my menu plan for the coming week is a bit boring!

[lucysmam]

I've spent the weeks since joining MN learning loads of different things to make for my family's dinners/lunches. Did my meal the other night & have just looked again n it's not very inspiring

We're having:

lasagne
shepherds pie
fish pie
stew on Sunday
chicken curry
cajun chicken wraps
pasta bake

& my random meal for a bit more choice on the last evening is a potato bake

Is anyone having anything more exciting at all this week that I could pinch for my meal plan???

wow you ahve meat every single night

that all sounds yummy and perfect autumnal food

nailpolish, yup. But only because I buy value brands & oh knows a butcher on local market who lets us have stuff dirt cheap if it's not selling very well

I have planned:
lettuce risotto
meat and potato pie
frittata
poss mac cheese, poss celery soup w.crusty bread
Tues DH away and children have football then swimming then another football so will need packed teas and I will just have an omelette later

Then Weds and Thurs when I am working will be freezer meals - I have in there spag bol, chilli, turkey meatloaf.

oooh, fritata sounds good. never think of stuff like that until I've shopped for everything else!

This week we have had

Monday - Vegetable Stir Fry with pak choi and egg rice
Tuesday - DD gets in late from Gym so she had pasta and we had pasta bake with celery, red onion, green peppers and mozzarella
Wednesday - we ate out at a lovely pub last night!
Thursday - Mince and onions with carrots,along with garlic mash and mangetout
Friday - Fish pie with loads of veg
Saturday - Takeaway night in our house so prob pizza or Indian
Sunday - roast chicken or gammon with all the trimmings

we had :

monday : roast chicken and veg
tuesday : spag bol
wednesday: roast veg & sausages with steamd broccoli
thursday : pasta bake with butternut squash and broccoli
friday : dahl and naan bread
sat : take out of some description
sunday : jacket potatos with cheese & beans

I'm just doing next weeks plan and shopping list ready for the morning so far I have

Friday - dinner out

Saturday - Shepherds Pie (my mum and dad are here for the weekend, otherwise it would be tapas)

Sunday - Roast Chicken with all the trimmings

Monday - Spaghetti and meatballs

Tuesday - Tofu stirfry with noodles

Wednesday - sausage, mash and veg

Thursday - Veggie chilli and rice

Sat - takeaway us, DC pasta/cheese thingy
Sun - Roast pork and trimmings
Monday - cold meat, jackets salad
Tues - veg soup, crusty bread
wed- Fahitas
Thurs - Spag bol, garlic bread
Fri - chilli( spiced up bolognese with beans added) and rice

We have 3 lots of meat a week but only small portions each to that stretches to 5 meals

I think your meal plan sounds very normal OP

My menu this week is

thurs-Lasange
fri -fish, new potatoes, peas
sat-falafel,pitta bread,salad,hoummous
sun-roast chicken and all the trimmings
mon-macaroni cheese
tues-chicken and leek pie,new potatoes,sweetcorn

maybe it's not so boring then, although a roast of some kind is a good idea! & a chilli will be on the week afters I think.

I just don't seem to be doing anything exciting but then again, I don't know what else to do really. Or how to do things sometimes . . .think I'll have a look in recipes section for some new stuff

Each week I make one meal we have never had before, otherwise we end up with the same things over and over.

mon - 1 piece/pack meat + veg
tues - same meat another way
wed - pasta with sauce
thur - beans or veg with toast or rice or potatoes
fri - leftovers or something from the freezer
sat - something new
sun - cook in bulk and freeze portions for fri meals

next week the plan is...
m - roast chicken breast and veg
t - chicken pies and salad
w - pasta with pesto
t - homemade baked beans and wedges
f - leftover beans and jacket potato
s - curried potato and cabbage roll ups
s - macaroni cheese (freeze portions of sauce)

Orrechiette with tapenade and cherry tomatoes
Veg stir fry
Chickpea curry
Barley rissoto
Pesto Wraps

Thia week we've had/are having
Mon-Pasta with tomato sauce and mozzerella
Tue-Toad in the hole
Wed-Smoked mackerel pate on bagels with salad
Thurs-Lentil soup and rolls
Fri-Spaghetti Carbonara
Sat-Pizzas
Sun-Roast either chicken or pork.

