Strange meal requests please

Guinea_2

Hum....a strange one here really. I am looking for meal ideas to include in our families staple meal menu. I have several things I cook already that my small family enjoy, although I need some more variation. I work at the beginning of the week so need quick meal ideas but for the latter part of the week I can cook from scratch.
Now the strange thing is that my wonderful husband does not like vegetables at all! It took me about ten years to get him to eat carrots! I'm now working on introducing peas! Lol
I am not a keen lover of cooked veg, although when our son was born I made a conscious effort to eat more veg so that he would as well. So my son and I do eat more veg than my husband but I do not want to get into the habit of cooking different meals.
So I wondered if any of you lovely people could volunteer some ideas for meals without the use of many veg basically?
Thanks for any ideas xx

PudseyDB

We arent big vegetable fans and a favourite in our house is vegetarian lasagne made with quorn - we just eat it on its own.

Or sausage pasta bake - with quorn sausages. I do tuna shepherds pie too - but usually serve that with peas. Does he eat potatoes?

valk_scot

Look, the simple way is to make the same food for all of you and then put it on the table in serving dishes. If your OH doesn't want one part of the meal he can skip it, or leave the bits he doesn't want at the side of the plate. It's your OH's problem that he won't eat any veg, not yours. Why should you get the extra work? It would be different if he had an allergy or intolerance or phobia about a certain ingredient, of course, but it's daft to plan three people's lives round one persons fussy habits. Of course, make sure he'll be happy to eat at least half of what's availible but otherwise, don't fret too much about it. Who knows, if he gets used to them being there he might start eating more.

tigerfeet2006

Invest in a slow cooker for those at work days.

Sunnyday

Lol, hubs used to wonder what half the veggies were that i used to cook, he is used to them now but was willing to try new things, he takes them all in his stride now.

Do the OS routine of grating and hiding veggies but make sure that you hide the evidence as doubt may set in as to what you have been cooking:D

Grate carrots and add pulses that are easily disguised into foods ie add grated carrots to spaghetti bolognaise and cottage pie etc

Make carrot cake and courgette teabread to disguise veggies, once you are sure that your family are eating enough veg without realising it start adding more obvious things to the menu, this way if they don`t like something then they are still eating enough veg until you find something else that they will eat.

Home made soups and stews are great for testing out new ideas as no one will be really sure whats in them and you can disguise many things with herbs etc,

I've got to agree that Valk scots direct approach is usually the best and will be great for your son - it sounds as if he is already on the right track, the hard work will be with hubby as you will be re-educating him and redoing someone elses work the right way.

Good luck

SD

terra_ferma

Sunnyday wrote: »

Lol, hubs used to wonder what half the veggies were that i used to cook, he is used to them now but was willing to try new things, he takes them all in his stride now.

Do the OS routine of grating and hiding veggies but make sure that you hide the evidence as doubt may set in as to what you have been cooking:D

Grate carrots and add pulses that are easily disguised into foods ie add grated carrots to spaghetti bolognaise and cottage pie etc

Make carrot cake and courgette teabread to disguise veggies, once you are sure that your family are eating enough veg without realising it start adding more obvious things to the menu, this way if they don`t like something then they are still eating enough veg until you find something else that they will eat.

Home made soups and stews are great for testing out new ideas as no one will be really sure whats in them and you can disguise many things with herbs etc,

I've got to agree that Valk scots direct approach is usually the best and will be great for your son - it sounds as if he is already on the right track, the hard work will be with hubby as you will be re-educating him and redoing someone elses work the right way.

Good luck

SD

it seems a lot of work to indulge a spoilt grown up who can't make the right decisions for themselves...
would not mind doing that for a child, but I would not have time to do that for my OH, who is also a bit fussy about food.
Adding red split lentils is a good idea though, no extra work but extra vegs. You would not be doing things behind his back, he's a grown up and can make his own decisions, but some compromises are necessary.

I was going to suggest things like stews, where your OH can pick meat and pots, and leave out what he doesn't like. It may be a good idea to try new vegs he's never had before.

rachbc

when you say he doesn't eat veg will he each tomatoes in a sauce, onions in spag bol etc? Or genuinely no veg?

TBH I'd cook what I want to eat/ feed my son and he can do as he pleases - if he wants to cook something seperate he can, if he wants to pick out the peas from freid rice he can

ragz_2

rachbc wrote: »

TBH I'd cook what I want to eat/ feed my son and he can do as he pleases - if he wants to cook something seperate he can, if he wants to pick out the peas from freid rice he can

:rotfl:
My Dh frequently claims he is allergic to peas! I feed them to him anyway, he can never be bothered to pick them out. If he had his way he would eat carbs and meat and cheese for every meal! I make him eat the veg in front of the kids though and he has to say how nice it is! I do make an effort make my veg taste nice though, he said he hated mash and cauliflower cheese but I make mine so tasty he is happy to eat them, I think his mum just wasn't great at veg and put him off. Indians put spices etc with most of their veg rather than eat it plain... sometimes you have to make a bit of an effort but if it gets everyone eating more veg it can't be bad...

madnotstupid

Guinea - what sort of meals do you usually have? I'm the picky one in our house and find it quite a challenge I can't really cope with boiled veggies as a side dish, but it's me who cooks.

Try some sauces - tomato of course, curry sauce, (fry onions, add carrots, a mango or an apple and some curry powder, add water and simmer till cooked.) or sweet and sour (tinned pineapple in juice, onion, tomato paste, red pepper, sugar and vinegar - simmer till soft) blended to make a smooth sauce,will add some fruit or veg. As said before - lentils ! I add both red or green lentils to most mince dishes, also blended tinned tomatos, grated carrots or courgettes.

To avoid making two meals could you make a sauce with meat in it then add veggies for you and your son's portion at the end? Was thinking about frozen veg, but you could part cook things in the microwave before adding

HTH

bored_at_home

does he like gardening? i would never buy and cook most veggies for myself, yet i love growing things, and if iv grown things myself they need to be made use of and i take pride in using them.
failing that a stir fry including veg covered with chinese type sauce eg teriyaki or oyster sauce gives them some zingy taste!

Charliex

Sausage pasta - chop up some sausages, fry, add sauce (home made or jar) add this to cooked pasta. Serve with some garlic bread.

Toad in the hole - You could cook veggies to go on the side.

Chicken/Lamb/beef curry made from curry paste and can of chopped tomatoes, you can also add cream if you like- really simple and yummy. Use brown rice to be extra healthy. I also serve naans with this.

Beef and potato pie - brown beef and then add cubed potatoes, stock etc cook on very low heat (slow cooker all day) until done, then top with ready rolled puff pastry and pop in oven for 20-30 mins. Again, veg on side.