Simple meals are a big deal in our home. Try adding these staple meals to your weekly menu to make mealtime stress free and wholesome!
I’ve had friends ask me what we are eating in our home on a weekly basis. I am all about simple and practical meals. Whenever possible, I double whatever I am cooking to stretch it for multiple days or freeze for later.
In our home there are 3 hungry boys with fast metabolisms. So, I rarely have left overs unless I plan ahead to make extra. For this reason, I need to make sure I am adding enough carbs into my recipes to keep them full. I also have more I want to do than stand in the kitchen all day so sticking to quick meals is key.
It is so nice to have a small handful of meals that are constantly in rotation in the kitchen. These recipes are customizable for whatever items we currently have on hand and can be substituted with items that are in season.
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Why eat seasonally
Eating seasonally has a few benefits. When a fruit or vegetable is picked at peak harvest time it contains the maximum amount of nutrients. Not only that, they also taste so much better when picked and consumed during the peak season for that item. For example, Strawberries are so delicious in the middle of summer when the harvest is plentiful and fruit can be found locally. If you buy a container of Strawberries at the store in Fall, the berries will lack flavor and nutrition, be more expensive, and likely have come a long way to get into your hands.
Whenever possible, try replacing ingredients for these recipes, or any recipe, with what’s currently in season. Your taste buds and your gut will thank you!
On to the staple meals in our home.
Some simple meals we eat on a weekly basis
The following meals are constantly eaten over and over again in our home:
- Spaghetti or a pasta of some sort
- Soup with homemade bone broth
- Pot pies
- Sourdough pizza
- Tacos
There are a few other things we make often in our kitchen, like casseroles or whole chickens, but the above list is good for now.
Homemade Spaghetti/ Pasta
One of my favorite things to do during gardening season is to throw whatever extra veggies I have into a pot with garden fresh tomatoes. Add some herbs and maybe some homemade bone broth and let that baby simmer all day. It is so delicious! I love to do with in the wintertime too. You can use canned tomatoes from the store and make homemade spaghetti sauce for a quick dinner idea.
The secret key that a family friend of Italian background taught me is to use carrots to sweeten the spaghetti sauce instead of honey or other sweeteners. Carrots give the perfect amount of sweetness to the sauce and are nutrient dense! Just peel and finely chop a carrot to add to the sauce, and voila!
We love Einkorn! In fact, that is the only pasta we use in our home. We either make our noodles homemade or buy spaghetti noodles and fusilli noodles from Jovial in bulk from Azure Standard. Einkorn gives the perfect flavor to any pasta dish and are easier to digest than modern wheat.
Cream sauces are also made often in our home. Toss the sauce with some cooked chicken and herbs for another delicious, wholesome meal. When I’m nearing the end of my groceries and don’t have money in the budget to go shopping for more just yet, I often throw a can of diced tomatoes in a pot with any veggies I have, add some Einkorn fusilli noodles with any meat and call it a meal.
Soups with Homemade bone broth make simple meals
Soups really are a good option all year long. We even eat soup in the Summer months due to having nutritious, homemade bone broth on hand to use up. Make a double batch of soup and pair it with some homemade bread or a fresh salad and you can make it stretch for a day or two.
Bone broth is one of the most gut healthy foods. Especially when made at home, bone broth contains many vital nutrients that our bodies lack. Bone broth can even help repair the gut lining and heal leaky gut! Just throw some bones from pastured animals into an instant pot with a few chicken feet, veggie scraps, a splash of ACV, and cover with filtered water. Let it cook all day long and the marrow will be leached from the bones into the most versatile liquid. We are CONSTANTLY making homemade bone broth and using it for soups, sauces, and cooking rice.
Some of our favorite homemade soups we make weekly are cheeseburger soup, Southern style chicken and dumplings, chicken gnocchi, and chicken noodle soup.
Homemade Sourdough Pizza
Pizza is another thing in rotation in our kitchen. This might be the most absolute simple meal we make. I use homemade spaghetti sauce for pizza as well. Sourdough starter has been such a blessing to have in the kitchen. It doesn’t even need to be active for this meal.
To make homemade Sourdough pizza all you need to do is heat a cast iron skillet or pizza stone, add some oil, pour on some Sourdough started, and add dried herbs. Once the crust has cooked in the oven for about ten minutes just add the sauce and toppings of your choosing and you have a meal! This meal is great to involve the whole family and personalize it for each person.
What we do is throw a few cast iron skillets or pizza stones into the oven to heat and add whatever meat and veggies we have on hand, top with cheese, and enjoy! It really is so simple and the Sourdough crust is such a healthy way to eat pizza.
Dinner Pies
Chicken pot pie and Shepherds pie are also in constant rotation in our home. They are so easy to make in a bulk batch to last multiple meals. I’m so glad my family doesn’t mind eating the same meal for a couple of days because it keeps things so much more simple for me.
You could easily swap out the ground beef or chicken with your meat of choice or even just make it a veggie pie to suit your family. I like to make a double batch of Sourdough Einkorn Pie Crust to keep in the freezer and thaw just before throwing dinner together to create a dinner pie. Dinner pies are another meal where I’m able to utilize homemade bone broth.
Pies are an easy way to use up whatever food you currently have in abundance, depending on the season. Try adding potatoes to make the pies filling and hearty!
Tacos and Wraps make for simple meals
Not many meals are easier and quicker to whip up than good old tacos, or wraps of any sort for that matter. I like to keep a jar of homemade taco seasoning on hand for last minute dinner ideas. One of our favorite ways to eat tacos is to incorporate seasonal items. Pumpkin tacos are among our very favorite for the Fall and Winter months. For Spring and Summer we love to utilize as many fresh veggies as possible, some fruits would even be good in tacos. Try chopping up some apples and throw in some shredded cabbage or homemade sauerkraut!
Simply opening the fridge, taking out whatever meat and veggies need eaten, and throwing it in a wrap makes dinner happen in a matter of minutes, perfect for busy Summer days out in the garden!
Keep it simple
I hope you found this post helpful for ideas to keep dinner time simple. Having consistent meals makes it so much easier to achieve a stress free evening. Change your meals with the seasons and your family will love trying different twists on the same dishes, I know mine do.
Leave a comment below with your favorite simple, staple meals in your home. I’d love to expand my menu weekly with inspiration from your ideas!
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