My Go-To Pantry Staples

When it comes to pantry ingredients, I like to think about what will make multiple meals. This is one reason why I recommend keeping a list of go-to meals and repeating them often. I’ll provide you with my list of go-to breakfast ideas in a minute. With meals on rotation, you can stock your pantry in an intentional way according to your needs.

First, let’s talk about ingredients to stock in your pantry (dry pantry, fridge, and freezer) that will make a variety of breakfasts, along with dinners, snacks, and lunches:

• beans and lentils
• rice
• whole chicken and chicken thighs (love TrailBale Farm locally, find a local farm in your area at eatwild.com)
• frozen and fresh veggies and fruit
• leafy greens (including the tops of carrots and beets which are edible)
• fresh herbs (now is a good time to grow a few of your own) and dried herbs
• garlic
• onions
• canned tomatoes (I like Jovial brand)
• pasta (again, partial to Jovial—just love their pantry items like tomatoes and pasta)
• broth (I love Kettle & Fire Bone Broth and Bonafide Provisions and homemade)
• flour (einkorn, spelt, and wheat)
• tortillas (I like Siete Family Foods, Rudis Organic, or homemade)
• tuna
• oats
• butter
• extra virgin olive oil
• cheese (always parmesan in block form and a cheddar)
• milk of some sort or nuts to make milk if I can’t get dairy milk (learn more about real food dairy here)
• salt (I buy a large 10lb tub of Redmond salt and it lasts forever)
• honey or maple syrup (preferably both)
• eggs (love Trailbale Farm locally)
• ground beef (love Providence Cattle Company locally)
• bacon
• bread

My Go-To Pantry Breakfast Ideas

As I mentioned, I keep a list of rotational breakfast ideas. This list makes meal planning easy and quick and also makes it easy to stock common pantry ingredients. Plus, there’s a serious money-saving advantage to doing this.

I also use daily repeated themes to keep meal planning simple. I repeat these themes for at least a month or two. Within these themes there is a lot of variety that may be planned using my list of recipes/ideas (I keep breakfast ideas and dinner ideas on one list). Here are some theme ideas. Choose a theme for each day (or repeat a theme a few times in a week). Keep these themes going for a month or longer. Each week, sit down and plug in specific recipes to that day’s theme. Meal planning made easy!

• Oatmeal Theme: A broad theme that includes anything oat-based (traditional oatmeal, overnight oats, baked oatmeal, breakfast cookies, oatmeal cups, etc.)
• Egg Theme: A broad theme that includes anything made with eggs
• Smoothie Theme: Any smoothie
• Casserole Theme: Anything casserole related such as: egg casserole, French toast casserole, oatmeal casserole
• Muffin Theme: Any muffin, from savory to sweet muffins
• Breakfast Bread Theme: quick breads, toast, fancy toasts like avocado toast
• Yogurt Bar Theme: Yogurt with a variety of toppings (granola, seasonal fruit, nuts/seeds, chia jam, etc.)
• Granola Theme: Any granola served with milk or yogurt
• Pancake Theme: Any variety of pancakes
• Waffle Theme: Any variety of waffles
• French Toast Theme: Any variety of pancakes, from a baked French Toast to sticks to traditional French Toast
• Hash Theme: Any variety of hash made with veggies, meats, and/or eggs
• Scrambled Theme: Scrambled eggs made in a variety of ways with mix-ins like bacon, sausage, salsa, or veggies
• Omelet Theme: Any omelet
• Breakfast Cookie Theme: Any breakfast cookie
• Frittata Theme: Any frittata
• Egg Cup Theme: Any egg cup (like an egg muffin)
• Porridge Theme: Any warm porridge-like breakfast, such as warm oatmeal, millet, einkorn, or quinoa bowls mixed with a variety of toppings from fruit to nuts and seeds to honey or maple syrup
• Breakfast Taco Theme: Make breakfast tacos in a variety of ways using roasted veggies (hash), eggs, sausage or bacon, and toppings (salsa, sliced avocado, fermented veggies)
• Cold Cereal Theme: There are companies making cereal with real ingredients (like One Degree brand). This is a fun theme that I occasionally add to our schedule. The kids love it when this theme is included in our month’s rotation. If you don’t want to use store-bought cereal, granola is a nice substitution.
• Soup Theme: Yes, unusual but can be a nourishing breakfast theme and option.

Pantry Breakfast Ideas

Now let’s talk specifically about breakfast ideas using pantry staples. Below, I’m breaking down in a pantry staple-by-staple format various recipes you can make with my core pantry ingredients.

Oats

Oats are one of the most versatile ingredients in my pantry. Oats contain phytic acid which makes them hard to digest. To break down the phytic acid, you can soak the oats overnight to make them easier to digest. I love sprouted oats from One Degree as there isn’t a need to soak them overnight. That said, if you can’t find sprouted oats, don’t stress about it. You can use oats whole or grind them up to make oat flour for baked goods.

• Warm Oatmeal: If you’re using sprouted oats (One Degree brand), you don’t need to soak the oatmeal overnight as called for in this recipe.
• Overnight Oats
• Baked Oatmeal
• Breakfast Cookies
• Oatmeal Cups
• Granola: This is a master recipe so you can use it to make multiple granola variations.
• Almond-Oat Pancakes
• Oat Waffles

Eggs

Eggs are a nutritional powerhouse and inexpensive when you factor in how many meals you can make with just a dozen eggs. When it comes to buying eggs, look for pastured eggs (meaning eggs from chickens raised on pasture) and avoid vegetarian eggs. Chickens eat bugs and all sorts of other “non-vegetarian” foods. Pasture-raised is the key importance here, even over organic. I go through a dozen eggs a week, sourced from a local farm. If you’d like to find local eggs in your area, check out Eatwild.com.

Most egg dishes may be prepped in advance. Of course, there’s no need to do this for scrambled eggs or fried eggs but for a frittata or quiche, which require spending more time in the kitchen, you may want to make the recipe on the weekend and enjoy the leftovers for a few breakfasts early in the week.

• Frittata: This frittata recipe calls for specific veggies, like mushrooms, but you can sub in any variety of veggies: try cherry tomatoes or chopped zucchini. If you don’t have bacon, no worries, skip it. A frittata is a super versatile dish so experiment with what you have on hand.
• Avocado and Egg Toast: One of my favorite easy breakfasts. Cook an egg, mash an avocado, toast up some bread and you have an amazing breakfast.
• Egg Burritos: This is a great make-ahead recipe or try a “loaded” egg burrito. Feel free to use a variety of veggies and/or leafy greens with these burritos.
• Scrambled Eggs: Basic but essential and a staple in our home. Add some fresh herbs, leafy greens, or cheese while cooking for something extra. Or, load up scrambled eggs on toast or focaccia for an egg sandwich.
• Egg Muffins: Think egg omelet meets muffins. Use a variety of veggies or leafy greens to make these muffins.
• Traditional Omelette
• Breakfast Casserole: A hearty casserole you can make on the weekend and enjoy later as a “cook once, eat twice” breakfast.
• Soft or Hardboiled Eggs
• Breakfast Sandwiches: I just made a bunch of these with homemade sourdough English muffins. They’re perfect for the freezer and a morning breakfast that doesn’t involve messing up the kitchen.
• Herb & Zucchini Egg Bake
• French Toast: If you want plain French Toast, just skip the banana in this recipe.
• “Fried” Eggs: I shared how to cook the perfect “fried” egg in this Instagram Story tutorial.
• Breakfast Tacos: Scramble eggs, add sautéed veggies and/or bacon, top with salsa, cheese, cilantro, sour cream, whatever you like.
• Breakfast Quesadillas

Flour

Flour is a staple that will make a multitude of foods: bread, pizza, cornbread, tortillas, biscuits, and more. I recommend creating a sourdough starter (using flour and water), which you can use to make sourdough bread, waffles, focaccia (for an amazing breakfast sandwich with some scrambled eggs), muffins, English muffins, and more. My favorite flours to keep on hand: einkorn, spelt, all-purpose flour, whole wheat, cornmeal, and almond flour.

• Biscuits
• Make a Sourdough Starter
• Sourdough Bread
• Sourdough Muffins
• Tortillas: (einkorn) Make breakfast tacos with scrambled eggs, bacon, sautéed veggies, cheese, salsa–whatever you want.
• Pancakes(einkorn)
• Almond-Oat Pancakes (almond flour and oats)
• Waffles (einkorn)
• Gluten-Free Waffles (almond flour)
• Almond Flour Banana Bread (almond flour)
• Master Muffin Recipe (einkorn)
• Blueberry Muffins (almond flour)
• Carrot Cake Muffins (almond flour)

Bread

As I mentioned above, you can use flour to make a sourdough starter and this will give you years worth of bread. A sourdough starter is a natural yeast and the way people made bread for many generations. A sourdough starter is a living organism, full of good bacteria, that makes grains (including grains that contain the gluten protein) easier to digest. I think most of the issues we see today with gluten sensitives is due to the type of bread (and other highly processed foods) we consume. That said, bread is a wholesome, nourishing ingredient to add to the breakfast table, particularly when it’s made in the traditional way (sourdough).

• Eggs in a Hole
• French Toast Casserole
• French Toast: If you want plain French toast, just don’t include the banana in this recipe.
• Avocado Toast
• Toast Ideas
• Bacon, Egg, Cheese Sandwiches: Toast sourdough or your favorite bread, scramble an egg or two and top with some shredded or sliced cheese. Add a few avocado or tomato slices or sprouts if you’re feeling extra.

Yogurt

Yogurt is a cultured, fermented food that’s made from milk and good bacteria (cultures) that are added to the milk. Purchase plain yogurt and flavor it yourself with honey, maple syrup, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and/or fruits (frozen fruit will melt and create a fruit-on-the-bottom consistency similar to what you’ll find in the store). I like Stonyfield, Organic Valley, and Maple Hill Creamery brands. I recommend whole milk yogurt or you can make your own.

If you’re dairy-free, look for plain yogurt with ingredients you could purchase from the store and use in your kitchen. Many of the plant-based yogurts contain an ingredient list that rivals the ultra-processed foods. Just because it’s plant-based or probiotic-rich (all yogurt should be probiotic rich since it’s a fermented/cultured food and contains live bacteria) doesn’t mean it’s made with real ingredients.

