How many recipes do you USE?

JoMoMOMx3
JoMoMOMx3 Posts: 77
in Getting Started
I love the app PEPPERPLATE but as it was so RUDELY brought to my attention recently, Ill never use all the recipes I have saved! And if I do, Ill only use them once because I have so many I want to try (But theyre my BABIES! I have an addiction. Im sorry)

I need to scale way back but I fear boredom when it comes to meals.
So im curious. How many recipes do you use? Do you have 5-7 that you just rotate through week after week or do you have a larger collection (again- that you actually use!)

And I guess Ill be more specific and ask how many you have and use per meal, not total for all meals, though im mostly curious about dinners.

Replies

  • lizzybathory
    lizzybathory Posts: 229
    Me and my husband probably have 5-7 in heavy rotation, but about 50 saved to our shared recipe book that we'll still do once in a while. We just like our favorites. :)

    We do add new ones maybe every few weeks, I'd say. Any time we try making something new, if it's even close to worth repeating, it gets saved. I don't generally just go looking for new recipes, or save them without trying them first, but sometimes I just have a hankering for something - so we try out a new recipe, save it if it's good.
  • breefoshee
    breefoshee Posts: 398 Member
    HMM.. Now that I think about it... I'm constantly cooking and eating new things. The only 2 things that I always cook is crockpot chicken and fajitas. Other than that... I'm always trying new stuff. It's probably because I am single and cook for one, so everything I cook goes a long ways. I've actually been eating crockpot chicken since Sunday... everyday for lunch. By the time I finish something, I'm so tired of it that I don't cook it again for a while.

    Last month I made freezer meals for the entire month ---Only four recipes lol. Beef Stew, Fajitas, Eggplant Lasagna, Taco Soup.. everything else I ate was super quick, like baked chicken or fish with salad.
  • myrtille87
    myrtille87 Posts: 122 Member
    This might seem weird, but I have a "menu plan" spreadsheet where I write what we have for dinner every day. I've been using it on and off since 2011, and have a continuous record since last December.

    I find this really helpful when I'm short of meal ideas and find myself stuck in a rut, repeating the same few things every week or so. I just look back and find things I was eating 6 months ago or more - chances are, there was something really tasty that I've just forgotten about. I do like looking for new recipes as well though.

    Some of my most frequent meals from the past few months (I don't necessarily have actual recipes for these but ask if you want me to write anything in particular out, or google and see what comes up):

    -Thai green curry (sometimes tofu and asparagus, sometimes chicken)
    -Pasta, sausagemeat and carrots (you fry sausagemeat, onion and garlic, add grated carrots and tinned tomatoes - really tasty sauce).
    -Veggie shepherd's pie with sweet potato mash (from the BBC Good Food website)
    -Courgette and lemon linguine (BBC Good Food)
    -Chicken and bacon cacciatore (BBC Good Food)
    -Various tagines (simple onion/peppers/tomatoes with eggs poached in the sauce, sometimes meatball or merguez, occasionally lamb or fish)
    -Vegetable curry (with chickpeas, sweet potato, courgette, etc.)
    -Risotto (either with roast butternut squash, or leek and bacon)
    -Boiled new potatoes mixed with smoked salmon trimmings (the little cheap offcuts), creme fraiche and peas.
    -Butternut squash and bean enchilladas
    -Loads of meals that don't really count as "recipes" - some kind of roasted or fried meat or fish with some kind of veg and carb side and possibly a sauce.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    I have about 50 recipes on old school recipe cards. I may use each of them once a year. Or less.

    Mostly, my husband and I pin stuff on Pinterest that we want to try, and we usually either make the recipe or delete it within a couple of months. The "keepers" get saved to a separate board which I think has about 60 pins or so. If it's something reallllly fantastic we either make it so often that we remember exactly how to do it, or I'll copy it down onto a physical recipe card so we don't run the risk of losing the recipe due to a bad/old link.

    So eh...~100 probably. We cook a lot.
  • JoMoMOMx3
    JoMoMOMx3 Posts: 77
    HMM.. Now that I think about it... I'm constantly cooking and eating new things. The only 2 things that I always cook is crockpot chicken and fajitas. Other than that... I'm always trying new stuff. It's probably because I am single and cook for one, so everything I cook goes a long ways. I've actually been eating crockpot chicken since Sunday... everyday for lunch. By the time I finish something, I'm so tired of it that I don't cook it again for a while.

    Last month I made freezer meals for the entire month ---Only four recipes lol. Beef Stew, Fajitas, Eggplant Lasagna, Taco Soup.. everything else I ate was super quick, like baked chicken or fish with salad.

    i can see why you always have something new!
    were a family of 5 and theres rarely left overs. haha
  • JoMoMOMx3
    JoMoMOMx3 Posts: 77
    HMM.. Now that I think about it... I'm constantly cooking and eating new things. The only 2 things that I always cook is crockpot chicken and fajitas. Other than that... I'm always trying new stuff. It's probably because I am single and cook for one, so everything I cook goes a long ways. I've actually been eating crockpot chicken since Sunday... everyday for lunch. By the time I finish something, I'm so tired of it that I don't cook it again for a while.

    Last month I made freezer meals for the entire month ---Only four recipes lol. Beef Stew, Fajitas, Eggplant Lasagna, Taco Soup.. everything else I ate was super quick, like baked chicken or fish with salad.

    i can see why you always have something new!
    were a family of 5 and theres rarely left overs. haha
  • breefoshee
    breefoshee Posts: 398 Member
    HMM.. Now that I think about it... I'm constantly cooking and eating new things. The only 2 things that I always cook is crockpot chicken and fajitas. Other than that... I'm always trying new stuff. It's probably because I am single and cook for one, so everything I cook goes a long ways. I've actually been eating crockpot chicken since Sunday... everyday for lunch. By the time I finish something, I'm so tired of it that I don't cook it again for a while.

