Weekday dinners

[1stmonkey]

AIBU to ask what you usually eat Monday-Friday?

I've googled til my eyes have gone square but am struggling to find anything quick, easy (ideally freezable) and family friendly that isn't a stew, curry, bolognese or chilli?!

I feel like i rotate the same meals (or very similar variations) over and over and quite frankly i'm so bored!

Aiming to cook more (to eat more healthy food, and save some pennies) so would love any inspiration you care to share.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed. I've come back to this thread to bookmark it as lots of fab ideas.

I think it's been harder this year because it seems like I've done nothing but cook, clear up and cook again! No meals out, no work dinners or meals at friends or family. It's boring having to think of meals all the time!

Are those codes useable by many, or just the OP

Thank you to all sharing codes, i won't be using them (trying to also save pennies rather than use more) so if there is a limit to number of uses, no need to account for me.

Thanks also to everyone sharing ideas, so many meals that i've just forgotten about so making a big long list!

Midweek roast
Penne with smoked salmon, peas and cream
Fish cakes topped with poached eggs
Peking duck salad with rocket and grilled apple
Wahaca Tacos
Chicken/Samon with mango salsa and rice

Our oven is dead. We will be living on pasta this week which is okay by me quick and easy

This week we've got:

Chicken fajitas
Thai veggie (artichoke, new potatoes, peppers, mange tout) stir fry
Peppered steak (NYE treat)
Hot spicy chicken curry
Moroccan lamb soup
Enchiladas

It's difficult. Kids will only eat a limited menu. Dh moans we have the same thing. If I make something dh wants the kids won't eat it.
We have
Spag Bol
Meatball bake
Fajitas
Chilli
Midweek roast
Fish, chips and peas
Sausage and mash
Bake shop steak pie and mash/ new potatoes
Fridays the kids have a freezer tea of pizza/ nuggets chips etc
As I said - limited

Shakshuka is good if you all eat eggs. We make it fairly saucy and add chorizo, then freeze portions of the sauce. Great with bread for dipping/mopping up and good for getting some veggies in.

I tend to cook a lot of stuff you mentioned, but a good one I do is salmon, with some crusty bread, herbs and pesto whizzed up in a blender and spread on top and baked in the oven til it goes crispy. I do similar with chorizo crumbs and cod too.

Another good one is leftover chicken in a pan with tomatoes, saffron/paella seasoning, chorizo, peppers, garlic, onions and peas with stock and basmati rice in. It's a good one-pan dish, so not too much faffing.

I try to cook a couple of dishes a week where you can eat the same the next day - mousakka, cottage pie, lasagne etc. I did try to introduce a meal on Saturdays picked from a country of my sons choice, but it never took off as we can be a bit too busy to organise it, but will try again in the new year. It just means we (hopefully) will find some new recipes to cook instead of eating the same stuff all the time.

We always have a "freezer night" where we have a night off from cooking and cooks scampi/fish fingers/breaded squid or fish with chips and peas. It's quite nice to call a freezer night when you or OH are too knackered to cook.

Similar to the everyone else really. Trying to look at different things. Tonight having fish and rice. Family have breaded fish I will have salmon. I do like a vegetable egg rice it's so nice. Stir fry onions, mushrooms, peppers, peas etc Make an omelette and chop. Add it all to the rice with soy sauce. I realised I got bag chicken tikka in freezer so will do that tomorrow with wraps and salad and some wedges. I started using frozen onions,mushrooms and peppers it's great and handy.

Salmon
Cottage pie
Lasagna
Fajitas
Sausages and pasta pesto
Fish pie
Chops
Some ready meals

@1stmonkey

If you're trying to save the pennies then I'd suggest looking at veggie recipes. We started doing meat free Mondays and now we have quite a few meat free days. The Gardner's and Mushroom and Lentil cottage pie on BBC Good Food are both lovely, easy and cheap.

Some great ideas here but most are high in calories. Any suggestions for quick and easy meals which can work on a calorie-controlled diet?

Yes...smaller portions.

