Desperate for Menu/Meal Planning Help!

[gsanmb]

Ugh! I am sick of my own food. I have my repertoire of things (most) of my family will eat, and we are all quite tired of the same old, same old!

 

I need help planning out meals (dinners) that are things my kids will eat (and dh too).

 

We keep kosher, so no pork or shellfish, or mixtures of meat and milk together. We also only really eat chicken or meat on Friday night/Saturday for our Sabbath, as kosher meat is quite expensive here.

 

Currently my list includes: black bean chili; beany cheesy quesadillas; beany cheesy corn noodle or rice casserole; 'fried' chinese rice (basically whatever veggies I have on hand, sauteed with deli turkey and mixed with cooked brown rice and soy sauce); spaghetti with meatballs; spaghetti/pasta with fish (sticks or fillets); homemade pizza; barbecued turkey hot dogs with beans and baked potatoes; veggie 'cheeseburgers' (veggie burgers with melted cheese and assorted toppings). Sometimes, if I have it -- barbecued or baked chicken with rice or potatoes.

 

All my meals also include at least one vegetable and sometimes two (salad plus a veg). I buy a lot of frozen veggies as the quality of fresh produce is variable here, and I prefer to buy organic and/or in season/local.

 

I love to use my crock pot, but that isn't essential. And my grocery budget is about $150-$170/wk for a family of 5.

 

HELP. Thank you. :bigear:

[WiseOwlKnits]

Here's a couple of ideas:

 

Cheese Lasagna

Breakfast for dinner: Egg/potato/cheese burritos, pancakes, waffles, etc.

Broccoli and cheese soup

Potato soup

Vegetable currry - potato, zucchini, green beans, onions, etc.

[SonshineLearner]

I have NO idea where you live :-) But can I tell you how much I miss potato knishes?? Oh my!! And, latkes with sour cream and applesauce... oh my.. some breakfast for dinner isn't a bad idea! :-) You can make some potato based things like Scalloped Potatoes. When I lived with a family who kept Kosher.. they lived in an area that they could pick up dinner from the deli on Fridays :-) We made fish a lot... cuz obviously that's parve.. The Moosewood Cookbooks are good:-) I'd pick up some vegetarian cookbooks, since you do a ton of meals without meat, anyone. Do you literally buy all your food Kosher, or just meat?

 

:-)

PS did I say I love Mushroom Barley?? (Do you know what it is?? For us, it was pasta with mushrooms and this oil type dressing... YUM!)

 

Here's an earlier thread we did:-)

http://welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=112353&highlight=cooking

[gsanmb]

LOL.

Yes, all our food is kosher. We also have to order cheeses to be shipped, and then I freeze them.

 

Potato knishes and latkes are super easy to make! Let me know if you want a recipe. (Latkes are fried pancakes).

 

Mushroom [egg] barley is a special Shabbos (Sabbath) treat here, I make it for Friday night dinner with the roast chicken. It is usually a side dish on Saturday lunch as well but rarely lasts longer than that!

 

I'm going to make a split pea soup tomorrow (veg) and see if it flies.

 

I do have Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home; Enchanted Broccoli Forest. Most of my kosher cookbooks have a lot of dairy/pareve recipes, the problem is finding stuff everyone will eat. For example, eggplant parm (which I love) will not be eaten by anyone else. Lasagne works for 4 out of 5 of us. It is so frustrating to make dinner and have them reject it.

 

I offer the choice of a sandwich (pb&j, or tuna) to a person who won't eat the prepared dinner but I find this aggravating. On the other hand, having grown up with parents who forced me to eat foods I hated, I cannot do that to my children. Sets a person up for eating issues later, IME.

 

I'm also going to try a chicken & dumpling recipe I saw if I can find some chicken (sometimes Publix has bags of kosher chicken breasts although they're kind of pricey).

 

Any and all ideas are most welcome!

[Pink Fairy]

I tried a new recipe last night that was a huge hit with my family, and I made extra to take to a potluck I attended today. I received a lot of compliments, and some requests for the recipe, so I think they liked it too.

