Stuck in a rut - what are your favourite family meals?

[curlyredhead]

We have got stuck in the habit of having the same few things over and over and over..... What are your family favourites that you have all the time, I need inspiration!

Might chase for recipes of things which might appeal to my fussy horrors delightful children....

watching with interest!

I am currently using the bbc good food site for inspiration !

so far my faves are a pumpkin goulash thingy and butternut squash risotto. however ds1 is a fussy terror too so i need more ideas

We were snowed in over christmas and so had to use stuff in the freezer for meals a couple of the things we really enjoyed were ....

Corned beef mash

A tin of corned beef diced up,mashed together with lots of mash- then a thick layer of cheese on top - put in the oven until the cheese is golden and brown its delish with beans .

Sausage,mash,onions mixed veg and gravy went down well too

My special kebabs ....minced meat with some chilli and garlic mushed together in sausages cooked in the oven then served with onion and cucumber in lemon juice salad with yoghurt mint sauce in pittas.

Ohhh mine sound crap compared to puffylovetts ....

We do this and have a binge on things for a while. However, long-time faves include:

Lentil soup and bread with crumble for pud;
Qaesadillas with salsa;
Pasta with homemade pesto, rocket leaves and tomatoes (no tomatoes for me though - blah);
Homemade wedges with something - eg omelette and salad;
baked potatoes and veggie sausage casserole;
a big pan of roasted vege with dippy things and salad;
a big pan of roasted vege with veggie sausages and savoy cabbage;
baked risotto;
veggie chilli and rice;
veggie curry and rice;
Thai curry and rice;
butterbeans cooked in a vaguely Greek manner with Greek salad;
chickpea tagine thing with fatoush (pitta bread salad).

lasagne, chilli, shep pie, spag bol, fajitas (spag bol in tortillas, with added chilli sauce, lettuce, creme fraiche etc)

sausage casserole, toad in the hole, sausage mash and veg

veg lasagne, veg chilli, mixed roast veg with pasta, lentil bolognaise, pasta bake - various types, risotto - again bottom of fridge surprise, stir fry veg, stir fried spicy cabbage with spicy potatoes, jackets with ratatouille, cheese and beans...

sweet and sour chicken, stir fry, with pasta and a white sauce /green veg, chicken curry, fresh chicken curry, chicken tagine

beef stews (various)

redcurrant lamb, slow cooked lamb in red wine, lamb tagine

pork with autumn veg, pork stir fry

fish and mash/wedges and veg, fish pie, fishcakes (salmon or white fish with onion and mash) fish with pasta and white/cheese sauce

we eat all the above on a regular basis, with the odd takeout thrown in

Brilliant, thank you, some of the leapt out at me (corn beef mash sounds yum; quesadillas) and keep meaning to do a mild chilli con carne.

A couple of mentions for baked risotto - any good recipes? Used to make stove top risotto in the far off days when I could reliably stay near a pan for 30 mins without all hell breaking loose...

If you search my name and baked risotto it should come up with the one I use. I then adapt it according to what we have/fancy - we especially like leek and pea.

pandaG - love that idea for fajitas

• so do I - very easy (I always make up bol sauce in bulk and freeze) and when it is in a tortilla the DC can't see and pick out the lumps of extra veg that they don't like, and I want to encourage them to eat!

have you checked out the 5 ingredients thread? loads of ideas on there....

Our current family favourite is pea and paneer curry from the 101 Veggie Dishes book.

We all love it and it's really simple to make and uses mostly store cupboard/freezer ingredients.

Or for a really cold day, layer sausages, baked beans and mashed potatoes in one of those giant yorkshire puds. Put cheese on top and grill. Serve with brown sauce!

I love mattar paneer (I use an adapted version of Nigella's recipe for it): unfortunately neither of my dds like it.