Just for fun...what are your standard meals?

[Excelsior! Academy]

Which meals do you have regularly?  We have rotated menus and have gotten away from that, but we always seem to have certain meals regardless what our core menu looks like. 

 

Sunday is almost always roast beef.  Sometimes it is a pork roast, large ham, whole chickens, or brisket.  Usually just a big ole beef roast with roast vegetables, homemade bread, and salad on the side.  This is also the only day we have regular desserts.

 

Taco Tuesday.  Really it is just Mexican, but I like the way Taco Tuesday sounds better than Mexican Tuesday.  :) 

 

We also regularly have pasta like spaghetti or lasagna and a pizza night.  Sometimes it is homemade, sometimes not.

 

 

 

 

What are yours?

[beaners]

Red beans and rice, dal, crockpot pork or beef roast, curry, potato soup, pasta, lentils, chili dogs, ramen...

[plath]

Usually it's the stuff the kids love that gets made *every* week:  spaghetti or penne with meat sauce, burritos/nachos, homemade pizza.  At least twice a month if not weekly.

 

Always in the big rotation:  goulash, some kind of soup, jalapeno roast, pad thai, mexican stuffed shells, baked egg rolls.

[Pawz4me]

Our only set menu is on Friday.  It's "easy supper for mom" night, which means grilled cheese or grilled chicken sandwiches (individual choice, since they're both so easy), oven baked "fries," garden salad and some kind of fresh fruit.  Other than that . . . it just depends on everybody's schedule and what I'm in the mood to fix.

[BrookValley.]

None which is probably why I'm constantly stressed out about dinner. I feel this irrational need to make it interesting.

Hahahaha! Me, too.

 

My go-to is stir fry. My two main types of stir fry involve either hoisin sauce and ginger or coconut milk and red Thai curry paste.

 

Tacos, burritos, tostadas, or taco salad are other staple meals. I avoid soy most of the time, but 3-4 times a month I use tempeh seasoned with taco seasoning in one of the above dishes. This is a big hit here.

 

We eat a lot of big green salads, too. Eggs and greens is one of my common breakfasts or lunches (I eat a LOT of kale this way), but it's not really a favorite with anyone else, so it rarely shows up for dinner.

 

If all else fails, I always keep some gardenburgers in the freezer; burgers and homemade oven fries are my I-can't-think-of-anything-for-dinner-and-I-don't-wanna-chop-veggies meal.

 

ETA: I forgot, we do eat a lot of beans and rice. That's another no-brainer meal for when I don't have the energy--mental or physical--to come up with anything else.

[Onceuponatime]

We have homemade pizza about once a week when I can knead the dough.  Sunday nights we often have breakfast for dinner.

[Χά�ων]

Our favorites are:

 

Enchilada casserole (the basics of enchilada's without spending the time to roll the things)

Spaghetti! I use spaghetti squash instead of pasta

Hummus with veggies

chicken and veggie with a yellow curry sauce

Chicken and veggies. I make my own garlic sauce and for whatever reason DS will eat any veggie with the garlic butter sauce on it.

 

[SKL]

It varies because my kids are so fickle.  I don't really care what I eat, so my main concern is not to have any waste.

 

My sister cooks gourmet yummy food for us once a week, and once a week we go to a nice restaurant, so we end up having leftovers one or two days.  That takes care of half of our lives, LOL.  We have to do quick stuff on the road on several other days, because of activities the kids have.  Usually Panera, Chipotle, Bob Evans, and/or Subway, and really fast food (McDs etc) once or twice a week.  Only a couple of times a month I personally cook something at home.  And then it's usually something quick and easy like organic mac'n'cheese.

 

We're on a really tight schedule.  :)

[lynn]

winter it's stew, chili, lasagna or pasta bake, meatloaf with mashed potatoes.

 

Summer lentils or black bean salads, grilled chicken then I make a grilled chicken pasta salad, stir fry

[Karen in CO]

Monday is meatless - which is usually some type of bean with something else

Tuesday is Taco night

Wednesday is crockpot day which is usually a pot roast

Thursday is Chicken 

Friday is easy night - which is either burgers or gf chicken nuggets or a stew made from leftover pot roast

Saturday is Salmon night or some other fish

Sunday, I usually try something different or new

 

[HomeschoolMamaOfTwo]

These are the favorites around here.  We usually have them once in a two week period.

