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Have you ever fixed something basic for dinner like fish, a vegetable and small salad but it was lacking that well-rounded-meal feeling?

My grandmother had a pasta with cheddar bits side dish that was so easy, and wasn't a heavy macaroni and cheese type thing, but simply cooked egg noodles or even spaghettinia, drained and tossed with tiny bits of sharp cheddar (the sharper the better!). So far, in my 74 years, I have never successfully matched the savory satisfying taste of that, especially as a side dish for white fish.

My mom used to get Taste of Home magazines and pass them on to me so I've done quite a few recipes from their books, too. I was just on their website. It seems like another good place to check out. I think their recipes are submitted by average people so they tend to have ingredients you might have on hand. I personally get annoyed by recipes that have 12 ingredients and you go check, check, check, check and then at the end there's eye of newt or something stupid you don't have and would never use again.

I have been subscribing to various meal delivery services.

I did blue apron for a long while with the only complaint that it took longer than I wanted to cook during the summer. So I switched to tovala, but felt like it lacked the veggies and feel of a home cooked meal. Went back to blue apron but they are in a transitional stage right now and we were having quality control issues. I will likely go back to them at some point when they get the kinks out.

Started hello fresh last week. I think it has some of the perks of blue apron without every meal being so labor intensive.

With the cost of groceries as they are now, I didn’t really notice a difference in my food bill. I get 3-4 meals a week, cook them Monday through Wednesday or Thursday. I do something simple on thurs/friday (because after a while you miss some of your favorites from your rotation) we usually eat out or order in on Saturday, and then I make a nice spread of something Sunday evening. Either I will grill steaks or make something home cooking like. We had chicken Parmesean last Sunday and a pot roast in a crock pot the Sunday before that, meatloaf before that. The Sunday meal usually is often for Monday and Tuesday.

I have spent the last 25 years deciding what we are going to eat all the time and I just hit a wall. I also have my groceries delivered now a days but we are empty nesters with independent kids. I don’t want to spend all my time meal planning and going to the store anymore, so I budgeted it in.

In the Bigger household the Mr. probably does 90% of the cooking. Some even say 99% of the GOOD cooking...
I get the dinner rut. Especially now when we are only 2 or 3 for dinner, and maybe even more so since I started working so many days in my home office and must deal with lunch too.

Here are a couple of suggestions:
If I have some veggies nearing their best-before dates I might get a head of cauliflower, broccoli or a couple of sweet potatoes. Clean and cut and boil with some chicken stock. Add potatoes, carrots, rice, spinach (basically anything in the fridge that was headed to the recycle bin in the next few days...), add spices to taste, and then mash in a processor. Make a thick soup. I sometimes keep some cauliflower/broccoli aside and add it as larger chunks. I want this soup rather thick – sort of like a concentrate.
This soup is then put into appropriate storage boxes, some is placed in the freezer.

When I need a quick meal (like lunch) I grab a container. I might open a ramen soup and boil the noodles in the minimum amount of water and then add the soup. Might add a handful of pasta. I might add a boiled egg. I might add leftovers from yesterday (chicken, meat or even fish). I might add a couple of frozen shrimp. Or just some heavy cream and croutons.
If I want a more substantial meal I might add this to a bed of pasta, add cheese and into an oven until everything has gooed together... Makes a healthier substitute Bechamel for lasagna (add cottage cheese to the soup)...
Basically it’s a healthy (veggies mainly) base for a lot of quick meals.

An important factor to keep in mind is to use even the frozen boxes within 4 weeks.

My Trans-European Shepherds pie... Done as the ultimate insult to the UK’s BREXIT, combining Brittish basics with Italian cooking and German bread-crumbing...
Boil some potatoes (skin on).
On a skillet fry ground beef, finely cubed carrots, celery and onion (can add or skip according to what’s available and taste). Add diced tomatoes (I use canned) and herbs/spices. Basically a typical meat-sauce you might have with spaghetti.
Boil some pasta. Enough to cover the bottom of a pot or container that can go into the oven.
When the minced meat has been cooked and flavored, then take the potatoes (skin and all) and place into a processor (I just use a mixer). Add an egg, some grated cheese, cream, a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper. Turn on the mixer until you get a rough mash.

Place pasta in the bottom of an oven-safe container, add minced meat on top, spread mash on top (no more than half an inch layer). Add bread-crumbs to the top of the mash, and spread some grated cheese over the crumbs..