Our evening meals are so boring/monotonous! How do you choose?

[McDreamy]

How do you deliver a varied menu? Have you got a vast collection of cookery books? Do you subscribe to a food magazine? Do you menu plan? Do you maybe get a veg box and have to use the ingredients so are forced to try something different?

I just have the normal favourites - spag bol. lasagne, roast, sausages and mash, curry, and tbh I'm getting very bored! I do love to cook btw, just lack the inspiration!

Menu plan here.
DH suggests things and we spread 'em out during the week. For example:-

Monday - some type of salad
Tuesday - curry
Wednesday - something pasta-y
Thursday - quiche & veg
Friday - fish
Saturday - chicken & rice
Sunday - BBQ

We also have seasonal favourites. So in the winter would substitute soup/slow cooker casserol dishes for salads, for example.

Meal plannning is the way to go, makes life soooooooo much easier. Good luck!

Thank you! I need to do something

This is a few of the meals that we have had over the last couple of weeks.

pork & apple burgers, new pots & salad
spanish omelette, chips and salad
prawn curry & rice (kids had hot dogs)
roast veg & chicken with pasta & pesto
quiche, salad & new pots
homemade pizza, potato wedges
spaghetti with bacon, mushrooms & green beans
lemon & oregano lamb steaks with couscous

I am not good at planning but I buy 3 or 4 main meal items and plan each day around them.

It may help to decide to have, say, 1 or 2 fish meals, 2 or 3 meat meals, a couple of veg meals a week - that helps me.

I get cookery books out of the library - a lot and if we really like them, I sometimes buy one.

I go through them and mark recipes, and I cut out recipes from Good Food and Olive. I do a menu plan for the week too.

At the moment I am liking the Ottolenghi cookbook, and the Leon one.

I made a New Years' resolution to cook 52 new recipes. I am so tragic that I even keep a spreadsheet of these with ratings and comments... sorry...

Anyway, I did this because I was really stuck in a rut as well and actually making myself cook brand new recipes helps makes me feel more inspired!

I usually buy The Good Food magazine which I really like, and cut out and keep recipes.

I find Good Food magazine is really good when I get stuck in a rut. I like the fact that it has seasonal ideas and lots of quick suppers - I usually try at least three or four of the recipes. In fact I might go out and get the latest issue now ...

I bought a few cook books when I got married as although I enjoy cooking, I too lack inspiration. At the beginning I made one new 'recipe' meal a week. DH does cook too so it wasn't like we were stuck for options, just inspiration.

I also menu plan. We started in December and haven't missed a week yet. Also makes it easier for shopping and thus cheaper. Often it's if one of us (or DS) fancy something we put it on then fill the rest using our 'potato, pasta, rice, pudding and other' pages at the back where we write down what we've made.

Nowadays, the lists at the back are longer and it's probably once every few weeks we try a new recipe. I also find that recipe books depend on moods-I often think I can't find anything I like in them, then go back in a more positive mood and like loads!

Oh and DH 'helpfully' went through one with post it notes....

this week was

monday - eat out.

tuesday - egg and chips , that what the dc's fancied, and neither H or I were eating.

wednesday - steak, salad, home made potato salad.. fruit salad for pud.

thursday - risotto , pea + pancetta

friday ( normally junk night but we did that on monday this week lol)
baked spuds, salad and prawn topping

saturday - lasagne

sunday roast chicken - leftovers for monday night.

tuesday - fish pie

etc.. I meal plan, and shop for 2 weeks, but we don't actually have set days as such.. there are just enough food for the meals.