• Yogurt Bar: Set out a variety of ingredients for a DIY yogurt bar. This is a great one for the kids and the whole family.
• Make-Ahead Fruit & Yogurt Cups
• Yogurt Sticks
• Yogurt and Granola 
• Yogurt and Seasonal Fruit or Frozen Fruit 
• Add a fruit compote to your yogurt 

Leafy Greens

Leafy greens include lettuce and spinach, but I’m also talking about the more obscure greens that we might otherwise toss, like the greens on top of beets and carrots or Swiss Chard or bok choy or cabbages. When it comes to breakfast, leafy greens can be added to omelettes (just sauté the greens first), topped on toast (like an avocado toast with some sprouts or arugula) or added to a breakfast casserole or frittata or egg muffins.

• Pesto Omelette: Blend up carrot tops (the leafy green tops of carrots), radish tops (the leafy tops of radishes), pea shoots, kale, or spinach with nuts, parmesan cheese, lemon juice, salt, and olive oil. Make an omelette and add a tablespoon of pesto and some cheese. Add some sautéed veggies if you want as well. Here’s a good recipe just for the method. Use pesto for dinner another night (a pasta night or in place of tomato sauce on pizza) or as a sandwich spread or drizzle over roasted veggies or meat.
• Omelette Cups: The recipe calls for spinach, but you can add any chopped green. Swiss Chard or kale work well.
• Breakfast Hash
• Frittata: Use a variety of greens to make this egg dish.
• Smoothies: Add kale, spinach, carrot tops, sprouts, or even lettuce to a smoothie.
• Leafy Green Omelette: Sauté any leafy green (spinach, kale, Swiss Chard) with some veggies (tomatoes, zucchini, onion–anything like that). Then make an omelette and add the sautéed greens and veg along with cheese as the omelette filling.
• Avocado Toast: I love the spicy addition of arugula on avocado toast with an egg.
• Egg and Sausage Breakfast Casserole: This recipe calls for spinach, but yet again you can use whatever leafy green (such as kale or Swiss Chard) that you have on hand.
• Sautéed Greens: Add sautéed greens to side of eggs.

Fresh Herbs

Fresh herbs aren’t something I would buy just for breakfast, but they are an all-around amazing ingredient to keep in the fridge. When stored properly, they’ll keep in the fridge for weeks. I love to use fresh herbs on breakfast meals. Here are a few ideas.

• Mint: Sprinkle chopped mint on top of yogurt with fruit and granola, or just sprinkle on top of fruit for a fruit salad medley. So refreshing!
• Cilantro: Add to a breakfast taco or burrito or top on eggs.
• Parsley: Chop and add to an omelette or top on scrambled or fried eggs.
• Rosemary: A favorite addition to a frittata or breakfast casserole. Whisk the herb with the egg mixture, then pour over veggies and bake. The rosemary adds just the right touch of extra flavor to a dish like this.

Veggies

I always have veggies in my fridge. From October to May, most of the veggies come from local farms via the farmers market. Learning how to cook a few basic meals that can include a variety of veggies has been key to being able to pick up anything and use it to make nourishing meals. For example, hash is a breakfast that can be made with a wide variety of veggies: white potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets, bell peppers, onions, etc. Just roast or sauté the veggies with some oil and salt (or add chopped bacon as well) until soft and crisp. Serve with eggs. Here are some of my favorite ways to use veggies to make breakfast meals.

• Hash: Try this baked hash with eggs (use sweet potatoes or white potatoes) or this sausage and sweet potato hash.
• Avocado Toast
• Add to Smoothies: Sure, most of us picture smoothies as fruit-heavy drinks, but they can also include veggies. Freeze steamed zucchini, steamed cauliflower, steamed butternut squash or carrot chunks or beets, or raw avocado chunks and add to smoothies. Here are some veggie smoothie ideas. I also love this beet smoothie.
• Frittata: Use any variety of veggies to make this veggie-heavy egg dish.
• Sweet Potatoes: The best roasted sweet potatoes! I love to enjoy these for breakfast, topped with nut butter, cinnamon, and banana slices. So good!
• Omelette Cups: Use any variety of veggies in omelette cups. Sauté peppers, broccoli, bacon, zucchini, onions–so many options. Add some cheese, if you want, and salt and pepper. Then bake.
• Muffins: Stir shredded zucchini or carrots into this muffin batter or try this gluten-free carrot cake recipe.
• Spinach Pancakes

Fresh or Frozen Fruit 

Fresh and frozen fruit is another staple to keep stocked for breakfast and snacking. I try to stick with seasonal produce, which is easy to spot even in the grocery store because seasonal produce (what’s currently growing and being harvested nearest to you) is generally on sale. For example, strawberries, when in season, will cost $3-5 for a container (in our area), but out-of-season (when they’re shipped from very far away), they’ll cost $7+. Now, there are some things that won’t ever be seasonal to my area, such as apples and pears. We just do the best we can and outsource as needed.

• Oatmeal: There are so many ways to add fruit to oatmeal. Try this Triple Berry Oatmeal Bowl, or this banana oatmeal, or this apple-cinnamon oatmeal.
• Yogurt Bar: Set out a variety of ingredients for a DIY yogurt bar.
• Make-Ahead Fruit & Yogurt Cups
• Yogurt Sticks
• Baked Pears: A delicious way to enjoy pears for breakfast when they’re in season. Pair with yogurt and/or granola.
• Baked Apples: Pair with yogurt for a delicious breakfast.
• Yogurt with Seasonal Fruit or Frozen Fruit
• Add a fruit compote to your yogurt 
• Chia Pudding with Berries
• Muffins: Use this base recipe to stir in any variety of fruit: strawberries, blueberries, or chopped apples.
• Pancakes: Top your pancakes (or waffles) with fruit or fruit compote or add fruit to your pancake batter (like these blueberry pancakes)–just be sure to chop up large pieces of fruit into smaller pieces.
• Baked Oatmeal: Add blueberries, chopped apples, or even sliced bananas.
• Overnight Oats: Add any variety of frozen or fresh fruit.

Bacon

Bacon gets a bad rap as an unhealthy food, but bacon is just another cut of the pig. When it comes to bacon, I recommend sourcing from a farm (large or small) that raises pigs on pasture, as they were intended. Niman Ranch is a great brand found in the store. Bacon can be enjoyed once cooked and eaten as-is or just use a few strips (chopped) as flavoring to make an egg dish or a hash. I keep a few bags of bacon in my freezer (usually from a local farm or Butcher)

• Oven-Baked Bacon: When making strips of bacon to enjoy as-is, I prefer the oven method.
• Frittata: Bacon can add amazing flavor to a frittata. You only need a couple of slices for this dish.
• Omelette Cups
• Bacon’n’Egg Bundles: Eggs baked in a bacon crust. This recipe calls for using a lot of eggs and bacon. You can reduce the recipe for a family-size version.
• Bacon, Egg, Cheese Sandwiches: Toast up sourdough or your favorite bread, scramble an egg or two and top with some shredded or sliced cheese. Add a few avocado slices or tomato or sprouts if you’re feeling extra. You can also do this with homemade biscuits or English Muffins.
• Breakfast Tacos: scramble eggs and cook bacon, top with salsa, cheese, cilantro, sour cream–whatever you like.

Tortillas

Tortillas are a staple always found in my freezer. I like Siete brand, Rudi’s Organic brand, or homemade tortillas. Tortillas can be used to make breakfast, lunch, or dinner meals.

• Breakfast Burritos: Try this make-ahead sausage and cheese option or this loaded sheet pan option.
• Breakfast Tacos: Scramble eggs, add sautéed veggies if desired or bacon, top with salsa, cheese, cilantro, sour cream–whatever you like.
• Breakfast Quesadillas: I usually skip the beans.

Milk (yogurt)

Milk is a staple used to make many different dishes, from waffles to pancakes to biscuits. If I can’t find dairy milk (read more about what to look for when buying dairy), I’ll make my own with nuts (almonds and cashews are my preferred choices, but sunflower and pumpkin seeds also work.)

Cheese

Now, I’m not talking about a processed cheese product. What I am talking about is real cheese. This means cheese that is produced with real milk or cream through a culturing/fermentation process. Fake cheese is usually labeled as a “cheese product” and has a long ingredient list, such as: cheddar cheese, whey, water, protein concentrate, milk, sodium citrate, calcium phosphate, milkfat, gelatin, salt, sodium phosphate, lactic acid (as a preservative), annatto and paprika extract (for color), enzymes, Vitamin A palmitate, cheese culture, and Vitamin D3. Real cheese is made with, for example, just: milk, rennet, enzymes, salt.

I prefer to purchase cheese in block form and shred or slice it myself. I find this to be the most economical and versatile way to buy and use cheese. I keep parmesan cheese and cheddar on hand the majority of the time along with goat cheese for snacking.

• Shred on Eggs: Top your eggs with cheese or stir into scrambled eggs.
• Tacos: Make breakfast tacos (scrambled eggs and toppings of choice on a tortilla) and top with cheese
• Frittata: Add cheese to your frittata during the last few minutes of cooking.
• On the Side: When we were France last year, I had cheese every morning on the side of fruit, roasted tomatoes, eggs, hazelnuts, and a croissant. Serve a few slices of cheese on the side of your breakfast. Bon appétit!
• Omelette: Cheese is what makes an omelette amazing. Sprinkle in some feta or shred some parmesan or cheddar during the last few minutes of cooking.
• Egg and Sausage Breakfast Casserole: This recipe calls for spinach, but yet again you can use whatever leafy green (such as kale or Swiss Chard) that you have on hand.
• Bacon, Egg, Cheese Sandwiches: Toast up sourdough or your favorite bread, scramble an egg or two and top with some shredded or sliced cheese. Add a few avocado slices or tomato or sprouts if you’re feeling extra. You can also do this with homemade biscuits or English Muffins.

Butter

Butter is another staple to have on hand for making a wide variety of recipes, from sautéing veggies to making biscuits and cooking eggs. I even blend butter in my coffee every morning (using a blender).

The post Pantry Breakfast Ideas: What to Stock and Make From Your Pantry appeared first on Live Simply.

In the past two weeks, the world has changed significantly. If you’re reading this post in 2021 (or later), you’re probably curious about what’s happening, so let me bring you up to date: a virus called COVID-19 has spread around the world, shutting down entire countries, economies, making everyone buy all the toilet paper (no idea why toilet paper became the must-have necessity) and forcing people to self-isolate in their homes.

Of course, this means most of us are now looking for ideas on what to make with basic pantry staples. Today, I’m going to break down pantry dinner ideas for you. We’re going to talk about easy meals you can make with a few essential pantry ingredients.

My Go-To Pantry Staples

When it comes to pantry ingredients, I like to think in terms of what can be used to make multiple meals. This is one reason why I recommend keeping a list of go-to dinners and repeating these meals often. I’ll provide you with my list in a minute.

