD2 that's the problem really. I usually make her a baked potato with tuna but I don't like her eating too much tuna!

My head's done in by them. Anything saucy or wet she won't eat.

Pasta??

Ask dd2 to do a menu plan and work around it.

One of our favourites is pasta with broccoli and pasta

Another is diced tomato uncooked, mixed with mozzarella and garlic and oil. Toss in cooked pasta and mix.

Omelettes
Quiche
Vegetarian chilli
Fish?

Stir fry? Or macaroni cheese? Quiche or pie with potato, veg/salad.

Do you have recipe books? There's a thousand possible meals. Pick a cuisine you like, or several and alternate them, and experiment.

Figure out some family rules for tasting and trying things, how to say thank you even when you don't like it and how to encourage more like this. Get the others involved in cooking and choosing recipes and shopping for ingredients.

I really like jacket potatoes with bacon and brie (or any other cheese). Baby spinach would be nice with that too. Do you like eggs? Spanish omelette or some kind of frittata with different veg in.

Yes...omelette is ok for all but DD2 My reall issue is her isn't it!

All she likes is baked potato and plain pasta/potatoes! She does like chicken, cheese, tuna, bacon though.

But the rest of us don't want all our meals based on those things.

Rhi there's just not time to get them involved during the week. We're knackered after work and DH and I just want to cook something and give it to them...the thought of letting them faff about in the kitchen isn't appealing. I let them have a go on weekends though.

Have you tried Linda McCartney red onion and rosemary sausages? They are very tasty considering no meat.
Have you looked at gusto or simply cook for vegetarian recipes? We use simply cook and it has changed the way we eat completely as we don't have much time and ate lots of easy stuff from jars. This is much healthier and quite a few veggie options.
Other than that I look through recipe sites such as BBC food. Tesco and Sainsbury's also have lots of recipes where you can name the ingredients. Tesco you can then just add to basket which is very handy.

Quorn chili or lasagne - freeze extras, minestrone soup, fajitas, nut loaf, look on Pinterest for so many ideas. Enjoy

We get a veg box delivered once every two weeks. Its a mystery box, so my son finds it very exciting and then we have to meal plan round this box.

For example my partner got out chicken breasts today and I decided to use the beetroot that came in this box. Google was my friend.

The meal was shit but that was down to my cooking rather than anything else.

Soup and bread
Curry (make a sweet Chinese one)
Pate with crusty bread and salad
Chicken strips salad and wraps
Picnic tea - potatoes sliced meat salad coleslaw cheese and veg dips
Calzone - similar to pizza but feels different - use mine and pepperoni
Cornish pasties and veg
Vegetable stew
Stir fry - lots of new sauces in jars I've noticed recently! (I read the labels and make my own as they aren't difficult - gives ideas

Taco Soup

Fry one onion till soft in a big saucepan.
Tip in the following
2 X kidney beans
2 X white beans (or wash off cheap baked)
2 X chopped tomatoes
1 X large tin of sweetcorn
1 X tin of water using one of empty cans
1 X packet taco seasoning
1 X packet of smokey (has to be smokey) bbq seasoning

Cook on low heat until all mixed in and sauce thickens.

To serve, put a handful of nachos type chips in a bowl, spoon the soup over the top. Serve with a dollop of creme fraiche. A little grated cheese and jalapeño peppers on the top.

My family's current favourite fast food. Very filling, tasty and makes a proper portion and the main effort is opening a few tins.

Quinoa with roast veg, meat optional. Cous cous, Baked potatoes, wraps with salad or roast veg.

Risotto, or 'cheesy rice' as it's known here. Useful for using up random veg.

Vegetable lasagne another good one, using roasted veg. I find lasagne time consuming so tend to make a few and freeze in foil trays, then pop in oven from frozen.

We have lots of picnic-type dinners, usually with a potato salad or pasta salad for carbs. Smoked mackerel pate (smoked mackerel, cream cheese, lemon) a favourite here on jacket potatoes or oat cakes.

Sausage hot pot, also veg and bean heavy, chop up the sausages and put some chorizo in too.

Don't think I've had my mouth water so much at 5am, after reading the taco soup recipe KC225! Am pregnant, but still. Is it acceptable as a breakfast?

I sympathise. We have a similar situation with my youngest. She is 12 now and getting better at trying things and definitely has a wider range than when she was 9. She'll eat tomato based sauces but not creamy ones. She still really dislikes certain textures. (There are loads of desserts she doesn't like too because of the texture.)
It sounds like you are worried about your DD's protein intake. If you eat meat a couple of times a week, she should be alright with dairy sources on the other days.
Have you tried spelt pasta? It's not too different from wheat pasta but higher in protein.
Does she like yoghurt? Oats also a high on protein (for a cereal?)
Can you make extra food on the days you have a meal she enjoys and the next day have a meal the rest of you can eat together, then she can have the option of leftovers or the new meal.

I have one fussy eater and also like meals to sometimes be properly adult (miso glazed salmon and steamed veg etc)

I plan meals and plan to keep leftovers for the next night for either kids (for adult dinners) or for the fusspot (for things I know he hates). This works well.

Also kids and I eat a fair few omelettes/scrambled eggs with steamed veg sides during the week while DH is away for work.

Fusspot loves spag bol so I keep a running supply of bolognaise sauce in freezer in diff sized serves.

Rereading your post, if you are the only cook, I think you are entitled to be a bit firmer. Explain your problem to everyone, explain that you are going to cook a wider range. If they don't like a particular meal then they eat what they can. It doesn't matter if DD2 doesn't eat the omelette one day as long as she declines politely, eats her fill of veg served with it and doesn't complain. Likewise, it doesn't matter if your DH doesn't eat the lentil dish. When I do rice and dhal, the lentil refusers get plain rice and the Indian veg dish if I have made one or frozen green peas if I haven't.

TBH im not in favour of cooking separate stuff for fussy eaters. I had six kids. It was not possible to accommodate all palates at every meal. If they didn't want it it was " oh no. You are going to be really hungry". In a house with a reasonable amount of good food they won't starve or lack in nutrition. I did try to rotate everyone's favourites. You had to try two bites of everything new before declaring an opinion. No extra portions of dessert if you didn't eat mains. You were allowed to dislike one or two things and not eat them but that was all. It just about worked ok.

Fajitas?
Mexican rice?
Cowboy baked beans?
If she doesn't eat it, she should go hungry! 🙄
Not a fan of making endless meals in this household!

Spag bol
Chilli
Fajitas
Macaroni cheese
Pesto pasta
Shepherds pie
Fish pie
Stews

There are endless meals you could make. I can't be doing with fussy eaters!

I'd have a good repertoire of recipes that most of the family will eat. If they don't eat it you refuse to make anything else. Many people think this is mean or archaic but yoi can't be expected to prepare lots of different meals. It's too much work. All my meals are similar to pps!

Look on BBC good food for family meals. I just used to.adapt some things for my fussy son when he was younger (he's 16 now.so not a problem). Or he didn't like most fish so would do him same as us but with fishfingers.