<p>Well, I just read an article in a local paper about the home cook. It was a funny one, talking about how people love to watch shows like Top Chef, Hells Kitchen, Chopped, Masterchef etc. and yet we all tend to cook the same 10-15 items to eat month in and month out. As I thought about it, I tend to agree. I often find myself saying that I hate to cook when in reality I don’t mind cooking at all…I hate deciding what to cook! So, I tend to gravitate to the tried and true. So here is my question to all of you, do you tend to cook the same things month to month (or week to week)? If so, what are the things you regularly have for dinner?</p>
<p>My school does thats for sure. Last year i could pretty much predict what we were having for dinner and be right most of the time. Thats sad :<</p>
<p>A current top 5:
Spaghetti/Sauce, sometimes meat or meatballs (this time of year, fresh homemade sauce!)
Chicken - on the grill, in tortillas with various toppings, chicken strips type-stuff
Tacos
Soups and salads using whatever is in the refrigerator
Homemade mac and cheese</p>
<p>Not a huge meat lover. Do watch lots of cooking shows, and will take ideas from them. Often for side dishes, desserts. Trouble is, I am an adventurous eater, other family members not so much. Thus, the typical stuff above.</p>
<p>In a typical week, our routine is like this:
1 night out
1 night left overs
1 night sandwiches or breakfast food
4 nights traditional family dinner</p>
<p>The 4 nights traditional rotate through beef, pork, chicken, fish. In most months we don’t have to repeat a dish. </p>
<p>In winter we rely on the crock pot A LOT! In summer, it’s the grill. </p>
<p>Our family is a little weird. We’re really not into food. To us it just serves its purpose as starvation prevention. So we don’t really need to seek out the newest fad or hottest trend. All we need is something that’s generally appealing, fresh and healthy.</p>
<p>I used to gravitate to old favorites before my daughter turned me on to foodgawker.com. Foodgawker is a compilation of gorgeous food photos and recipes from blogs around the world. Submissions change a couple of times a day. We’ve never eaten so well!</p>
<p>When my older son is here dinners tend to be duller as he is such a picky eater. I generally cook chicken with enough leftovers for him to eat for every night he doesn’t like dinner. (He won’t eat fish, lamb, or anything with noodles.) Younger son is much more adventurous though he’s not crazy about fish either.</p>
<p>I tend to fall in love with a cookbook. Last year I mostly cooked my way through two of Bittman’s books How to Cook Everything and The Best Recipes in the World. This year with the boys gone I plan on cooking more fish and vegetarian recipes.</p>
<p>I like cooking, but not for picky eaters. We generally ate together as a family and don’t go out more than once a week. </p>
<p>PS That foodgawker site looks great!</p>
<p>We have a chalkboard where meals are listed for the week. Makes everyones life easier. On Sunday when the list is made everyone needs to let me know what nights they will be home to eat. Requests are a week in advance. Crockpot rules in the winter. Lots of stews. Chicken & pork. Larger meals are made when they are home with an eye on leftovers for nights they aren’t.</p>
<p>we have breakfast for dinner about once( or twice) a week. ( anything from cold cereal to pancakes, eggs & bacon)
Take out at least once- H & I can eat off that for several days- with just two dishes from the corner Chinese restaurant, we have already gotten two dinners out of it & I made more rice and will use the leftovers with some added egg & bacon to make fried rice for tonight.
soup & sandwiches/toast or salad for a couple days. I am currently on a pear/blue cheese/arugula kick ( not to H’s taste, so he has peanut butter)</p>
<p>I also like Mark Bittman, I make the fish with cider from his minimalists cookbook quite a bit.