First, let’s talk about ingredients to stock in your pantry (dry pantry, fridge, and freezer) that will make a variety of dinners, along with breakfasts, snacks, and lunches:

• beans and lentils
• rice
• whole chicken and chicken thighs (love TrailBale Farm locally, find a local farm in your area at eatwild.com)
• frozen and fresh veggies and fruit
• leafy greens (including the tops of carrots and beets which are edible)
• fresh herbs (now is a good time to grow a few of your own) and dried herbs
• garlic
• onions
• canned tomatoes (I like Jovial brand)
• pasta (again, partial to Jovial—just love their pantry items like tomatoes and pasta)
• broth (I love Kettle & Fire Bone Broth and Bonafide Provisions and homemade)
• flour (einkorn, spelt, and wheat)
• tortillas (I like Siete Family Foods, Rudis Organic, or homemade)
• tuna
• oats
• butter
• extra virgin olive oil
• cheese (always parmesan in block form and a cheddar)
• milk of some sort or nuts to make milk if I can’t get dairy milk (learn more about real food dairy here)
• salt (I buy a large 10lb tub of Redmond salt and it lasts forever)
• honey or maple syrup (preferably both)
• eggs (love Trailbale Farm locally)
• ground beef (love Providence Cattle Company locally)
• bacon
• bread

My Go-To Pantry Dinner Ideas

As I mentioned, I keep a list of dinners that we regularly rotate. This makes meal planning easy and quick and also makes it easy to stock common pantry ingredients on repeat. Plus, there’s a serious money-saving advantage to doing this.

Now, you may wonder, “But don’t you get bored with cooking the same meals over and over?” The answer is yes and no.

Many of the dinners on my list are easy to adapt and change based on what’s available. For example, a stir-fry can be made with a variety of vegetables. Nachos or tacos can be made with beans instead of meat and a variety of toppings may be changed up and offered. There are many different soups to make on a soup night and the same goes for a pasta night.

I also keep a list of recipes that I want to try, that also use basic pantry ingredients. I love the following cookbooks for inspiration:

• Defined Dish
• SkinnyTaste: Fast and Slow
• The Clever Cookbook
• Homemade Pantry

Here’s my list of go-to dinners:

• stir-fry
• chicken and rice
• bowl-style meals: rice or any grain (millet, quinoa, etc.), roasted veggies, protein, homemade salad dressing to drizzle over the top
• salad with homemade dressing: add a protein for a heartier meal
• roasted whole chicken and a salad or veggies
• pot roast
• chicken fajitas
• ground beef tacos
• nachos: either chicken, ground beef, or beans on top with variety of topping
• quesadillas
• soup
• pasta: anything pasta, like ziti, spaghetti and meatballs, pasta with pesto and veggies or a protein
• roasted chicken thighs with veg or a salad and/or bread or even cornbread
• casserole

Pantry Dinner Ideas

Now let’s talk specifically about dinner ideas you can make from pantry staples. Below, I’m breaking down in a pantry staple-by-staple format various recipes you can make with my core pantry ingredients.

Beans and Lentils 

Dry beans are inexpensive, last forever, and can be used a variety of ways. Once you have beans, you just need a tried-and-true way to cook them (I prefer the Instant Pot or slow-cooker) and then you can use them in many different ways. If you don’t want to go the dry bean route, canned beans are also great to keep in the pantry, or a mixture of both. I always keep chickpeas, black beans, pinto beans, and lentils in my pantry.

• Hummus (chickpeas): make a traditional hummus, add roasted beets for a pink hummus, or add fresh herbs (I love basil, mint, and/or parsley) for an herbed hummus.
• Tuscan Beans (cannellini beans): serve with a salad and a protein
• Brothy Beans (baby lima, or cannellini beans, or chickpeas): serve with a salad and a protein or on toast
• Bean and rice bowls (black or pinto beans): cook black or pinto beans, add to a bowl with rice and various toppings like salsa, guac or avocados, sliced radish, sour cream, cilantro.
• Chickpea Tuna-Like Salad (chickpeas): think a tuna salad meets chickpeas, but without the tuna.
• Chickpea Salad (chickpeas): toss together chickpeas with a few veggies and you have a delicious lunch or side for dinner.
• Crispy Chickpeas (chickpeas): bake chickpeas until crisp and then toss in salads as a crunch or enjoy as a snack.
• Bean Burritos: this particular recipe is also freezer-friendly, so make a bunch and freeze to enjoy throughout the week for lunch.
• Pinto Bean Fajitas: use black or pinto beans in this recipe, along with onions and peppers (or use a frozen pepper mix) and mushrooms, and make homemade fajitas.
• Lentil Soup
• Black Bean Soup: a recipe I hope to share soon for the Instant Pot. You can also try this one for the slow-cooker.
• Spiced Chickpea Stew
• Lentil Tacos
• Nachos
• One Pan Chicken and Rice with Chickpeas and Chard

Rice

I usually stock both brown and white rice in my pantry. Both have their place. For brown rice, I prefer to soak the rice overnight in water to make it easier to digest, then drain and use to prepare a meal. For white rice, I just rinse and use to make a meal since it’s easier to digest. I prefer jasmine and long grain rice. For brown rice, I like to use the Instant Pot to cook the rice. For white rice, the stove-top is quick and easy or the Instant Pot.

• Bowl-Style Meals: cook rice (or use old rice from the fridge), roast up veggies, and prepare a protein (beans, chicken, fish, meatballs, steak), add a homemade sauce (like vinaigrette dressing or pesto). Combine the ingredients in a bowl for a bowl-style meal.
• Instant Pot Chicken and Rice
• Chicken and Rice Soup
• Stir-Fry
• Vegetarian Fried Rice 
• Veggie Fried Rice 
• Italian Spinach and Chicken Casserole
• One-Pan Chicken and Rice with Spinach
• One Pan Chicken and Rice with Chickpeas and Chard
• Roast Salmon with Fresh Herbs and Coconut Rice

Whole Chicken

A whole chicken is the most budget-friendly, versatile meat you can buy, in my opinion. With one whole chicken, you can make enough meat to stretch multiple meals and 12 cups of chicken broth with the bones. Stock a couple of whole chickens in your freezer and you’ll always have the availability to make multiple meals.

• Cook a Whole Chicken: roast up a whole chicken, or if you want to reduce the time and create the crispiest skin use the spatchcock method, or use the slow-cooker approach or Instant Pot. Serve the chicken for dinner or lunch, or shred the meat and store in the fridge or freezer to make multiple meals.
• Quesadillas: add cooked and shredded chicken to quesadillas.
• Nachos
• Fried Rice
• Sandwich Meat: add the shredded meat to bread to make a sandwich in place of deli meat.
• Chicken Salad: serve on bread, in a tortilla as a wrap, on a salad, with crackers. Try this deli-style recipe or this sour cream and dill recipe or this curry chicken salad.
• Salad: add shredded chicken to any green salad.
• Chicken Noodle Soup
• Chicken Pot Pie
• Stir-Fry: Instead of using chicken breasts, add leftover cooked chicken during the last few minutes of cooking.
• Italian Spinach and Chicken Casserole

Frozen or Fresh Veggies 

Along with seasonal veggies, I always keep carrots, celery, onion, and garlic in the fridge since these ingredients are used in multiple ways to make various meals.

• Roast: roast up a tray of whatever veggies you have on hand to serve with dinner or go with roasted tomatoes and add them to pasta or top or crusty bread.
• Veggie Hummus: add a roasted beet to your homemade hummus or a couple of roasted carrots.
• Baba Ganoush: put your eggplant to use in this tasty Middle Eastern dip.
• Slaw: a great way to use cabbage (a long-lasting veggie), serve with tacos, nachos, or as a salad. During the winter, try this winter-veggie slaw.
• Salsa: use tomatoes to make this fermented salsa.
• Veggie Spaghetti Sauce
• Add to Smoothies: freeze steamed zucchini, steamed cauliflower, steamed butternut squash or carrot chunks or beets, or raw avocado chunks and add to smoothies. Here are some veggie smoothie ideas.
• Fried Rice
• Veggie Fried Rice: use cauliflower and broccoli in this fried rice recipe.
• Chicken and Veggie Fajitas: use peppers and onions and fresh tomatoes to make a fajita dinner and homemade salsa.
• Veggie Fajitas: use peppers and onions and mushrooms and beans to make vegetarian fajitas.
• Blended Veggie Soup: roast up veggies on a sheet pan and blend with broth to make a soup.
• Tomato Soup: a roasted veggie soup made with tomatoes and peppers and onions. Serve along side grilled cheese.
• Soup: make a variety of chunky soups or creamed soups.
• Hash: make a hash for breakfast with sweet potatoes and peppers and sausage or use white potatoes and spinach and eggs.
• Make a Sheet Pan Meal: sheet pan meals combine meat and veggies all on one sheet pan to make a meal. Try this meatloaf meal with ground beef and potatoes and spinach or this meal with potatoes and spinach and chicken or this salmon and veggies meal.
• Pork Cabbage Dumplings: one of my favorite ways to use cabbage.
• Frittata: use any variety of veggies to make this veggie-loaded egg dish.
• Sweet Potatoes: the best roasted sweet potatoes and you can use this same method to make amazing baked white potatoes.
• Veggie Fries: cut carrots, parsnips, or any potato into strips and then roast with olive oil and salt at 425F until crisp.
• Zucchini Boats: stuff zucchini for a tasty meal.
• Nachos: the veggies are more of the topping here, but I love to make ground beef, chicken, or bean nachos (just add the cooked protein to the tortilla chips and top with cheese then broil until the cheese melts) and then top with veggies like radish slices, lettuce, green onions, red onions, and avocado slices.
• Summer Vegetable Casserole: made with zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, and basil.
• Zucchini Lasagna: This is a bit labor-intensive, but it’s so good! Use zucchini as the noodles in this lasagna. This is a good one to make on a slow weekend.

Leafy Greens

Leafy greens include lettuce and spinach, but I’m also talking about the more obscure greens that we might otherwise toss, like the greens on top of beets and carrots or Swiss Chard or bok choy or cabbages.

