How to avoid being bored with food - monthly menu ideas?

BlushingRose

Hi all,

This is our first month when we're trying to budget properly.
We're planning to buy for the month (obviously with little shops for perishables) but I'm trying to do a monthly menu but already I'm feeling bored as it is all starting to be a bit 'samey'.

Planning to get a couple of roasts which will do a couple of meals each. Jacket potatoes, sausages, spag bols, a few meals of stuff on toast - even thought about doing a corned beef hash?

Don;t like chilli or curries - anyone got other suggestions? Thanks x

savingforoz

Lasagne, shepherds pie, meat loaf, pasta bake, pork chops, stir fries, pizza, some sort of meat stew or casserole?

BlushingRose

Thanks, we're also trying to lose weight too so have been trying to avoid too much potatoes, although I like the idea of a Shepard's pie. I sometimes do a casserole but by the time it's ready I don;t enjoy it and end up leaving it

thriftwizard

Kedgeree, risotto, paella, spaghetti carbonara (there are hundreds of pasta sauce possibilities, many of them very inexpensive & quick to prepare) various casserole-type dishes like goulash, beef stroganoff, chicken chasseur, Lancashire hotpot, and I'll second HM pizza!

ETA - Google each dish & you'll find lots of different ways of making it, so you can choose methods & ingredients that don't bust the budget or take hours to prepare!

BlushingRose

How does one make HM pizza?

CT19720

wraps - fry off onions/peppers/mushrooms. Make with chicken or left over meat, and just a your own spices or spice mix.

One that we do, and is very filling is a packet of stir fry, 1 or 2 packets of cheap supermarket noodles, cooked up, and then added to the stir fry veg and a sauce of some kind. Sometimes we do sweet and sour, other times ginger and chilli (which is very mild, as I don't do chillies), fry it all together for about 10 minutes. Not the prettiest on a plate, but is yummy and filling.

Homemade soup, HM bugers, HM chicken nuggets and all these are easy to do.

If I'm stuck for ideas, I have a look at the weekly meal plan thread, and the what are you cooking for dinner thread.

thriftwizard

HM pizza - make dough, let it rise, roll it out, plaster it with tomato passata (or whiz up a tin of whatever's-cheapest-tomatos) top with grated cheese & a little of whatever else you fancy (peppers, herbs, bacon, mushrooms, leftover chilli or chicken, pepperoni/chorizo, spinach - anything you like that will go together) bake for long enough that the cheese is bubbling & browning.

HM = Home Made ;-) - I may be the only person here using that abbreviation, but probably not.

Aarons_mummy

Stuffed chicken, pasta dishes you can make with anything, make alternate lasagnes like chicken and bacon etc. sausages, meatballs, burgers, fish/fishcakes, egg and chips, gammon and cauliflower cheese, sweet chilli chicken, egg fried rice, pitta, crudites and dips. nacho's, french toast, waffles with eggs, soups, ummm macaroni, I can't think of anymore atm!

kitschkitty

You can use Sweet potato in place of normal spuds in most recipes, they even make really nice jacket spuds - much lower GI/better for you.

For meal planning I like to have 2 list's one of different types of meat/fish we might eat, and the other for the carbs or filling part of the meal.

e.g
mince beef
chicken thighs
pork chops
bacon
joint of lamb etc

spuds,
sweet potato
pasta
noodles
rice
couscous
lentils
bread

with those 2 lists of what you mainly buy/eat, you can focus your recipe search.

BlushingRose

Here's what I've got so far on my list that is starting to feel boring. (I'm not a cook, I need to learn!)


raviloi on toast
jacket potato with sausages
corned beef hash (this is a new idea, never cooked yet)
spag bol
omlette
fish fingers with pots and peas
roast something with pots and veg
soup and toast
cold roast and veg


Started to feel that those meals, over 4 weeks would start to be boring.

BlushingRose

thriftwizard wrote: »

HM pizza - make dough

see, you've lost me already lol