So…it seems as though my inspiration has dried up and we are always eating the same things.  Could you suggest three lunch/evening meals you enjoy as a family for inspiration?  We are a family of four DDs are 2 and 4 so all eat the same.  generally veggie but can adapt!Thank you
x

I’m a not-very-good cook so I doubt I can do anything for your inspiration and often feel the same.  Have you checked the recipe section of the site?

I’ve recently acquired a slow cooker which has added to the variation of our meals, mainly through super-easy stews/casseroles/curries etc.

Popular food here: lentils and rice, veggie bolognese, veggie pasta bake (told you!)

Becky
xx

Lunch:

Homemade flatbreads with chargrilled veggies and humous.
Grilled Cheese toasties with homemade soup (preferably tomatoe)
Homemade lentil “meat” loaf wit veggies or salad.

Tea:
Red Lentil Lasagne (have this quite often on Sundays)
Sweet and Sour veggies with rice.
Pearl Barley Stew with dumplins (pearl barley, root veggies of choice, veggie stock, herbs slow cooked for a good 6 hours and then a little cream 40 mins before end of cook time and the dumplins - yum)

Joxy.

Being non-veggie here our favourites are salad, toad in the hole, and fish pie,  I guess the first two are adaptable, might have difficulty with fish pie though!

How about homemade pizza, that also goes down a treat here.

We eats lots of pasta - mainly boring spag bol! Also chilli con carne with nachos / rice. I guess you could do veggie versions of those.
And for easiness you can’t beat a jacket spud with topping of your choice.

At lunchtime I sometimes have an omelette, or homemade soup, but mostly it is boring sandwiches.

I have just started using a book called Feeding the Whole Family: Recipes for Babies, Young Children and their Parents: Cooking with Wholefoods by Peggy O’Mara and it’s just brilliant.  It’s an american book so the measurements are a bit different. She cooks mainly vegetarian but there are some with meat. The main point of the book is that it’s cooking with whole foods, grains, pulses. I have made things like green split pea soup (my 2 year old loved this), vegetarian chili with quinoa which was so yummy. She also has simple recipes for bread and savoury muffins etc and lots of interesting info about foods. Anyway, I won’t go on, this got me out of my food rut and introduce some new ingredients and ways to cook.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Feeding-Whole-Family-Recipes-Children/dp/157061525X/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I3BZGNZJJ6M3F6&colid=3DCH9ITC5IT5R

Elisabeth x

Tonight made a new fish bake thing nicked off Nigel slater - very filling and comfort food as well.  Was basically haddock poached in milk wit a couple of bay leaves, then added to a pot of steamed leeks and potatoes, sweetcorn, with seasoning and thyme, and then baked in oven for 20 min.  Yummy!
Not veggie, so don’t know how helpful this will be, but we also have shepherd’s pie, um, can’t think of anything veggie, we all like meat too much, sorry!

A few veggie dishes we have:

Veggie lasagne - I usually chuck whatever veg is lying around in it. Today I put in mushrooms, sweet potato, leeks, red pepper and feta
Veggie toad in the hole with veggie sausages is always a big hit
Quorn pie - quorn “chicken pieces” with veg (leeks are always good) and topped with mash potatoes. Serve with gravy
Polenta sticks - a fish finger alternative. Let me know if you want the recipe as will have to type it out.
Corn cakes/fritters - sort of made up the recipe for this, but it’s like the ones you can find in Thai cooking

We eat lots of fish so I probably won’t be very helpful - just wanted to pop on and say definitely discover qinoa if you haven’t already - yummy and beautifully nutricious (sp??)

i recently dusted down my wok and we have been having stir fry and noodles which is sooo quick and yummy-it also means that if i want mine spicy i add some chilli sauce to my bit at the end.rissotto is another fave-mushroom and pea!also homemade pizza and wedges.i love these threads-i know just what u mean about getting stuck in a rut! 
lou
xxx

lorraineSE22 - 30 November 2009 10:59 PM

A few veggie dishes we have:

Polenta sticks - a fish finger alternative. Let me know if you want the recipe as will have to type it out.

I’d like the recipe for these please -)

Yesterday we had Stir fried broccoli and cashew nuts with quinoa. I boil the broccoli for a few minutes first, then stir fry with a minces clove of garlic. At the end I pour over some Teriyaki marinade or soy sauce, and add cashews to warm through. Meanwhile cook quinoa according to instructions on packet (basically throw in boiling salted water for 10 mins), and serve when done. Enjoy!

We are all veggie these are some of the things we have:

Pasta & sauce
Homemade veg soup (sweet potato,red pepper, onion, potato, red lentils) with some homemade spelt bread (or dumplings)
falafel & couscous & pitta strips & houmous
curry of some description, last night i made bombay potatoes & dahl with naan bread (didnt make the bread!)
homemade pizza
veggie sausages & mash
chickpea tagine (chickpeas & onions in a spicyish tomato sauce) with rice
Vegetable lasagne (aubergine, onion, courgettes, tomatoes, peppers)
Vege moussaka (if i can be bothered!)

I use the riverford recipes if i am stuck…. http://www.riverford.co.uk then look at the bottom for the recipes and click and you can search by ingredient which is really handy

LUcy

Veggie here too, the familys favourites are ...

Caribbean kidney bean and brocoli stew
Portugese cabbage and canellini bean stew
toad in the hole

will be back with more later, Zander is just destrying somwthing .....

OOhhhhh…now i just need to magic some time to read these ideas properly and get organised - thank you