• Salad: use a variety of greens, even fresh herbs in a salad.
• Sauté: sauté beet greens (the leafy tops of beets), Swiss chard, bok choy, baby spinach or kale with some olive oil, salt, and garlic. Squeeze lemon over the top if they taste bitter and top with parmesan cheese (if desired).
• Egg Muffins: add baby spinach (or kale, Swiss chard or beet greens) to an egg mixture to make egg “muffins.”
• Frittata: use a variety of greens to make this egg dish.
• Pesto: Blend up carrot tops (the leafy green tops of carrots), radish tops (the leafy tops of radishes), pea shoots, kale, or spinach with nuts, parmesan cheese, lemon juice, salt, and olive oil to make a pesto to toss with pasta or top on bread or use as a pasta sauce.
• Smoothies: add kale, spinach, carrot tops, or even lettuce to a smoothie.
• Stir-Fry: add leafy greens at the end when cooking a stir-fry, just chop first.
• Hash: add leafy greens at the end of cooking a hash.
• Soup: during the last few minutes of cooking, stir in chopped leafy greens of choice.
• Quesadillas: add spinach, kale, or even Swiss Chard to a cheesy quesadilla.
• Enchiladas: this recipe is for chicken enchiladas, but you can use the recipe to make a variety of fillings. Sauté veggies like zucchini and greens or sweet potatoes and beans.
• One Pan Chicken and Rice with Chickpeas and Chard
• One-Pan Chicken and Rice with Spinach

Herbs

Herbs bring a meal to life. With their bold and rustic flavors, they can transform a salad from okay to AMAZING and turn ordinary chicken thighs into a fragrant and delicious dinner. I like to keep a handful of dried herbs on hand and a few fresh herbs: cilantro, basil (which is very seasonal so with the appropriate season), and parsley. Learn how to store herbs here.

• Pizza Sauce (dried herbs): make homemade pizza sauce to go with homemade pizza dough. Mix together: 2 cups crushed tomatoes, 2 tsp oregano, 1 tsp basil, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp onion powder, salt and pepper to taste.
• Chimichurri Sauce (fresh herbs): use to marinate fish, chicken, serve over a steak or a different protein. You can also use carrot tops (the tops of carrots) to make this sauce.
• Make Broth (fresh herbs): add to a slow-cooker or Instant Pot, along with water and chicken bones and/or veggies to make broth/stock for soups.
• Toss in Salads (fresh or dried herbs): chop up any fresh herbs (mint, parsley, basil, etc.) and add to a salad or add a few sprinkles of dried herbs.
• Vinaigrette (fresh or dried herbs): add herbs to a homemade vinaigrette
• Pesto (fresh herbs)
• Ranch Dressing (dried herbs)
• Toss in Soups (fresh or dried herbs): add flavor to any soup by adding a sprig of thyme or rosemary or some chopped parsley or basil or even cilantro. Of course, many soups call for dried herbs as well.
• Hummus: add herbs to homemade hummus to make an herbed hummus.
• Frittata: herbs paired with eggs = a delicious dinner!
• Roast Salmon with Fresh Herbs

Canned Tomatoes

I always keep several jars of canned tomatoes stocked in my pantry along with tomato paste. Crushed and diced tomatoes are my favorite and what I find to be the most versatile when making meals.

• Chili
• Pizza Sauce: make homemade pizza sauce to go with homemade pizza dough. Mix together: 2 cups crushed tomatoes, 2 tsp oregano, 1 tsp basil, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp onion powder, salt and pepper to taste.
• Spaghetti Sauce (Bolognese Style)
• Shakshuka
• Enchilada Sauce (tomato paste)
• Veggie Spaghetti 
• Spaghetti and Meatballs: make the sauce and meatballs on the stove-top or in the Instant Pot.
• Sloppy Joes
• Italian Spinach and Chicken Casserole

Pasta 

Oh pasta, so many ways to use thee. I keep a handful of pastas in the pantry: spaghetti, elbow, penne, and lasagna noodles. My favorite is Jovial Foods brand, the brown rice pasta in particular.

• Mix with Pesto 
• Serve with Spaghetti Sauce and Meatballs: make the sauce and meatballs on the stove-top or in the Instant Pot.
• Homemade Fettuccini Alfredo 
• Mac and Cheese: make mac and cheese on the stove-top or in the Instant Pot.
• Pasta Salad 
• Baked Ziti with Roasted Veggies 
• Ziti with Meat
• Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup (Spaghetti Noodles)
• Pan Roasted Cauliflower Pasta

Broth/Stock 

Broth/stock is a nourishing liquid made by simmering veggies and bones (chicken, beef, etc.). The liquid may be used to make soups, cook rice, make enchilada sauce, or even just sip for a nutrient-rich drink. Broth/stock is easy to make (find my chicken recipe and beef recipe). I also like to keep boxes (or bags) of store-bought broth in the pantry and freezer. My favorite brands, include: Bonafide Provisions (in the freezer section) and Kettle & Fire (in the dry goods section).

• Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
• Tomato Soup
• Chicken and Rice Soup
• Leek and Potato Soup
• Tuscan White Bean Soup
• Sausage, Kale, White Bean Soup
• Fall Vegetable Soup
• Turmeric Chicken Pot Pie Soup
• Garden Minestrone Soup
• Lentil Soup
• Broccoli Cheese Soup
• Loaded Cauliflower-Baked Potato Soup
• Chicken and Quinoa Taco Soup
• Creamed Roasted Butternut Squash

Flour 

Flour is a staple that will make a multitude of foods: bread, pizza, cornbread, tortillas, biscuits. I highly recommend creating a sourdough starter (using flour and water), which you can use to make sourdough bread, waffles, focaccia, and more. My favorite flours to keep on hand: einkorn, spelt, all-purpose flour, whole wheat, and cornmeal.

• Cornbread
• Biscuits
• Make a Sourdough Starter
• Sourdough Bread
• Tortillas
• Corn Tortillas
• Pita Bread: a recipe I hope to get up next week.
• Pancakes
• Waffles

Tortillas

Tortillas are a staple always found in my freezer. I like Siete brand, Rudi’s Organic brand, or homemade tortillas.

• Quesadillas: so many options. Add shredded chicken and cheese, sautéed peppers, beans, or go with a classic cheese and greens. You can even make breakfast quesadillas.
• Tacos: add ground beef, chicken, or eggs to make breakfast tacos. Add lettuce, cheese, salsa, etc.
• Fajitas: add a chicken and veggie filling or bean and mushroom filling.
• Burritos: add whatever protein you want, along with rice and any toppings. Or, make breakfast-style burritos.
• Enchiladas: this recipe is for chicken enchiladas, but you can use the recipe to make a variety of fillings. Sauté veggies like zucchini and greens or sweet potatoes and beans or go with ground beef mixed with taco seasonings.
• Taquitos
• Tortilla Pizzas
• Wrap: add meat, veggies, hummus, and/or cheese to make a wrap.

Tuna

Tuna, the staple that will keep in the pantry and make multiple meals. I like Yellow Fin Tuna in olive oil and salt, if I can find it.

• Tuna Salad: make a basic tuna salad with a can of tuna, mayo, mustard, red onion (chopped), and celery (chopped). Top on bread, make a tuna melt by placing the tuna on bread, then top with cheese and melt under the broiler for a few minutes, or serve with crackers or in a tortilla to make a wrap.
• Tuna Patties
• Tuna Pasta 

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Extra virgin olive oil is what I use as the primary oil in my kitchen. I use it for roasting, making salad dressing, and drizzling over food. For high temperature cooking (such as frying), I prefer avocado oil, which is also a staple in my pantry.

• Vinaigrette Salad Dressing 
• Roasted Veggies 
• Roasted Tomatoes
• Creamed Veggie Soup: use olive oil to make a cream soup.
• Drizzle Over Bread: make toasts (and serve with cheese, tuna salad or chicken salad, top with avocado, roasted tomatoes, or enjoy as-is). To do this, drizzle bread slices with olive oil, broil until crisp, and serve.
• Homemade Focaccia
• Croutons
• Sauté/Cook Food 

Ground Beef 

Ground beef is inexpensive (compared to other cuts) and super versatile. I get a few pounds of ground beef every couple of weeks from a local farm that raises cows on pasture (grass). If you’d like to find local beef in your area, check out eatwild.com

• Meatballs: cook them in the Instant Pot or the oven.
• Burgers: Here’s a fun recipe to make, but just ground beef formed into patties and then sprinkled with salt and pepper and grilled is perfect, or try smashed burgers.
• Taquitos
• Ground Beef Tacos
• Shepherd’s Pie
• Hamburger Soup
• Meatloaf
• Mini Meatloaves
• Stuffed Peppers
• Stuffed Poblano Peppers
• Beef Mongolian Meatballs

Chicken Thighs

Chicken thighs are an inexpensive and easy-to-cook piece of meat. They’re also super forgiving in that you can slightly overcook them (you know, you forget to pull them out at exactly the right time) and they won’t taste bland and dry like chicken breasts.

• Chicken and Rice
• Chicken, Potatoes, and Spinach Sheet Pan Meal
• Crispy Chicken Thighs
• One-Pot Chicken and Veggies
• Chicken Taco Meat
• Chicken and Quinoa Taco Soup
• One-Pan Chicken and Rice with Spinach

Cheese

Now, I’m not talking about a processed cheese product. What I am talking about is real cheese. This means cheese that is produced with real milk or cream through a culturing/fermentation process. Fake cheese is usually labeled as a “cheese product” and has a long ingredient list, such as: cheddar cheese, whey, water, protein concentrate, milk, sodium citrate, calcium phosphate, milkfat, gelatin, salt, sodium phosphate, lactic acid (as a preservative), annatto and paprika extract (for color), enzymes, Vitamin A palmitate, cheese culture, and Vitamin D3. Real cheese is made with, for example, just: milk, rennet, enzymes, salt.

I prefer to purchase cheese in block form and shred or slice it myself. I find this to be the most economical and versatile way to buy and use cheese. I keep parmesan cheese and cheddar on hand the majority of the time, along with goat cheese for snacking.

• Grilled Cheese 
• Cheeseboard 
• Mac and Cheese: make it on the stove-top or in the Instant Pot.
• Cheeseburgers: grill ground beef (in pattie form) with salt and pepper then top with cheese during the last few seconds.
• Salad: I love to shave parmesan cheese slices or crumble goat or feta into a salad–trust me, add cheese to your salads!
• Top on Tacos or Fajitas 
• Tuna Melt: make a tuna melt by placing tuna salad on bread, then top with cheese and melt under the broiler for a few minutes.

Milk (or nuts to make milk)

Milk is a staple used to make many different dishes, from homemade mac and cheese to pancakes (pancakes can be dinner) to soups and biscuits to ricotta cheese. If I can’t find dairy milk (read more about what to look for when buying dairy), I’ll make my own with nuts (almonds and cashews are my preferred choices, but sunflower and pumpkin seeds also work.)

Butter

Butter is another staple to have on hand for making a wide variety of recipes, from sautéing veggies for soup to making biscuits and cornbread. I even blend butter in my coffee every morning (using a blender).

