s/o: pimp my meal plans, please

[Anonymous]

The 10-grocery-items thread got me thinking about my limited meal planning, esp in regards to breakfast and dinner. Anyway, please let me know what you would do to pimp my meal plans to make them more...exciting, while still being nutritious and easy to make. I am always the breakfast maker while DH and I trade off on dinner.

Note: I generally have an idea of what is healthy and what isn't. So no need to mention anything about the Nutella or the oatmeal-in-packet vs slow cooked. We do real peanut butter vs the processed kind. I know red meat will kill me. I know we don't eat kale and it is for a reason. Etc.

Breakfast: Today it was oatmeal from packet. Think yesterday it was turkey bacon and eggs or eggbeaters (cant remember), do cereal a few times a week, generally a Kashi kind although the last kind I bought tastes like twigs. Sometimes do omlettes w/the eggbeaters that have the veggies already in and some shredded cheese. Waffles from time to time if they are in the freezer w/real maple syrup (not that pancake syrup...yuck), sometimes toast w/butter or peanut butter or Nutella and a yogurt. Will do pancakes from scratch or french toast on the weekends. Add apple or orange slices or a piece of fruit to the above almost every day. Was on a v-8 kick for a while and making everybody drink that, but lately I have been alternating btw milk or Trop 50 to drink.

Dinner: Try to do salmon once/a week, but don't do much else fish-wise. Sometimes DH does tuna steaks. We pretty much always have a steak of some kind once/week but are cognizant to limit it to this. Chicken breasts once/week or so (btw, just discovered the Natures Promise organic breasts...so much more delicious than the Perdue, etc.). Was doing a lot of Giant rotisserie chicken but DH is sick of them. Don't do much pasta, although we did have some pasta w/meat sauce over the weekend which was delicious. Meatloaf w/ground turkey v occassionally. Do pork tenderloin maybe 1-2 times/month, especially now that it is grilling season and a pork chop every now and again but not a big fan. Homemade pizza every now and then. For the non-meat portion of the evening, sometimes get a salad at Giant or make a tossed salad. Have broccolli 1-2/week and asparagus the same--these are staples. Sweet potatoes are staples also, either baked or made into fries. Get little potatoes and roast them prob once/week. Corn on the cob at least once/week in the past month. Sometimes tomato/mozarella. Chili in the winter, sometimes other soups. Fruit salad (cut up by me, not premade) every now and then. Fajitas occassionally but not enough since they are delicious, same w/quesadillas. Make turkey burgers from time to time, don't know why not more often.

[Anonymous]

We try to limit processed foods and are on a tight budget. So those things sort of inform these lists.

Here is our weekday breakfast rotation:

Grits and sausage
Fried egg and toast
Oatmeal with cinnamon, raisins and prunes cooked in and butter on top.
Homemade granola with milk and yogurt

Weekend breakfasts:

Whole wheat yeasted waffles (easy as you do the work the day before)
Whole wheat pancakes with fruit and nuts (depending on what we have handy)

-either of those get served with yogurt, butter, and maple syrup.

Scrambled eggs with cheese and toast
Fritatta with cheese and veggies

I sometimes make muffins or scones, which are nice breakfast treats.

[Anonymous]

Do you have a crock pot? Google "layered crock pot meals" and you can do some sort of chicken dish and sweet potatoes wrapped in foil for example. Yum and so easy and healthy. I do a crock pot meal at least once a week, usually with chicken.

I like beans and rice for a simple healthy meal that's easy on the budget, just google that to find the right proportions of spices etc.

I do a simple vegetable soup, and some other easy soup recipes. I like cooking with quinoa - it's "super food" in that it's very healthy. It's also filling and if you do a search on this forum you will find a bunch of easy recipes and quinoa salads, for something different.

Stir fries are healthy and easy. These are especially good for the end of the week when you use frozen vegetables.

Spinach lasagna is easy and quiches are easy too if you use a pre-made pie crust.

[Anonymous]

I'm trying to get more seafood into our rotation, so I've made:

Fish tacos -- http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/fish-tacos-recipe/index.html (the ancho chili powder MAKES the dish)

Faux-Paella -- salmon, shrimp and andouille sausage nestled in spanish rice flavored with this stuff http://www.amazon.com/Goya-Sazon-Coriander-
Annatto-3-52/dp/B0002HAAOW which is YUMMY and in your hispanic food aisle

Seafood Surprise -- basically shrimp, scallop and any white fish scampi (sauteed in garlic, butter/EVOO and red pepper flakes)

[Anonymous]

Egg casserole for breakfast during the week, ingredients vary. Bacon and eggs on the weekend, with roasted veggies ...sometimes banana but butter pancakes.

Big ass salads for lunch...protein, greens, veggies and fat.
Snacks are a piece of fruit, a handful of nuts, some olives, a lara bar, or carrots and baba ghannoush.
Dinner, protein and at least two veggies plus starchy veggie.

Today: leftover chili over eggs and sauteed spinach, an orange, leftover five spice slow cooker ribs with sauce, nuked yam, carrot cucumber and radish salad with rice vinegar and fish sauce and red pepper flakes, toasted
coconut chips, bunless bacon burgers over lettuce with grilled onions and mushrooms.

I always grill up a bunch of chicken on sundays to use in lunches and quick dinners like curries and stir fry, and the plan to cool a few slow.cooker items every week.

[Anonymous]

We try to eat as healthy as possible. 2 adults, 1 toddler.

I cannot offer much in the breakfast dept. I generally eat a hard boiled egg and some veggie strips, plus coffee, in the car. Anyone want to pimp THAT?
Dinner, things we do:
grill meat on sticks. I cut chicken thighs (cheaper + more flavor) in two and thread on skewers. Grill, brush with soy/hoisin/bbq/whatever, serve with rice and veg (can grill veg too, makes it fast, easy).
Put new spices or sauces on stuff you already make. Ie try chili powder, chinese 5-spice, jerk seasoning, etc. Easy, fast, and can spice up leftovers too.
steak... make steak salad, or little bits into steak quesadillas, or steak fajitas. Less meat per person, still satisfying, adds variety.
hamburgers - try salmon burgers, lamb burgers, turkey burgers. Different kinds of toppings, too - for lamb try tahini or hummus, different kinds of cheeses, etc.
grill sausages instead of hot dogs (grill a few extra and put them in pasta the next night, along with a bag of baby spinach. Wilt the spinach and toss with EVOO).
Try different fish - we like chunks of tuna or swordfish on kebabs with veg (red onion, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, zucchini, and pineapple are favorites).

What I tend to do is make a big "traditional" something (roast chicken, grilled steak, etc) one night and then disguise the leftovers later in the week - chicken soup with coconut milk and curry, steak fajitas, etc. I try to totally change up the flavors so it's not like a "theme" week or anything! Yummy, healthy, and easy-peasy especially the second night! DH refuses to just eat "leftovers" but will accept them in new clothing, so to speak, so when he says, Gee that was yummy (to leftovers) I consider myself victorious. Also a very handy strategy for when it's just too darn hot to cook. Grill outside 2-3x week and you're set.