To as what a typical week of dinners looks like for you?

[Emsonline]

I need inspiration! I'm not a massive foodie. I actually quite dislike cooking... but we are a family of 2 adults and a 5 and 3 year old and I need ideas.

My almost 17yo makes a lovely Chinese sticky pork belly with rice, which features quite regularly on our dinner menus and is pretty quick and easy to make.

We are on a cutting back month, so trying to use up what we have already in cupboards and freezer.
This week we’ve had;
Monday- chicken korma and rice
Tuesday- chilli con Carne and jacket potatoes
Wednesday- beef stew
Thursday- carbonara
Tonight- all had a mixture of leftovers from the week/freezer

This week:

Tandoori chicken, veg curry made with 'base sauce' from The Curry guy book & extra spices etc, basmati rice

Slow cooked gammon in coke, mash, carrots, peas

Chilli shepherds pie (made a huge batch of chilli & topped tonight's portion with leftover mash from yesterday), lots of veg

Slow cooked chicken Provençal with rice

Veg pilau with leftover tandoori chicken from earlier in week

Beef chilli & rice

Sausage casserole, mash, veg

Pasta & slow cooked tomato sauce, salad

Beef rendang & rice

Very meat/slow cooker heavy! But we are expats who have spent Xmas in U.K., so ate contents of freezer over December in order to leave it empty, & I'm now refilling it! So most of these will be made in the slow cooker & quantity to freeze another meal.

Usually we eat much more veggie stir fry etc as well, & also at least one soup & bread or scrambled eggs type quick tea.

We always have a roast on Sunday. That means stock from the bones for a soup and a bit of meat for a 'leftovers' meal.

For example, roast chicken becomes a chicken and leek pie and a curried lentil soup using the stock.

We always have pasta on a Tuesday.

Build in some routine, that fies really help...

On weekdays we do (this is for the kids as DH and I eat later) Something along the lines of these on rotation!

A chicken and rice dish, so could be chicken curry, chicken casserole etc

A salmon dish, so that would be salmon with rataoille and rice, salmon with new potatoes and veg etc

A pasta dish, sometimes Bolognese but more often a veggie dish such as pasta with homemade veg sauce or homemade simple tomato sauce

Jacket potatoes and toppings

A Charlie Bingham meal served with extra veg (definitely not every week though)

Wraps which the kids fill themselves, either do chicken or minute steak then lots of vegetables and salad and hummus on the side

Pizza with crudités and hummus

Pesto pasta with sweet corn

Pasta with tuna, sweet corn and Philadelphia

White fish of some kind with mash and vegetables

Sausages with either mash or chips plus a couple of different vegetables

Lasagne very occasionally

Pork loin medallions with Yorkshire puddings (mini shop bought ones!) lots of veg and gravy

Roast chicken with mini Yorkshires as above, veg and gravy

Toasted sandwiches and crudités

Eggs of some sort with toast or bagels

However I have bought some new cook books and plan to try some new recipes this year!

Oh I forgot about beef casserole! They love that.

I have a four-weekly rotation of recipes so I basically place the same order on Ocado every four weeks (I do make a few tweaks and variations).

A typical week might look like:
Fish meal eg fish pie, haddock chowder

Pasta eg carbonara, spag bol

Stew/hotpot/shepherds pie etc

Chicken with ratatouille/ chicken stir fry

Sausage casserole / bangers and mash

Veggie meal eg Veg soup / jacket potato with cheese and beans

Freezer food eg fish and chips, pizza

Desserts are fruit and yogurt usually, but I tend to make one crumble or other special dessert at weekends.

This week?

Chicken curry with jacket potato
Roast chicken dinner
Veggie tagine with rice
Blue cheese and walnut pasta
Chicken stir fry with noodles

Been doing strange hours at work this week but usually work on a roast dinner, a pasta dish, a rice dish, some kind of stir fry and either something with oven chips or a meat and two veg kind of dinner. Have to plan ahead. DH not a veg lover, I don't eat red meat. Thankfully two adult kids are easy going and DS1 loves to cook.

