Dinner menu ideas

I, having to prepare dinner for seven of us every evening, get tired of thinking of what to cook. I would love to know what some of your favorite menus are for dinner at home.

Some of the popular supper items in our house:

Chile Relleno Casserole

Onion and tomato smothered Swiss Steak and rice

Pork Roast, rice and roast gravy, okra and tomatoes, cornbread, peanut butter pie and sweet iced tea. (That's a Sunday meal)

Eggplant parmegiano, but made with pecorino romano instead of parmesan, and my famous garlic toast made with Tillamook butter infused with fresh pulped garlic.

Denver omlettes and latkes

Porterhouse steaks on the grill, noodles romanoff, asparagus tips w/lemon, stewed apples w/cinnamon. (that's on the menu tonight)

My Mom's pork chops and rice casserole

If you don't like rice, you'll starve in this house.

Arroz con pollo (Latino chicken and rice)

Chicken in white wine/cream sauce with olives and artichokes served with buttered new potatoes

Spaghetti any way but I prefer putanesca sauce

shrimp creole over rice

pancakes and sausage (yes, for DINNER)

stuffed green peppers in tomato sauce

Polish sausage with "Polish sauce" and German warm potato salad

A great big dinner salad with lots of cheese and croutons in it

Baby back ribs cooked in the oven served with cold potato salad

Chicken curry (Paul Prudhomme's recipe) served with rice

This is stuff that I cook. I also eat lots and lots of takeout--Chinese, Thai, Mexican, pizza, subs etc etc

Tonight, Janet's son is with us so I am grilling Aki Tuna Steaks- 5 pieces total weight 2 lbs
Since I am going to have the grill going, we will have skewered Patti-Pan squash and chunks of Roma Tomatoes & Okra (dipped in Italian Dressing) grilled with the Tuna. I also picked up 2 loaves of Whole roasted Garlic-clove stuffed Crusty Italian bread at Costco. One will be sliced, buttered and toasted to go with the above.

Easy for me: I am doing fried okra, fried corn, Tennessee fried corn bread, green beans with some salted fat back and onions and some gravy for the cornbread made from the fat back.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

I still have the same problem, "what's gonna be for dinner tonight?" It's tough coming up with some variety. For me, it has to be good (duh) and simple.
So a lot of my repeat type meals consist of beans (various) & rice, with sausage.
Couscous.
Grilled steaks & veggies
Salads
Orange roughy baked/broiled with veggies
Corn on the cob
Soups
Pasta & chicken,
sauerkraut, potatoes & sausage
Occasional breakfast for dinner
Grilled cheese, egg sandwiches, baloney sandwiches, egg salad
crab cakes

Everthing sounds great, we all must be fat. Looking forward to the Nascar race from Indy today. Thinking about a 10 minute drive to Steak N Shake or Buffalo Wild Wings to get me in the mood- as well as picking up some beer... and then a bike ride...

It's nice to know some familys still sit and dine together on a regular basis. The last few years all the kids were still home, they were seldom here at meal time so everyone basically made something for themselves. I did make casseroles and refrigerate them or a meat loaf with macNcheese and everyone could help themselves to the nukerator. Another long time frig fav is my taco salad which still seems to lure them home for something other than having mom do their laundry

grilled chicken thighs with honey bbq sauce

grilled pork chops with orange marmalade

grilled pork shoulder steaks -- mmmmm, with just a bit o'butter and herbs

tuna salad

spaghetti with Italian sausage meatballs

meatloaf with meatloaf sandwiches for lunch tomorrow!

chili and hot dogs

lemon chicken and rice

all with various sides and things....

chicken cacciatore
red beans(cooked with pickle meat and smoked sausage), and rice
Italian flank steak (an old WW recipe)

BBQ Rock Cornish hens This time of year plenty of fresh veggies avalible to grill also easy clean up also Chow JIm

I'm having boneless pork loin chops baked in campbells cream of mushroom and roasted galic soup,mashed potatoes, green beans with bacon and onions.

I'm feeding five around here (but cooking for at least seven, as I have a teenaged son and a husband who just HAS to have some metabolical disorder or something to stay that skinny and eat so MUCH!) and lately, forget about being creative, I'm all about being on the cheap side, and fast - and assembling individual servings is often a PITA, so I trend toward one dish meals when possible. So aside from the typical grilled/sauteed chicken/rice/veggie combination, or hot dogs, sandwiches or wraps, these are common meals in our house:

Pork tenderloin with horseradish rubbed new potatoes, green beans. I've always found pork tenderloins to be a fantastic "bargain" because of the richness of the meat.

Stuffed shells (stuffed with a mixture which I pulse in the food processor of cooked hot and sweet Italian sausage, mushrooms, onion, garlic, etc, then add a bit of ricotta and mozzarella) covered with sauce and cheese. My last sauce was a bolognese, but I prefer a plain meat sauce or marinara, I think. Ceasar salad and half of a long baguette makes for a winner every time. Labor intensive, so this is a weekend meal.

Another favorite weekend meal is enchiladas. We're all gluttons when it comes to enchiladas, so "sides" be damned.

I have to say that I'm embarrassed to admit this, but lately we do not ever go more than two weeks without making Zatarain's Dirty Rice with ground beef and andouille. I know, I know. But it's so darned GOOD.

[edited to add]

I'm about to go throw some cheap end cut pork chops in the crock pot with some green chilies, which I'll shred later for either tacos or green enchiladas.