 

Egg and Cheese Quesadillas

 

Melt 2 tb of butter

Saute an onion and a jalepeno

Scramble eggs with milk, and add to onion and jalepeno

Cook eggs slowly on medium heat

When nearing done, add grated cheese (I used jack)

Mix in chopped fresh cilantro

 

Heat 2 tb olive oil in frying pan

Spread eggs over flour tortilla and fold in half

Fry tortilla on both sides until light golden brown

Repeat

Serve with salsa and/or hot sauce

 

You could add or subtract things as you like. I am also going to try this with spinach and eggs.

[Lori Di]

There is a website you can go on it is....menuinabox.com.

They have a lot of ideas and you can print out the menu and the grocery lists! It is very helpful to me when planning my menu. I hope it is useful for you.

[RamonaQ]

Sometimes I do "make your own" when I am feeling bored. We do make your own baked potato (I bake the potatos, kids top them with whatever I put out-- steamed broccoli, leftover chili, cheese, sour cream). Make your own tacos-- same idea. Make your own personal pizzas-- I make the little crusts, they top them.

[gsanmb]

Great ideas!

[Jen in PA]

I get around the issue of not everyone liking everything by keeping the toppings and sauces on the side. Many times my kids will eat pasta or rice with just butter or soy sauce while DH and I have them topped with a chunky veggie sauce or a curry. If I feel they haven't had enough protein in the meal because of skipping the main course, I make sure I serve something high-protein for dessert (yogurt or apples with pb). I offer a couple of veggie sides at each meal and they have to choose at least one.

 

Some popular dinners here are:

Breakfast for supper -- usually bagels, fruit, and yogurt

Chicken soup -- I make broth with the carcass from Friday night and put plain alphabet pasta in some of the broth (for the kids), and all sorts of other goodies in the other half

Quesadillas -- I add black beans for me and dh

Baked fish and potato wedges

Veggie curry

Homemade pizza

Tuna melts

Noodles in peanut sauce with broccoli and carrots

[alpidarkomama]

Hi! We're on the same menu plan/budget/etc. :)

 

Here are things I cook:

 

Veggie Sushi (we had kosher nori where I used to live; don't know if we can get it here). Fillings have been fake crab, avocado, cucumber, omelet (egg, sesame oil, sugar, soy sauce), steamed sweet potato or butternut squash, sesame seeds, etc.

 

Veggie quesadillas (use leftover roasted veggies from shabbat)

Red lentil soup (I like this a lot better than brown lentils)

homemade felafel (very cheap; can serve with homemade pita for very, very cheap)

blintzes (I usually do 1/2 tofu, 1/2 cottage cheese + sweetener in the food processor)

Chick pea soup (celery, onion, carrot, stock, salt, noodles, chick peas; can add ground beef)

cottage cheese souffle (YUM)

various stir fries

Pinto bean tacos (leave the pinto beans in the crock pot overnight with onions and garlic; puree in food processor with salt and cumin to taste + a little water)

Tvp oatmeal veggie burgers (can find recipe online; bulk cans of tvp are really cheap)

Palak paneer (Indian spinach with easy homemade cheese)

Rice/lentil casserole (basically just rice and lentils baked together in the oven)

Mexican lasagna (layers of tortillas, beans, rice, cheese covered in enchilada sauce)

Crepes - filled with leftover veggies, meat, etc.; I usually make some kind of sauce to hold it all together

Spinach lasagna

Blini (buckwheat pancakes)

Oatmeal - baked oatmeal with eggs in it is really good!