Eggs 

Eggs are another staple that make multiple meals. Eggs are also a nutritional powerhouse and inexpensive when you factor in how much you can make with just a dozen eggs.

• Frittata
• Strata
• Omelette: yes, more of a breakfast, but sometimes breakfast for dinner is the best!
• Mayonnaise: at the moment, mayonnaise is hard to find in my area so making my own is the way to go.
• Eggs in a Hole: A favorite breakfast-for-dinner meal in our house.
• Scrambled Eggs 
• Egg Hash
• Omelette Cups: yes, more of a breakfast but they work for “brinner”, too.

Bread

I always keep some sort of bread in my freezer, ready to use to make sandwiches, serve as toast, make croutons, or French Toast (just to name a few uses). I recommend sourdough bread, which you can learn more about in this post. You can also make your own sourdough bread with flour, water, salt, and a starter.

• Sandwiches 
• French Toast 
• Toast with Olive Oil: drizzle with olive oil and toast under the broiler in the oven. Serve with cheese, top with avocados or chicken or tuna salad or an egg, or roasted tomatoes.
• Croutons 
• Eggs in a Hole

Peek Inside My Fridge and Pantry

I’ve created a video tour of both my pantry and fridge, so you can see exactly what I stock and how I store this food.

• Find the fridge tour here.
• Find the pantry tour here.

The post Pantry Dinner Ideas: What to Stock and Make From Your Pantry appeared first on Live Simply.

• Why rhythms and routines are important
• How rhythms and routines simplify real food meals
• My 15-minute meal planning routine
• How to use themes to simplify meal planning
• My weekly meal themes for breakfast and dinner
• How to use a rotational meal list to simplify meal planning
• My weekly grocery routine
• My weekly food prep routine
• Upcoming podcast episodes and guests

• Free Real Food Starter Guide and Crash Course
• Instagram
• What is Real Food?
• Fridge Tour Video 
• Pantry Tour Video 
• What I Stock in my Pantry 
• CSA: Community Supported Agriculture 
• Amazon Prime Now

Here’s the thing about real food: it requires work and effort. Processed food is so incredibly appealing because you don’t have to think about. If you’re going to eat real, you have to give it some sort of thought in advance–you have to prepare before you can enjoy real food. 

Some interesting facts: 

• In 1970, Americans spent 26% of their food budget on eating out. In 2010, this number was 41%. During this time, obesity rates more than doubled. 
• 60 years ago, the average dinner time was 90 minutes. Today, it’s less than 12 minutes.

I completely understand because we’re busy.  We live a very different life than our ancestors. 

• after a full day, thinking about what to eat and then cook is draining 
• time is needed to prepare food
• take-out is incredibly appealing
• processed food (take-out and packaged meals) meet the ever-growing need for FAST food

Dr. Mark Hyman, “Today, the food industry has hijacked our kitchens, not by accident, but by design. It has rebranded cooking as a chore, a burden, a drudgery. Cooking is what humans have done for millennia—transmitting the skills of gathering, preparing, and making food in community from generation to generation.” 

It’s important to talk about how to make real food work in our modern day. This is why it’s important that we share the routines and rhythms that are working to simplify real food for our family.  So, here’s what works for me in this season of life. 

My Weekly Real Food Routines and Rhythms

• Starts out Friday night
  • clean out the fridge sort, consolidate, take note of what I have. 
• Saturday morning meal plan 
  • Use themes 
  • Use rotational meal list 

• Saturday morning grocery shopping
  • first visit the market for meat, eggs, veggies, fruit, bread
  • Order from Whole Foods Prime Now grocery delivery to supplement with extra: butter, pasta, pantry essentials 
  • Sometimes Trader Joes for nuts and seeds

• Sunday Food Prep 
  • Take a look at my meal plan and determine what I can prep to reduce time in the kitchen
  • Some initial food prep for the week
  • Get kids involved: peel and chop carrots, wash fruit and veggies, make muffins, etc. 
  • Yes, takes time but greatly reduces time in kitchen throughout the week 
  • During the week prep naturally builds with leftovers 

Find routines and rhythms that work for you, in your current season of life. Be willing to play around with your routines and tweak them to simplify your life and how you approach real food. Create a flow and rhythm to your real food lifestyle. 

The post Podcast 051: Routines and Rhythms that Simplify Real Food appeared first on Live Simply.

In today’s episode, Renee shares about simplifying busy school mornings with a breakfast routine (it’s a game-changer), nourishing breakfast ideas, and how to pack simple real food lunches. She also answers your questions about real food.

Listen Here

You can listen to the podcast episodes here on the blog, iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play.

Leave a Podcast Review

Leave a Review

Reviews are critically important for a new podcast. Reviews tell iTunes that people are listening and also helps new people find the podcast. To leave a review, click on the button above and then click “Write a Review” (you’ll have to scroll down to see this option). Also, while you’re over in iTunes, be sure to hit the subscribe button to be notified when new episodes launch.

Show Notes

Simplifying school lunch packing is near and dear to my heart. That’s why I created the Simplified School Lunch Kit. My goal is to help you simplify packing school lunch and feel confident each morning when you approach the lunchbox. Use code: simplelunch at checkout to receive 25% off this kit.

• Renee’s first podcast episode: Live Simply, The Podcast 015
• Renee’s website: Raising Generation Nourished 
• Renee’s Cookbook: Nourished Beginnings
• Instagram: @raisinggenerationnourished
• Renee’s breakfast routine
• Kristin’s heart-shaped waffle maker
• #rgnschoollunch: Renee’s Instagram hashtag for school lunch ideas 
• Real food packaged snacks
• PlanetBox 
• Omielife Thermos Bento Box 
• LifeFactory Water Bottles 
• Keeping Kids Healthy Blogpost
• Homemade Elderberry Tincture
• Homemade Elderberry Syrup

Q1: On your blog you talk about the need to keep school mornings as low-key and low-stress as possible, and also the importance of feeding your family a nourishing breakfast. You’ve used a breakfast routine to make this possible. Can you share more about this routine.

Q2: What are your favorite breakfasts to rotate?

Q3: If parents want to create a similar breakfast routine, what are your tips for starting and implementing such a routine. 

Q4: You share daily lunch inspiration on Instagram (##rgnschoollunch). The lunches always look so appealing and nourishing. How do you approach packing real food lunches for your daughters? (do you plan out meals, use leftovers, etc.)

Q5: What do you aim for in a balanced, nourishing lunchbox?

Q6: I think a lot of us experience burnout when it comes to packing lunches. What are your tips for packing nourishing lunches that are full of variety but don’t feel too complicated to put together?

Q7: What your favorite lunches to pack? And your kids’ favorite lunches?

Q8: What are your favorite tools for packing lunches right now? 

Q9: What are the first food changes you’d recommend people make when switching to real food? 

Q10: Do you give your kids any vitamins, supplements, or probiotics?

The post Podcast 016: Simplify Breakfast and School Lunch with Renee from Raising Generation Nourished appeared first on Live Simply.

In today’s podcast episode, Renee shares what real food looks like for her family, her balanced and practical approach to planning and putting real food meals on the table, and ways to get your kids involved in the kitchen–including age-appropriate ideas.

Listen Here

You can listen to the podcast episodes here on the blog, iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play.

Leave a Review

Leave a Review

Reviews are critically important for a new podcast. Reviews tell iTunes that people are listening and also helps new people find the podcast. To leave a review, click on the button above and then click “Write a Review” (you’ll have to scroll down to see this option). Also, while you’re over in iTunes, be sure to hit the subscribe button to be notified when new episodes launch.

Show Notes

• Renee’s first podcast episode: Live Simply, The Podcast 015
• Renee’s website: Raising Generation Nourished 
• Renee’s Cookbook: Nourished Beginnings
• Instagram: @raisinggenerationnourished
• Renee’s Meijer Real Food Shopping Guide on Live Simply
• Renee’s blogpost about age-appropriate kitchen tasks for kids
• Kid-safe knives
• Weston A. Price Foundation
• Nourished Kitchen blog 
• (AD) Simplified School Lunch Kit: 20% off with code simplelunch at checkout

As I mentioned in episode 14, Renee and I talked for almost 3 hours during this interview. In order to keep this interview bite-sized, but also not cut out any of Renee’s incredible insight and encouragement, I’ve decided to divide our chat into a 3-part series. In the next episode, the final part of my interview with Renee, we’ll talk about simplifying school mornings with a breakfast routine, breakfast ideas for busy school mornings, packing a real food school lunch, and she’ll answer your questions.

Q1: What does a real food lifestyle look like for your family in real life?

Q2: You’re a busy momma. How do you make real food work among the chaos of mommy-hood?

Q3: Your kiddos help you a lot in the kitchen, and they started helping at a young age. How did you get them involved and also excited to help prepare meals?

Q4: Can you give us ideas of age-appropriate ways kids can help in the kitchen, from young children to older kids?

Q5:  What resources have helped you the most on your real food journey? (Taught you how to cook, challenged your ideas about food, or inspired you to make changes, etc?)

The post Podcast 015: Getting kids involved in the kitchen with Renee from Raising Generation Nourished appeared first on Live Simply.

Today, on Live Simply, The Podcast, I’m sharing what exactly a meal plan is, why it’s so important, and the one thing that’s helped me simplify meal planning and make it practical and enjoyable.

Listen Here

You can listen to the podcast episodes here on the blog, iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play.

Leave a Review

Leave a Review

Reviews are critically important for a new podcast. Reviews tell iTunes that people are listening and also helps new people find the podcast. To leave a review, click on the button above and then click “Write a Review” (you’ll have to scroll down to see this option). Also, while you’re over in iTunes, be sure to hit the subscribe button to be notified when new episodes launch.

Show Notes

• Real Food Planning Challenge (printable meal planning sheets)
• Real Food Planning Challenge Meal Planner (hardcopy meal planner, including meal planning sheets)
• (AD) Simplified School Lunch Kit, coupon code: simplelunch

Why Meal Plan?

1. A meal plan offer us a guide for how to use the ingredients we purchase.

Without a plan, we oftentimes have good intentions–buying a head of kale or lettuce, or picking up a pound of ground beef–but it’s easy for life to takeover during the week, which means we forget about the food we purchased on Saturday.

2. A meal plan helps us be strategic in the way we use ingredients, which saves money and helps us be responsible consumers. 

A meal plan provides you with direction for how you’ll use the ingredients in the fridge, pantry, and/or freezer for this set time. A meal plan can be created before you go to the store or market, and then you shop based on your plan and gather ingredients needed to make this plan happen. Or, a meal plan can be created after you shop at a market or grocery store, based on the ingredients purchased.

