Run out of ideas - please plan my dinners!

[Cloudminnow]

Just about to do shopping list for the week and it has filled me with malaise. I just can't think what to cook for my family dinners - fed up with the same things. Any suggestions?

What do you normally have? I too am in a bit of a rut with meal planning - we seem to have the same meals week in week out and I only do something different if we have somone coming over. A typical week for us is something like - spag bol (or meat balls or lasagne) a roast dinner on Sunday, stew or casserole once a week, jacket potatoes with pork/chicken and veg, sausages and mash and veg, fish pie....I am hopeful you have some interesting suggestions on your thread!

harrietlichman - that sounds exactly like what we have! Hopefully someone will have some inspiration!!

We are slow cooking a lot at the moment. Tomorrow I am trying a slow cooker satay recipe made with beef cubes, peanut butter, chilli paste, and sweet chilli sauce. The next day I am slow cooking some pork cubes in a goulash type recipe with chopped tomatoes and lots of paprika. Today we are BBQ-ing chicken thighs marinated n balsamic dressing. Last night was tortilla wraps filled with minced beef in taco seasonings, sour cream, lettuce etc.

Also we like lentil soup with fresh bread. And we also do spag Bol or baked potatoes with baked beans and cheese as a regular thing.

We have just added an extra dinner, which is potatoes dauphinoise. Thinly slice potatoes, throw in casserole with chopped garlic, pour over cream. We have it wih smoked mackerel, frozen peas and cabbage.

I like to have a couple of veggie days a week for weight control and keeping costs down so generallywhen we have a roast or something I boil up extra pots and we have a Spanish omelette the next day, and one day I make a big pot of soup. I really like split pea / lentil soups in winter with whatever veg you have left the day before your shop.

Also on some Sundays I do another roasting tin full of mixed veg and have it the next day with spaghetti / penne and basil

We have a lot of fish:
baked in foil parcels
in oven with tomato/veg sauce
with spinach & cheese sauce

"ketchup" chicken: marinated (quickly) in a little curry spices/garlic/ginger & a little ketchup in wraps with salad- v popular in this house

chicken fajitas which are similar

stir fries with noodles or rice

simple curries with rice or naan, dds love samosas/pakoras

cheese & tomato pizza/pasta with salad

Did pork in paprika with chorizo & beans the other week. That was nice.

Hope that helps.

I try new recipes every week (SAHM, school age DD), from a combination of my recipe books, recommendations from friends, and searching the net.
I often start with things I have in, particularly when skint, but when not, I will shop for ingredients.
I've also built up a pretty big storecupboard.
Haven't picked what to try this week, as I need to go through the f4reezer and see exactly what meat/fish is in there.
A few we've enjoyed recently
African peanut stew
spinach and ricotta lasagne
Chicken tikka masala
kaddo bourrani
veggie, cheesey bread pudding

We're having chicken tagine tonight with couscous, then gammon with parsley sauce, new pots and green beans tomorrow. Other meal ideas for this week include prawn and fennel pasta, mixed bean chilli, and Spanish omelette (tortilla).

Thai chicken curry and egg noodles? Really easy to make your own paste:

2 chilis deseeded and chopped
2 shallots or spring onions
3 cloves garlic
3 cm piece of ginger
2 lemongrass stalks
2 tbsp fresh coriander
1tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander seeds
1 tsp grated lime zest
1 tbsp lime juice
splash of oil.

Chop the chilis, onions, garlic and ginger by hand then either use a pestle and mortar or mini blender to turn it into a paste.

Fry 2 tbsps of the paste in a wok briefly then add chicken pieces and seal them, then chuck in veg (eg baby sweetcorn, mange tout and/or a sweet pepper cut into sticks) and a can of coconut milk and simmer for 15 mins. Then add bag of fresh egg noodles (or cooked rice) and cook for another 2-3 mins.

This quick chicken tagine is magic: www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/5967/easy-chicken-tagine serve with cous cous that you've chopped bits of dried prune and apricot into.

Here's what we have monthly:

• Jacket pots with selection of toppings
• Spag bol
• Cottage pie
• Shepherds Pie
• Shepherds Tacos
• Roast ( mainly chicken, sometime slow cook pork or beef )
• Chicken and ham pie ( using leftover roast chicken )
• Pork stir fry ( using leftover slow roast pork )
• Stir fry w chicken and noodles
• Baked curry
• Fish pie
• Salmon and wedges w veg
• Soup w fresh bread and cheese
• Quesadillas
• Omelettes
• Dippy eggs
• Mac cheese w bacon spinach and tomato
• Pasta w tomato and cheese
• Pasta w bacon and tomato
• Pizza
• Chicken parmesan
• Fishcakes and veg
• Chicken souvlaki
• Toad in the hole
• Sausage and tomato pasta
• Sausages and onion gravy
• Baked fish with pommes anna and veg
• Meatballs and spaghetti
• Burgers and fries ( once every few months )
• Casseroles ( pork, chicken, beef in red wine etc )
• Cheese on toast

We have-

Leek and potato bake (v.cheap and freezes well)
Spag Bol
Garlic mushroom spaghetti
Roast Dinner
Fish and potato wedges with peas (I don't buy frozen chips because they take up to much room in the freezer)
Sausage and bean casserole
Chicken/pork and leek casserole (we like leeks...)
Jacket potato
Meatballs and spaghetti (we like spaghetti too!)
Sausage, mash peas and onion gravy

I am getting the Takeaway secret book so I can do some more things like curries, because this list is a bit boring!

I have recently started making an easy pasta meal,

pasta, green beans, cooked chicken,few spoons pesto and half a large tub of fat free fromage frais. toss in some quartered tomatoes at the end.

also, quesadila type thing, mixture, dry mince, oregano, garlic, onion, peppers, mozzarella, tomatoes, tiny pince of sugar! cook all that together then dry fry a wrap with mixture in, aonther wrap on top and flip to brown that warp. serve with salad.

french toast ( eggy bread) and bacon!

sweet potato, butternut squash and lentil soup serve with crusty bread spread with boursain cheese.

my eldest loves tined sardines on toast.

chicken and lek lasagne, bascically leeks, garlic chicken put into a cheese or white sauce made into a lasagne . cheese on top.

turkey breasts cut into strips and coated in breadcrumbs, spray with any oil and bake for 30 mins, can do same with salmon, white fish etc. serve new pots and veg.

I see the boredom thing - I'm in my 25th year of marriage, 19th of parenting. Still have an 8yo. Weekly list includes from the following:

roast
fajitas
pasta
stir fry
curry
teriyaki/tempura/sushi
shepherds pie
chicken pie/salmon en croute
casseroles
things in parcels - fish, chicken
quesedillas
salads
baked/mediterranean fish
stuff with chorizo - chicken, scallops....

Loads of other stuff too, I'm just so bored with churning out the same old stuff, even though we eat a pretty varied diet. Whatever you have, it gets boring after a while.