Cream of carrot soup

Baked potatoes w/tofu sour cream (tofu + small amts of lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, rice vinegar, and salt)

Black bean tostadas (can also do these overnight in the crockpot)

Huevos rancheros (black beans, tortillas, eggs, salsa, cheese, other fixings)

Quiche, 3 eggs + milk + leftover veggies + sauteed onions + cheese

Tomato soup (you can roast canned tomatoes and they taste pretty good, then puree them with roasted onions/garlic, salt to taste, add cream if you want)

Cream of ____ soup. I just sautee onions and garlic on medium low so they don't turn dark brown, saute whatever veggies you want to use for about 15 minutes, cover with water for 30 minutes or so, puree, add cream if you want)

Black bean soup

 

These are a few ideas..... Better get to making that dinner now myself! :)

[alpidarkomama]

Hi! We're on the same menu plan/budget/etc. :)

 

Here are things I cook:

 

Veggie Sushi (we had kosher nori where I used to live; don't know if we can get it here). Fillings have been fake crab, avocado, cucumber, omelet (egg, sesame oil, sugar, soy sauce), steamed sweet potato or butternut squash, sesame seeds, etc.

 

Veggie quesadillas (use leftover roasted veggies from shabbat)

Red lentil soup (I like this a lot better than brown lentils)

homemade felafel (very cheap; can serve with homemade pita for very, very cheap)

blintzes (I usually do 1/2 tofu, 1/2 cottage cheese + sweetener in the food processor)

Chick pea soup (celery, onion, carrot, stock, salt, noodles, chick peas; can add ground beef)

cottage cheese souffle (YUM)

various stir fries

Pinto bean tacos (leave the pinto beans in the crock pot overnight with onions and garlic; puree in food processor with salt and cumin to taste + a little water)

Tvp oatmeal veggie burgers (can find recipe online; bulk cans of tvp are really cheap)

Palak paneer (Indian spinach with easy homemade cheese)

Rice/lentil casserole (basically just rice and lentils baked together in the oven)

Mexican lasagna (layers of tortillas, beans, rice, cheese covered in enchilada sauce)

Crepes - filled with leftover veggies, meat, etc.; I usually make some kind of sauce to hold it all together

Spinach lasagna

Blini (buckwheat pancakes)

Oatmeal - baked oatmeal with eggs in it is really good!

Cream of carrot soup

Baked potatoes w/tofu sour cream (tofu + small amts of lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, rice vinegar, and salt)

Black bean tostadas (can also do these overnight in the crockpot)

Huevos rancheros (black beans, tortillas, eggs, salsa, cheese, other fixings)

Quiche, 3 eggs + milk + leftover veggies + sauteed onions + cheese

Tomato soup (you can roast canned tomatoes and they taste pretty good, then puree them with roasted onions/garlic, salt to taste, add cream if you want)

Cream of ____ soup. I just sautee onions and garlic on medium low so they don't turn dark brown, saute whatever veggies you want to use for about 15 minutes, cover with water for 30 minutes or so, puree, add cream if you want)

Black bean soup

 

These are a few ideas..... Better get to making that dinner now myself! :)

[gsanmb]

K, what do you do for the homemade falafel? I can't get mine to stick together when I fry it.

[Pippen]

I'm glad you posted this--I get in a rut too, so I always like seeing other ideas.

 

We like Mattar Paneer. I make the paneer based on a recipe and directions I found on Youtube. I like to make it up the day before. I also often shortcut it by using canned diced or crushed tomatoes.

http://www.recipezaar.com/Mattar-Paneer-85853

 

My turkey meatloaf recipe doesn't have any dairy. I usually make it in my roaster pan but it would probably be fine in a crockpot.

 

Turkey Meat Loaf

1 pound ground turkey

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

1/ 4 cup applesauce

¼ cup ketchup

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

scant 1/8 teaspoon ground thyme

scant 1/8 teaspoon sage

1/3 cup fresh breadcrumbs or crackercrumbs

2 T finely chopped onion, or to taste

Mix together well (it will be soft) and shape into oval loaf.

Combine 1/3 cup catsup and 2 Tablespoons brown sugar and spoon over loaf. Cover and bake at 350 degrees until done.

 

Barbeque Turkey Burgers (I skip the cole slaw)

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Barbecue-Turkey-Burgers-with-Creamy-Cole-Slaw-Holden-13254

 

Manicotti

[gsanmb]

Ooh that turkey meatloaf recipe looks yum. I'm going to try that one too! :)