Suggestions for family meals - I'm stuck

[nuttycyclist]

I used to love cooking, and Saturday Kitchen is still a normal background TV as I potter about doing the morning chores.  However in the last few years of being a parent I just can't face it, due to different preferences.

I love a decent roast, but my wife isn't a massive fan of meat (not a veggie, she just gets bored of it) so if I do that then a majority goes in the fridge for my later eating.
My daughter loves spaghetti bolognese, but my wife is now fed up with pasta.  A lasagne is a good compromise the three of us enjoy; but my son hates anything with "sauce" so refuses either of these.
Local farm shop sausages are a win, but we've had them so often that now the three of them don't finish and so my lunch the next day is a left over sausage sandwich.
My wife loves a simple salad with prawns or similar, but after I've eaten that as a starter I have to go and make another meal from the roast leftovers in the fridge.
My daughter hates anything potato related, whereas my son loves most potato meals such as chips, roasts, crisps, but refuses boiled or mashed.
My daughter used to love my fish pie, but last time I cooked it she was gagging and refusing to eat due to flavour/texture - and having got food poisoning at a fish and chip shop when lockdown#1 first lifted I am totally off of fish (never really having been a fan in the first place).
None of them like spices or complicated flavours, and recently my wife has noticed more and more meals out being flavoured with cumin or paprika which brings back bad memories and so she can't eat them; and recently she ordered a burger that the menu described as a "mayo'd bun" but turned out to be the equivalent of the mint/yoghurt frequently used in Greek cooking so she was scraping it off trying to eat the rest of the meal.

I don't want to cook different meals each day, but in the need to get them to eat I've just fallen into that routine.  We have a limited repertoire now, based on fish fingers/pasta/salad for him, fish fingers/beans/salad for her, some random meat and two veg for us.


I need inspiration please for something that might be a single meal suitable for all.   When I watch Saturday Kitchen I get ideas but then realise it's all too fancy, will take too much effort, and a percentage of the family will refuse to eat it.

[T42]

I did 20-minute (or thereabouts) Chinese(ish) spare ribs for lunch.  10 min in a dish half-full of water in the microwave to half-braise, half-steam them. While that was chuntering away I dolloped a couple of tablespoons of supermarket sweet & sour sauce into a bowl and grated two cloves of garlic and 1½" of root ginger straight into it and stirred.  Tip: if you're going to be grating it, don't bother to peel either: Lady Catherine de Burgh will never know.

Once the microwave beeped, I carefully scalded my fingers getting the ribs out of the water, put them (the ribs) onto a plate and slathered them generously with the sauce on both sides.  I then did them in the air fryer for ~10 minutes at 200°C, basting them with the sauce every 3 mins or so and turning them twice.

I served them up with a green salad, followed by fresh baguette and goat cheese.

If you haven't got an air fryer then you could use the grill, but judge the time yourself.  Hell, you could use a blowlamp.

[De Sisti]

I used to love cooking, and Saturday Kitchen is still a normal background TV as I potter about doing the morning chores.  However in the last few years of being a parent I just can't face it, due to different preferences.

I love a decent roast, but my wife isn't a massive fan of meat (not a veggie, she just gets bored of it) so if I do that then a majority goes in the fridge for my later eating.
My daughter loves spaghetti bolognese, but my wife is now fed up with pasta.  A lasagne is a good compromise the three of us enjoy; but my son hates anything with "sauce" so refuses either of these.
Local farm shop sausages are a win, but we've had them so often that now the three of them don't finish and so my lunch the next day is a left over sausage sandwich.
My wife loves a simple salad with prawns or similar, but after I've eaten that as a starter I have to go and make another meal from the roast leftovers in the fridge.
My daughter hates anything potato related, whereas my son loves most potato meals such as chips, roasts, crisps, but refuses boiled or mashed.
My daughter used to love my fish pie, but last time I cooked it she was gagging and refusing to eat due to flavour/texture - and having got food poisoning at a fish and chip shop when lockdown#1 first lifted I am totally off of fish (never really having been a fan in the first place).
None of them like spices or complicated flavours, and recently my wife has noticed more and more meals out being flavoured with cumin or paprika which brings back bad memories and so she can't eat them; and recently she ordered a burger that the menu described as a "mayo'd bun" but turned out to be the equivalent of the mint/yoghurt frequently used in Greek cooking so she was scraping it off trying to eat the rest of the meal.

I don't want to cook different meals each day, but in the need to get them to eat I've just fallen into that routine.  We have a limited repertoire now, based on fish fingers/pasta/salad for him, fish fingers/beans/salad for her, some random meat and two veg for us.


I need inspiration please for something that might be a single meal suitable for all.   When I watch Saturday Kitchen I get ideas but then realise it's all too fancy, will take too much effort, and a percentage of the family will refuse to eat it.