-Hawaiian Chicken, served with rice, broccoli (or similar) and pineapple

-Tacos/Burritos, served with yellow rice or refried beans, and guacamole, sour cream, tomatoes, etc

-Spaghetti, green beans, sometimes with meatballs sometimes without

 

Other really loved favorites that we have often, but not THAT often...

-White Chicken Chili

-Teriyaki Chicken & Rice

-Meatloaf, Beef Roast, or Pork Roast w/ mashed potatoes and veggies

-Quesadillas (Bean & Cheese)

-Shrimp Alfredo pasta w/ peas

-Homemade pizza

-French dip sandwiches

-Sloppy Joes

-Chicken, Broccoli, Rice Casserole

[LostSurprise]

Do you mean a theme night (Mexican, pasta, soup & salad) or specific meals (pizza, spaghetti) that always infiltrate the plan? 

 

Last year I did a weekly plan with themed nights (Monday-meat and carb, Tues-Mexican or Italian, Wed-soup/salad/sandwich, Thurs-breakfast for dinner, Fri-pizza) to make it easier for me to plan, but we also have a lot of repeat meals (pizza, anyone? I think they could eat that 5x a week). This year I break it up a bit more because I do a monthly plan and then move things around inside the week to fit as things come up. 

 

Weekends are eating out (if we're shopping or traveling in another town) and new meals (trying that new recipe or cuisine). Sometimes leftovers if they weren't eaten during the week. 

[LucyStoner]

Some variation on the greens, roasted veggie and meat theme. Meat could be BBQ, roast chicken, a roast, lamb chops, chicken thighs, whatever.

 

Indian curry and/or daal and other dishes with well seasoned veggies over rice.

 

Pizza and salad. Soup and salad. Potato pancakes and salad. Hot dogs and beans and salad. Anything and salad.

 

Phad Thai (easy to make at home.) I am making Phad Thai tonight.

 

Some variation on the beans, veggies and maybe meat or fish in a tortilla with salsa and optional cheese. Avocados.

 

Fish with veggies and brown rice. If I could wish for just one dish...

[Excelsior! Academy]

Either theme or entree. Both count.

 

Will someone please share a Phad Thai recipe. It looks like a favorite of more than one person.

[saraha]

Red beans and rice, dal, crockpot pork or beef roast, curry, potato soup, pasta, lentils, chili dogs, ramen...

 

 

Now those chili dogs, would they be white or red? And the chili, is it true chili, coney or Cincinnati chili? It is important to be very accurate in hotdog terms ;)

[momee]

Winter:

http://plantoeat.com/recipes/886689

Lentil Soup from the Fresh 20 - super amazing - always triple it

 

and this cold weather soup is my husband's very favorite thing ever

http://plantoeat.com/recipes/385248

Make-Ahead Vegetarian Moroccan Stew

 

http://plantoeat.com/recipes/731263

Chicken in Creamy Tomato Curry: Chicken Tikka Masala

 

 

Summer:

http://plantoeat.com/recipes/1281744

30 min Tortellini Salad with pine nuts and basil

 

http://plantoeat.com/recipes/1257484

30-Minute Braised Cod Veracruz

 

and

http://plantoeat.com/recipes/1281723

30 minute chicken tagine

 

and these when I'm feeling energetic (and have alot of limes on hand)

http://plantoeat.com/recipes/713458

America's Test Kitchen Menu cookbook

Fajitas

[Tita Gidge]

We have salads at most meals - just your plain, unoriginal salad not the kinds that are meals unto themselves :)

 

And then it's either baked/grilled chicken w/rice, chili w/rice, roasted/grilled/steamed veggies w/rice, soup w/rice or stirfried leftovers w/rice. 

 

We don't eat meat on Fridays, so that is typically cheese pizza or spaghetti w/tomato sauce.  It's also pretty much the only day we don't eat rice LOL.