It helped me to have a theme for each weeknight -
Monday was mince night - eg lasagne, spag bol, chilli, cottage pie etc.
Tuesday was slow cooker night.
Wed was chips night - with fish fingers, goujons, sausages or burgers usually.
Thu was cheap night - omelettes, baked potatoes, chicken fried rice, soup and bread rolls etc.
Friday was 'bits and pieces' night - leftovers, whatever was lurking in the fridge that needed using up.

Sometimes switched things up with pasta night (carbonara, tuna pasta bake, spag and meatballs etc) or pie night.

Made life easier as I had a rough plan from week to week and didn't have to reinvent the wheel every time I was planning meals for that week.

@Nosenseofhumour it’s this one www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/bean-halloumi-stew

I sometimes add orzo in to bulk it out a bit more and rather than chilli paste I add harissa paste

I do various pastas, so Bolognese, carbonara, amatriciana
Risotto, orzottos,
Shepherd's Pie, Cottage Pie
Steak and dauphinoise
Turkey Rarebits
Sausages in various forms
Curries
Beef Carbonnade, Bloody Mary Beef, Beef with peppers and beans.

I use the Good Food Simple Suppers book, the Hairy Bikers books, and Nigella Express when lost for ideas.

We have

Jacket potato with beans and cheese or tuna
Sweet n sour chicken and rice
Gammon chips and eggs
Burgers or hot dogs
Spaghetti bolognaise
Pizzas
Chicken casserole in slow cooker
Cottage pie
Lasagne

Sausages, mash, veg and Yorkshire puddings
Jambalaya
Mince then the next night cottage pie
Fajitas
Tacos
Salad and baked potato with cold cooked chicken
Lasagne
Macaroni cheese with salad
Pasta bake
Curry
Diet coke chicken

@ForTheLoveOfCatFood brilliant thanks! Looks delicious and you can't go wrong with halloumi in there

Get Gousto - literally the best thing I’ve ever done. We’ve had them for over a year now, no more meal planning or working out what uses the same ingredients so as not to be wasteful. We eat amazing fresh food that’s always exciting and different. We love it (we buy for 2 and pad out with garlic bread etc for our 2 and 6 year old and it’s always loads)

Meatballs and spaghetti
Spag bol
Chilli chicken and rice
Prawn pasta
Chicken tikka skewers and veggie skewers
Baked pot and filling
Breakfast bowl
Shepherds pie
Fajitas
Chilli and rice

Ours is tricky. Dd is fussy and a veggie, and i fast twice a week. Our regular go to meals are
Stir fry
toad in the hole
lasagne
Spaghetti bolognese
Frittatas
Omelettes
Soups
Sausage and mash
Sausage egg and chips (husbands favourite meal!)
Curry's (for me and DH dd won't eat curry)
Pasta bake
Pizza
Jacket potatoes (I often have baked sweet potato instead)
Stuffed mushrooms or peppers
Dd loves it when I am really lazy and do beans on toast!

Agree, it's draining trying to think of fresh meals, it gets boring.

Cottage pie
Pasta bake with chicken
Corned beef hash and beans
Chilli
Tacos
Enchiladas
Gammon, pasta, baked potatoes
Kiev's
Chicken in sauce, potatoes, veg
Sausage casserole
Pulled pork
Steak & chips
Breaded fish/fish fingers/fishcakes and wedges.
Takeaway once a, week
Homemade Scouse from local shop
Occasionally something I have in the freezer
Also use slow cooker once or twice a month.
Add various different sides and veg to the above.

I have the same problem so have just signed up to hello fresh. It will force us to try different meals and whatever we like I can make myself in future.

Veggie burgers and potato wedges or salad
Tuna Melts and salad
Soup and those part baked rolls
Smoked salmon/creme fraiche/lemon/tagliatelle pasta
Beans on toast
Chicken nuggets and veg (usually broccoli gets eaten)
Omelette
For the 6yo a sort of roast dinner but using deli roast chicken slices
Prawns and veg rice

I've found this thread useful cos I feel so uninspired about meal planning.

Honestly HelloFresh is great we have so much variety in our dinners now