Flippin' 'ek. You've got one hell of a fussy, precious family there. Cook a meal and put it in front
of them. If they don't eat it, they don't eat! That's what it use to be like a few generations ago.

[nuttycyclist]

I know.  And it's all our fault obviously for not forcing them to eat what they don't like         But bottom line is we've tried it and after two days of not eating I have to give in before they phone childline and report me for starving them.

I'm sure you understand why I'm drained and the sparkle has gone out of the kitchen ideas.    I was home alone the other day, peckish, and produced something in a few minutes as I used to do from what I could find in the fridge (chicken breast wrapped in bacon, squirt of sauce, grated emmental cheese, oven for 20 mins - perfect).

I've spent ages researching recipes, but the problem is that if you don't know what you're looking for you can't find the answer.  I also hate all the cookery shows that expect you to have exotic sauces and ingredients readily to hand.  I'm not buying another store cupboard full of stuff just to try a one off recipe.   (the toasted sesame oil I bought for something, and I still occasionally use, has a best before date of 2012!)

So any suggestions of a simple basic and healthy family meal I can try will be really useful.    Thanks in advance.

[nuttycyclist]

One meal that nearly goes down well, which my wife loves after her initial thought of disgust, was one I invented after a long cold wet winter's audax when I just needed to refuel before heading to the bath with gin.   About 15 minutes from opening the front door to a plateful of hot comforting food.

Put water in steamer, turn on frying pan.
peel and chop assorted veg found in fridge while they heat
pasta in water, veg in steamer. 
While that's on fry bacon in pan, remove to cool and crisp on kitchen paper.   Then chop into small cubes.
Grate a load of cheddar cheese.

When done drain the pasta, add the veg and bacon, stir in the cheese until it's melted.     (The only thing I need to do different at the moment is serve my son's in separate non-mixed piles on the plate before adding the cheese to the pan.)


If I can find any other simple ways of cooking a simple meal that everybody will eat, I'll be a happy man.

[citoyen]

I’d try something based around roasted vegetables. For example, my wife does a roasted cauliflower with chickpeas and tomatoes thing - think it’s one of Nigella’s. I’ll see if I can dig out the recipe. It has spices in it but you could just leave them out - it will still taste good.

For things like that, you can pretty much make it up as you go along, just use your instinct on flavour combinations, and chuck it in the oven until it’s done. It will usually turn out edible. Doesn’t have to contain meat to be filling and satisfying either. Chickpeas are always a good addition.

Vegetable stir fries are also good - you can serve them with noodles on the side for those who want, without for those who don’t.

If some don’t like potatoes and some don’t like pasta, try dumplings for an alternative carby accompaniment. You can get creative with fillings and flavourings too.

How about imam bayildi? Works as a meal in itself, or as a side with iamb chops.
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/imam-bayildi-bbq-lamb-tzatziki?utm_source=app

What about sweet potato falafels? I just looked up a recipe and found this, which looks good though I’ve not tried it myself. Just leave out the coriander and cumin if that’s too much for their palates…
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/sweet-potato-falafels-coleslaw?utm_source=app

Also looked up dumpling recipes and found this, which I reckon looks amazing - might try it myself:
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/siberian-pelmeni-dumplings?utm_source=app
- you could serve it without the broth for those who don’t like “sauce”. And it comes with two different fillings, one of which is non-meat.

These look fun too:
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/malfatti?utm_source=app

How about a pie of some kind? Like this one:
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/open-leek-sweet-potato-pie?utm_source=app

Or this one:
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/aubergine-tomato-halloumi-pie?utm_source=app

My wife makes a wonderful cheese and onion pie - shortcrust pastry case filled with onions (sweat them down first to remove most of the moisture) and crumbled Lancashire cheese. She usually serves it with a coleslaw-type salad of shredded red cabbage and carrots, dressed with vinaigrette rather than mayo, plus boiled new potatoes.

[Jaded]

A veg curry, chicken curry or prawn and  pea curry?

[Paul H]

Get Jack Monroe's Cooking on a Bootstrap book (No fancy store cupboard required) set a budget (two quid per person a day is generous) and take it in turns to choose.  There's some good recipes in it, but it's mostly about appreciating food and ideas. 
There's a fine line between forcing something and pandering to whims, once you're established on one side, it's hard to re-cross.

[Mrs Pingu]

A veg curry, chicken curry or prawn and  pea curry?

None of them like spices.

[Mrs Pingu]

TBH if your wife doesn't like what you're making her, I'd be asking her to cook occasionally.

[Paul H]

Or, for a laugh, take turns in putting some random letters plus recipe into Google (With the porn filter on) and accept the first recipe it finds.
My first three hits were:
Dukkah Crusted Cod
Firecracker Chicken Meatballs
Benderiki

[Mrs Pingu]

How would quiche or frittata go down? With salad or whatever on the side. You can also make frittata without taters, I have used those vacuum packed beetroot instead.

