Sunday, October 3, 2010

Menu blues

The blossoming domestic goddess in me cried today. My husband of four months confessed that he was growing tired of my two "signature" dishes (lasagna and pasta with mozzarella, basil & tomatoes). In his defense, it's true. I pretty much make a lasagna every Sunday night so that the leftovers will feed us the rest of the week. The pasta is made whenever the lasagna runs out (usually by Thursday's dinner). Both are quick and delicious but...I guess when you have it three months in a row- even the most liberal eater will become restless. 


This is my dilemma: our schedules are crazy. Meetings, school, classes, tutorials, and the unexpected have us coming home at weird hours. That's why the two dishes work out so well, easy to heat and eat. Fran is always more than happy to cook but, unfortunately, I am one of the world's biggest control freaks which translates to: picky eater. Not to mention, if it were up to him we would eat salads and cooked ground turkey every night for the sake of growing abs- a worthy goal, just not a palatable one. 


Cooks of the cyber world, help please! Any suggestions? Rachel Ray is too fatty and Martha Stewart is too ambitious. Any in betweens you could recommend would be wonderful. 


Forkfully yours, 
Dahnya

8 comments:

TempestBeauty said...

Hehe! Such a universal slump. We get tired of our menu so fast.

Some of our best 'fall backs' are:

-Home made tacos.
-Soup and Sandwiches
-Crock pot meals! (Favorite is sausage and potato with 2 cans of french onion soup. SUPER easy, fast, delicious and always has leftovers.)

Ok, this one kills me. It's SO good and easy. We buy a pre-cooked chicken from any grocery store (usually at the deli counter) and take off all of the meat, cut it up into small pieces. Prepare your favorite pasta. Then mix the chicken with 2 jars of "Sundried tomato alfredo" sauce... or any sauce. Takes (HONESTLY) less than 15 minutes to prepare. My FAVORITE meal. I love to make some asparagus with it too.

Also, a good friend of mine has a fantastic blog, and she shares her recipes, which are two fold awesome - they are easy, and they are inexpensive. Have a look through her menu!

http://budgetconfessions.blogspot.com/search/label/Frugal%20Meatless%20Meals


Hope you are doing fantastic! I've been keeping up, even if I haven't been commenting as much. Love ya!

Delena said...

Don't laugh but weight watchers has good easy light recipes that are not long and drawn out recipes or Ellie Krieger is my favorite too. Her recipes are delicious minus the fattiness of Rachel Ray. Hungry Girl has good recipes too, they do switch recipes like if you love Fried Chicken try this recipe instead and they are easy and fast!!!

Becca said...

My easy dish to throw together (on a Sunday so you have a bit more time) is homemade chili.
Ingredients:
Ground turkey (1.3lbs approx.)
Whole kernel corn
Black beans
Tomato sauce (2 small cans)
Tomato paste (1 can + 1 can water)
Garlic salt and powder (or the real deal), onion (powder or the real deal), cumin and chili powder to taste. Let it simmer as a full dish for about 15 minutes and all the flavors will meld wonderfully! It makes a HUGE amount and freezes great in small, individual serving containers. GREAT for lunches.
I actually blogged this recipe with my Frito Bandito post, if you want more detail.

Just something to add to the mix!

Dahnya said...

Girls, these all sound delicious! And Delena, I loved the WW recipes. Unfortunately, sometime during the move the folder I had used to put all my printed recipes was lost.

I may just have to suck it up and register with them again- because the books aren't all that great.

Leila! said...

Have you heard of Hungry Girl? Go type that into Amazon. She's got a variety of books that have easy-low calories receipes. Good luck!

Francis said...

This makes me sound like an ungreatful jerk :(

Heidi said...

No worries Fran. Every night when I was growing up... we always ate rice and stew that my dad made. To this day.... I hate rice.

Dahnya, its hard not to fall in a rut - I have an easy (and healthy) enchilida recipe that you can make on Sunday and it will last through the week. Next time I see you, I'll write it down.

Unknown said...

You must go to Kraft Food & Family. That is where I get most of my recipes. They have many options & always suggest low-fat options to cut out calories. Almost every recipe I get from them is wonderful! (Most of the good ones, I've shared with the gang @ work). LMK if you try any! : )