Fed up of making the same meals !

I'm like M0nica too. I tend to think of a recipe as a "starting point," then I'll substitute one ingredient with something else we happen to have in or prefer, or add something extra if I want to.

My husband on the other hand seems unable to do this. He's a slave to his many Slimming World recipe books, which are unnecessarily lengthy and complicated in my view.
My heart sinks when he's poring over a new recipe... 😒

Good for you Monica. I too often substitute ingredients usually for less expensive ones eg evaporated milk instead of double cream etc.

Grace6580 As you are such a good cook already, the thing to do when you see those over complicated but intersting recipes is to simplify them.

I always read recipes everywhere I see them; newspapers, magazines and online, if I want a specific recipe. I look at the long list of ingredients and then replace some with a more everyday ingredient I have in my cupboard, and lose several more.

It is not as if you have tasted the recipe as given in the newspape/magazine, so you have nothing to compare it with so all that matters is whether you liek the final result or not.

I take my cavalier attitude to recipes to the cooking methods as well. If I am told to fry three ingredients sperately and then bring them together, I just fry them altogether.

I can see all those members of GN who really are superb cooks collectively cringing wth their hands over their eyes, but I am what I call an Approximate Cook, my family have grown up eating a wide variety of meals and a wide variety of ingredients and are all still cooking. I have also never given any one food poisoning.

As I say, forget life being to short to skin a grape, it is also too short to peel the skin off a walnut

I agree about the same old meals.
What works best for me is a menu. It means I shop to that menu-less waste, and when the daily question arises, it’s there on his phone (I message him the menu).
If things are enough in date I don’t mind swapping a day or even, for a bit of excitement, having a takeaway or fish and chips instead.
I liked some of the menu cards from Hello Fresh and we still use them, but in general there was too much faffing about and definitely too much salt.

I do that too Norah. It’s quite interesting and usually doesn’t cost a lot.

Many days I work out which foods in the refrigerator need eating, do an ingredient internet search -- and read recipes. I enjoy attempting new recipes.

I do a plan for the week and buy accordingly- batch cooking suitable recipes. I then have lots of meals to choose from in the freezer for lazy days.

I also buy M&S Cottage Pies and always have one in the freezer and also buy breaded fish, chicken portions and treats.

Astichintime it’s tricky isn’t it! low saturated fats here to keep cholesterol down and we keep an eye on the carbs.

I went through a phase of subscribing to menu boxes (Gousto and Riverford) and enjoyed the new recipes I received each week along with the necessary ingredients.
It’s not a cheap option but made a pleasant change and was easy enough to opt out of.

I can relate to this.........if I ask MrA in the morning what he would. like for dinner that night he will frequently say "FOOD"!
No help at all!

Plus health concerns have now made me have a complete rethink on our meals in terms of the hidden sugars - some days my head spins with frustration and. lack of ideas.

It’s a daily thing isn’t it! What shall we eat today? You could write a list \ menu for a weeks worth of different things that you’d like to try and go with that. Vegetable lasagna, steak and onion pie, chicken Kiev, salmon parcels, bean stew, fish and chips. The thing is then you don’t have to think every day which always bothers me.

I love cooking and often experiment and tweak recipes by using different ingredients. For example if I have a lot of vegetables left in the fridge I knock up a vegetarian dish. With a chicken dish that perhaps says red peppers these can be substituted with leeks, mushrooms or whatever else takes your fancy. Give it a try and hopefully you will enjoy changing menus around to suit your needs.

I was the same, just running out of ideas, so we’ve used those meal boxes too on occasion, and now have a few new favourites.

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My son and daughter both have busy lives working children etc. They ordered meal boxes with food all weighed and measured with recipe cards. They did this for a few weeks now they have recipe cards for meals from all around the world.

They buy the ingredients use the recipes or change ingredients sometimes. Gousto and Hello Fresh (I am not) advertising for them before anyone suggests it just trying to be a help.

You don’t even have to order the meals just go on the websites and they have all the recipes. It could give you inspiration and a new interest in cooking,

Thank you for your reply, I make curries, chillies, Chinese, Spanish, French and good old fashion British meals. I quite often pick up Supermarket free booklets and look at their meals for the week but to be honest they seem like a lot of hard work. I have bought the higher end of ready meals but MOH says I prefer the way you make it. Maybe after 43 years I have exhausted my list ?

Every now and then I get a veggie box delivered from a local farm shop. There are usually potatoes, carrots and a few other staples but always something to challenge my repertoire.

It’s fun to make the box central to the week’s meals, just using what I have in fridge/freezer/cupboard to go with the veg. That way it doesn’t become too expensive.

I know the feeling. Without knowing what you already do and what you like, it is a bit tricky to advise.
The most adventurous dishes I have tried lately are Chinese Duck and Thai Green Curry. They both required quite a lot of preparation and the curry had loads of ingredients.

I sometimes do Irish Stew for a change. DH likes Corned Beef Hash, Hasselback Potatoes and White Fish or Smoked Haddock in Cheese Sauce.

I found the BBC website helpful for various different recipes.
I hope some of this is useful.