Same Old, Same Old

Tuna noodle casserole
shrimp and linguine with alfredo sauce
sloppy joe's
curry chicken salad
burritos and tacos
stew
any soup
pepper steak stir fry

Hope this helps.

Heidi

Roast--beef or pork--which turns into either...

-Hash, which sometimes turns into...
--soup (add broth or other soup to leftover hash, voila)

...or...
-Fried rice, which sometimes *also* turns into...
--soup (same deal)

But we rarely have leftovers of hash or fried rice.

"Dirty" rice, which isn't really dirty rice since that involves liver and I can't get the troops to eat liver

Pan-fried steak or chops

Pan-fried fish

Baked fish

Roast chicken, which turns into...
-hash
-chicken stock

Soup, usually made of whatever's lying around in the fridge plus broth (or one of the new aseptic pack pureed soups) and a couple of cans of something like beans, stewed tomatoes and/or creamed corn

That's about what we eat here in its entirety, and we never seem to get tired of it. We eat a variety of veggies and leafy green salads alongside and that's dinner. Boring to some, but we don't seem to mind.

Lynn Siprelle, Editor

spaghetti bolgnaise
bacon and mushrooms in cream sauce with pasta
omelette (usually filled, tomato, cheese, spinach...)
chili con carne
tuna casserole
moussaka
gingered chicken w rice (tomato based sauce w carrots)
BBQ chicken stew 9w sweetcorn, rough BBQ flavoured sauce)
cottage/shepherd's pie
beef stew
curry (w my S'pore paste, Indian from a jar or Thai green)
quesadillas
tortillas (w chili mince, salad, cheese, guacamole, sour cream)
homemade burgers (infinitely adaptable)
meatloaf (also adaptable)
homemade soup (clear or creamy, mostly veg)
meatballs (w or w/o tomato sauce and pasta)
cassoulet
bubble & squeak w fried egg
Thai fish cakes
salads
rice or rice porridge with various Asian style dishes
roast dinners

ok, so I cheated - I already have a book with those in to inspire me. It was from when I tried menu planning which worked wonderfully for a little while and was an absolute joy. The list of dishes are still very helpful to remind me of the ones I don't make so often.

tonight we're having pasta stuffed with spinach and rcotta in a tomato sauce (open a packet, open a can - who needs microwave ready meals!).

Kerri.

Our repeat meals change as kids change and we get tired of some of them. But --

Bean/cheese quesadillas
Baked fish and chips (I get a bag of breaded cod and a bag of Alexia potatoes from superTarget, and they are in my freezer whenever desperate times come)
Oven-fried catfish
Penne with zucchini and mozzerella cubes
Medium shells with chickpeas and hominy
Corn Chowder
Cod over sliced potatoes
frittata
Homemade pizza
Crockpot soup (today, bean; also, baked potato soup)
Chicken or turkey brats.

That's all I could really list as current staples. I have some old staples that we don't eat as much, like enchilada casserole, orzo and peas, various kinds of beans and rice, corn pone w/ pinto beans, turkey meatloaf . . .

I am so into quick and easy right now -- no time for fun!

Shaun
www.homeschoolblogger.com/shaunms

Spaghetti with garlic (and whatever veggie happens to be lounging in the crisper)
Beans and rice
Black bean tacos
random stir fry with whatever else is lounging in the crisper and maybe a meat or maybe not
Skillet chicken (It's the "Saving Dinner" garlic lime chicken only without the sauce)
Country omlette (rather frittata-like)
Sausage and peppers

However, my personal favorite is Breakfast for Dinner night. I have one of these almost every week. Tonight was eggs and biscuits. Last week was waffles. The week before was French toast casserole. Next week will probably be pancakes. I LOVE LOVE LOVE breakfast foods but my family's mornings do not lend themselves to elaborate meals so we do them for dinner. The other day I offered to make my 3 yr old pancakes for breakfast. She looked at me with utmost concern and said "But Mama, it's not dinnertime yet."

I call it pollo tricolore or pesce tricolore (because it has the colours of the Italian flag LOL)

Place in the bottom of a 9x13 pyrex baking dish:
2 packages of frozen spinach, thawed and drained
Spread it around evenly.