Now, if you’re new to real food and cooking at home, I think making a plan, and then purchasing ingredients from this plan, is the way to start. Over time, as you learn your way around the kitchen, and begin seeing how you can use ingredients because you’re experimenting with cooking and recipes, you’ll build up your muscles enough to be able to go to the market or store first, purchase what’s in season or on sale, and build a meal plan around those ingredients. But this skill comes with time, practice, and the experience to know how to use these ingredients to create multiple meals.

3. A meal plan simplifies life.

Once we have a plan in place for a set period of time, we no longer need to think about food during this time. Sure, we need to prepare and cook (or whatever the plan may call for), but we don’t have to waste our precious brainpower figuring out what to eat each day or how to use ingredients. This means we won’t be tempted to go through the drive-thru or stop at the store for the box of ready-made dinner most days, because there’s a plan–we know what we’re eating or we already ate because of that plan.

What is a Meal Plan?

There are a lot of misconceptions about meal planning. People oftentimes associate meal planning with a rigid plan, or an activity that should take hours on the weekend, or an activity that should involve a huge stack of cookbooks and food magazines, or something only “organized people” do.

Let’s debunk these misconceptions by talking about what exactly meal planning is…because it isn’t a scary thing.

1. A meal plan is simply a guide, or a road map that tells provides direction for meals over a set period of time.

That’s it! A meal plan is not some rigid system, and it doesn’t need to be complicated (we’ll talk more about this later with my simplifying hack). It should be a simple guide, that provides us with a meal framework for this set time so we don’t have to stress about our meals or resort to boxes, packages, or drive-thru’s on a consistent basis.

2. A meal plan is based on your schedule, and should be designed to work for you and simplify your meals and thinking about meals.

I recommend looking at your schedule first for the set period of time you’ll be planning (for example: a week, or 5 days), and then adding meals to a calendar or sheet of paper or a note on your notes app in your phone, based on your schedule. If you know you’re going to have a busy Monday, plan to make a meal that requires very little hands-on time and chopping on Monday. If you’re going to have a slow Saturday morning, you may want to plan to make something that requires more time, like pancakes or waffles, or a breakfast casserole or frittata. And maybe you’ll even want to make extras that morning to store away and plan to use at a later time when life is busy again.

3. A meal plan is also flexible.

Yes, you may write down a plan for each day, but this doesn’t mean you have to make Monday’s recipe on Monday. If you get to Monday, and the day was so busy that you decide eggs and sourdough toast are going to be easier, great! Make the eggs and toast. And just move your Monday plan to another day. Or, maybe you’ll choose to make Monday’s meal on Tuesday, and make Tuesday’s meal on Monday.

I think many people hate the idea of “meal planning” because it feels rigid, or they buy into the other misconceptions we talked about. And that’s not what a meal plan is, or should be. A meal plan should help you, it should simplify your life. A meal plan should work for you, and continue to work for you throughout the week. A meal plan should also be easy to put together, and shouldn’t take your entire Sunday to figure out. A meal plan should literally take minutes to put together. And this brings me to the one thing that’s completely changed the way I meal plan…the hack or tip, that’s simplified my planning.

The Key to Simplifying Meal Planning: A Capsule/Master List 

The key to simplifying a meal planning, and creating a meal plan in just a matter of minutes and a meal plan that your family is going to enjoy, and a plan you can confidently use and cook from, is found in something I call a master list, or a capsule list.

A capsule meal list is much like a capsule wardrobe; a term that you are probably familiar with. The capsule concept was created by Susie Faux, a London Boutique owner in the ’70s. According to Faux, a capsule wardrobe is a collection of a few essential items that work together and don’t go out of style (timeless).

Just like with a capsule closet full of clothes, which you rotate and wear over and over again, a master or capsule of recipes is a list of recipes or meals that you can rotate and lean on over and over.

1. To create a master list, you’ll need to first gather meal ideas or recipes. 

Gather your family together and ask, “What are your favorite foods/meals?” Based on your family’s suggestions, create a list of capsule/master meals. Hamburgers? Chicken salad? Scrambled eggs? Burrito bowls? Write down each suggestion. Do you have a favorite recipe from Pinterest that you regularly make? Awesome, write it down. Is Grandma’s famous breakfast casserole a huge hit with your family? Great, write it down.

Also, these ideas don’t have to be formal (written) recipes. They can be more ideas if you prefer and feel comfortable cooking this way: stir fry, burgers, hard boiled eggs, toast, veggie soup, quesadillas, etc.

2. Now create a Capsule/Master Meal List. 

Now it’s time to take your rough draft notes and create a more polished list that you can regularly use to build a meal plan. I recommend writing down the following information on your list: recipe name, source, page. If the recipe is found on a blog, write down the blog name under the source information, or the Pinterest Board where the recipe can be found. If you don’t want to keep a paper list, then use your Notes App or a document on your computer to store this information. The goal is creating a list that you can refer to over and over again. The way you do this is completely up to you.

The goal is to create a list of 15-30 recipes (or ideas) that you can regularly rotate. This number, for me, includes both breakfast and dinner ideas. (I keep a separate list for kid lunchbox ideas, which I shared about on the blog and also wrote a whole kit about–link in show notes)

If you’d like to add variety to your meal plan with new meals, I recommend keeping a separate list (I call my list, Recipes to Try) with meal ideas from Pinterest, cookbooks, magazines, and blogs. When you feel the need to spice things up, take a look at this list and add a new recipe to your meal plan. If you try a new recipe and your family loves it, add it to your Capsule/Master Meal List.

3. Now that you have a master or capsule list, it’s time to put that list to use to create regular meal plans, without spending hours doing so. Set aside a certain time each week to meal plan, and mark this time on your calendar. When it’s time to sit down and create your plan, pull out your list. Use this list to build your meal plan. I also like to take into consideration what’s in my fridge, freezer, and pantry. For example: If I have chicken breasts in my freezer, I’ll choose a meal from my list that uses chicken breasts for one night. If I have a ton of oats, I’ll choose breakfast options from my list that use oats (usually just oatmeal and fruit, or overnight oats). At this point, I know what ingredients are needed to create the meals on my list. In the beginning, or if you have a long list, you may need to look back (that’s where the source information comes in handy) to create a grocery list. The more you use this list to create your meal plans, the easier the act of meal planning will be.

Creating a Master or capsule meal list does require an upfront time investment, but this time is well worth the benefits. Once you’ve created your initial list, you’ll just need to add new meals that you love to the list (remember, it’s an on-going list). Over time, you’ll have a substantial list to pull from and rotate within your weekly meal plans. Meal plans that will only take you a few minutes to create because you’re showing up to your meal planning time with tried-and-true ideas and recipes.

The post Podcast 013: Debunking Meal Planning Misconceptions and The One Thing You Need to Simplify Meal Planning appeared first on Live Simply.

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You can listen to the podcast episodes here on the blog, iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play.

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Show Notes

• Thenaturalnurturer.com
• Frozen salmon in Instant Pot The Natural Nurturer
• Slow Cooker Whole Chicken The Natural Nurturer
• Find Taesha on Instagram: thenaturalnurturer
• Find Taesha on Facebook: thenaturalnurturer

Taesha is a mom, wife, teacher, and the voice behind the popular real food and natural living blog, The Natural Nurturer. Through her blog and social media, Taesha shares ideas for families wanting to make wholesome recipes that are delicious, healthy, and family-friendly. She also shares tried-and-true tips for making a real food and natural lifestyle enjoyable for the entire family, including children. In this episode, we chat about the following questions…

Q1: Tell us about yourself, your story, and what has lead you to where you are today.

Q2: What was your greatest struggle in the beginning, when you first started making the transition to real food?

Q3: How did your husband react to these lifestyle changes?

Q4: Do you have a food philosophy or mantra that you live by when it comes to food?

Q5: What does a real food lifestyle look like for your family?

Q6: Making the switch to a real food lifestyle can feel daunting. What are your tips for someone who wants to make this lifestyle transition but feels overwhelmed and doesn’t know where to begin.

Q7: How do you get family members on board with a real food lifestyle, particularly when you’re met with resistance from a child or partner.

Q8: You’re a mom, wife, teacher, and blogger. What have been your strategies for making a real food lifestyle work when life is full?

Q9: On your blog and social media, you talk about approaching a real food lifestyle from a place of balance and mindfulness. What does this look like for you and your family?

Q10: What resources have helped you the most on your real food journey?

The post Podcast 004: Making Real Food Work with Taesha from The Natural Nurturer appeared first on Live Simply.

Repeat meals, that is.

Today, I want to share exactly what this repeat, repeat, repeat mantra looks like when it comes to packing a school lunch. Instead of calling this a repeat lunch menu, I prefer to use the term, rotational lunch menu. That just sounds way more strategic and smart. Because finding ways to simplify life, like repeating meals, is exactly that…being strategic and smart.

Last week, we talked about 20 different lunch ideas. Technically speaking, 20 different lunchbox ideas–represented via photos in this post and this post–is about a month worth of packed lunches. Not bad, right?! But here’s the thing. There’s no need to serve a different lunch every single day of the week, unless you want to. What’s our mantra again? Rotate, rotate, rotate.  

If we approach a list of 20 meal ideas with a rotate (AKA: repeat) mantra, then there’s way more than a month worth of lunch ideas listed in last week’s blogposts. Plus, if we think of the lunchbox in terms of mix and match meal components versus looking at the lunchbox as one single lunch, we’ll get even more use out of the lunch ideas–whether the ideas come from you and your family, Live Simply (hi!), another blog, Pinterest, or the wonderful world of Instagram.

What is a rotational lunch menu?

A rotational menu is simply a meal plan that’s repeated over and over again for a period of time determined by you. Think of this rotational menu as a guide for what to put in the lunchbox each day during this set period of time.

The plan certainly isn’t set in stone, so if you want to change things up one day, you’re welcome to do so. While this plan may sound boring, that’s certainly not the case. A rotating plan can allow for as much variety as you’d like. We’ll talk more about that in a minute.

Why use a rotational menu system?

A rotational menu system simplifies lunch-packing and meal planning, and eliminates daily (and even weekly) decision fatigue. If you’ve put in the time and effort to create a meal plan, why not take full advantage of the time spent doing this by repeating that menu.

Using a rotational menu, particularly for lunches, also helps you determine what to prep in advance. Without a plan, it’s hard to prep anything in advance because you’re not sure what you’ll be eating on a day-to-day basis. Seeing a week worth of meals on a calendar allows you determine what foods may be prepped in advance to help simplify the week to come. This allows you to focus on prepping in bulk (doubling a recipe, for example, and freezing the extras) since you know the meal component will be used again in the future.

How do I create a rotational menu?

