Tired of meat and potatoes...

[SandrA9810]

Tried the couscous first, which was alright. My bf, tolerated it. But it also wasn't my best cooking night. I think it can become a staple if I include it in more things.

Finally tried the red lentils... EWWWWWW yuck gross. Ok, I'm not a bean person, and I just couldn't get past the texture. The taste wasn't great either. My bf didn't like them either, and he loves pinto beans, and a few others.

On to try some more...

Some of the healthier things I've started using are wheat pastas, brown rice, and I make my own honey wheat bread. Trying new things also takes more time, so some nights I just don't want to be in the kitchen for 3-5 hrs (between preparing, eating, clean up, and putting everything away again).

 

[cornflake]

How about some meatless dinners?

How about getting away from the 'meat, sides, salad' thing? What about single-dish things? No wonder you're bored if you're always doing that!

You can make a gratin and even include meat if you want... some sliced potatoes, sliced ham, onions, spinach leaves, cheese, in a bechamel.

You can make an enchilada casserole, layer enchilada sauce, tortillas, chicken or veg, cheese, more sauce, more tortillas, etc, like a mexican lasagne but simpler.

Quesadillas? Make a bunch, some with veggies, some with refried beans, meat if you want, sandwiched between two tortillas with cheese, baked or cooked in a pan, served with salsa and sour cream for dipping.

You can make rice beforehand, like make a double batch and put half in the fridge, cover and nuke slowly and fluff the next day, comes out fine.

How about roast veg over rice? Take a bunch of carrots, parsnips, mushrooms, brussel sprouts, sweet potatoes, onion quarters, whatever you like, cut them to similar-sized pieces, toss in a big bowl with some olive oil and balsamic, spread in a single layer on a baking sheet, sprinkle with salt and pepper and stick in a 400 degree oven for about 25min, half an hour, serve over some lemon butter rice or couscous or quinoa.

Make sandwiches - get some nice rolls, bunch of veg, make a nice aioli, get some nice cheese... Brie and apple make a delicious sandwich on a baguette with a little jam and mustard.

Stuffed baked potatoes - bake some potatoes in the oven, top with broccoli, mushrooms and cheese or whatever, melt cheese in the broiler.

Make just a big salad for dinner - a chef's salad or a greek salad or a caprese salad on greens and with other stuff.

Dinner doesn't have to be meat, sides, on a plate with salad, be creative!

 

[lovemygoofy]

There are lots of other things to make besides a meat and potato.

Do you make casseroles? Homemade pizza? Sandwhiches with good rolls?

I get bored easily so I always mixing things up at my house. One thing I have learned over the years is to not put pressure on myself that dinner has to be super nice because there are nights I'm just happy to have something on the table.

Here's some meals from the past weeks:

French onion soup with crusty bread and a salad.

Veggie quesadillas made with sauted thawed chopped spinach,mushrooms,onions and black beans. Served with blackbean and corn mixture and freshfruit.

Fish tacos with a lime dressing coleslaw and fresh mango

Breakfast bowls with hasbrowns and scrambled eggs with lots of veggies inside. Served with salsa and fruit if wanted.

Homemade pizza and a side salad.

Veggie lasagna made with thawed chopped spinach, mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, eggplant or squash served with cut up fruit and garlic bread.

Turkey burgers with turkey bacon and zuchini fries

Trader Joes orange chicken and stir fry veggies

Chicken salad on a spinach salad with pecans, craisins, strawberries and red onion

Chicken taco salad with brown rice, black beans and corn and veggies.

Ground turkey sloppy joes which also has diced carrots, tomatoes, onions, and usually squash as a filler because I don't use much meat. Served with sweet potato fries and fresh fruit.

Just learn to omit the carb sometimes or fake the carb with things like zuchini fries or sweet potato fries. Half the brown rice and the white rice if someone in your house doesn't eat a particular thing. I think the biggest thing is making gradul changes. Learn to slowly introduce things and not just replacing things all at once. Most people don't like having their favorite foods just dumped for stuff they aren't used to having.

 

[2goofycampers]

chili cheeseburger quesadillas

 

[SandrA9810]

I'm not really afraid to eat certain things, more like I don't know how to cook it. There's a million things I like when eating out, I just havent taken the jump to replicate it at home. Even in the grocery store I avoid buying some things because I don't really know how to prepare it.

 

[Uncle Remus]

I'm not really afraid to eat certain things, more like I don't know how to cook it. There's a million things I like when eating out, I just havent taken the jump to replicate it at home. Even in the grocery store I avoid buying some things because I don't really know how to prepare it.

Google the recipe or better yet, watch the Food Channel if ya got it, we get our inspiration there.