Stuck for dinner ideas

[SugarSpike]

Please give me some inspiration, Im getting so bored with the same dinners every week, and when I write out my shopping list my mind now seems to go blank.
Im going shopping later and need some ideas.

I usually buy a chicken and do two dinners out of that usually a roast and then some sort of sauce mixed in with the rest usually lemon chiken with rice or chicken tag..where I use a tin of condensed soup.
Other things are usually spag bol,shepherds pie,cod fillets,spagetti and meatballs, korma.
We eat alot of chicken I dont have much experience with other meats, Ive done beef casserole before but my kids always mess around with that, I like lamb hotpot but lamb can be expensive and again the kids muck around.
As for veg I would like to eat more but my finace is fussy aswell as the kids, thou not to bad we tend to have veg with most meals just the same ones-peas,sweetcorn,potatoes.
And is it just me but do most recipe books seem to have really fancy recipes with herbs and spices etc...oh please help

what's wrong with herbs?

chicken and mozerella is nice but it doesn't sound like food is a lively event for you.

do you make stuff fro scratch or are you looking for jars packets etc of stuff

get a copy of 'the silver spoon', it's an italian book, but out here now, that's good for market shopping. so you come back from the shops (lidl in my case) having bought some cheap aubergines, some mozzarella and parmesan and some cans of toms and look up the 'aubergine' section and lo and behold there's a recipe there for everything you just bought. it's great. you just look up the 'glut' food you have bought on offer and the recipes are there.

Herbs and spices don't make a recipe fancy, they just make it taste nice!

From what I've read on here, Jamie Oliver's book The Ministry of Food sounds like it would be a good place for you to start.

Investing in a few jars of dried herbs and spices might be a start then you've always got something to make things tasty. I'd start with basil, oregano, coriander, tumeric, chilli flakes and garlic salt - they are the ones that get used most in our house.

One thing I do with roast chicken is to cut it up, skin and all, and tip it with the juices into Penne pasta, with capers and parsley. It's so easy and absolutely delicious.

We use a lot of herbs and spices so not sure if any of my other recipes will be any good for you but things we eat a lot of include:

Lamb tagine with couscous and pomegranate relish
Fish burritos
Keralan fish curry
Mauritian prawn curry
Lamb with an anchovy, rosemary, garlic and caper rub served with butter bean, spinach and feta salad
Sausage pasta
Tuna arrabiata
Fish in a bag

Maybe I just havent had enough experience with herbs, I have a jar of mixed herbs Ive used on homemade pizzas before
I dont make many things from scratch no, tend to use jars or packets for sauces and stuff,i.e use the colmans packets for casseroles etc.
I have the ministry of food book,lol, and I do one of the recipes in there on a regular basis,but alot of the recipes have veg my fam wont it..including fiance!! so annoying, for example first section 20min meals,moroccan stewed fish with couscous, prawns, DF wont eat, theres cinnamon,chilli,cumin seeds, garlic,basil,plus the veg and the fish to me thats alot of ingredients?.next salmon tikka..im allergic to salmon and its spicy so no good,next prawn avocado, DF wont eat prawns or avocado. Plus meals with mushrooms.. big no no, there is a few recipes Id give a go but not many.
Basically salmon or prawns is out, I myself like prawns but would have to do separate meals which I have done before, I do a nice meal with a horseradish sauce and pasta and rocket.
I wouldnt mind giving some herbs ago but wouldnt really no where to start

Ive had a re-look at my jamie oliver book and gonna try a few.
Do you tend to use fresh herbs or are jar ones ok, its just if I buy a packet of say tyme or basil,i'll use what I need and the rest will get chucked, and money is another issue with me.
In the ideas Im gonna try I need basil and rosemary but its always says fresh in the books.
I was gonna try the griddles tuna and asparagus recipe he has but I really cant see anyone in my family eating the asparagus

Sunshinemummy- your tuna arrabiata sounds interesting what is it?

Also has anyone got any fish cake recipes that doesnt use salmon??

If you buy fresh herbs you can freeze what you don't use.

But dried herbs are fine for most things.

What about tuna and sweetcorn pasta bake?

Or a tomato and bacon sauce for pasta? You can add some basil or oregano to this to make it extra tasty.

Buy little glass jars, then you won't have to chuck them.

Best to start with would be oregano and thyme - or herbes de provence/mixed herbs. Basil, dried, is a waste of time IMO as it tastes nothing like the real thing.

If a recipe calls for fresh then it really is worth buying fresh as they have a very different flavour.

And if money is an issue for you, stop wasting it on packet and jar sauce mixes!!!! Far cheaper to make your own and really not difficult.

Can make lovely fishcakes with tinned tuna - just mash up cold mashed potatoes with the tuna, some thinly sliced spring onions, salt and pepper. Dip into flour and then slowly shallow fry till nice and golden.

Sugarspike it's actually a Jamie recipe but think it's from the Jamie's Dinners book (had to look that up as I have quite a few of his books). You basically marinade the tuna chunks (you can use tinned but I use fresh) in lime, chilli, olive oil, basil (I think can double check when I get home) then make a sauce with capers, oilives and toms and the tuna and marinade. Serve with pasta. It's lovely.

How about getting a pot of basil and growing your own parsley and coriander so you can use it fresh? Even if you don't have a garden it can be grown in pots on a window sill. That's what I do.