Prawn and chicken stir fry
Lamb chops with broccoli and mash
Chicken supreme
Beef casserole
Salmon and broccoli pasta bake
Hoke made lasagna
Roast
Spaghetti with mussels and herbs
Fish fingers and corn on Cobb for kids fave
Pizza
Chicken pie
Hunters chicken
We vary from week to week but try do a good mix. My kids are very fussy though

Fri - chilli con carne
Sat - breaded pork chops, mash, cauliflower
Sun - lasagna
Mon - sausages in tomato sauce on pasta
Tue - mash, creamy spinach, eggs and bacon
Wed - slow-cooked BBQ pulled pork and chips, sweetcorn
Thu - tomato-mozarella risotto

I work full time crazy hours so do a full weeks' shop on a Friday evening. This is what we have this week (2 adults, 2DCs 9 +8)

Thai green curry- pork, with rice
Mustard chicken with bacon (slow cooker), with mash and beans
Chinese chicken stir fry with noodles and baby corn
Tuna arrabiata with pasta
Cod wrapped in prosciutto with roasted veg and Parmesan crust
Chicken Korma (slow cooker) with Naan
Home made fish (dipped on egg and breadcrumbs) with sweet potato fries.

Sweetcorn fritters with avocado and poached eggs

Lentil bolognese

Veggie sausage and Mediterranean veg bake

Spaghetti marinara

Sweet potato and black bean fajitas

Homemade pizzas

Falafel wraps

@Lymphy more or less this

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3727/red-flannel-hash

But no horseradish.

My youngest is pretty fussy, but I refuse to cook separately, so they either eat it or they don't, and I have to say that since I started doing this they're much less fussy.

I won't generally cook something I know they will hate, eg, really spicy food, (unless they're not eating with us) but I do expect them to at least try what I've cooked. Sometimes they realise they like it, sometimes they don't.

Some hits with them are:

Meatloaf made with turkey mince and wrapped in bacon, served with mash and baked beans.

Big sausage plait (or some other meat wrapped in pastry) served with mash and veg.

Homemade burgers using whatever mince is in the freezer and then paired with whatever suits, so it could be beef and cheddar or pork and shredded apple, etc. I serve that with buns and a salad.

Homemade tomato and basil soup served with homemade sourdough or, sometimes, bought French baguette.

I don't generally plan in advance as such atm, but I keep meaning to. I find life gets in the way or I'm in too much pain to make what I planned. We also eat a lot of stews and soups, especially in the colder months.

My freezers are pretty full atm so I'm trying to use up the food in there first.

A typical week might be something like

• bean chilli with rice
• sausage and mash with broccoli
• chorizo pasta
• chicken wraps (with beans and peppers)
• salmon and new potatoes with peas
• roasted chicken or gammon
• slow cooked beef stew

This week so far:
Monday:Chicken breast cooked in tomatoes (seasoned with herbs etc) mozzarella on top and black olives added last minute. Served with rice and asparagus
Tuesday:lamb chops, roasted baby potatoes, roast tomato, carrots, broccoli, asparagus.
Wednesday:mild chicken curry with rice and Pippa dons
Thursday: Spaghetti bolognese
Today (Friday): McDonald’s 😂😂 after swim lessons and too tired for cooking.
Saturday: probably salmon with potatoes and vegetables
Sunday: not sure yet.

A mix of any of the below:

Salmon wrapped in parma ham with spinach and lentils and green beans.

Tuna, sweetcorn on Jacket Potato with Salad.

Fajhitas.

Chilli Con Carne.

Pasta.

Chicken Stir Fry.

Beef Stir Fry.

Cod with Vegetables.

Pizza.

Smoked Haddock with Vegetables.

Soup.

Curry

Oh and that’s 2 adults and DC age 3 and 5

This past week
Sunday roast (Guinea fowl last week) with all the usual suspects.
Monday Pizza
Tuesday Chicken Souvlaki with salad and pitta
Wednesday Game casserole with jacket spuds
Thursday Beef meatballs with spaghetti and garlic bread
Friday Vietnamese Cau Lau pork and rice
Tomorrow will be a Thai chicken and potato yellow curry

Ahh, that’s for two adults and one 8 year old.

This week it has been
Monday - spaghetti and meatballs
Tuesday - rice with green veggies, cauliflower, prawns in a soy/oyster sauce
Weds - vegan mushroom sausages, roast potatoes, yorkshires, gravy, veg
Thursday - homemade chicken nuggets (breadcrumbs from an excellent Hensley recipe called Pablos chicken), potatoes,veggies
Friday: takeaway fish and chips

@drspouse ah thank you, that’s going on next weeks plan 👍