No idea about next week yet, I'll analyse what's in at the weekend and plan from there.

I keep a note of what we've had in previous weeks so that I remind myself of all the things I can cook (somehow pen in hand to menu plan I always go blank). Think your list sounds fine. This is our list for this week:

Sat: Fresh pasta & sauce (treat for me as DH away)
Sun: Chicken casserole with couscous
Mon: Lentil toad in the hole
Tue: Cashew and veggie stirfry with noodles
Wed: Roast veg and feta omlette with potato wedges
Thu: Fish & Chips (from freezer)
Fri: CURRY NIGHT - DH cooks

How do you make Lentil Toad in the Hole?

Superbunny - have cut and pasted recipe from an old thread...

"Fry up some chopped onions and garlic, add 125g of chopped mushrooms and drained tin of green lentils. Frazzle a bit more, I tend to add some oregano or thyme. While you're doing this put an ovenproof dish with a bit of oil in it in a oven heated to 220 degrees.

Then make up a batter with 125g of self-raising flour, 2 eggs and half a pint of milk. Take your now sizzlingly hot dish out of the oven and pour in the batter and then add the lentil mixture on top, spreading it out a bit. Bake for 20-25 mins until risen and golden."

SuperBunny, what's orrechiette?

I want to try to do something new all the time, just never get around to it unless I have a specific idea what to make. Having said that, I have loads of soup recipes so may try out one of those instead of something on my list & bake a loaf to go with it.

My menu plan for the rest of the week is:

Today - chicken pasta bake (chicken, onion, peppers, tomato mixed with penne pasta. Pour cream over and top with mozarella - bake for 20 mins)

Tomorrow - Lemon chicken kebabs (from Delia online - really easy).

Saturday - peppered steak kebabs (from our butchers)

Sunday - Cottage pie (for tis with beef)

Next week's plan:

Mon - Chicken fajitas w/ guacamole, soured cream & salsa + rice & refried beans + corn on the cob

Tue - Mozarella and roasted veg pasta bake w/ homemade garlic bread + salad

Wed - Veggie stirfry w/ soba noodles

Thu - Tuna steaks, lemony potato wedges & steamed green veg

Fri - Chicken kebabs, rice + salad

Sat - Steak, baked potato & salad

Sun - Curried chicken, rice & peas, plantain + salad

Everyone eats a LOT of meat don't they?

beansmum - we tend to eat meat or fresh fish once or twice a week. Sometimes have a roast chicken at the weekend and this will provide leftover meat for another 2 meals. Partly it's because we can't afford more meat (free range, organic etc) but also because I was veggie for a long time and don't feel the need to eat it all the time. Am surprised too that some people seem to eat it pretty much every day...

lemon chicken kebabs sound good, will google when my lo finally drops off.

fajitas also sounds good, am writing a list for a change and going to try something new next week

beansmum, the only reason we eat a lot of meat is because my oh knows a butcher on the market who sells it to us dirt (&I mean dirt) cheap & I buy value mince/bacon n stuff like that. If it wasn't for the butcher then we wouldn't eat a lot of meat at all because of the cost

ha gobble! that's what we're having

(mine'll be betteran yours tho! :P)

Our menu plan for the next 7 days is:

tonight: spag bol amde with a mix of mince and lentils with pasta

friday: dinner at parent's house

sat: home made pizza

sun: green lentils in tomato sauce with rice and carrots

mon:chickpea curry with carrots and home made naan bread

tues: vegetable tagine with couscous

wed: roast chicken legs with veg and sweet potatoes