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Fed up of being creative: what are your blandest recipes

76 replies

Whattodonut · 31/07/2023 22:00

I'm really getting fed up of being creative. I make nice interesting food that tastes great and gets eaten with no comment. Clean plates but only feedback is when its bad.

So I'd like to do is just do an experiment on the family of a few weeks of really bland ( no herbs, no spices) meals and see if there is any reaction.

Trouble is DD is now vegetarian so needs to include some kind of veggie protein.

All ideas welcome! I will be repeating lots of them as part of the boring experiment. Extra points if they are incredibly low effort to make.

They like veg. So lots of veg is good. But just very bland.

OP posts:
Ionacat · 01/08/2023 07:26

I just threaten to go on strike when I don’t feel appreciated in the kitchen. I hate bland food so wouldn’t want to deprive myself. It usually works, DH who had bland over cooked food growing up so loves my cooking, tells the DC tales of over cooked boiled food and they need to be appreciative. However as it’s the holidays, DD who is old enough has to cook once a week from scratch of her choice, last week she did macaroni cheese, this week curry. Having a night off is great! Youngest DD who isn’t old enough helps with the baking for the week.

libertybonds · 01/08/2023 08:41

GrumpyOldCrone · 01/08/2023 01:03

Put some chicken (or tofu) pieces in a frying pan with a can of peaches, including the juice. Heat slowly until cooked through. Serve with plain boiled white rice.

Empty a couple of cans of cheap chopped tomatoes into a casserole dish. Add some sliced cabbage and some sausages (or veggie sausages). On no account should you fry the sausages first. Cook in the oven for 45 minutes at 200 degrees. Serve with boiled white potatoes.

Boil some chicken breasts in a pan of water for 20 minutes. Remove with tongs and set aside. Boil some peas in the chicken water. In another pan make a roux with butter and flour. Add some of the chicken/pea water to the roux and allow to thicken into a white sauce. Slice the chicken and add to the sauce. Drain the peas, but keep the water to add to the white sauce in case it needs to be thinned out a bit. Serve on dry white toast. (Not sure how to make this veggie - sorry.)

Fry 500g of beef (or quorn) mince until brown. Add diced carrots, peas, and 500 ml of Bisto. Serve with boiled white potatoes.

Roast some skinless, boneless chicken thighs in the oven for 45 minutes at 200 degrees. Serve with boiled white potatoes, overcooked broccoli and mushy Brussels sprouts. (I think tofu or quorn might work as a veggie alternative but I’ve never tried cooking it in the oven.)

I have a family member who prefers bland food. My preference is to put garlic or onions or chillies in everything, but occasionally I get overruled.

This is inspired!

TakeMe2Insanity · 01/08/2023 08:44

Plain boiled lentils (heat up a cooked tin and drain) with plain boiled rice. This would break me.

midlifecrash · 01/08/2023 12:49

MN chicken them into submission.

plain roast chicken with mash gravy and peas
cold chicken lettuce and tomatoes
chicken stir fry
chicken soup
omelette
sausages
sausages
and repeat

ClemFandango1 · 01/08/2023 13:38

Microwave rice with olive oil, salt, and 2 poached eggs.

NobblyBob · 01/08/2023 18:11

Breaded fish (or Quorn escalope) with steamed veg is unbearably boring. Hide the tartare if you want to really break them 😂

UnfunnyJester · 01/08/2023 18:13

Some of those American recipes sound great for this. I've seen things like -
Fry chicken breast
Add tin of campbells soup
Add pasta

BinturongsSmellOfPopcorn · 01/08/2023 19:23

You want to save the bizarre US recipes for when they complain about the food being dull - then you can get creative with 'Jello salad' recipes.

UndercoverCop · 01/08/2023 19:28

Baked sweet potato no seasoning, with low fat cottage cheese and an undressed salad with just lettuce tomato and cucumber

1992H · 01/08/2023 19:32

I need to know how this goes! I’m invested now 😂

GOODCAT · 01/08/2023 19:53

I am a terrible cook and not much sense of taste, so mine are any protein cooked as basically and quickly as possible with any boiled veg or pasta. No extras of any kind unless I can be bothered with gravy.

Fortunately for me my husband does most of the cooking or adds stuff to it.

Whattodonut · 01/08/2023 20:17

Based on what I had in the fridge- tonight's dinner was a travesty of a risotto with onion, celery, sweetcorn and chicken stock. And mild cheddar.
They loved it.

This may backfire.

OP posts:
MavisMcMinty · 01/08/2023 20:45

Whattodonut · 01/08/2023 20:17

Based on what I had in the fridge- tonight's dinner was a travesty of a risotto with onion, celery, sweetcorn and chicken stock. And mild cheddar.
They loved it.

This may backfire.

Ha ha! Maybe they’ve been lurking on MN.

bellac11 · 01/08/2023 20:49

Barrell · 31/07/2023 22:09

My Gran used to make us cheese and egg. It’s literally a load of grated cheese on a dinner plate, a well in the middle into which you crack an egg, then you bake it in the oven until all the cheese has melted and the egg is cooked. Watch out - the plate will be very, very hot.

Problem is that it’s not actually bland - it’s pretty bloody amazing.

My mum used to do something like this, I might even have started a thread about it because I couldnt quite remember what she did and neither can she

I could have sworn hers had onion involved and mushroom although Im not sure if Im imagining it

As you say, amazing

She did it in a shallow pyrex dish

Ohhelpicantthinkofaname · 01/08/2023 20:54

Pasta cheese and beans. It’s actually pretty good but not that exciting.

cheese omelet with veg.

cheese and potato pie.

grilled halloumi or chicken for the non veggies, plain rice and veg.

