What (adult) meals are your staples?

[yellowflowers]

I've started to think our meals are a bit samey. Our staples are:

pasta with nice sauces - creamy ones an tomato ones (all home made)
risotto (when we can be bothered as a bit time consuming)
sausage based stews
occasional roast chicken
occasional meat like pork or lamb chops
spaghetti bolognaise and lasagne
homemade curry (very occasionally)
stir fry (also very occasionally)

any ideas for making it a bit more exciting - I've started to get a bit bored.

If it's just dp and I eating, we tend to eat things that the girls don't like much, so things like:

mushroom stroganoff and rice
creamy garlic mushrooms on toast
mushroom curry with naan bread and yoghurt
stuffed mushrooms with salad
mushroom sauce with pasta

Can you see a theme here? :)

Also -

risotto (I do a baked one as it's much less demanding)
stuffed butternut squash and salad
chilli, curry or Thai curry (the girls like these but we do too!)
dauphinoisse and salad with a mustardy dressing

We have at least one Crap Tea night a week where we have quick and easy store cupboard stuff like egg on toast or beans or whatever. Takes the pressure off the meal planner a bit.

Jamie's 30 minute meals has some fab ideas too like fish cakes with potatoes and salsa. The chicken satay is yummy, as is the steak sandwich.

wondered about the 30 min meals book....so its worth it then?

our meals are also getting very samey and boring - in need of inspiration

Pasta -
with courgettes
bolognaise
roasted peppers
roasted peppers w bacon
tomato (and chilli) sauce
broccoli and bacon
beans and pesto
bacon and chives
carbonara
fresh filled pasta
macaroni - cheese
pasta bake - tuna and broccoli
meat lasagne
vege lasange

risotto
with asparagus
bacon and sun dried tomatos
tomatos and courgettes

risotto, salmon fishcakes
tuna, potato fishcakes

Chicken/Lamb/Pork roasts with veg
Spicy meatballs

Grilled lamb chops/steak/sausages/fish/marinated chicken with salad/veg/cous cous etc

Chicken curry w rice
Satay chicken
Chickpea curry
stir fry w noodles
chilli con carne

chicken/beef casserole

tacos/fajitas/burritos - both bean and chicken
beef nachos

beef/turkey burgers
warm salads
jacket potatos
omelettes

have more but memory fading....

oh, 30MM is AMAZING for inspiration. If you enjoy cooking I would really recommend it. I can't quite do them in 30 minutes but it's so enjoyable and everyone has liked having new stuff on the table.

Last night we had asparagus lasagne with the BEST tomato salad (anchovies mushed up with garlic, capers, balsamic vinegar, croutons )

I'm doing at least one a week at the mo.

PS my mum got a copy for a tenner from the book people, or it's half price in Tesco.

Spag bol
Curry
Thai curry
Jacket potatoes
Roast on Sundays
Sausages cooked in the oven
Mince and tatties
Bacon and egg (for me)
Lentil soup
Spinach cannelloni
Beef burgers in rolls and thick chips

roast chicken
spag bol
sausage veg dish from jamie oliver
curry
fish -basa fillets
thai green chicken curry
chili
pork loins marinated in garlic with veg and rice
chicken chorizo dish
risotto
burgers and tomato salsa
chicken stir fry
beef stew

Baked risotto all the way. Never do a stove top one now. Just bung it in the oven and voila a lovely risotto 30 minutes later.

Not that we eat it all week you understand, just commenting on BG above. Mine have other stuff as well as mushrooms though..............

Roast dinner at least twice a week as only meal all wiil eat.
Fish pie
Spag bol
Sausage casserole
Curry

If you make about double the amount of spaghetti bolognaise for a meal then once you've had your spag bol you can make chilli out of the remainder. We do chilli without kidney beans as OH doesn't like them. We eat it with tacos usually.

Pork tenderloin is nice. We flash fry it and then pop it in the oven for a wee while with leeks and sage.

Forgot we have fahitas sometimes too. and I make casseroles/stews too

Fish seems to have fallen off our menu a bit must start doing it again.

Have never made a baked risotto. How do you do that? Any suggested recipes?

Chicken drumsticks and veg, fish and veg, chicken breast and veg, pasta and veg, roast dinner, steak and veg - lol - how boring it sounds but v simple!

I've been doing a fabbo butternut squash risotto lately; also like leek, pea and asparagus.

The recipe I use is a Lesley Waters one - might be worth searching on here for lemon and thyme baked risotto, as I've posted it in a thread before.

All home made here too.
lamb mousakka
spag bol
chilli
fajitas
prawn linguine
steak and chips
bangers and mash
beef stroganof
noodle stir fry with pan fried salmon
garlic mushrooms on toast with goats cheese
pumpkin risotto
chicken korma
lamb saag
harrisa chicken with cous cous
roasted veg with garlic and thyme from the allotment
chicken stew with tarragon and crem freash
pork meat balls baked with passata and feta served with rice.

I love to cook and am trying to expand my repertoire. Getting bored.

found this recipe then added stuff....

cubed butternut squash+ bit of garlic (from jar in our house)+ pine nuts+ cherry tomatoes all roasted in oven for a bit

on hob do gnocchi (can get dried from tesco or aldi i think, only 5 mins) plus add in baby spinach at last minute. drain and add to roasted stuff. mix in some goats cheese til it goes all melty.
lots of nice colours for kids to eat, hardest bit is peeling the squash!

We have lots of favourites.. Dp is between contracts atm, so we stick to simple foods such as
Chickpea curry
Tuna pasta bake
Baked chicken
Chicken casserole
Spaghetti bolognese

And so forth....

roast chicken

thai red curry with leftover chicken

fajitas (leftoer chicken)

chicken pie (yep, leftovers!)

fish pie or fish cakes

spag bol (does 2 weeks)

carbonara

Yellowflowers - my basics are exactly the same as yours! I would also do a chilli and a shepherd's pie. DH loves fish but I'm not keen so I do that only occasionally.

Going to make an oven risotto tonight - thanks for the tips. .

Now, in winter:

Chicken soup (made out of whole chicken, not chicken bones)
Beef/veal stew
Lentil&smoked bacon soup
Leek&potato soup
Spag bol
Slow roast lamb or pork
Smoked salmon pasta
Croque madame

Chicken & chorizo casserole then I use more left over chicken & creme fraiche left over from casserole to make chicken tarragon
Jambalaya
Meatballs
Prawn & noodle stir fry
Pasta with cheese or tomato sauce
Lasagne
We also tend to have at least one easy/cheap meal night, usually omelette or scrambled egg
Sausage & mash
Ham & mash

We really need to expand our repertoire too. Like the idea of baked risotto, any good recipes?

All home-made

Chicken and Chickpeas
Sausage pasta
Mauritian prawn curry
Vegetable curry
Prawns with feta, rocket, quinoa & harrisa
Fish in a bag
Carbonara made with bacon, mushroom & quark
Roast chicken pasta
Butternut squash pasta
Pesto chicken sandwiches

Our quick staple is fish finger sandwiches.

Huge yorkshire pudding full of sausages, mash and broccoli, covered in gravy and brown sauce.

Stuffed peppers (with couscous, and melted cheese on top) served with chicken breasts.

Chilli (I always use quorn mince, low fat, high protein)

Stuffed butternut squash/small pumpkin (hollow out flesh, cook mince, onions, garlic, tomato puree and squash/pumpkin) fill them up, grate cheese on top and bake. Yum!