Is it just me or do you have a hard time figuring out what to have for supper? I do not meal plan as deciding each morning what we are going to have for supper gives us a little bit of satisfaction and hubby would rebel if I didn't give him some kind of choice. He cooks too but usually the weekends and he always chooses far more elaborate meals than I do. Instead I try and keep a well-stocked pantry so we have ingredients at hand for meal preparation.
We try and eat at home 95% of the time due to a couple of factors:
1. It's cheaper
2. Nutritional value
3. Quality of food
So on Friday night we were both toast - put a fork in it tired - after a busy stressful work week. Yes, you can easily have those when you work for yourself from home too. Everyone who is not self-employed thinks we sit around eating bon bons all day or in the case of some of hubby's ex-colleagues that he is retired. We actually work harder than we did than when we worked for other people!
I had planned on soup and sandwich Fridays but we don't always feel like that - so we opted to do takeout night from our favorite hole in the wall Chinese food place that only takes cash. The plan? Hubby would go pick up a work parcel and then pickup up the food on the way home. I would call it in. The only problem is that their phone line was not working. Instead of making him wait 1/2 an hour at the location while he ordered and they prepared the food we instead opted for fast food. For $25 we ended up with a craptastic meal and hubby's order wasn't even correct, he ended up with something totally different than what we ordered. The words "imagine what kind of groceries we could have gotten with that $25" came out of his mouth once again. Yes, frugal fail.
Do you have as big a problem as I do figuring out what to have for supper? I seem to rotate the same recipes over and over and rarely try anything new. Last weekend I tried this new recipe found on Facebook that got a C minus at best and hubby tried an over-complicated Ukrainian meal with two new items and one was a total fail (the second was a winner with a couple of minor tweaks and we will have it again).
Yesterday he was feeling really ill, not from food poisoning but from a bug he picked up at the gym so I made chicken soup from scratch. We eat it with spaghetti (pour soup over cooked spaghetti when finished) and it hit the spot. Tonight we have leftovers but I would rather eat something else so that will be lunch for tomorrow. I cleaned out the fridge when making the soup using the last handful of broccoli, 1/2 a cup of frozen corn and part of a red pepper (the rest was mushy), one of our two carrots and the last of our home grown cilantro. This afternoon I have to make a grocery run for fruit and veggies.
So friends, I need some recipe inspiration so we can eat at home and have some variety. My only requirements are that they don't require me running out to purchase super expensive ingredients I won't use for anything else and that they take less than 45 minutes to prepare and cook. Please post your recipe suggestions!
We often eat a small piece of fish (frozen or fresh) cooked in a bit of olive oil and seasonings to your taste, plus a salad, plus 3 small new potatoes each which take about 5 minutes to boil. I pick basil and parsley from our containers and toss the potatoes in olive oil and the herbs. Our national supermarket (Safeway) usually sells packs of frozen wild cod or salmon fillets, individually packed, for $5 for the package, from 4-6 fillets.
ReplyDeleteI ate far too much fish (fresh caught) as a kid and have a hard time eating it now. Hubby loves it though so if I cook him fish I usually just have a can of soup or something light. I do the same kind of meal with chicken though
DeleteWe eat a lot, probably too much, pasta with jarred red or white or tomatoes and frozen vegetables as a too tired to really cook. Chicken and veg with rice I'm tortillas is another quick one. We are full on weeknights.
ReplyDeleteWe eat a lot of pasta too, either by itself or with sauce. We do eat a lot of tortillas too - love them!
DeleteI hate to meal plan. this is why I cook a crock pot full of chicken. It can be eaten so many ways. I will even cook a crockpot of vegetables after I get the chicken out. One week, I kept the crockpot going for five or six days, putting in different things each day in the chicken broth plus water.
ReplyDeleteI love crock pot meals, favorite is chicken in mushroom sauce eaten with rice or mashed potatoes. I also throw in celery, carrots and corn at the end so it has the veggies too. I could eat that for 3 days straight!
DeleteDo a quick google search for one pot meals. Lots of interesting ideas, and most use just regular foods that you probably have.
ReplyDeleteI have done just that today, trying to spend some time now so I can create a shopping list
DeleteIt is very rare that I don't have any idea for supper. Like you we usually have a well stocked "pantry" so I can make pretty much whatever we want within reason. I also don't meal plan for a week but I generally have an idea the night before what we will have for dinner the next night. Seems to work for us. We too hardly ever eat out.
ReplyDeletewww.travelwithkevinandruth.com
And you are a great cook I hear!
DeleteI'm curious, what is supper? For us it's something eaten late at night before bed if your tea isn't enough to fill you up - a bowl of cereal or a slice of toast.
ReplyDeleteDo you mean tea (or dinner if you're from the South of the UK), a cooked meal eaten at around 5 - 6pm. x
We usually dont do tea (we drink tea but dont have a meal called that). We do breakfast, lunch (12pmish) and supper or dinner around 5-7pm. Supper is usually our main meal of the day - at least in our household and we eat lightly through the day. Here sometimes people call lunch dinner - how confusing!
DeletePeter and I have been making wontons, 750g of pork, ginger, garlic, sesame oil, soya sauce, pepper, green onions. Eyeball the ingrediants to taste. Stuff your wontons about 56 and lay on a cookie to freeze. Throw them in a ziploc. Then when you want cook broccoli, celery, red onion, carrots, mushrooms, frozen bok choy and green onion for final garnish in the chicken broth whipped up by cubes or a container of broth. Cook your frozen wontons in a separate pot for a few minutes so as not to cloud the veggie broth as wonton wrappers have been dusted with flour. It is amazing soup, better than the restaurant. We now throw in 4 prawns at the very end and after doing this version decided to cook 2 pork tenderloins in char sui glace. We then slice thingly and freeze in easy to separTe slices and then add that at the end to the vegie broth soup. Peter seriously pulls this together in not more than 15 minutes and it is so good. Oh yes do add sirrachae to the meat mixture for some heat.
