Dinner ideas

[Blonde-Mary]

Hi all, just wondering if anyone could share their weekly dinner ideas? I usually just make what I feel but I waste a lot and would like to work on a budget etc.

Thanks

[moreless Administrator 7 stone]

I think it's a good idea to make too much, that way you can calorie count each portion and put them in your freezer. Saves time and money

[Hidden]

Try to create a meal plan, even if it's for 2-3 days at a time normally, we don't stick to it regimentally, I.e. Chicken on Monday, Fish on Wednesday, but it gives a good guide to what you will eat over that period.

That's also useful from a budget perspective as you can identify common ingredients that you can buy in greater quantities to make the meals you plan to have.

Also look at something I call "base cooking". If you plan to have Spaghetti Bolognese for dinner, but also want to make a batch of chilli con carne for the freezer, start by dry frying a really big batch of mince, add some garlic, onions and tinned tomatoes, once this is cooked, you then split the batch into two, add kidney beans and spices to the chilli mix and add chopped carrots and basil or thyme to the spaghetti Bolognese mix - you then have two meals with one lot of effort!!!

[NiCherry]

Hi!

I find it hard to plan meals ahead, I tend to cook meals on a what-do-i-fancy-right-now basis!

I tend to keep my freezer stocked with

* veg, which is cheap and nutritious.

* chicken (freas is best, but if you are on a budget you can buy frozen bags of chicken fillets that can be cooked from frozen from most supermarkets, and are relatively cheap)

* fish (Iceland have a long running offer of 3 bags of fish for £10, and includes cod, salmon and tuna and more)

I also use Knott stockpots (brilliant stuff!), rice, couscous, and wholemeal bread (occasionally)

Try this website

supercook.com

Simply tell it what ingredients you already have, and it will come up with recipe ideas to fit, minimising the extras you need to buy in!

Good luck!

NC

[2jaiz]

Try this link - gives lots of easy, healthy and tasty ideas for all meals.

sparkpeople.com/resource/nu...

[Purple_faced_woman]

I batch cook for the freezer once every month or two. I have a set of 4 standard Weight Watchers recipes my husband and I both enjoy (Pork Lasagne, Lamb Tagine, Fish Pie and Chicken stew) - they each serve four. I make up the recipe x3 (ie, 12 portions) and then freeze them in 2 serving size portions. For the lasagne and fish pie we have found silicone loaf tins the perfect size (sealed by wrapping in cling film when cool) and use small flat stackable lidded boxes like the ones takeaways come in for the tagine and stew. You need to take the lasagne/fish pie out the night/morning before you want to eat it, and reheat it in the microwave/oven; stew and tagine can be cooked on the stovetop or microwaved from frozen.

You could do a meal for every day of the week, but we found that this was rather dull. Having 4 meals of the week sorted allowed you a minimum of 3 days for, say, grilled salmon and steamed vegetables or ham salad or Sunday lunch or a meal out with friends. You have 4 meals you could rely on, knew the calories of, and which required minimum thought/impulse buying.

Hope this is helpful. Good luck with your journey.