[beaners]

Now those chili dogs, would they be white or red? And the chili, is it true chili, coney or Cincinnati chili? It is important to be very accurate in hotdog terms ;)

 

Who knew it was so complicated, right? Hot dog buns, cheap red dogs, "chili without beans" from a can, chopped onions, spicy brown mustard.  The kids add ketchup, not catsup. Sometimes I serve tater tots on the side. 

[marbel]

We have "taco taco salad" at least once a week.  It came to be called that because the kids have tacos and my husband and I have taco salad. Everything is the same except one involves tortillas and the other salad greens.  

 

An easy chicken curry (sauce from a packet) every two weeks or so.  More elaborate curries when I am not too busy, or in winter when it seems I'm home more.

 

Grilled chicken, pork tenderloin, or burgers once a week in good weather.    In winter, roast meats instead of grilled.

 

Pizza once a week. 

 

Enchilada casserole is popular here too.

 

Buffalo chicken salad

 

Chuck roast in the crockpot. 

 

Italian sausage baked with red potatoes, red peppers and red onions.

 

[LucyStoner]

To make pad Thai sauce:

 

4 ounces tamarind paste

1.5 cups boiling water

1/4 peanut oil

6 tablespoons fish sauce

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1/4 cup crushed palm sugar or just use regular sugar

 

Put paste in the boiling water (on the counter, not still on the heat) and let it sit for 5 minutes. Then stir and press the paste to the side of the bowl. Let sit 5 more minutes. Stir/press until there are no more big chunks. Then strain the liquid into a bowl and press the paste against the sieve to get as much flavor as you can. Discard the stuff in the sieve. Mix the rest of the ingredients in with the liquid you just made with the paste and water. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Sauce is good in freezer for a month or fridge for a week or so.

 

To make the pad Thai, I use some of the sauce above. I soak the rice noodles/sticks per instruction on bag. I use about 8 ounces of rice sticks (for 2 adults and 2 kids with some leftovers for 1-2 lunches for one person). Heat up pan to med-high, add a little peanut oil to the pan, scramble a couple of eggs in the pan, add the noodles and whatever cooked meat or veggie you like and then add 1/2 cup of the sauce. You can add a bit more sauce to taste. Cook until sauce is absorbed and noodles are done (just a few minutes). Remove from heat and add lime juice and/or chopped peanuts to taste. Eat while still hot.

 

Recipe is lifted from Hungry Monkey by Matthew Amster-Burton which is a great book about cooking for a family with kids. There are recipes in the book but it is more narrative and humor than a recipe or cookbook. It's great and I highly reccomend it.

 

Eta- you can buy tamarind paste online or at an Asian grocery. It is a block and will last in your fridge for pretty much ever. You can make this dish with just noodles but to make it a meal I add whatever meat and veg I have. I stirfry those first in a separate pan to add to the pan when you add the noodles and sauce. Chicken, beef, broccoli, chopped greens, chopped carrots, squash, green beans, whatever you need to use up or like.

[momee]

Either theme or entree. Both count.

 

Will someone please share a Phad Thai recipe. It looks like a favorite of more than one person.

We are having this for dinner tomorrow night...

http://plantoeat.com/recipes/575752

 

Chloe's cookbook is a fave here. Lots of pictures of her though, we just ignore those pages, haha.

http://www.amazon.com/Chloes-Kitchen-ebook/dp/B005FLNZVU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375215986&sr=8-1&keywords=chefchloe

 

Lucystoner's sauce looks great as well.

[Sasharowan]

Spaghetti, hamburgers, and pizza are at least one night a week!! Since we got a bread maker, pizza is homemade on Fri, unless something comes up. The other 4 nights rotate between chicken, pork chops, Uh oh, mom's looking in the cookbook meals, and potluck (which means eat leftovers or something frozen (No, not ice cream!!)) Hamburger night is usually when I am busy, both DH and DS17 can cook them easily!!

[bensonduck]

Our go-to meals include:

 

Salad with bacon, eggs, pears, walnuts and dried cranberries

Tacos/bean burritos/migas

Lettuce wraps with ground beef and veggies

Red beans and rice

Homemade pizza 

Baked chicken tenders with broccoli

Baked fish fillets with some kind of fresh veggie

 

In the winter I serve soup about once a week - we rotate through chicken rice, chili, meatball with kale, and a few others.  I can't get the family on board with gazpacho for the summertime though, so soup is more of a winter thing here.  