Then place on top of that:
Frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts or frozen catfish fillets, one per person. I can fit 3-4 of either

Cover with:
2 tins (8 - 10 oz each) of diced tomatoes or 6 - 8 fresh tomatoes, chopped

Then sprinkle:
4 to 8 ounces of feta or blue cheese or whatever you fancy over top. Just a smidgen for flavour.

Bake at 350 for about an hour.

The chicken/catfish stays wonderfully moist without the addition of any fat, save what's in the cheese. Very simple, yet quite tasty.

--Italian Sausage Spaghetti
--Pizza Stuffed Veggies
--Chili
--Taco Salad--tortilla chips, taco meat, & taco toppings layered in a salad bowl. Super easy quick meal.
--Beef Burritos--basically the Chevy's recipe for homemade refried beans mixed into the same taco meat I use for Taco Salad
--Beef Curry
--Beef Bourguignonne
--Beef Stroganoff
--Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches
--Hot Dogs and Rice
--Panang Curry (usually use chicken)
--Chicken Noodle or Vegetable or Dumpling Soup
--Chicken Fajitas
--Stir Frys--whatever meat and veggies we happen to have on hand and one of the sauces in our BH&G Stir Fry Recipes cookbook. I'd link it to TNH but it's out of print, you'd do better to find a more recent cookbook.
--Egg Fried Rice--made from the left over rice from the stir fry the night before. DH makes a mean batch of it with curry powder and lots of butter...ummmm...

Friday nights are Pizza Night since we found the White Spelt Flour. We've made BBQ Chicken Pizza, Chicken Pesto Pizza, Chicken Fajita Pizza, and the traditional Italian style pizza with pepperoni/dry salami/italian sausage and mushrooms, bell peppers, onions, and black olives.

I've just recently figured out a new, fun way to serve hot dogs. DD loves them but we can't eat hot dog buns, so I made Pigs in a Blanket Wed. night and it was a big hit. Make up your regular batch of biscuits (American style biscuits) and instead of cutting them out with something round you cut the batter up into eight rectangles. Wrap each hot dog in a rectangle and bake according to biscuit recipe. I do not say use the biscuits from the can because I think they taste like chemicals and homemade are so easy to do and taste heavenly. You can get fancy and add cheese to the biscuit dough--that's my next experiment.

We used to have different dishes as our mainstay but we've gotten out of the habit--a couple that come to mind that we used to eat all the time are pot roast w/lots of veggies and
chicken cacciatore.

Anhata
www.familynaturally.com
Your Family's General Store, Naturally

Oven Fried Chicken
Pork Chops Breaded
American Chop Suey
Pasta with Sauce (My hubby makes the sauce, My Italian Honey)
Meatloaf and Gravy
Linquine and Clam Sauce (Not my fav...but hubby likes it)
Fettucine Alfredo (I make it lighter with condensed milk)
Lasagna
Frozen Ravioli with homemade sauce
Pot Roast in the Crock Pot
Macaroni and Cheese (I use a Lighter lower fat cheese)
In the Summer the living is lighter
We grill chicken breasts and even some fish with lots of salads and fresh fruit...
We live in Maine so the winters are COLD...so the winter time is usually filled with the heartier meals like I listed above..

This is so great! I have stolen all of your ideas!

Now we will have some real variety.

I'm much more inspired to cook now!

Keep 'em coming if you like...

Jo

Last Friday we made a two-cheese veggie pizza (mozzerella and provolone) and a Chicken Alfredo Pizza. The Alfredo Pizza was insanely good, the sauce is exquisite!

This Friday we're planning on a spinach and artichoke pizza and DH has been hankering for a pizza with hamburger toppings so I'll see if I can find a recipe for it.

The Breakfast for Dinner Night sounds great, angelb! The only time we have for a big breakfast is on Sat. morning, sometimes. I remember Mom making pancakes for dinner a few times when I was a kid...

We'll have to make a go of the Breakfast for Dinner...maybe for Thurs. night dinners--that's about the time of week when I'm starting to get bogged down.

Anhata
www.familynaturally.com
Your Family's General Store, Naturally