    Last month I made freezer meals for the entire month ---Only four recipes lol. Beef Stew, Fajitas, Eggplant Lasagna, Taco Soup.. everything else I ate was super quick, like baked chicken or fish with salad.

    i can see why you always have something new!
    were a family of 5 and theres rarely left overs. haha

    Yep!! I've gained a lot of kitchen skills from it, though. Most of my other single friends don't really cook-- they eat out or live with their parents... so they all think I'm the best cook.. lol... all I'm doing is just following a recipe. I also live in South Louisiana, and befriend older ladies, who give me their secret recipes!
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,831 Member
    It's a surprise every night -- or almost every night. Since I'm retired and cooking for two adults only, I can just google what needs to be used in the fridge or just wander around the web and find recipes to adapt for tonight's supper. Today, for example, I decided to try making up a batch of tahini -- then I had tahini to use so started browsing tahini recipes. I ran across "Spiced bulgur and chickpeas with lemon-tahini slaw" and since I have most of the ingredients I figured it was a good basis for supper.

    http://insightanddelight.com/spiced-bulgur-and-chickpeas-with-lemon-tahini-slaw/

    You can see my adjustments by looking at my diary for supper today (8/29).
  • Velum_cado
    Velum_cado Posts: 1,608 Member
    A couple years ago I made a New Year's resolution to try at least one new recipe a week. Most weeks, I find I'm making at least 2 new ones. I sort of pick from our favourites for the other days. I'm a bit of a recipe hoarder, so it's been a good strategy to make sure I actually use at least some of what I'm saving.
  • Alidecker
    Alidecker Posts: 1,262 Member
    HMM.. Now that I think about it... I'm constantly cooking and eating new things. The only 2 things that I always cook is crockpot chicken and fajitas. Other than that... I'm always trying new stuff. It's probably because I am single and cook for one, so everything I cook goes a long ways. I've actually been eating crockpot chicken since Sunday... everyday for lunch. By the time I finish something, I'm so tired of it that I don't cook it again for a while.

    Last month I made freezer meals for the entire month ---Only four recipes lol. Beef Stew, Fajitas, Eggplant Lasagna, Taco Soup.. everything else I ate was super quick, like baked chicken or fish with salad.

    I am the same way most of the time, I am single so I eat the same thing for dinner most of the week. Fajitas are one of my go to meals also. I love to cook, but I would get bored with it cooking for myself, but I made a resolution to myself that I would try two ne recipes a month. It seems to be working out pretty well. However, I also don't always follow the recipe exactly, really like the meal, then go to make it again and it turns out different....I need to write my changes down.
  • Stopin_da_yoyo
    Stopin_da_yoyo Posts: 138 Member
    I dont typically follow any recipes...depends on what I have on hand.

    I found that for me..if I actually make great tasting dishes I will keep on addi g things...and adding..so the simpler the better for me.
    i try and skip the starch and do 2 veg. And a marinated protein..for dinner....breakfast n lunch are much easier....tuna cottage cheese n fresh tomato from garden...or hydrolysed whey protein drink with almond milk 20 frozen blueberriws and if I want thicker...I add greek yogurt.
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
    I don't have kids, but my wife hates eating the same thing more than twice a week, so we use a lot of recipes. I've entered over 100 in MFP, and I would say that there are 30-40 that I have used regularly over the last 5 years. We're college teachers and time often gets crunched during the school year, so I like to make double or triple batches and freeze leftovers for those times when I just don't have the time or energy to cook but don't want to go out. Tonight we ate a shredded turkey and veggie dish with Oaxacan mole that I made in a slow cooker a few days after last Thanksgiving. It has also been helpful when we invite people over on the spur of the moment, or when a co-worker has a family tragedy and we can bring over a week's worth of frozen meals along with our sympathy.

    This summer we have a farm share, so I've been more spontaneous in what I make depending what's in the share. As that draws to a close, I'll probably go back to planning ahead.

    We sit down every weekend and plan out the next week's meals—or at least 4-5 days' worth—and then do all the shopping at once, to maximize efficiency.

    We have the luxury of a standalone freezer that the previous owners of our house left behind (long story), but even when we were living in small apartments, we froze as much as our freezer would hold. It's a huge time saver, and allows a lot of variety. Pro tip: use masking tape and a Sharpie on your leftovers, to write what's in it, how many servings and calories per serving, and when you made it. I do that when leftovers go in the fridge, so if I pull something out 5 days later and we're not ready to eat it, I can toss it in the freezer. If you don't do the labels with things that go straight in the freezer, you can end up with quite a surprise when you thaw it out.
  • Savlona
    Savlona Posts: 84 Member
    I have a cupboard full of recipe books, but I admit there are perhaps 5 to 10 things i cycle through regularly. Having small boys, the default reaction when I try something new is YUCK, so I don't do something different more than once a week as I don't want to throw away half of what I cook.
  • cantobean
    cantobean Posts: 287 Member
    We go through phases. Sometimes we'll cook something very frequently for a year or two, then forget about it for awhile. Our tried and true standbys are:

    -chicken or turkey tacos
    -turkey or beef chili
    -butternut squash soup
    -mushroom risotto
    -baked chicken thighs with roasted broccoli or brussels sprouts
    -chicken enchiladas
    -pasta bolognese
    -tortellini with spinach, artichokes, and mushrooms
    -swiss chard quiche
    -curried lentils
    -grilled steaks and vegetables

    My husband loves to cook, and once in a while I will too, but recipes sometimes give me a headache. If I can throw a few things in the pan or the oven and not have to measure, shop for random ingredients, or plan days in advance, that is what I'll do.

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