Here's my delisious and very popular thai fish cake recipe:

(enough for 4 people)

1 tin tuna

2 sweet potatoes, peeled, cut up, boiled and roughly mashed

1 normal potato, cooked and mashed

big handful of chopped coriander

1 red chillie, chopped (can be left out)

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

3 spring onions, finely chopped

1 egg, beaten

flour or breadcrumbs, to coat

Mix all the ingredients together, season with salt and pepper to taste, shape into fish cakes, coat in egg, coat in breadcrumbs or flour, and shallow fry until golden brown.

OMDB - that sounds really nice!

SS - why assume your family won't eat the asparagus? That kind of thinking very quickly becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy!

It is nice BIWI!

I agree about the asparagus, let them try it before deciding they don't like it. DS likes it, but only eaten dipped in soft boiled eggs, instead of souldiers.

Thanks Sunshinemummy sounds good, I'll see if I can have a peek in his book at the shops.

Thanks for fish cake ideas...im feeling inspired now, going sainsburys in a bit.

BIWI- I assume my family wont eat asparagus cos my son wont eat anything green,well I make him but with a fight, usually manage to get him to eat peas, brocoli he usually refuses point blank, unfortunalty my little girl is following his lead, my DF aint much better, Ive given him mange-tout? and sugar-snap before and he has left them on the plate. I just showed my son a picture of asparagus and guess what first what was ewwwwwwwww

Jamie (and others) would say that you have to keep persevering!

And you certainly have to stop your DS influencing your DD.

Why did you show him a picture? It sounds to me like you're getting frightened that he might reject it, so you're setting yourself up for rejection.

Time to be a tough mummy, I think!

(Says one tough mummy to another ...)

PS - does he like parmesan? A little bit of olive oil drizzled over the asparagus and some finely grated parmesan make all the difference to asparagus.

And also other (green) veg - if you're just serving it up boiled/steamed then it can be a bit boring. I'd look for some interesting ideas for veg side dishes as well if I were you.

As an example, I often serve plain broccoli, because we all like it. But sometimes I stir fry it, with finely slice onion, red pepper and some chilli and/or garlic.

Thisd may sound a bit controversial and may be froned upon by some, but how about trying drizzling a little honey over veg that your DS doesn't like and see if he likes it then? After all, people have honey glazed carrots. DS loves broccoli drizzled in honey, and it workes well for asparagus too. It only needs a tiny bit for the first sensation your DS gets to be a sweet one, which is uaually met by approval. This may help him build up a more positive attitude towards vegetables.

Have you also tried giving the veg first, on their own, as a starter? Sometimes this helps, as if the child is really hungry they will eat it (especially drizzled with honey) but if it part of a plate full of food they will leave it in preference for other things and then they aren't hungry so leave the veg.

easy to make pasta sauce- two tins of tinned tomatoes, 1 grated courgette, 2 grated carrots, 1 grated sweet potato, 2 bits of (i use frozen) cauliflour 1 large finely chopped onion, 3 cloves of garlic, a little (dried is fine) mix italian herbs, boil up for half an hour to an hour-then blend with hand blender and split into four plastic ziplock bags-freeze 3, and use one for dinner-healthy, very cheap and easy.

instead of baked potatoes try baked sweet potatoes with sour creme and melted cheese-yum!

Be brave SugarSpike, don't worry if you only have salmon fish cake recipes and can't eat salmon - just substitute another fish. And if you don't have exactly the right herbs suggested in a recipe others will usually do just fine.

I use Barts freezed dried herbs (in glass jars) cos they seem to stay fresher for longer than other brands, but other jars are fine too.

Also the www.bbc.co.uk/food and www.bbcgoodfood.com websites are great for recipes if you have a printer (or laptop if you are careful).

As for DS and DD, serve something green chopped up really small and mixed in with something they really love like pasta or mashed potato.

If they say they don't like something just keep serving really small portions of it and take the pressure away by saying "just have 2 mouthfuls then if you still don't like it I will take it away". Then serve it again the following week with the same approach. Make sure they know there is no alternative though as if it's a case of eat it or go without they will usually tuck in eventually.

I've heard kids often have to try things 7 times before it becomes acceptable to their palates. It will take a while and needs persistence, but I've done that with both my DS and DD (who are very strong-willed) and although they have their preferences and refuse things sometimes (particularly when they're a bit poorly) they eat virtually everything the rest of the time.

I'm actually in the process of developing a food website myself so I'd love to hear how you get on as to whether my tips are any good.

Opps almost forget - cheese sauce is great on top of loads of different vegetables, particularly brocolli, cauliflower, green beans and leeks.

For fast, simple cheese sauce simply heat creme fraiche and grated cheese - instant!

Perfect as a pasta sauce too. For an easy one-pan pasta meal - boil pasta, drain and set aside. In same saucepan (non-stick is best) stir fry any combination of onion, mushroom, peppers, courgette or aubergine with whatever herbs you fancy. Add the pasta and creme fraiche, then the grated cheese and/or a tin of chopped tomotoes for a bit of variation.

Also try mashed swede and carrots, or roast cubes of butternut squash and parsnips for some sweeter tasting vegetable ideas.

I'll go now, I've take up far too much space .

Good luck.

Well thanks everyone, you've all been a great help, I think I'll make his portions of veg a little smaller and try adding some grated cheese..good idea.
I made baked cod wrapped in bacon last night and my DF loved it, really easy aswell, was out of jamies ministry of food book.
Ive got stuff for another out of the book for the coming week.
I have lamb hotpot in the oven at the mo for tonight, it has carrots,onions and peas in so probably be a fight at dinner but hey ho.