I know it's been done before but...

[Sprogstersmum]

what do you have for dinner if you eat with dcs? We always eat as a family - dcs are 5 and 2 - but we have the same old things. What are your regular family dinners?

Ours are:

Roast on a Sunday
Lasagne
Pasta with either tomato type sauce or creamy/cheese sauce and various veg/meat/fish
risotto - either with peas and prawns or tomato risotto with lamb on skewers and hummus
casseroles - either chicken or beef with jacket pots
fish pie
salmon fillets with pots and veg
stir fry noodles
omlettes/frittata
drumsticks and wedges
sausages - either with mash or toad in the hole
fajitas

What else do you cook? (As you may have noticed from list we're not v veggie (dp is of the 'it's not a meal without meat' school of thought) and I don't think dcs would eat spicy food. However I do like to make everything from scratch. Any ideas gratefully received !

You could make curry without making it spicy. Patak's curry pastes are really tasty without being hot. DS likes this and we've slowly added a little more spice so he will now eat things that are a little hotter.

Anything with mince is good so; spag bol, chilli con carne, mince and onion pie, spaghetti and meatballs, home-made burgers, savoury mince and rice....

What about home-made pizza? Its so cheap and easy, the kids can help make it, and despite popular belief that pizza is junk food, a home-made pizza is a very good, nutrionally balanced meal (depending on what you put on top).

Jacket potato beans and cheese.

Cous cous.

Chops and wedges and peas
Home made chicken and mushroom pies (ready made pastry is the key)
Chilli con carne with tortillas or enchillada
Chinese style dinner with spare ribs and stir fried rice and spring rolls
Green chicken curry
Satay chicken skewers
Home made burgers in rolls with salad
mustard chicken
pork loin with mustard and tarragon sauce.
Most of these things DD wont' touch with a barge pole so I reduced the spiceyness in hers and give DH a bottle of chilli olive oil for his. I don't serve the sauces to DD she would pull a face.

Chicken rissoto.

jacket spuds.

Cottage pie.

Jerk chicken with rice and corn on the cob.

Creamy bacon pasta.

Gammon slowcooked in coke -with cauli cheese.

Curry.

Casserole.

Oven omlette.

Meatballs and pasta.

I use the slowcooker a lot and prep veg and stuff durong the day so when it comes to that horrible meh feeling after doing the schoolrun I don't have that much to do.

Kedgeree is a good cheap healthy option (maybe with a few added extra peas).
Sausage casserole always goes down well in our house.
Nigella's peanut butter noodles are an interesting veggie option (though cold, so perhaps not for this weather).
Cornflake chicken goujons (Annabel karmel recipe) are nice.

Apart from that we do what you do (apart from risotto, which DD won't touch).

Oh, and Khosheri (Ottolenghi recipe), which is a good veggie standby - spiced rice, lentils, onions with a tomato sauce - I do a chilli tomato sauce for adults and use a stir in chilli free option for the DCs.

I second sausage casserole although my DD loves kidney beans in it and my DS takes them out. Also do spanish chicken and rice in a tomato sauce.

Am impressed by your list Kreecher, tried pork loin in mustard and mushroom sauce for the DC on Saturday and ended up giving them toast after as most was left on the plate.

Very similar to yours:

• Roast
• Toad in the Hole
• Fish pie
• Shepherds pie
• Chicken parmesan
• Beef in red wine casserole
• Coq au vin plus other chicken casseroles
• Macaroni cheese - with spinach, bacon and tomatoes
• Spag bol
• Omelettes/dippy eggs ( Sunday nights )
• Chicken souvlaki
• Jacket pots with prawns or tuna
• Chicken traybake with autumn veg

Going to try them again with Mexican soon, wasn't popular last time, but have to keep trying, as they now eat a lot more variety than they did last year. Am thinking tacos, mixy matchy with lettuce, mince, cheese, salsa, sour cream etc, maybe some nachos and some rice n beans on the side.