Something I’ve found helpful for creating a rotational school lunch meal plan is to write down a list of ideas divided by category or meal components: main, fruit, veggie, and crunchy/snacky. Sort your school ideas using these categories.

For a starter, you can use the ideas shared in the posts on the blog: this post, this post, and the post shared last year. Then add your own ideas. Keep this list somewhere visible and make it an on-going list that you can add to and build upon throughout the school year. Think of this list as a favorite or master idea list for lunch, much like the favorite list you’ve created to simplify breakfast and dinner meal planning. I’ll be sharing a printable list in my soon-to-be-released Simplified School Lunch Kit.

Next, plug these meals into a 5 day lunch plan and rotate this plan during your desired time period. When you’re “done” rotating this plan, don’t toss it. Keep it! This is a valuable plan that you can repeat again in the future. Just think, if you had four meal plans that you rotated every two weeks, you’d have two month’s worth of lunches planned. That’s amazing!

To get super practical, here’s what this may look like:

Choose 3 mains to serve each week, and then choose a couple of fruits, veggies, and crunchy/snacky sides. The fruits and veggies may be more seasonal, which adds variety to the rotational menu. Use these choices to create a menu by rotating the various components to create a lunch plan, and then repeat this plan for a set time period. You can see an example of how this plays out in real life via this download printable.

Will my kids get bored with a rotational menu?

Here’s the thing about making a rotating menu work…You have to find your groove. Find what works best for you and your kids. Maybe that’s a 5 day plan that you repeat for two weeks and then reuse again in a month or two. Maybe that’s a 5 day plan that you repeat for an entire month. Or, maybe that’s a 5 day rotation you use for a week and revisit every month. Determine what works best for you and your kids. And remember, when you’re done using this plan for your designated time period, save it!  This is a valuable resource that you can revisit again in the future.

A rotating meal plan can offer variety by using seasonal fruits and veggies. Even with main recipes, varieties exist. For example: pizza pinwheels can be made with pesto and cheese instead of red sauce, cheese, and spinach. A build-your-own-taco meal can be made with beans or shredded chicken or ground beef and then any accompanying sides: salsa, guacamole, cheese, lettuce, spinach, etc. A pasta salad can easily be changed up by adding various veggies or a cubed cheddar cheese or torn mozzarella cheese.

Remember, a rotational plan is about simplifying lunch planning and packing. Give it a try and tell me what you think.

The post How to Simplify School Lunch with A Rotational Lunch Menu appeared first on Live Simply.

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Meal Planning is Vital

Meal planning is vital because…

1. A meal plan offer us a guide for how to use the ingredients we purchase. Without a plan, we oftentimes have good intentions–buying a head of kale or lettuce, or picking up a pound of ground beef–but it’s easy for life to takeover during the week, which means we forget about the food we purchased on Saturday. It’s also important to note that this guide is flexible. Just because a meal is planned for Monday night, doesn’t mean I can’t make it on Tuesday (and make Tuesday’s meal on Monday).

2. A meal plan helps us be strategic in the way we use ingredients, which saves money and helps us be responsible consumers. For example, if I plan to make hash with kale and potatoes for breakfast on a weekend, I can plan to put the remaining kale leaves to use later in the week. Without a plan, those extra kale leaves would probably rot in the back of my fridge.

3. A meal plan simplifies life. Once we have a plan in place for a set period of time, we no longer need to think about food during this time. Sure, we need to prepare and cook (or whatever the plan may call for), but we don’t have to waste our precious brainpower figuring out what to eat each day or how to use ingredients.

I used to struggle with creating a meal plan because I didn’t know what to actually put on my plan. Each week I would sit down to a blank calendar and my mind would go blank. This would result in hours of looking through cookbooks and magazines, reading each recipe, and trying to figure out what I wanted to make. A Favorite Meals List was my solution to ending this painful, frustrating cycle. This list helped me simplify the act of meal planning and reduced the amount of time I spent trying to come up with meal ideas.

Let’s talk about how to create your own list, and then how to use this list to simplify your meal planning time.

Step One: Gather Ideas 

Gather your family together and ask, “What are your favorite foods/meals?” Based on your family’s suggestions, create a list of favorite meals. Hamburgers?  Chicken salad?  Scrambled eggs? Burrito bowls?  Write down each suggestion. Do you have a favorite recipe from Pinterest that you regularly make? Awesome, write it down. Is Grandma’s famous breakfast casserole a huge hit with your family? Great, write it down.

Also, these ideas don’t have to be formal (written) recipes. They can be more ideas if you prefer and feel comfortable cooking this way: stir fry, burgers, hardboiled eggs, toast, veggie soup, quesadillas, etc.

Step Two: Create a Favorite Meals List 

Now it’s time to take your rough draft notes and create a more polished list that you can regularly use to build a meal plan. I recommend writing down the following information on your list: recipe name, source, page (if the recipe comes from a printed source). If the recipe is found on a blog, write down the blog name under the source information, or the Pinterest Board where the recipe can be found. If you don’t want to keep a paper list, then use your Notes App or a document on your computer to store this information. The goal is creating a list that you can refer to over and over again. The way you do this is completely up to you.

The goal is to create a list of 15-30 recipes (or ideas) that you can regularly rotate. This number, for me, includes both breakfast and dinner ideas. (I keep a separate list for kid lunchbox ideas.)

The recipes added to your list should fit your current lifestyle. If you work full-time and don’t have the time to make dinners that require 1-2 hours of prep, then it’s probably not ideal to include these as options on your list. You may want to include a small section at the bottom of your list titled, “Special Favorites.” <–These are meals you could include on your meal plan on the weekend (when you have more time to spend in the kitchen) or for a special dinner party or a family birthday.

If you’d like to add variety to your meal plan with new meals, I recommend keeping a separate list (I call my list, Recipes to Try) with meal ideas from Pinterest, cookbooks, magazines, and blogs. When you feel the need to spice things up, take a look at this list and add a new recipe to your meal plan. If you try a new recipe and your family loves it, add it to your Favorite Meals List.

Set aside a certain time each week to meal plan, and mark this time on your calendar. When it’s time to sit down and create your plan, pull out your list. Use this list to build your meal plan. I also like to take into consideration what’s in my fridge, freezer, and pantry. For example: If I have chicken breasts in my freezer, I’ll choose a meal from my list that uses chicken breasts for one night. If I have a ton of oats, I’ll choose breakfast options from my list that use oats (usually just oatmeal and fruit, or overnight oats).

At this point, I know what ingredients are needed to create the meals on my list. In the beginning, or if you have a long list, you may need to look back (that’s where the source information comes in handy) to create a grocery list.  The more you use this list to create your meal plans, the easier the act of meal planning will be.

Creating a Favorite Meals List does require an upfront time investment, but this time is well worth the benefits. Once you’ve created your initial list, you’ll just need to add new meals that you love to the list (remember, it’s an on-going list). Over time, you’ll have quite the list to pull from and rotate within your weekly meal plans. Meal plans that will only take you a few minutes to create because you’re showing up to your meal planning time with tried-and-true ideas and recipes.

If you’re looking for more ways to simplify meal planning, I shared a few more ideas over here.

The post Simplify Meal Planning with a Favorite Meals List appeared first on Live Simply.

Now that we have kids, I recognize that many of my own frustrations–like being late, driving around in a messy car, and not knowing what to make for dinner– are direct results of me thinking that life will just magically come together and organize itself.

Systems and routines are the foundations of an organized, happy, kid-filled home. By implementing routines, like a morning routine and bedtime routine, a school clothes routine, a laundry routine, and rotating meal plans (basically a meal routine), the chaos that once reigned supreme in our home no longer exists. Hallelujah! 

Sure, life will always be a bit “crazy” with kids–or maybe spontaneous and unpredictable are the words I’m looking for–but the goal of creating routines and organization isn’t about some sort of unattainable perfection. The goal is to simply reduce the stress and chaos by simplifying daily life tasks.

Why not create a laundry routine versus feeling frustrated about the loads of laundry that pile up each week? Why not create a meal plan instead of opening up the fridge every morning and feeling frustrated about the lack of meal options? Why not teach the kids to wake up each morning, make their beds, get dressed, and make their way to the kitchen for breakfast?

Routines provide structure for completing daily life tasks. This structure makes daily tasks simpler, easier, and more organized. This means we have more time to embrace the spontaneous side of life without worrying about how the laundry will get done, the lunchbox will get packed, or if the kids will find clean socks in the morning.

Okay, I’m going to step down from my soapbox, lol. Let’s talk about four “hacks” to simplify daily life tasks so there’s time to enjoy a real food breakfast and pack a (real food) school lunch.

Currently, my kids need me to pack their lunchbox. I’m looking forward to the day when they can pack their own lunch, but, for now, I’m the chief lunch packer and breakfast maker (because while Dustin is amazing at many things, cooking isn’t one of them). The following “hacks” are strategies I’ve implemented in our home to “buy” me a few extra minutes at night or in the morning to accomplish the necessary tasks of getting breakfast on the table and packing school lunch. Think of these strategies as practical ways to bring more organization to the school year.

4 Hacks that Simplify School Breakfast and Lunch

Hack No. 1: Repeat, Repeat, Repeat 

There’s no need to reinvent breakfast and lunch every single week. Create a weekly breakfast and school lunch menu, and stick to that menu for an entire month. If a month seems too long or too boring, then try a two week rotational menu. For two weeks, the same breakfasts and lunches are repeated (during the weekday). And then for the next two weeks, the schedule changes to include different breakfasts and lunches. Remember, the goal is nourishment not Pinterest-worthy creativity.

Hack No. 2: Prep Ahead 

Think about what you can prep based on your repetitive plan (see hack no. 1). Prep a couple of foods in advance for the week ahead. For example: Make waffles (or a gluten-free option) on Sunday, doubling the recipe, so you can have waffles later in the week. Or, dedicate an hour on Sunday to prepping a batch (or double batch) of waffles and another food. I like to focus on prepping the foods that are time-consuming to make, because these are the foods I don’t want to make on busy school mornings.

And this idea of prepping ahead brings me to talking about my favorite kitchen appliance, the freezer…

Hack No. 3: Stock Your freezer

Think about the foods (from your repetitive plan) that can be frozen in advance. Double these recipes and store the extras in the freezer for future meals.I’ll share a few ideas on the blog soon. I freeze both breakfast and lunch foods.

Hack No. 4: Set a Morning Routine 

Develop a set morning routine for the kids: make bed, get dressed, eat breakfast. And if you don’t have a set morning routine for yourself, develop one.

