What's for dinner?

 I've spent the last year focusing on dinners. I love cooking but after nearly a year of having to cook almost EVERY dinner, it feels like a prison sentence more than something I actually used to enjoy. So I'll be journaling it here for a week or so. I'm hoping that by writing about it, cooking will turn into something I love and CHOOSE to do again, rather than something forced on us by the current closures of more competent eateries.

We do get a Gousto box sometimes, giving us 3-4 dinners/week, but the rest is up to me. 

This past week's dinners were:

Monday 25 January - GOUSTO venison burgers with neep and tatie chips 

The burgers were not bad, but as usual I had to add a salad as there were no vegetables included in the box besides the turnips and potatoes); T (my son) did not eat the 'tartare' sauce which my husband and I thought was an ODD (though edible) addition to a venison burger.

Tuesday 26 January - GOUSTO crispy chicken with curried potato salad and green beans.

This dish was ok, plenty of chicken to go around, but the chicken was going to be very bland so 'doctored' it up a bit. Gousto's recommended method of cooking green vegetables (boiling) is a particular pet peeve of mine, so our green beans were steamed until al dente, then quickly sautéed with some butter and a sliver of garlic. T. hates everything curried, so I roasted some of the potatoes for him (instead of giving him the salad); I am allergic to eggs so couldn't eat the salad either (the dressing contained mayo) but we enjoyed the idea of the curried potato salad and will be making this again with some modifications (replace mayo with set yoghurt and  adjust the seasoning). 

Wednesday 27 January - GOUSTO baked fish with leek Mornay for N (my husband), Teriyaki belly pork with noodles for T., a green salad for me. 

I often end up making three different meals for us in the evenings, because we won't all enjoy the same food and life is to short to eat food you hate! T. still has full-on taste buds so rejects 'spicy' or bitter foods and has a fondness for fatty pork and quick-pickled cucumbers, which he had tonight. I have multiple allergies and other issues meaning I can't eat the noodles, and I am going through a patch where I really can't stand fish (it is actually difficult to even cook it, the smell makes me choke) so I'll be having a salad (something my husband doesn't see as a meal!).

Thursday 28 January - Pasta with turkey meatballs for the boys, a salad with greens, beetroot, goat's cheese and smoked mackerel for me

Friday 29 January: Sirloin steaks with baked sweet and regular potatoes, sautéed greens (broccoli, mushrooms, green beans and pak choy), sweet corn on cob,  tomato and red onion salad. 

Saturday 30 January  - M&S Year of the Ox Chinese food box (with some top-ups) for the boys, stir-fried tofu, marinated with chili and coriander, served with a Chili Miso broth and udon noodles for me. For the record, the tofu was as awful as I knew it would be. It is beyond me why I bought it and was willing to put some in my mouth. 

We're getting a new GOUSTO box tomorrow, so as soon as it's in I'll put down a meal plan. 

GOUSTO chicken with curried potato salad