IDEAS FOR HEALTHIER MEALS PLEASE

[raindrops]

Would like some ideas for quick healthy meals please.

Have become stuck in a rut as far as food shopping is concerned and alweays seem to buy the same things,packaged convienence food included .

Examples being

shop bought quiche
pizzas
sausage rolls
steak pies
frozen broccoli,carrots,garden peas.

Also buy a lot of rice and penne pasta but do buy ragu sauce in a jar for spag bol.
Also mince to make chilli etc with .

Haave tried couscous which no one else in the house likes .

We do have a lot of pitta bread ,hommous ,taramasalta and some salad stuff.

Would like some ideas so not always buying convienecnce food please.

bump as i too would be interested

Oh dear - what a lot of pastry you eat!

Who are you cooking for - yourself and dp or kids or both, and what ages are kids?

veggie sausage casserole with mashed potato
shepherds pie
chicken casserole (use thighs)
roast some veggies instead of frozen stuff (whack in the oven and forget about them whilst other things cook)
Cauli/broccoli cheese
chicken curry/fish curry - still use shop bought sauces
salmon in a bag (salmon fillets,loads of veggies and bake in the foil in the oven)

If you make your own spag bol sauce you can chuck loads of different veg in and it's far nicer than ragu.

Fry some mince and a chopped onion, add a clove of chopped garlic. Add a tin of tomatoes, chopped mushrooms, chopped mixed peppers, I throw in a small tin of butter bins as well and also any other veg I have left over like grated carrot and finely chopped cauliflower. Simmer all of that for about 40 mins and serve. Delicious!

Make double quantity and re-serve as lasagne the day after next with crusty or garlic bread and salad. Just buy some lasagne sheets that don't need pre cooking. Make a cheesy sauce - I add a tablespoon of sauce flour in a pan with a drop of milk heat and stir and keep adding the milk slowly then chuck in some pre melted cheese (microwave 30 secs). Concoct a lasagne in layers and add grated cheese on the top - whack in the oven for 30 minutes.

homemade tomato & basil sauce on fresh rather than dried pasta

ommlettes of all varieties

backed potatos with cheese or beans or roasted veg

home made pizzas are easy and the DCs like to make their own

chicken breast , marinated in honey, lemon and soy sauce, cut into chunks, stir fried, serve with rice and sugar snap peas

also, I like sausage , chips, comforty food, tonight we had Quorn sausage (less than 5% fat), oven chips ( less than 5% fat) and baked beans, again low fat...so you can have a 'bad' meal wihout it being too awful!

wraps are good for a change, tuna with cucumber and tomato is nice, or chicken with mayo, diced apricot and a smidge of curry paste

bolognese sauce

Hi ,am cooking for myself,DH and 2 children aged 4 and 6.

I make sure the children have fruit and vegetables,all be it frozen although not sure if they are as good as fresh.
I am quite lucky they will eat
broccoli, raw carrots,asparagus,peas,peppers,cabbage,cuecumber,tomatos,runner beans,sweetcorn,cauliflower.

It's just finding the time to cook homemade pies,quiches etc.
They do like curries, mild chillis,lasange which I do make from scratch.

They are not keen on meat,sausages,athough will eat chicken.

sorry furball but [barf] at the idea of spag bol with cauliflower in it.

oi - don't knock it til you've tried it!

Frozen veg is fine raindrops. They do well to eat such a variety too.

They are not too keen on potatos of any variety,have tried sweet potato also but they don;t like mash,chips.
They occasionally eat a jacket potato.

They like crisps and try to get a healthier type if there is such a thing so try to limit those.

As for breakfast they tend to have rice krispies,cornflakes or cherrios.
My son also likes cherrio cereal bars which I thought would be ok but after tasting one they are so sweet.

Isthere any cereal bars with less sugar?

Meant to add my son does like poppy seed crispbreads and ryvitas so plenty of fibre,but not sure if at his age too much fibre is a good thing.

A couple of other potato ideas...

Have you tried making potato wedges for them - similar to jacket potato but perhaps a bit more interesting, particularly if you add some spices. Just cut potato into wedges, par boil (or steam) for 5 mins, strain, then put into a freezer bag with some oil and shake about (this is just a good technique for coating them all over without needing too much oil). Add in a bit of paprika or other herbs/spices, then bake in a hot oven for about 30 mins (depends on size on wedges).

You could also try doing gnocchi - for a very simple and quick meal cook it and then add a good dollop of soft cheese, and some cooked pancetta. Add some cooked peas to up the veg intake. You can buy the gnocchi ready made in the chiller cabinet, normally next to the fresh pasta.

There's a recipe for chicken and apple sausages on Aitch's blw blog, which is good if you want to make your own.

Do you make risotto at all? You can make a tomatoey one from onions, risotto rice, sultanas, tinned tomatoes, stock, and either cooked chicken or spam, depending on which you prefer. Alternatively you could make all sorts of creamy risottos from onions, rice, white wine or martini, stock, and then blue cheese and creme fraiche, or peas and parmesan (if doing this, add grated nutmeg, and puree some of the peas).

How about falafel too? You could either eat them with rice (I like to mix in a bit of greek yoghurt and mint sauce) and grated carrot, or stuff them with some salad and maybe coleslaw into pitta bread.

I think the only risk with too much fibre btw is that it fills them up so they can't take in so many calories, but if he's not skinny then it shouldn't be any cause for concern.

In fact brown rice is really healthy, so you could sometimes use that instead of white, so that it doesn't feel like you're always having the same thing. Brown basmati rice is particularly yummy.

lulumama can i have your recipe pls for tomato and basil sauce

TBH our diet consists largely of what you have typed but all homemade. And the pastry items maybe less often because I have to be bothered to make the pastry. But we have home made quiche, pizzas, pies, spag bol, chillies etc.

You say your children are not keen on potatoes. I was an odd child like that, didn't like chips! What about risotto? Or stir fry and rice/noodles? And lots of pasta dishes are really easy and quick.