Tired of meat and potatoes...

[SandrA9810]

What else to use other items on the dinner plate??

A salad is always on the menu (with spinach), so there is at least one green veggie with dinner. I'm just getting so tired of potatoes or pasta with a meal, but I'm clueless on what else to cook with a prepared meat. Or even going on a meatless night, I'm lost beyond a carb based meal.

Chicken and pork loin is usually the top meat purchased, with the occasional rack of ribs, ground beef, salmon (trying to get it higher up on the list), and maybe a thin cut steak. I pre sort all the meats before freezing, so there's just enough for one serving each.

I like a good amount of veggies, but my bf doesn't. Although he loves his beans, which I can't stand. My mind just goes blank, and I revert back to the same ol same ol. I love using allrecipes.com but it's only good for fixing on particular item, not what else goes good with it.

Like tonight, I have a salmon to cook up. I have no clue what to make with it. The other night I made a pesto sauce with pasta, so I'm not going to make that again.

Corn, Potatoes, and Pasta are some of my main things I use often, but I want to avoid. I do use whole wheat pasta, and I like sweet potatoes, but he likes regular white potatoes. I'm finding it very hard to find the purple potatoes, which I like too.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

How about rice dishes?

 

[kerplop]

I like rice as well, brown if the meat is a little sweeter. I also like alternatives to potatoes like sweet potatoes/yams. Squash or eggplant is good or other things along that line. Maybe instead of just a plain veggie, make a casserole or gratin or make it more complicated by combining veggies? A bean salad? I also like couscous and if you're burnt out on traditional pasta, maybe try some orzo! One of my favorite meals is a spinach side salad, fish (I'll take whatever I get really), and lemon herbed brown rice.

 

[scrapquitler]

What else to use other items on the dinner plate??


Corn, Potatoes, and Pasta are some of my main things I use often, but I want to avoid. I do use whole wheat pasta, and I like sweet potatoes, but he likes regular white potatoes. I'm finding it very hard to find the purple potatoes, which I like too.

I do rice a lot instead of potatoes (white, brown, pilaf, wild, rice a roni....make it with water sometimes, with beef chicken or veggie broth at other times). You can mix veggie in with the rice (or sliced almonds, dried cranberries, finely diced fruits instead).

There's lots of other grains to explore, too: barley, couscous, etc. And beans...(I love lentils)

I also use lots of different kinds of veggies: zucchini, summer squash, carrots, spaghetti sauce, broccoli, kale, spinach, etc. One of my favorite ways to prepare the veggies is to cut them up in chunks, add some olive oil and spices and roast them in the oven on 425 for about 40 minutes.

Instead of cooked veggies or salad, I sometimes just chop up some cucumbers and tomatoes (or just one of them) and put a little oil and vinegar on them.

And I didn't hear you mention fruit. I serve a lot of fruit as side dishes (esp. in the summer) -- watermelon, canteloupe, sliced peaches, orange wedges, blueberries whatever combinationj of one or more that you feel like.

You can make combinations of the above, too: macaroni salad with veggies in it, jello salad with fruits (and veggies).

 

[SandrA9810]

I love fruit, but he's not so keen on a lot of them. He finds most of them to be too sweet for him. He does like apples, watermelon, and bananas.

I love melons, strawberries, mangos, pineapple, apples, peaches... Most of them, I'll chop them up into chunks, put them in ziploc baggies and munch on them throughout the day.

I do love rice, I actually have brown rice and spanish rice, but I'm also very good at burning it. I guess gas is still hotter on low than an electric stove. But I guess spanish rice and salmon sound pretty good tonight.

 

[dandave]

Try Basmati and Jasmine rice for a change, too. I don't always serve a carb.

I love roasted broccoli and cauliflower, although I'm not usually fond of either.
Just cut the florets into reasonably bite-sized pieces, sprinkle with good olive oil, salt, and roast at 400 for 30-35 minutes.

Sweet potato fries are awesome, especially with pork or fish, and you can find Alexi brand in the frozen section.

Pierogies are also available in the frozen section. Just sautee them on medium. You can sautee some onion in with them, top them with cheese or sour cream, etc.

Sauteed squash with onions and a bit of soy sauce is really good.

Caprese salad with ripe tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and a bit of balsamic is good.

I love vegetables, and I'll eat any of them!

