Over the years, our family has acquired some meals that are enjoyed over and over again. I did a quick video about some of our favorites, but I wanted to expound on it a bit more in this post and share some of those recipes with all of you!
Back when I only had a couple of kids, two meals we enjoyed regularly were Pepperoni Hopple Popple and Chicken & Stuffing Casserole. These were very simple one-dish meals I had found in magazines. They weren’t super healthy, but they got the job of feeding my family accomplished without a ton of effort.
I probably ought to take a second here to tell you that I don’t particularly enjoy cooking. All of my married life I have looked for ways to simplify cooking and clean up. These two recipes fit the bill, and while we rarely have these anymore due to diet changes, I still look for ways to ease the cooking and clean up load when it comes to feeding my family – especially now that there are so many of us! So, that is why you won’t find extravagant recipes here on Raising Arrows. They are simple and sane because I don’t really need my life any more chaotic! Look here for some of our favorite recipes!
Now, I mentioned diet changes…
In 2013, Ty and I lost a lot of weight together. Our meals became healthier and more along the low-carb lines. We still had some favorites like these Quick Rise Cinnamon Rolls:
but, they were a treat, rather than our usual fare.
By the way, I had two more babies after I lost weight in 2013, and struggled to keep the weight off. This past summer, I joined an online Christian weight loss coaching group called Grace and Strength and have lost 30 pounds (I have 10-20 more I’d like to lose) while addressing the reasons I eat, rather than just making the food behave. You can find out more about GNS here – I am on the Exchange Journey. You can see my progress on my Fit Mom of Many page!
I know I’ve done a lot of digressing in this post, but allow me one more since we were just talking about Cinnamon Rolls…
In my video, I mentioned having cinnamon rolls with chili. That might be a Kansas thing (I’m a Kansas gal – although I’m a bit misplaced right now), so everyone I know thinks that is a totally normal combination. However, some people informed me they had never heard of that. If you fall into that category, my admonition to you is TRY IT! Trust me, they DO go together!
OK, back to the go to meals I can’t seem to actually go to…
Lunch in our house is almost always the same things – Soup, Salad, or Sandwiches. I wrote an entire post about it here.
Dinner rotates and some of our favorites are this Taco Soup and these Chicken Fajita Nachos.
We also like the Cheeseburger Pie from Trim Healthy Mama and this Loaded Cauliflower Casserole.
Something that has really helped me to streamline my menu planning and meals is to create a master list of 20 meals plus sides that my family really likes. I don’t like to repeat meals very often, so I’m hoping to add another 20 to my list soon. Some of the meals on that list include the ones above as well as Taco Salad, Chicken Pot Pie Casserole, and Homemade Pizza.
I’d love to hear what’s on your list of go to meals! Please share your favorites in the comments section!
If you are interested in more of our eating and shopping habits, here are a few posts you should look at:
- My Aldi Grocery Budget & Shopping List
- What I Buy in Bulk
- Review of Trim Healthy Mama Table (plus a free recipe from the book!)
- Trim Healthy Mama Without Stevia
amanda says
Google Mexican Quinoa Casserole
Great recipe for meatless meals or can add chicken.
Could also put this into green peppers in crockpot….yum!
Pat says
As of November, we stopped doing foster care for teenage boys, and went from a family of 6 or 7 to 2. I know a little about cooking for large appetites and am struggling to cut down!
Some of our easy meals were spaghetti, stir fries, casserole dishes of all types and soups. Our Sunday meals were a little more–pot roast with potatoes and gravy and vegetables, chicken and noodles with vegetables over mashed potatoes and lasagna.
Peta says
Great ideas! We also eat different meals than we did several years ago after I discovered I was intolerant to wheat and dairy and I also began THM.
REGGIE says
Shepherd’s Pie (4 ingredients); Tater Tot Casserole (5 ingredients); Chicken Pot Pie w/ super simpler homemade biscuit topping; Chicken Noodle Soup; Bacon Corn Chowder…this is by no means an exhaustive list, but definitely the top favorites! I love finding new casserole and soup recipes as they tend to be the simplest to double and often include all he major food groups.
Rachel says
Thank you for this! I am really struggling with kitchen inspiration lately. I love to cook, but with a few littles and starting homeschool I simply don’t have time. And I don’t want to get in a frozen pizza rut. Lol.
Amy says
Ha! The frozen pizza rut is real!
Steph says
That is awesome of you!! Way to go!!!very proud of you??
pk says
Im a fussy healthy mamma. And i love cooking. But having my 6th child, homeschooling and being my husbands only way to and from work as he is legally blind, has meant i have to find quick and easy go to meals that i can mass produce and freeze. My husband purchased me a thermomix which makes most of these easy. I make heaps of pizza bases, (we use spelt) , blind bake and freeze for healthy sides. Pretzels, spelt & chai banana muffins, salads take approx 10min to make 3 in my thermomix . Lasagne, cottage pie. Bakes and soups. I make home made baked beans and spelt bread for breakfast. I found the best thing to do was to find the right foods to fuel our bodies and now no one complains that they are still hungry and we rarely snack due to not being hungry between meals. My essential tools are big pots, foil trays, my thermomix and large freezers. Its been a life changer.