What is your secret to having a diverse evening meal plan?
I know at the moment its hard because we are living at my parents and they dont have as varied tastes as we do, but i am really struggling each night.
I am not over cooking. I enjoy cooking. I am just over thinking of WHAT to cook!
Also, we parents have this idea that each meal has to have carb, meat and at least 3 varieties of vegetables. When i was living at home single it never bothered me, but now that DH and i have a simplified style to evening meals (1 or 2 dishes) i am over coming up with different things and ways to cook things.
I'm inspired by making tasty, easy meals (ie quick to prepare without using every dish in the cupboard!) that have a balance of veges, carbs and protein. I also love Googling basic recipe ideas and getting new ideas (e.g. chicken stir fry, mince or lamb cutlets). A meal planner helps too - i brainstormed a list of basic meal ideas and accompaniments. We eat very simply though, so are happy with steamed veg, carbs and protein most nights. No sauces, no salt and pepper but I do use lots of garlic, herbs and spices....I don't cook many 'dishes' as such.
I do have a couple of 'rules' though...
*I change the carb each night, so don't have the same thing two nights in a row. And try different things with the carbs from last time E.g. Mix up the rice by cooking in stock or coconut milk every now and then. No harder than normal rice, but changes the taste a bit. Potatoes could be roasted, mashed, potato bake, jacket etc
*Minimum of three veg each night (though usually its 4-5), minimum of two colours and there has to be at least one vege different to the night before. Same for salads.
*Change the protein each night. If its the same, it has to be a different form e.g beef mince one night, steak the next.
Disclaimer - my DH was a chef in a former life so I don't cook every single night.
BUT when I used to cook every single night, I had a philosophy of keeping it simple, including lots of veggies in everything (cos that's my core nutritional belief - if you eat lots of veggies everything else will sort itself out) and doing as little work as possible . This means we invested in a deep freezer, I learnt how to do one pot & slow-cooking style meals, and I cook things in batches and freeze.
It also helps if you have a bit of a weekly routine. Simplify, simplify, simplify. It might mean that you have a scratch tea (toasted sammies, eggs on toast, soup, whatever) one night a week - Fri night when everyone is tired is good, Sun night is another good candidate for scratch tea. Often on a Sunday I throw something together that is either slow-cooker, one pot or can be done in the oven on Monday. Then you can freeze half of it or have it again another night later in the week. Nominate a day of the week to be pasta night. In our house it's Wed night so if you make a lot, Thurs can be a brainless reheat of pasta + any other leftovers you have accrued + some extra veg.
The trick with leftovers is to serve them in a different configuration, eg, do some macaroni cheese on the side, or steam different fresh veggies, or add a different sauce, turn it into fritters or cut it up and add sauce or gravy - everyone thinks it's a different dinner LOL. On Fri's DH likes to make pizza (and who's gonna argue with that?) or a risotto. Sat we have a roast (or BBQ in summer), or what I always think of as "party food" (even though it's not) like pizza if we didn't have it on Fri, or tacos, or burritos, or hamburgers, or gourmet style hotdogs... whatever. When you have a week mapped out like that you never have to think too hard about what to make. In summer we do more marinated things on the bbq & grilled veg & fresh salad based things but that often depends on what's available & looks good in the shops. That's my time for experimenting with different spices, salad dressings, etc.
Over time I've also learned what dishes I can make in batches and freeze that the family *always* like - for us this is the comfort food rotation, so I include lots of veg when I'm making it but we usually have steamed veg on the side as well. These include bolognaise (freeze in batches so you only have to cook the pasta), lasagna, shepherd's pie, apricot chicken, tuna mornay, fish pie, meatballs in a tomato sauce, stuffed capsicums. It doesn't matter how many times I cook these things and put them on the table everyone loves it and eats it and never gets bored. Same goes for things like roast chicken drummies, corned beef, cauli cheese. OR maybe we all just have boring tastes LOL.
Last edited by AnyDream; October 25th, 2013 at 06:01 PM.
I don't do meal plans anymore. I stock my fridge and freezer with all the ingredients I could need and I try and cook from my fridge/freezer and pantry. This way I waste less because I am not buying extra ingredients that only get used every so often. I use the internet and my cookbooks for inspiration. And I pin everything. And I will often go to my food boards for inspiration. I also have a million apps. When I used to sit down and try and plan a weeks worth of cooking I found I got overwhelmed or worse when it came to eat what was planned no one felt like it so I'd end up changing the menu anyway.
I'm a bit like Rouge. I cook with whatever I hve in my freezer, fridge and pantry. I quite often just google recipes for whatever ingredients I have on hand, especially if I need to use something up. Also, I pick up those recipe magazines at the supermarket which have some really good ideas.
Cooking shows: sometimes I will just see a dish and go "ooh, I have those ingredients" and decide to make it. There is something about watching someone else make it that can be more inspiring than flicking through a recipe book
Magazines: The new Taste one is looking good so far. Really like the 3 meals using similar ingrediants section. Great way of seeing how versatile some ingredients can be.
Meal plans other have one: Every so often (often for weight loss) I will follow a produce meal plan. Can be very hit and miss with how nice some of the meals are, but great for pulling out of a rut and coming away with a few new dishes.
Like Rouge, can't do full on meal planning any more. We chop and change too much. Had too much wasted food as plans would change (not home to cook meal, not well that night etc). I like to think of one dish I really want to cook, so specifically get those ingredients (good for those meals where is needs to be really fresh), then buy the generic food items that are very versatile. Just seeing what meat is one special at times can get you thinking about different things to cook
Rouge's food boards. And her Facebook.
Pretty much covers it.
I love old cookbooks. My Edmond's gets a good workout, as do old menus from work.
I am missing my Food Channel badly since ditching the Foxtel, but I have recently been given back my mum's entire AWW collection - so I have a few things to tide me over now.
Also, I tend to cook a lot simply made up as I go. I don't meal plan.
Last edited by LimeSlice; October 26th, 2013 at 04:21 PM.
I should clarify about my meal planner - it's more just a guide that I use to give me the basic idea, then I combine it with what I have on hand or what's on special. I probably stick to it 5 out of 7 nights. e.g Tues is a busy day here, so Tues is 'easy' night - frozen fish, omelettes, takeaway etc. Wed is grilled meat (so could be steak, chops, sausages, schnitzel...whatever), Fri is homemade pizza or BBQ (my fave night as I love BBQ veg, or is it because DH does the BBQ?!), Sat is seafood (except tonight it's fresh pasta and sauce ). We also have a salad night (in summer), a chicken night and a 'rice' night - risotto, Pilaf, stir fry etc (but I don't always do rice with it).
I also love Taste - I spend hours browsing each week and have so many recipes bookmarked!
How do you stay inspired?
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. This means we invested in a deep freezer, I learnt how to do one pot & slow-cooking style meals, and I cook things in batches and freeze. 
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