Meal ideas?

[Ionait]

I am the main cook for my family just due to the fact that I am home, while hubby doesn't get home til later in the evening, so no time for him to cook. I like to make different food as often as possible, because I LOVE FOOD. I believe dinner time is an experience, every meal should be eaten slowly and savored, and food is something you should enjoy rather than ingest. xD

Now, I'm not Top Chef either. I didn't start cooking until well after I moved out of the house so... I could learn a few things, for sure. But what I do is just open my fridge and freezer see what is there. Then I immediately get an idea of either sweet or savory, and I run to the computer an Google it. Like... Pork chops. Celery. Soy sauce. Recipe. That is what goes into Google, and then the recipes rain down. I tend to only use recipes which are on websites with review systems and are reviewed fairly highly. I also make sure to actually read 1-3 reviews because many people say things like "this recipe is almost perfect and here is how to make it actually perfect."

Crockpot meals like barbecue (can use chicken, pork, beef, I have even used canned tunafish, no joke xD ) are great. You throw it in, even if it has the bone in the meat, then add a mix or worstechire, soy sauce, ketchup, garlic powder, chopped onion (canned or fresh), bbq sauce, and basically voila. If you have some yellow or red pepper to add in there, awesome, a touch of hot sauce, even better. I love recipes where you can just throw it all in. xD Just make sure to remove the bones before serving if you left them in. The meat, if cooked all day, should fall right off, be juicy and tasty.

Use leftovers! Today I had left over chicken in the fridge from last night. So I removed chicken from the bone and put it on some bread. I had some mixed italian blend cheese so I sprinkled that over. I had chopped tomato left over from burrito night, so I sprinkled that on too with mustard and mayo, voila. Super tasty deli-quality sammich.

Also! (This is getting long.. o.o I'm sorry) Don't neglect your vegetables and side dishes! Don't just heat a bag or can of veggies, see how you can season them. Add some crumbled bacon (or bacon bits you can just buy) to almost any green vegetable on the planet. Add some melted cheese to your broccoli and cauliflower. I found an awesome recipe for brussel sprouts (which I don't even like btw), that made a creme sauce with them with bacon and zomg... I wanted to eat just that awll day.

Sometimes a little touch can make a big difference! So be creative and adventurous!

Oh, obvious but, to eat differently, you'll have to shop a little differently. I buy small bags of shredded cheese when they go on sale, usually an americanish blend and an italian one. I also buy some fresh veg, always have fresh onions, and try to keep different colored peppers in the house. These aren't expensive items, and keeping some in your pantry/fridge can open up new possibilities for food with simple combinations.

Honey, vanilla, great to keep to make sweet breakfasts like honey on some buttered toast, or add honey and brown sugar to the basic french toast recipe.

[Destiny]

If you are tired, then maybe just look for food from other countries.
Asian food from Japan or China. European food like german, french, english, italian or greek food.
Arabian food, african food.

Most ingredients can be found everywhere, there are even shops specialized on certain places (for example germany has a lot of "asia shops" that provide ingredients like soy sauce, sushi rice, bamboo, anko and more). And many ingredients that you can't find can be replaced by something that you have access to.

Youtube channel with recipes from around the world
Another Youtube channel with recipes from around the world
Youtube channel about japanese cooking
Youtube channel about greek cooking
Youtube channel about chinese (inspired) cooking

I can also just say that you should maybe just search for youtube channels or websites that provide recipes. There are often a lot of interesting and tasty recipes with exact information about what you need, how to make it and how long it might take. And it would probably take more then a year before you actually would need to repeat one of the recipes

[Taleweaver]

That reminds me of this guy.

Dutch cook with amazingly good Asian recipes. I love his grilled eggplant salad!