Meal planning boredom - help!

[suddenlycupishalffull]

It's been asked a millions times before but...we always eat the same things - week in, week out - we're all bored of it! What are you planning for next week? I need some inspiration! I'll start with old (boring) reliables that I'll be wheeling out again as of Monday:

• steamed salmon, veg & pots
• beef stew in slow cooker
• chicken cous cous salad
• pesto pasta
• homemade pizza (or shop bought fish fingers :)) & homemade wedges
• nutty chicken curry

That's it. Snooze!! What can I cook to vamp this up?!

I meal plan and occasionally get a bit bored. When this happens I pull out some of my less-liked cook books and go through for ideas. Our week's plan:

-pasta, smoked salmon, peas in cream sauce

• pasta with haloumi, puy lentil and spinach cooked with cream, white wine and chilli flakes
• sausage and mash with steamed broccoli, sweetcorn
• saag paneer with red camargue rice and naan
• potato, spring onion, pea, green bean and cheese in a frittata
• feta, pea and mint homemade pasties with salad
• apple, gruyere, chicory and boiled egg salad with vinaigrette

My husband would probably like to come to yours for all that meat as I'm veggie

I love meal planning! I got most of my recipes from Pinterest and Foodgawker I pick out a few new recipes to try each week then if they're well liked they go in to a recipe file I have

Nom Gruntbaby!! Can we swop?! Your week sounds delicious! We eat too much meat :( I'm very aware of it as I used to be veggie before I converted back to the dark side ;) and it's costing us a fortune. I try to do one fish, one chicken & x1 red meat dish a week & make the rest veggie, so the pizza will be veggie as will the pesto pasta. But I'm getting lazy & relying on shop-bought for things like pesto & fish fingers (I buy the Jamie Oliver ones to make myself feel getter but I know logically it makes no difference :)) But I guess there are worse things :) Can you tell me now you cook the haloumi (sic) and saag paneer dishes? Do you make the pasties yourself? I don't attempt making pastry dishes but that would add some interest for us, because I never do it :)

I've never heard of Foodgawker Athousand thank you, busy googling it now :)

I've been so bored of our meals recently so before I went shopping I got my recipe books out. So far we've had chicken curry and jambalaya. Tomorrow is braised lamb chops with new pots and veg. Sunday will be roast chicken, Monday chicken pie and Tuesday chick pea tagine.

Oh and last night dh was out so do had pizza and salad and I did a prawn stir fry with rice.

Meal planning is my favourite thing to do, I spend ages fitting meals in from what I already have, incorporating new recipes to try and trying to get a good balance of meat/fish/veg.
This week we have
M-Smoked salmon quiche and salad
T-Spring veg stew and dumplings
W-Chippy tea
T-Green chilli pulled pork tacos and refried beans
F-Pearl barley risotto with ox liver
S-Mackerel burgers in buns with pickles
S-Fry up

Ok!

My favourite cookbooks are Demuths vegetarian - which you will find on Amazon.

Saag Paneer for 2-3 people
-buy a block of paneer cheese, cube it and fry in oil and a mix of turmeric, cumin powder, garam masala, something like that. Then when golden remove, drain on kitchen paper and leave.

• more oil, more spices, plus chillis etc. Fry 1-2 onions (i buy frozen sliced), some garlic or garlic paste.
• can also add sliced mushrooms next if you fancy maybe 100-200g
• add spinach (fresh spinach works better than frozen) I guess I put in around 200g
• simmer, you can add a little water, or a tin of coconut milk/cream which tastes good but obviously adds calories
• add the paneer
• serve with rice - basmati fine but we like red camargue rice which takes longer but has a lovely flavour and texture
• tend to buy naan these days. Pre-children I made them by hand.

Puy lentil thing is a Demuth's recipe I seem to remember. The way below if a bit cheaty but you can do it more cheaply.

• 1 block of haloumi, slice, dry fry (no oil), put on plate and try not to snack on it!
• thinly slice 3 bulbs of fennel (usually remove outer layer as tough), can add a little garlic paste. Fry in oil and half a teaspoon of chilli flakes until softening, then add a slosh of cream (to taste) and a larger slosh of dry white wine.
• prepare puy lentils (i cheat with a microwavable sachet which takes 45 seconds to cook)
• throw lentils in with fennel, cream, wine and cook through, add the halloumi too. Add a bag of fresh spinach
• serve with pasta

Sorry they're not that accurate but I tend to read the cookery books the first few times then work out what short cuts will work, and then just throw in other ingredients in whatever quantities I fancy.