 

[tikilyn]

Instead of using pasta we use spaghetti squash. It's really taste good with pasta sauce. The kids used to not tell the difference until one day I was busted making it for them!

 

[tikilyn]

Instead of using pasta we use spaghetti squash. It's really taste good with pasta sauce. The kids used to not tell the difference until one day I was busted making it for them!

 

[ilovepcot]

Instead of using pasta we use spaghetti squash. It's really taste good with pasta sauce. The kids used to not tell the difference until one day I was busted making it for them!

Love that stuff!

 

[jandel]

I don't necessarily think you must have a starch every meal (or meat, for that matter!) but I do like it when my meal kind of "flows." I'm sure there is a fancy chef-word for it but I don't know what it is. It's kind of a learned sense of what "goes" together. And I also take colors of the food into consideration. If I'm serving sweet potatoes I won't pair them with carrots, or pair greens with green beans, etc

I think about the main thing (whether meat, casserole, etc), decide the cooking method and go from there. For example:

Lemon-thyme broiled tilapia with lemon/herb quinoa and broccoli

Chicken quesadillas with roasted corn salsa and black beans

Grilled mustard-rubbed pork loin with apple/fennel slaw

Eggplant lasagne and cheesy bread

White chicken chili with corn muffins

BBQ ribs, potato salad and zucchini

Italian marinated chicken with Italian pasta salad and tomato/basil slices

But more than anything the main influence on my veggies (at least this time of year) is what's good and fresh at the local farmer's market I have been known to plan an entire meal around a perfect heirloom tomato!

 

[scrapquitler]

I love fruit, but he's not so keen on a lot of them. He finds most of them to be too sweet for him. He does like apples, watermelon, and bananas.

I love melons, strawberries, mangos, pineapple, apples, peaches... Most of them, I'll chop them up into chunks, put them in ziploc baggies and munch on them throughout the day.

I do love rice, I actually have brown rice and spanish rice, but I'm also very good at burning it. I guess gas is still hotter on low than an electric stove. But I guess spanish rice and salmon sound pretty good tonight.

Rice can be tricky to cook. I'd suggest an inexpensive microwave rice cooker. The rice comes out perfect every time and you never end up with the burnt on mess on the bottom of a pan.

 

[Northstar]

I do love rice, I actually have brown rice and spanish rice, but I'm also very good at burning it. I guess gas is still hotter on low than an electric stove.

Another poster mentioned a rice cooker, but if you don't want to get another gadget to store, just cook your rice in the microwave. For regular rice, about 8 minutes uncovered at full power (till it boils), then 10-12 minutes covered at power level 6. Brown rice is trickier because of the long cooking time.


For cooking on your gas stove at low heat, you might need sturdier cookware with thicker bottoms.


Also, for grains, try quinoa (KEEN - wa). Cook, cool, and toss with lemon juice and chopped-up cucumbers, carrots, and parsley.


I have your problem in reverse... when I was growing up, we had potatoes at every dinner, and I got so sick of them that I never used to cook potatoes. DH was born in Japan and feels rice should be a part of every dinner, so for years we've been eating rice. Well, I'm tired of it. Trying to get ideas for potatoes!

 

[Swank]

Rice can be tricky to cook. I'd suggest an inexpensive microwave rice cooker. The rice comes out perfect every time and you never end up with the burnt on mess on the bottom of a pan.

Don't bother with a microwave rice cooker, use the Microwave recipe on the box.

In a covered Pyrex Dish, 1 cup of rice, two cups of water, cook at 50% power for 5 min and 100% power for 15 min. Comes out perfect every time.

 

[sweetdana]

Bake at about 350 1-1.5 yellow onions per person. Wrap them in alum foil, for about 50 mins. then serve with salmon and additional vegi, like broccoli, cauliflower ect.

They are perfect with fish.

Also I love grilled onions and mushrooms together as a side.

I agree with rice, but also couscous, and fresh 2 vegis. Or a cold vegi and a warm one.. like green pepper/celery and blue cheese, and then squash with dinner. Or a spinich arti dip/ or hummas, with celery, chips, or pita.

My fav of all time is mashed cauliflower. Steam a head of cali, and boil 1-2 potatoes. DRAIN really really really well cauli. and mash potato and cauli up together. add butter, and NOOO milk. IT is delic.

Soup soup soup is prolly 2 times a week. Full of water, and vegis, and low in meat and carbs. Favs are tortilla, minestrone, tomato basil, corn chowder, and the occasional tky chili. Sometimes with a grill cheese, sometimes with a salad, sometimes with fresh bread and an oil dip.