ReplyDeletePeter could probably find my links for these and send them if you want. Truly delicious and super easy after the prep of the wontons. Cheers
Hubby would love that recipe! Thanks for sharing it!
DeleteFrozen pizza, mac & cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches, peanut butter & jelly... And I'll bet that's the last time you'll ask me for cooking advice!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like what I eat when hubby is away :) easy peasy 10 seconds or less kind of meals
DeleteI'm a bad cook. I try and find stuff to throw in the crock-pot when I'm desperate. I like the salsa verde chicken but you said you had a hard time finding salsa verde.
ReplyDeleteI have often thought that fast food is money wasted.
There is a store in Nanaimo (I am there once a month) that I think I can buy it. I will try and get some next time I go
DeleteI usually decide in the morning what we're going to have for supper. Since we only eat chicken, turkey and fish our choices are more limited. So I make 2 or 3 meatless meals each week too. One thing I do a couple times a month is cook up a pot of brown rice. Then i use it as a base for various spicy sauces and add shrimp or leftover chicken and veg (whatever needs to get used up).
ReplyDelete3 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails intact
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
4 plum tomatoes, chopped
2 bunches scallions, chopped
3 cups cooked white rice
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Lemon wedges, for serving (optional)
Directions
Heat the butter, olive oil and garlic in a large skillet over medium-high heat until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the Cajun seasoning and shrimp and cook, stirring, until the shrimp begin to curl, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper.
Add the tomatoes and scallions to the skillet and cook, stirring, about 1 minute. Add the rice and 1/4 cup water and continue to cook until the rice is warmed through and the shrimp are opaque, about 3 more minutes. Stir in the parsley and serve with lemon, if desired.
Per serving: Calories 357; Fat 11 g (Saturated 3 g); Cholesterol 176 mg; Sodium 537 mg; Carbohydrate 40 g; Fiber 3 g; Protein 23 g
Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/cajun-shrimp-and-rice-recipe.html?oc=linkback
Thanks for the recipe! Will try this as we do eat a lot of shrimp, I find even though it is expensive a little goes a long way. I dislike fish but can do shrimp and scallops fine (ate too much fish as a kid)
DeleteThere ia a plethora of recipes on line or download some food apps for inspiration. What used to be just boring food can easily be spruced up with some input from the food network gurus. Every two weeks on average I have a kitchen day for operation "feed the freezer" I will make large batches of pea soup, spaghetti sauce, hamburger patties, wontons, chili con carne etc. Go like hell for a day and get that freezer stocked. Now you can sit back and relax while dinner thaws.
ReplyDeleteCheers, and bon appetit.
I just did a bunch of googling, am going to try and find 20 new recipes and make at least a couple of them this month lol
DeleteThank God for the crockpot -- it helps me a lot, especially when I know I have a long day coming. The easiest by far is thin-sliced steak or hamburger (put in bottom - and no, you don't have to saute it), with a can each of green beans and mushroom soup. Add a canful of milk, as well as any bits and pieces or leftovers (mushrooms, carrots, chopped celery, etc.) you want. Cook on low for 7-8 hours. Add a couple tablespoons of sour cream, if you've got it (no worries if you don't). Serve over rice or noodles.
ReplyDeleteI also really like chicken breast cooked in a can of green chili or green enchilada sauce this way.
Why not beans, as well? A big pot of beans/tomato/onion/garlic/chopped green chilies tastes great on its own. (I also add a beef or chicken bouillon cube for extra 'umph.') Add water, cook for 7-9 hours on low. Use the leftovers to make bean burritos, smothered with extra sauce (or not) -- topped with cheese. Or mix with beef and put in tacos. Delicious either way.
I also use elk and venison for these recipes. (A little wine in the mushroom soup dish is good, too.)
That sounds a lot like our chicken and mushroom crockpot - will try it with a beef next time.
DeleteI like to use spices mostly Indian spices with vegetables to stir fry. They can be served with rice. Cooked lentils and chickpeas are great too. You can find easy recipes by Google search. On Friday nights I make potato wedges by baking them in the over 350degree c for about half hour. I toss the wedges with oil, salt and dried parsley. You can have soup and bread along with it. You can make bread in the bread machine.
ReplyDeleteWe do like spicy food and I have quite a good spice cupboard. We often do those oven fried potatoes too. I make lots of stirfrys both with noodles and rice, love us a stirfry at least once every two weeks
DeleteFiguring out dinner/supper is such a chore. I try to write down ideas for dinner in my notes section of my phone. That way I can reference the list when I need inspiration.
ReplyDeleteThat is a good idea - I already keep my grocery list there and will now keep my eye out for recipes
DeleteWe bulk cook the main ingredients, and then mix & match during the week. For example, grill a giant batch of chicken & freeze. Have it with pesto & pasta one night, rice another night & some veggies. We also get Costco meatballs & have those with various recipes. I post my menu plans quite a bit. This week is a little strange, as we have leftovers from my parents being here:
ReplyDeleteMonday - soup (Costco - I cheated), bread & salad
Tuesday - chicken enchiladas that my dad made before he left
Wednesday - leftover soup + a few other odds & ends (leftovers from our dinner out on Saturday, etc)
Thursday - looking like the last of the enchiladas & soup
Friday - I'll probably make risotto
Saturday - Sam & I will find something in the freezer. I'm guessing pizza
Sunday - ditto above
We're pretty casual eaters & I have one super picky boy, so that makes it harder