But we tend to have fairly light meals at home usually,
breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dinner like a pauper. ;)</p>
<p>I cooked a lot more when D was home, she ate a lot and she expected it- but H eats a pretty big lunch at work ( which he takes with him) and since he goes to bed @ 7, we eat about 5 & since I probably didn’t eat till 1, I am not really very hungry then.</p>
<p>My goal is to try one new recipe a month. Not particularly lofty, but attainable. Sometimes I surprise myself and try a couple of new recipes. </p>
<p>Monday is my day to try something new. Yesterday, I made an easy chili (chopped onions, garlic, two boxes of McDougals Lentil soup, a can of crushed tomatoes, half cup of currants, cinnamon, cumin, and red pepper flakes). I served it over baked delicata squash. It was yummy. </p>
<p>Tuesday is usually soup day.</p>
<p>Wednesday I often make a frittata of some kind</p>
<p>Thursday is lots of veggies with rice or quinoa or couscous. I use whatever is fresh and make some kind of sauce with it - coconut or mustard balsamic. </p>
<p>Friday I pout until DH takes me out to eat</p>
<p>Saturday in the fall is a tailgate meal. Tempeh reubens or barbeque or hummus hoagies. Last week I made hoagies with artichokes, roasted red pepper, tomatoes, red onion marinated in balsamic vinegar. I put it on a hoagie roll with lettuce, some basil, and cheese (for me)</p>
<p>Sunday nights I usually have spaghetti with meatless meatballs & jarred sauce. Goof off night. </p>
<p>In the winter I sometimes make soup more than once a week. And I love my crockpot!</p>
<p>Oh Drat! I thought you were going to post what you were serving this week. I am in need of inspiration. I adopt alot of recipes from epicurious and food tv and magazines, but now we’re down to one at home, and wouldn’t you know and he’s the picky eater!</p>
<p>Great site that food gawker! I already printed something to make tonite.</p>
<p>I just put on a pot of multi-bean soup - shell beans, lentils, flageolets, etc. I’ll let it simmer for a few hours before I add carrots, celery and freshen up the herbs. I may make a thick, rustic style pizza to use up Sunday’s leftover tomato sauce, that is, if I have enough flour.</p>
<p>I’ve never watched a TV food show. I tend not to be too adventurous or looking for new recipes too often. I do tend to make the same menus on a regular basis, but there is enough variation (I think) that it is not the same menu every week. Right now, it is just my husband and I and I cook six nights a week usually and eat out one night a week. I still make a full dinner menu for him as I did when it was the four of us. I think he is lucky. 
</p>
<p>I’ll brainstorm my “regulars”…(these all have side dishes too)</p>
<p>steak
filet mignon
rack of lamb or lamb chops
baked chicken w/cornflake crumb/parmesan cheese mixture
chicken wings w/ spare rib sauce on barbeque
ribs
chinese chicken dish…orange chicken
chinese chicken dish…w/ an oyster sauce mixture of ingredients
salmon with s h i take/ginger sauce
chinese shrimp dish…gingery
linguini and homemade clam sauce
tuna with a marinade tsuyaki sauce on barbeque
beef fajitas inc. homemade guacomole
beef tacos inc. homemade guacomole
cheese enchiladas
homemade chinese pork dumplings
chicken on skewers with Thai peanut sauce on barbeque
scallops in lemony butter
mussels in white wine over linguini
veal marsala
fondue and salad
london broil
shrimp scampi
lobster ravioli
lobsters and steamers (only on special occasions)</p>
<p>Having just written that out, I guess that is about three weeks’ worth of dinners, though certain dinners may be repeated more frequently than others.</p>
<p>Yesterday afternoon I was thinking I need a thread like this. I also don’t mind cooking but I hate figuring out what to make. Add in a few picky eaters and I am frustrated. I would not post a chalkboard of meals for the week because I would not want any opinions and I would get plenty.
I go in phases. I tend to cook the same basic things and if I am feeling appreciated I add in some new recipes. Also this semester my D is taking 3 classes at night at the local college so she is not home for dinner. She is the most picky. H does not eat pork, lamb or seafood and is only lukewarm on beef so we eat tons of chicken. And as far as chicken goes he will only eat the white meat.
I grill a lot. I have also started to bake chicken breast on the bone in the oven and use it for salads or burritos. We do a ton of mexican food. H loves anything in a tortilla.Things I made the last week. Macaroni and Cheese for D. H likes it but doesn’t feel it is healthy enough for him. It is her favorite and I only make it about 4 times a year. Falafel with tahini sauce- haven’t made this in years but D was not home and H requested it. I grilled a Santa maria style Tri tip one day and used it the next day to make burritos with black beans, homemade salsa and mexican rice. It is a hit but it is high in sodium so it is a once or twice a summer meal. I also made off the Foodnetwork site Bobby Flays chicken cobb burgers leaving off the bacon. H loves pasta but I am trying to lose some weight and carbs do not agree with my waistline. Trader Joe’s pizza dough with assorted toppings is our sunday summer dinner.
I love breakfast for dinner but H hates breakfast for dinner. Once the weather cools I will start to make soup again.
Since I am limiting my carbs during the week I will take whatever we are having for dinner and toss it on top of a bed of greens. That way if H and D are having their chicken in flour tortillas I put the chicken, beans, cheese, tomato and salsa on lettuce.