The pasties are long-winded and every time I curse but then enjoy them so much I put them on the plan. They're from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's veg book. I cheat (2 small children) with shop bought puff pastry I'm afraid (don't tell my husband).
Fry a bunch of spring onions then add a load of frozen peas and cook lightly. When cool add a crumbled up block of feta, lots of ground black pepper, half a beaten egg and a large bunch of chopped mint.
Roll out the pasty into thin squares or circles, put filling in part, fold and seal, then brush with the other half of the beaten egg. Cook for about 20 mins or so. They freeze and reheat really well too and can be microwaved to reheat though the pastry can go a bit soggy.

Hope that works out and I haven't missed some vital step!

I love meal planning too - I get to satisfy my cravings, I usually grab a couple of cookbooks and a cup of tea and have a read. I try out at least one new recipe a week, if we all really like it then it goes into the Family Favorites, so meal planning stays fresh and interesting.

I haven't finished this week's yet but so far

Minestrone - use up all the ends of veg, bacon and pasta
Coconut and tamarind chicken curry, roasted spiced cauliflower and rice
Homemade pizza Roquefort and pear, margarita with Basil and parmesan
Brisket with Boston beans and coleslaw
Kedgeree
Shoulder of pork is on special offer, so I'll look at ways to use it tomorrow.
Broccoli, chilli, garlic and parmesan orecchiette.

Your menu looks right up our street scones, think I'll be doing a few of these dishes soon.

I use cookbooks and good food mag to meal plan and as a result rarely make anything too often , this week we've had

Turkey and mushroom stroganoff with potato wedges

Spaghetti and meatballs

Coriander chicken curry with rice and chapattis ( except it'll be turkey curry- guess which meat was reduced this weekend)

Aubergine parmigiana

Squash curry

Turkey and bacon pie with French braised lettuce and peas

- steamed salmon, veg & pots
Change to fried salmon with teriyaki sauce, Chinese veg stir-fry, noodles

- beef stew in slow cooker
Change to lamb hotpot in slow cooker

- chicken cous cous salad
Change to kedgeree with smoked haddock.

- pesto pasta
Change to linguine with fresh tomatoes,garlic and bacon (or flat leaf parsley, lemon zest and Parmesan).

- homemade pizza (or shop bought fish fingers smile) & homemade wedges
Change to homemade kebabs-turkey strips grilled with salt, pepper and herbs, lettuce, cucumber, yoghurt and chilli sauce.

- nutty chicken curry
Change to prawn and cauliflower curry with roti (I buy uncooked frozen prawns when they are on offer).

Sorry, I missed out the pitta breads to put the homemade kebabs in.

This all sounds amazing. I'm inspired. Sconess, where did you get your brisket and beans recipe? I've tried googling but a bit daunted. Thank you everyone!

Hi puddle I use this recipe for the beans. I needed to adjust the seasoning, I added lea & Perrins and Tamari at the end and also made a note to add less sugar next time as they were too sweet - it's easy to add more at the end. I love that you don't need to soak the beans.

Here's the recipe I use for the brisket, modify quantities and cooking times accounting the weight of the meat.

Ingredients

4 pounds beef brisket, trimmed

2 tablespoons hot smoked paprika powder
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons dry mustard

1 1/2 cups beef stock

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Make a dry rub by combining chili powder, salt, garlic and onion powders, black pepper, sugar, dry mustard, and bay leaf. Season the raw brisket on both sides with the rub. Place in a roasting pan and roast, uncovered, for 1 hour.

Add beef stock and enough water to yield about 1/2 inch of liquid in the roasting pan. Lower oven to 300 degrees F, cover pan tightly and continue cooking for 3 hours, or until fork-tender.

Trim the fat and slice meat thinly across the grain. Top with juice from the pan.

PROFESSIONAL RECIPE: This recipe was provided by a chef, restaurant or culinary professional and makes a large quantity. The Food Network Kitchens chefs have not tested this recipe in the proportions indicated and therefore cannot make any representation as to the results.
Recipe courtesy Tom Perini

CATEGORIES: Beef Main Dish Roasting View All

Read more at: www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/texas-oven-roasted-beef-brisket-recipe.html?oc=linkback

Thank you. Will look at this at length come nap time!

Half way through my current meal plan which is:

Chicken curry
Pizza
Chicken and chorizo paella
Doner kebab
Sausages, mash, veg and yorkies

As you can see, we are big on the fakeaway.