[TravelingChris]

I think I am with Wendy K.  I mean I will make regular dishes like Roast Beef but then I will add a hollendaise sauce I make.  Or I make Marinated pork tenderloin on the grill and add apple/shallot/port/cream/apple juice or cider sauce.   Tonight we are having a new dish, Chicken thighs with garlic and herbs. I will probably add couscous to it and maybe heat up some frozen green peas. 

[banker281]

I would say hamburgers, and meatloaf, chicken tacos, baked fish and chicken n dumplings.

[plath]

This is my pad Thai recipe:

Pad Thai

 

2 pouches rice noodles (I buy the precooked kind)

3 tablespoons fish sauce

3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoon(s) packed brown sugar

3 tablespoons peanut oil

2 teaspoons ground ancho chile powder

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 large red bell pepper, sliced thin

sugar snap peas

1/4 cup unsalted roasted peanuts, finely chopped

1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

2 green onions, thinly sliced

1 lime, cut into wedges (optional)

 

Instructions

 

In a small bowl, stir together fish sauce, lime juice, soy sauce, brown sugar , 2 tablespoons peanut oil, ancho chile powder. Heat the remaining oil in a wok or a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Add eggs and cook, stirring, until set, about 30 seconds. Remove eggs to a plate. Return pan to stove and increase heat to high. If needed add a tablespoon more of oil. When the pan is hot add the red bell pepper and stir fry for 3-4 minutes, add the sugar snap peas and garlic stir-fry a few seconds. Add noodles and toss well with ingredients in the pan. Stir-fry 1 minute. L. Add fish-sauce mixture to the pan, tossing to combine with noodles. Add half of the peanuts, and eggs. Stir to combine, and transfer to a serving dish. Sprinkle

[myfunnybunch]

Coconut curry chicken--rice--raita (cucumber-yogurt salad)--naan

 

Tortilla pie (like a quiche, but with corn tortillas for a crust)

 

Nacho Night when we have leftover meat to shred

 

Grilled tortilla wraps--chicken salad and shredded cheese wrapped in a tortilla and toasted on the griddle until the tortilla is crispy

 

Tomato soup and grilled cheese

[Guest]

My meal plans are:

 

Something with beans

Something with pasta

Something with lots and lots of  fresh or frozen vegetables

 

and then I repeat. The "somethings" tend to be more limited when the farmer's markets are closed and/or when it's been awhile since we've been shopping. For example Pasta might rotate among pesto, red sauce, and white sauce, but when I run out of basil for the pesto and mushrooms for the white sauce, we'd just have red sauce every time pasta came around again in the beans, pasta, vegetables rotation.

 

I'd like to be more imaginative and try out a new recipe every week or every month or whatever, but there are only so many hours in a day and other things have been more important during the last few busy and happy years, so I just try new recipes when I find one I can't resist or when I have to adapt favourite meals with substitute ingredients.

 

If we have a LOT of something perishable or especially yummy, we eat it until it's gone and then go back to the beans, pasta, veggies rotation. Some dishes, like bean and noodle soup with bok choi, might get defined differently depending on my mood and the contents of my pantry at the time.

 

I may not win any awards for creative cookery, but it works for me.

[cjzimmer1]

In the winter it's soup,  I make a big pot once a week and we eat leftovers for lunch most of the week.  But the varieties are usually beef barley, chicken noodle, chili, ham and potato or ham and bean.  Occasionally I will make a white chicken chili.  In the summer it's either tacos or BLT's since both taste so much better with fresh veggies from the garden.  Spaghetti and pot roast make it on the menu very often since both require almost no thought to prepare.  Teriyaki chicken over brown rice and bacon and rice skillet are two more that show up several times a month. 

[KungFuPanda]

You could do Mexican Monday :-)

 

When I'm organized, our week looks something like this:

 

Chicken

Fish

Beef

Soup/salad/sandwich

Pork

Pizza

Eat out

 

Lately, however, I've been throwing meat on the grill and either grilling veggies or cracking open a bag of salad. I haven't made bread in months. It's been a bit weird.