Tonight I am making a cold pesto chicken salad. I will take part of the chicken salad and mix it with cheese tortollini for D and put the rest into a salad for H and myself. I will give them fresh french bread. No bread for me.</p>
<p>Also, we use the barbeque year round. It is on the front porch and I just freeze for a minute or two putting things on it and taking them off. The heat of the fire helps when it is below zero out. :D</p>
<p>A recipe with more than 5 ingredients is far too complicated for this culinarily challenged individual. Most meals consist of a baked/broiled/grilled piece of meat/chicken/fish, boil-in-bag rice or baked potatoes and nuked fresh or frozen veggies. Needless to say, my kids have not grown up with fond memories of their mothers cooking.</p>
<p>Today, however, Im feeling inspired by the nice fall weather and my pretty red Dutch oven. Im challenging myself with a Tyler Florence pot roast.</p>
<p>[Pot</a> Roast with Vegetables Recipe : Tyler Florence : Food Network](<a href=“http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/pot-roast-with-vegetables-recipe/index.html]Pot”>http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/pot-roast-with-vegetables-recipe/index.html)</p>
<p>That foodgawker site looks way cool, thanks for posting.</p>
<p>I cook a lot from the Cook’s Illustrated cookbooks and have found them to be foolproof.</p>
<p>A cookbook that has recently changed my life is Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. I almost always have dough in the fridge that I can toss in the oven for fresh, crusty bread any time I like. </p>
<p>[Artisan</a> Bread in Five Minutes a Day](<a href=“http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/]Artisan”>http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/)</p>
<p>Here are some very easy and healthy recipes that I’ve been using quite a bit lately. The flavors are wonderful and the ingredients come mostly from my local farmers’ market.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.health.com/health/static/downloads/drop-five.pdf[/url]”>http://www.health.com/health/static/downloads/drop-five.pdf</a></p>
<p>Laketime, sorry I didn’t post MY dinner ideas…because if I am being honest, I don’t have any as of yet!!! Soozievt, can I come to your house for dinner!</p>
<p>I guess it was unfair of me not to post the things that I seem to make all the time. My husband can be somewhat picky (does not like fish - shame, I love fish but can’t stand the grief I get for the smell when I do cook it so I tend to order than when I eat out.) Anyway in no particular order I tend to make the following over the course of a month’s time: (side dishes excluded)</p>
<p>Some type of Steak: Flank, London Broil, Eye of the Round Roast (which I have a no fail recipe for), NY strip, Filet Mignon, </p>
<p>Some type of pasta: spaghetti with homemade meatballs, lasagne, chicken parm</p>
<p>Pork: center cut roast (a favorite), tenderloin, cutlets w/dill sauce,</p>
<p>Chicken: okay, well my family loves chicken. Although I have to admit I am a tad tired of it. Specific dishes I cook are: roasted chicken, fajaitas (sp), kung pao chicken, chicken with peppers and spinach (my teens request that recipe all the time), grilled chicken, Burgundy chicken and vegetable kabobs, chicken cutlets</p>
<p>Shrimp: scampi, fra diavolo, stir fry, </p>
<p>Salads: D likes when I make a cobb or caesar salad and put some grilled chicken on top</p>
<p>Other/Comfort Food: Meatloaf, Philly Steak Sandwiches, Pot Roast (H doesn’t like however) baby back ribs, Turkey breast, Tacos, Stuffed Peppers, Pizza</p>
<p>Last night I made this Hungarian Mushroom Soup that my husband likes. Very filling. </p>
<p>So now I think I have to run to the store and decide what I am cooking for dinner!</p>
<p>Made a 7 lb roasted pork shoulder this weekend. 4 hours in the oven, crusted with garlic, fennel,sea salt, chili flakes and pepper. DELICIOUS.
So Sat afternoon: thinly sliced pork and cracklings and jus on kaiser rolls
Sat evening: dinner party–sliced pork with jus, garden veggies, salad
Sunday afternoon: pork sandwiches again
Sunday night: last of the pork, served as carnitas soft rolled tacos
(PORKOPOLOOZA)</p>
<p>OK, I am probably the laziest cook in the world. I actually like to do it, but don’t have time. Both H and I have crazy work schedules and only one kid still at home. But I have discovered the best thing ever - The Dinner Station. It is a locally owned store that prepares meals for you. $125 for eight dinners, many of which we can get 2 meals out of (especially the lasagnes and other casseroles). They provide the nutrition info, so we can eat low-fat. All I have to do is thaw and cook. Tonight is chicken rustico (chicken breasts in artichoke hearts and mushrooms in a tomato-red wine sauce sauce). I’ll probably make rice and steam some carrots and I’m done. I know I could do it cheaper myself, but time is money - plus they do all the chopping. And it is cheaper and healthier than eating out. </p>
<p>On the nights we don’t have a Dinner Station meal, we usually grill (chicken, turkey burgers, pork chops). S also likes homemade pizza, when I have time to make dough. </p>
<p>We eat out once a week - every Wednesday at the same neighborhood restaurant for the last 12 years where we meet up with friends for a family-style meal. Wouldn’t miss it for the world. My kids photos are even up on the wall!</p>
<p>I do miss D now that she is in college. She was our baker - fresh breads, cookies, brownies, cakes from scratch! Yum!</p>