Mac and cheese and veg.

potato waffles with a fried egg on top.

MillWood85 · 01/08/2023 21:02

When my dogs have had upset tummies, I've boiled them chicken breast with brown rice and carrots. All in one pan. No stock, no salt, just the basic ingredients. I'd say that's pretty bland Grin

MavisMcMinty · 01/08/2023 21:08

Heh, yes, when my dog had pups I made her season-free chicken stock to encourage her to get enough fluids when breastfeeding seven greedy babies.

NeverDropYourMooncup · 01/08/2023 21:10

You need to follow my mother's 'healthy' diet.

Vegetables - tinned, rinsed repeatedly to get rid of any salt. Boil on high, uncovered, for as long as is physically possible.

Potatoes - get the ones already turning green and peel, ensuring that the eyes are left in for some added colour. Place in water and boil angrily until they have turned into a watery, grainy substance. Unless you're 'treating' yourself to roast potatoes - you then peel and place in cold, reused vegetable oil and put into a low oven. They'll cook through in the end.

Meat. If you can get a blunt knife into it, it's underdone. Best put it under the grill for another half hour.

Pasta. Only swarthy foreigners add salt. Make sure it's turning into wallpaper paste before pouring it onto a plate. Include some kitchen roll to mop up some of the water.

Fancy some bacon? Good, we've got two days. First, soak your unsmoked, cheap as possible rashers in milk for at least 18 hours. Rinse with water, then place back in some more milk - you've got to get the salt out, you know. Once it looks like a bleached whale carcass, flick it under the grill for a minutes and when the white stuff starts dripping, it's done. Ketchup is too salty. Cheapest, lowest fat spread possible because it 'tastes just the same as butter' and the cheapest white sliced - just the one slice because it's full of salt - folded over.

Try to ensure that everything you put on a plate is simultaneously flavourless, textureless, watery and dry as a bone, but for that extra frission, try to add a whiff of bitterness and barely supressed rage into every mouthful.

When nobody is looking, you then make yourself sausage sandwiches, buy M&S finest stuff and a shitload of cream cakes.

Saschka · 01/08/2023 21:16

Risotto made with water not stock. Maybe a bland primavera, so cooked rice with a few frozen peas and bits of asparagus (not enough to give much flavour). Or use the cheapest blandest Value mushrooms you can find. No cheese. No stock. No wine.

ManAboutTown · 01/08/2023 21:17

Bangers and mash with peas and mushrooms or a good old bacon butty

MavisMcMinty · 01/08/2023 21:19

NeverDropYourMooncup · 01/08/2023 21:10

You need to follow my mother's 'healthy' diet.

Vegetables - tinned, rinsed repeatedly to get rid of any salt. Boil on high, uncovered, for as long as is physically possible.

Potatoes - get the ones already turning green and peel, ensuring that the eyes are left in for some added colour. Place in water and boil angrily until they have turned into a watery, grainy substance. Unless you're 'treating' yourself to roast potatoes - you then peel and place in cold, reused vegetable oil and put into a low oven. They'll cook through in the end.

Meat. If you can get a blunt knife into it, it's underdone. Best put it under the grill for another half hour.

Pasta. Only swarthy foreigners add salt. Make sure it's turning into wallpaper paste before pouring it onto a plate. Include some kitchen roll to mop up some of the water.

Fancy some bacon? Good, we've got two days. First, soak your unsmoked, cheap as possible rashers in milk for at least 18 hours. Rinse with water, then place back in some more milk - you've got to get the salt out, you know. Once it looks like a bleached whale carcass, flick it under the grill for a minutes and when the white stuff starts dripping, it's done. Ketchup is too salty. Cheapest, lowest fat spread possible because it 'tastes just the same as butter' and the cheapest white sliced - just the one slice because it's full of salt - folded over.

Try to ensure that everything you put on a plate is simultaneously flavourless, textureless, watery and dry as a bone, but for that extra frission, try to add a whiff of bitterness and barely supressed rage into every mouthful.

When nobody is looking, you then make yourself sausage sandwiches, buy M&S finest stuff and a shitload of cream cakes.

Ha ha! Excellent. She sounds like my grandmother.

Sunnywithchanceofshowers · 01/08/2023 21:20

Courgette soup- eaten 3 days running I am sure they will be crying for flavours. Perfectly nice- exceedingly bland. ( i made it from a marrow sized courgette in the garden) We had curry tonight.

BinturongsSmellOfPopcorn · 01/08/2023 21:44

If you have a pressure cooker you can do vegetables my grandmother's way. Peel potatoes and carrots. Quarter the former and slice the latter into discs. lf you're feeling fancy you could also top and tail some green or runner beans. Place all the vegetables in the the pressure cooker with a teaspoon of bicarb. Cover with boiling water and cook at high pressure for 20 minutes. Drain well and serve the resulting water-flavoured mush without butter.

Moneynewpence · 01/08/2023 21:51

Vergingontheridiculous · 31/07/2023 22:12

Spaghetti olio è aglio. No protein, but that's ok every now and again. Actually delicious so may not make your point 😂

I always add cheese anyway. Plus there is some protein in pasta.

Yusay · 01/08/2023 22:17
  • Boiled potatoes with gammon / veggie sausage, plus peas
  • Baked potatoes with bacon and cabbage
  • lentil stew
  • beef stew
  • brown rice with sausages
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