Sick of eating the same meals

[pinkycatmum]

Hi everyone.
Im a stay at home mum so have quite a lot of time on my hands but I find myself cooking the same meals that both my partner and daughter will enjoy and eat. I’m not too fussy at all and will try anything atleast once.
We spend about £80 a week on food shopping and I’m sure I can get some new things that we all will like.
The meals we currently have on rotation are:
Roast dinner ( chicken)
spag bol
chilli con carne with rice
chicken curry and rice
chicken wings
cottage pie
chicken sausages and mash
baked chicken with rice
tuna pasta
my daughter will have either have fish fingers or chicken nuggets with chips about once a fortnight

we eat a lottt of chicken and mince as my daughter is not too keen on any other meat and my partner doesn’t eat pork.
Neither one will eat any vegetables😩, so I sneak them into the food ( cut them small or blend)

Whats your go to meals ? Any new dishes to suggest?

Thank you in advance :)

How about Red Pesto Chicken?

Get some Chicken breast marinade in red pesto - about 1/2 jar- and fry off in a pan. I usually put it in the oven at 200°C for around 30 minutes. Or you can put it aside and finish off later.
Fry finly chopped onions, some red pesto and sliced peppers in the pan that you used for the chicken.

Add chicken/ veggie stock & season with the rest of the pesto and some cream add the chicken and ensure its cooked.
(I also add tiger prawns for a luxury dinner!)

We have this with pasta and a leavy salad.

When we are stuck in a food rut we use one of the hefty discounts to join Gousto/Hello Fresh etc. We cancel as soon as the introductory discounts are over but I find it gets us out of our rut for a bit.

Homemade soup now its colder! Serve with nice bread, baguettes etc
Salmon, rice noodles and veggies
Toasted sandwiches
Jacket potatoes with fillings and salad
Homemade quiche with salad and potatos

Would your family like Asian flavours? Stir fries with noodles/chicken or prawns and a few veg thrown in or Mexican such as fajitas with meat/veg, guacamole etc that you construct yourselves?

Is there a proper butcher near you? Ours does venison sausages and lamb burgers with mint.

I stuff red and yellow peppers with sausage meat and bake then for 40 minutes. The peppers go sweet and soft, even my veg-hating son likes them.

Will they eat seafood? I make a tomato/garlic pasta sauce and add frozen mussels. Really quick and easy.

Or cheese and mushroom omelettes? ham and tomato omelettes? etc

Macaroni cheese (with a bit of cauliflower!) - hoping to try this butternut version this autumn.
Risotto
Enchiladas - can be made with either mince or chicken and are great for hiding veg. I sneak in a bit of grated carrot and some finely chopped red pepper.
Cheese and tomato bread pudding

An egg-based dish. I like frittata; omelette is another option.
Pancakes makes for a fun dinner if a bit of a mess. Or you can make them into a sort of cannelloni thing.
Salmon wrapped in pancetta and baked in the oven, with new potatoes and peas.
Duck or chicken legs roasted on a tray on top of a mixture of chopped up veggies and tinned pulses, with some herbs.
Barlotto

Toad in the hole (veggie or chicken sausages)

sausage salad -roast potatoes and sausages in bite sized chunks sprinkled with paprika - I add similar sized onion and pepper chunks and Chuck in cherry tomatoes near the end but you might leave them out or replace with whatever veg they are most likely to try. Serve on a bed of whatever green might be eaten (rocket or watercress is nice but if all they’ll touch is iceberg use that. Serve with garlic Mayo.

keema - a mince curry

daal

chicken piccata

chicken tagine

jacket potatoes with cheese/beans/slaw/garlic mushrooms/leftover chilli/etc. just offer a couple of toppings and let them eat whichever bits they want.

it seems they eat rice so consider risotto, paella, biryani etc.

Will they eat other grains? Barley, quinoa, etc?

Pizza - use English muffins, halved, as the bases and let them top them with their own favourite things.

Chicken and veg pie with a cobbler topping

Chicken stroganoff with rice

Sausage and puy lentil stew

Sticky chicken - chopped boneless chicken into bite sized pieces. Mix tomato ketchup, honey, soy sauce and mustard into a sauce, mix chicken in. Spread over a LINED baking tin (seriously, don't miss out the lining, you'll be scrubbing for hours) and bake in oven for 30 mins at 180. Baked potatoes and crunchy salad on side.

Homemade sausage rolls as can grate so many veggies in there as well. Easy to freeze if you want to do batches.
Chicken wraps, have veggies you know they will eat. With DD it was carrot and cucumber, she has since added capsicum, mushroom, tomato and avocado. ( still working on lettuce, cabbage is a no go).

Fajita pasta!
Fry onions, peppers, celery (optional), and either chicken or bacon.
Add fajita spice, and mix in a good dollop of Greek yog/cream cheese/sour cream/crème fraîche.
Serve with pasta or spaghetti.

I have done Hello Fresh and Simply Cook a few times to get out my usual meal comfort zone. I keep the menu cards and right down the ingredient size so I can make again without the subscription.
For Hello Fresh I think you might be able to view the recipes online so no need to sign up.

My go to’s

Red Thai Curry
Pan fry chopped chicken breast, add
Blue dragon Red Curry Paste (just less than half the jar, less if don’t want to spicy), add
Can coconut milk (full fat) add
Green Beans, cook for a few minutes, add
Red Pepper, cook for a few minutes, add
Broccoli, cook for 5 minutes.
Serve with boiled white rice 👌🏼
(I can see chicken curry on your list but not sure what type!)

Creamy Chicken Tagliatelle
Chicken (cooked in butter and oil)
Onion + Any leftover vegetables (delicious slow cooked in salt, olive and rosemary the night before, makes own stock)
Chicken or Veg stock if needed
White wine if bottle handy
Cream / Crème Fresh
Salt / Pepper
Grated Cheese
I make my garlic bread in the air fryer so I don’t have to put the oven on

My partners favourite dish to cook:
Honey Chicken thighs/quarters in air fryer
Brocolli
Eaten with lots of mayonnaise….

Ooo I really like Simply Cook to mix it up a bit.

Much better than HelloFresh in my opinion.

Just remember to defer your deliveries or cancel the subscription if you don’t want any more!

They send you the spices and a recipe card and you buy the ingredients.

I can give you a link for a free box (and I get one too) not sure if this is allowed or not?!

Thank you all for you replies. I’ve got so many things to give a go! I’m definitely gonna check out hello fresh and simply cook.