 

[BadgerGirl84]

Check out the book Everyday Paleo. I have it and I really like to make some of the recipes. I used to always serve a carb with dinner--pasta, potato, rice or bread. Since getting that book several months ago, I've completely stopped. I eat enough carbs on the weekend, I cut out carbs from my at home cooked dinners Monday - Thursday. My meals are now always a meat with a veggie. The author also has a blog if you want to try out some of her recipes without buying the book.

 

[SandrA9810]

Never heard about cooking rice in the microwave. I did learn a while back about cooking corn on the cob in the microwave.

I don't really have the best pans. I have 2 little sauce pans, a 10" skillet with a lid, and an omelet skillet. The omelet skillet works as my lid for the sauce pans if I need it to.

Raley's has a bulk bin of grains and such, I'll have to get over there and check what they've got.

 

[hineshm]

Maybe red beans with rice. My kids love grilled chicken in a wrap with ranch dressing.

 

[HM]

Things to substitute for potatoes and hot pasta:
Couscous
cold pasta salad
marinated vegetables
grilled vegetables
herbed bread
fruit salad
jello salad
cucumber salad
hummus and pita
ratatouille

 

[mamacatnv]

My DH is a meat and potato kind of guy and his waistline shows it as did mine. I cut out the filler carb side dishes a couple of years ago and only include them once to twice a week. I have switched to more grains, barley, brown rice, beans(only black), quinoa & couscous with the occassional white rice but its rare.

We are meat eaters so going meatless is not an option.
DH is not crazy about fruit either but if I add craisins to a salad he likes those. He will eat grapes, watermelon & cherries plain, strawberries must have whipped cream and short cake

I have gotten very creative with veggies/salads and now most meals contain some sort of veggie steamed/grilled and some sort of salad so that they still have 2 side dishes on their plates with the meat of the day.

A salad might not actually have lettuce in it. The other day I finely chopped cucumbers, tomatoes(seeded), green onion, red pepper & black beans. Added a 1 tsp. of mayo, a squeeze of lime, a Tbsp. of hot salsa and some carne asada seasoning. Served it with a diced pork cooked in fajita seasoning and small flour tortillas. In lieu of shredded lettuce for the fajitas I finely chopped spinach. No cheese, no sour cream just the asst. veggies and tortillas.

I use black beans often, they are good in salads cold or added to salsa or even pureed with salsa and garlic for a yummy "dip" or a great base for a tostada

We have upped our fiber intake with grains and other assorted things that are healthier. This has been a slow process with Mr. white bread DH but we try things and he finds he likes them.

I love butternut squash also, DH not so much so I'll make him a sweet potato instead.

I'm not anti carb, I'm just trying to get us away from the useless carbs that are just fillers and add in carbs that are nutritionally dense and not as processed.

We do not eat fish
I fix chicken/pork probably 6 times a week and then burgers, sausages or steak 1 day a week. I use our BBQ often, even in the winter. I would say I grill 4 nights out of 7. I grill the veggies, the meat etc.

Meal ideas:
Pork roast BBQ'd with a spinach salad and steamed (cinnamon) apples

Chicken grilled with squash, zucchini and watermelon

Pork or chicken fajitas with tortillas and cucumber bean salad

Baked chicken with steamed broccoli & cauliflower with a homemade cranberry relish

Crockpot turkey parts (legs/thighs or breast) with some sweet potatoes and serve with a cold romaine lettuce salad with lots of chopped veggies topped with craisins

Saute chicken pieces with sesame oil, garlic, soy sauce and green onion, serve with string beans & spaghetti squash

 

[Michelle67]

We use a lot of rice and couscous. I know not everyone wants something to have to store, but I honestly find my electric rice cooker to be SO worth finding the room to keep it. We use the heck out of it. I make home-made pilaf in it as well as plain rice.

Northstar, my favorite way to do potatoes is to cube them with the skin on, toss them with a little olive oil, sprinkle with whatever seasoning (I use Spike, but you can use anything you like) and then bake them until they are golden and crispy on the outside. BTW, I have a Japanese individual in my house also, and he is happiest if there is rice at every meal. We just go ahead and throw a couple of cups of rice in the cooker for him, and make whatever else we were going to make anyhow. He'll usually eat both.