 

Our idea of vegetarian is to have a big salad with a little meat or eggs on it. I've also done a lot of chicken-veggie-pasta dishes lately.

 

I'm usually free to cook in the summer, but I've been teaching 3 evenings a week lately, so if dinner isn't planned early in the day it ends up being take-out or something equally quick.

[Jenny in Florida]

We don't have certain meals for certain nights, but the things that show up in rotation most frequently are:

 

- black bean burritos or tacos.

- pasta with marinara sauce and garlic bread on the side.

- channa masala with basmati, some kind of Indian-style bread and as many sides and chutneys as I feel like making that night.

- baked potatoes with toppings of choice and whatever fruits and veggies I have on hand as sides.

- subs either hot or cold. In cool weather, I make Italian-style subs with sauteed onions and bell peppers and potato chunks in tomato sauce. When it's hot (like tonight), we slice lettuce, onions, tomatoes, bell pepper, oil and vinegar, etc. and do a build-your-own thing.

[mrs.m]

This summer it has been mozzarella chicken brats on the grill or Taco Salad. 

[Laura Corin]

Baked fish fillets

Smoked fish stirred into rice, potatoes or pasta

Pasta with tomato sauce

Roast chicken (or other meats when on sale - chicken seems to last longer)

Lentils with cumin and coriander

Some kind of dried beans with some small amount of meat for flavouring (bacon, a duck leg)

Vegetable tagine (haven't made that for a while - maybe this weekend when my lactose-intolerant uncle is staying)

 

L

[SKL]

I'm thinking of adding "sandwich night" where the kids just build their own creations.  This was inspired by what they did with their dinner tonight.  Since we had vision therapy and I didn't have anything at home to eat, I bought some lunchmeat sandwiches at the grocery store.  They took them apart, traded some of the ingredients, added this and that from a salad I had bought, and then said, "Mom, these sandwiches are great, can we have them again?"  LOL.

[Elfknitter.#]

Sandwich night reminds me of my "well hell, I don't wanna cook and nothing's defrosted so breakfast for dinner it is!"

 

The kids actually enjoy it as a special treat. Go figure.

 

I tend to have the regular go to in the fall/winter. Either a roast or stew of some sort. In the summer, we grill more but the meat varies. Breakfast for dinner has happened a few nights this summer, actually.

 

I also try to have egg or chicken salads around for quick sandwiches or salad meals. I'm thinking enchiladas either tomorrow or the day after since I recently shredded a roasted chicken.

[Tarreymere]

I'm just not a fan of rice, which is sad because it is so versatile and inexpensive. We do have it now and then, but it isn't a favorite. Cost is also a concern for us. I tend to stretch meats with beans or omit meat in favor of beans depending on finances. If we eat out it is usually from a 'dollar menu', but once a month or so we do manage to get out to either a local chinese buffet or a local chain restaurant where kids eat free on certain days. We don't have much choice in restaurants in our area as it is a smaller town in a rural part of the state. 

 

We usually have the following:

 

 

Pasta (sometimes homemade if I have time) with homemade pesto sauce and crumbled pork sausage. 

 

Cream of chicken soup (sometimes with actual chicken or chickpeas) over homemade waffles

 

Various kinds of homemade soups with various kinds of homemade breads

 

Homemade pizza, both thick and thin crust with toppings of whatever is on hand

 

Chicken and dumplings or chicken fricasee in the crockpot

 

Oven roasted mixed veggies drizzled in olive oil and seasoned with potatoes or sweet potatoes, meat optional. Brussel sprouts are amazing this way.

 

Various 'gravies' over mashed potatoes, like cream of chicken with either chicken or chickpeas, hamburger gravy, sausage gravy (like the sausage breakfast gravy) ect.

 

Tuna casserole with cream of mushroom soup, pasta, and tuna. We like to top this with crushed potato chips if we can.

 

Seafood pasta with imitation crabmeat and butter sauce and seasonings or salmon, and some veggies of opportunity :)

 

Scalloped potatoes with ham or salmon

 

Our favorite meal for when we have some 'extra' cash is breaded pork chops with mashed potatoes and a veg.