[fd3]

Something along the lines of a deconstructed Buddha bowl or Mexican wrap.  Prepare a selection of spicy and non spicey choices and then family to assemble their own bowl/wrap? 

[citoyen]

A veg curry, chicken curry or prawn and  pea curry?

None of them like spices.

And one of them doesn't like "sauce"

It does narrow the options somewhat, but shouldn't be insurmountable.

[L CC]

#firstworldproblems.
My children ate what they were given, or did without. There'll be another meal in a few hours.
I have 100% survival to adulthood. Let them phone childline.

[hatler]

Roast vegetables (red onion, peppers, tomatoes, aubergine, etc) on a bed of cous cous topped with squares of sliced and fried halloumi and frizzy salad. Dress salad with harissa paste (to taste).

[nikki]

One meal that nearly goes down well

Sounds close enough to a dish I know simply as 'green':

Get the pasta going.
Toast some pine nuts
Fry garlic, courgette slices, onions if you're committing to the time for them. Add in bacon at the appropriate point. Add in any other veg you fancy.
Apply contents of pan, plus some green pesto, to the cooked pasta. Sprinkle with the pine nuts. The pasta's lubricated, but not full on sauced.


If you want to catch them off-guard with a full-on student recipe, there's always chicken cooked in soup with a crisp garnish (a lot better than it sounds!)


Cook your garlic, onion, chicken etc. Put into a lasagne style pyrex dish or similar with 2 (IIRC) tins of condensed chicken soup.
Crunch up some packets of salt and vinegar crisps and use with some breadcrumbs and grated cheddar cheese for a topping.
Bake like a pasta bake. Cook until golden brown.

It's been a while, so I can't remember if we put pasta in as well, but it sounds like you might have to keep 'em separate anyway.

You gotta try it at least once!

[nikki]

Pizza or tortillas or wraps or similar where everyone builds their own in proportions that they can tolerate?

[Mr Larrington]

Cod creole?

[citoyen]

Cod creole?

And some coconut.

[markcjagar]

#firstworldproblems.
My children ate what they were given, or did without. There'll be another meal in a few hours.
I have 100% survival to adulthood. Let them phone childline.

This is how I grew up and I'll eat anything (except meat but that's a deliberate, purely ethical, choice that I made as an adult)

Funnily, a friend of mine who grew up as a fussy eater ended up on the dole a for 2-3 years and as a result will now eat almost anything that's put in front of him.

[L CC]

I think it's easier to run your house like this if there's one adult and lots of children. It's not a democracy, it's a (largely benevolent) dictatorship. They obviously each had favourites that were accommodated, but fussiness was ignored. Temporary discomfort is quite an important life lesson.

[quixoticgeek]

I am someone who does not do spicy food. For me a Korma at an indian is just the right level of spicy. I found this as a good place to start inspiration wise. I use the mild curry paste, or the Korma paste, whichever I have left.

https://www.bbcgoodfoodme.com/recipes/onepot-chicken-pilaf/

Dunno if any of these offer useful inspiration:

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/one-pot-recipes

Would stuffed peppers work? You can stuff each one slightly different to provide for different end user?

https://cookieandkate.com/vegetable-fried-rice-recipe/ ?

Would home made fish cakes work?

Looking through my recipe bookmarks I also found:

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/type-of-dish/picnic-food/pie/not-pork-pies.html

No idea if it would work for you, or could be perhaps adapted to work?

Dunno if it helps, but I'm cooking this for dinner tomorrow:

https://www.redbookmag.com/food-recipes/recipes/a31959/pork-chops-cider-sauce-recipe-rbk1210/

The side dish with it will be https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/green_beans_with_bacon/ and Bratkarfofflen. But you could serve it with rice just fine.

Most of the recipes I cook are potato based (I can't eat pasta), which doesn't help you. I don't do much with rice, as most rice dishes seem to be too spicy for me.

J

[quixoticgeek]

#firstworldproblems.
My children ate what they were given, or did without. There'll be another meal in a few hours.
I have 100% survival to adulthood. Let them phone childline.

Care has to be exercised tho, it's very easy to give kids life long trauma related to food(s) by the way that food is used as form of abuse. The "This is what's for dinner, like it or lump it", without the follow up consideration of "Well they didn't eat this one, I wonder why that was?"

There are foods that simply putting a mouthful of it in my mouth will cause me to puke, in part related to the way people in a position of power used food in ways that shouldn't.

J

[L CC]

I never forced my offspring to eat anything. The important thing to remember is that missing the odd meal won't do you any harm, as a child, or as an adult. If you're hungry, then you will eat. If you're not hungry enough to eat what's offered that's fine too. Whereas pampering to your child's every demand, however unreasonable and inconvenient to the other members of the household will turn them into the kind of egotistical self centred entitled little shits I couldn't abide.