For me, I get up at 5am (two hours before I need to start getting ready for school), enjoy my morning hot water and lemon and coffee, stretch and jump up and down (seriously, to wake myself up and get my blood flowing), read, and work on my most important task of the day (typically this is writing a future blogpost or editing photos for a future post). At 7:15 am (my alarm is set), I start getting ready for the day (which includes listening to music or a podcast), make or warm up breakfast for the family, and pack lunches. While I’m packing lunches, the kids are upstairs working on their morning routine, which we’ve practiced together over and over again.

A routine = less chaos in the morning because everyone knows what is expected of them. 

Less chaos = extra time to get the lunchbox packed and a healthy breakfast in your family’s hands. Hey, you may even have time to enjoy a cup of hot coffee. 

Hack No. 5 Give Yourself Grace 

Okay, I said four hacks, but I think this one is important to mention: give yourself grace. I keep a box of “better” cereal in my pantry (One Degree is my favorite brand) for those special mornings when we just need a change and nothing in the freezer or fridge sound good right now. And then there are times when Londyn suddenly doesn’t like anything in her clothes basket and wants to find a dress to wear from her closet, which means I spend half my morning helping her meet her fashion goal for the day.

Friend, it happens, even with all the prep and well-practiced routines. That is when grace is so important. Simplifying and eating real food aren’t about perfection <–Remember that. We do the best we can each day, with the ultimate goal of loving our families well and nourishing their lives (and bodies) to the best of our abilities.

The post 4 Hacks that Simplify School Breakfast and Lunch appeared first on Live Simply.

We were afforded the luxury of having a kitchen during the first half of our trip (both the condo and Airbnb). For the last half of our trip (the cruise to the Eastern Caribbean), we were completely at the mercy of the cruise boat chefs and port restaurants.

In the past, I’ve shared my tips for eating real food on vacation, particularly if you have a kitchen in your vacation rental and have access to multiple stores and restaurants. Today, let’s chat about how to eat real food when you don’t have a kitchen (for example: you may be staying with friends or family, on a road trip, or on a cruise).

If you’d like to learn more about a real food lifestyle, I suggest reading this post first. 

Remember, real food is a lifestyle, not a diet. A lifestyle that’s focused on eating good food, made with nourishing ingredients.

1. Be prepared

My best advice for eating real food is to be prepared. At home, this looks like prepping ingredients or meals for the week ahead. On the road (away from home), this looks like packing snacks that are made with the best possible ingredients.

Think about snacks that don’t require refrigeration or extra utensils. My favorite snacks, include: Justin’s Peanut Butter/Nut Butter individual packages, Lara Bars, Perfect Bars (refrigeration required–check out Costco or health food stores), Two Moms in the Raw Soul Sprout Granola Bars, good-quality crackers (Simple Mills, Jovial, Annie’s Bunnies), rice cakes (Lundberg Farms), bananas, apples, applesauce pouches, dried fruit and veggies, canned tuna (serve on crackers or over a salad for extra protein), and granola. Snacks are a good back-up if you can’t find any decent food choices.

I knew that pancakes would probably be served for breakfast while on the cruise (along with other options), so I packed a tiny bottle of maple syrup (travel size from Target). Everyone in our family thought I was crazy, until they enjoyed real maple syrup in the morning.

I also brought Amazing Grass Raw Reserve (purchased from a local health food store–here’s a similar product by the same company). This powder is made from various land and sea greens, and it’s packed full of natural probiotics. I mixed the powder in a glass of water each morning (in place of my green smoothie).

We brought our own coffee press and beans on the cruise, which wasn’t necessary to enjoy real food–we just love our freshly-ground coffee. You can learn more about the travel-friendly method we used, here.

2. Look/ask for plain fruits, veggies, and meats

The more complicated a meal, the more opportunity there is to add questionable ingredients–unless that particular kitchen makes the meals with from-scratch ingredients. For this reason, I tend to stick with simple, plain meal options when eating out: steamed or roasted veggies, grilled or roasted/baked meats, and no-dressing salads.

For example: In the mornings, while we were on the cruise, I enjoyed hardboiled eggs, bananas or apples, roasted veggies, bacon, and cut-up fruit. These options were pretty plain compared to the sauce and casserole options.

Salads are an easy way to enjoy veggies when you’re away from home, even if a fast food restaurant is your only option. But proceed with caution–most salad dressings are loaded with questionable ingredients, like: canola oil, artificial flavorings, and less-than-real preservatives. When ordering a salad, I’ll ask for olive oil and vinegar versus a pre-made dressing.

3. Be mindful of ingredients 

Overall, be mindful of how the food you’re about to order/consume has been made. Just as we read ingredient labels and think about where our food comes from when shopping, it’s important to have the same mindset when we’re away from home. Think about enjoying the most nourishing choices available.

For example: One of the lunch options on the cruise was a made-to-order burger hut. I love a good burger. I knew the meat wasn’t grass-fed, but it was just beef (as clean and nourishing as possible). I thought about the burger ingredient options, and how to make the most nourishing meal possible. This is what my order looked like: one patty wrapped in lettuce (many restaurants will accommodate this option if you ask), avocado (an ingredient option on the menu), mustard, cheese, tomato, and onion.

It’s important to remember that a vacation or outing should be relaxing and enjoyable. It’s okay to enjoy food options that you wouldn’t normally eat at home, as long as you’re mindful of what you’re eating. Real food isn’t a diet; it’s about being mindful of our food choices and enjoying good, nourishing food–which also happens to be incredibly delicious food. That burger certainly qualified as good food to me.

The post How to Eat Real Food When Traveling appeared first on Live Simply.

Some seasons bring a calm stillness, when you can breathe, spend extra time in the kitchen, and even cuddle up with a good book at night. And then there are full seasons.

Full may also appear as busy, but I shy away from that word because it indicates a sense of chaos. I’m talking more about living a full season of life. For us, this looks like doing life with two kids and a growing food photography and recipe development business (a natural by-product of Live Simply).

Last month, our full life got extra busy. Yes, I’m going to finally use that word, busy. We had taken on some giant food photography and recipe development projects with short deadlines, and the kids had just started back at school. I did my best to keep up by making sure that everyone was dressed and loved before school each day, and keeping real food a consistent part of our life.

Preparing and serving real food day after day over the course of the last six weeks has been a challenge at times. If it weren’t for a few life-saving (literally, these hacks saved my sanity and kept real food being served in our home day after day), then I probably would have resorted to nightly take-out at the best option in town, Chipotle. We love Chipotle, but our bodies need a bit more than rice, beans, and guac seven nights a week, and so does our budget.

Last Friday, we completed the last big project we’ve been working on, which means that once again the seasons are changing. This time I can feel the calm approaching, or, at least, the “calm” that also involves raising active kids. Parenting means accepting a new kind of normal and calm, right?!

Let’s talk about the “hacks” that save our real food lifestyle during the busy seasons.

1. Make a Busy Weeknight Meal List: 

I keep a Busy Weeknight Meal list on my fridge. This is my go-to list for meal planning during the busy seasons of life. Each week, I simply glance at the list on my fridge, which is compromised of meals that may be cooked in less than 30 minutes and/or lots of prep may be done in advance, and create a meal plan from these recipes/ideas. This list also includes no-recipe-required ideas. For example: Burgers, hardboiled eggs, scrambled eggs, roasted vegetables.

How To: 

First, print my Busy Weeknight Meal printable, or simply pull out a piece of notebook paper. Think about the criteria you’ll use to determine the meals that go on this list. For me, the meals must require less than 30 minutes to cook and/or lots of prep may be done in advance (such as: quesadillas, soup, and tacos). Just remember, the goal during this time is nourishment and simplicity.

Next, sit down (this does require about 30-45 minutes of time, but this is a one-time activity), and jot down every recipe and/or meal idea that you know will work on a busy day. 15-20 meal ideas is ideal, divided between breakfast and lunch/dinner. This may be an on-going list. Next time you try a great recipe, or think of a meal idea, and it meets your criteria, jot it down on this list.

2. Use That List to Meal Plan: 

Yes, I know life is busy right now. And I completely understand that meal planning is probably the last thing someone wants to think about during the busy seasons of life. Well, that is a pull-from-Pinterest-and-every-cookbook-ever-created meal plan. I like to take a different approach to meal planning, which simplifies the entire process.

I use my Busy Weeknight Meals list to create meal plans during busy seasons. This list means that I don’t have to use mental energy to create a meal plan each week. And we all know just how valuable mental energy is when you’re busy.

How To: 

Use the recipes found on your Busy Weeknight Meals list to fill in empty spaces on your weekly meal plan calendar. And if you want to take the simplifying a bit further, save your weekly meal plans (I use my workbook.). If your schedule is extra busy one week, simply look through your old meal plans and find one that appeals to you, and voila…your family’s meal plan is ready!

3. Cook Once, Eat Twice: 

“Cook once, eat twice” simply means doubling a recipe or meal to create two meals. For me, this looks like only planning to cook 3 times a week on my meal plan, doubling those recipes, and then enjoying the leftovers on the “off” nights. And remember, the recipes on the Busy Weeknight Meals list are easy, so doubling them won’t take much time at all. 

How To:

Simply plan, and shop accordingly, to double the meals on your meal plan. 

4. Prioritize What to Buy Versus Make: 

There are so many great real food options in stores these days, which means I can skip making mayonnaise and purchase a quality jar from the store (that’s just one example), or I can purchase a quality bread instead of making a loaf at home. I use a few simple questions to help guide my decision about what to buy versus make. 

How To: 

The next time you’re at the store and/or market, take a look at the real food options that are available for staple foods in your home. If there are real food options available, take a mental note for future shopping trips. Staples may include: cooked (canned) beans, spaghetti sauce, bread, yogurt, mayo, pre-cut fruit and/or veggies (many stores offer this convenience), and even a cooked whole chicken. What you buy versus make will vary with your budget, weekly needs/schedule, and the sources in your area.

Don’t feel ashamed that you’re not making homemade bread, yogurt, or the perfect apple-spiced cake on the weekends. Friend, the goal is getting through the busy season with a nourished body. The homemade bread, yogurt, and apple cake recipes will still be there in a few months, if you want to make them ;).

5. Make Use of Kitchen Helpers:

We live in a day when there are so many wonderful helpers ready to help us out in the kitchen…electronic helpers! A few of my kitchen helpers, include: a crock-pot, food processor, blender, and freezer. These appliances help me get meals on the table with little to no effort.

My crock-pot cooks broth and whole pieces of meat while I’m away working on projects. My food processor allows me to quickly chop veggies or form salmon burgers. My blender blends pancake batter and smoothies in under sixty seconds. And my freezer allows me to freeze leftovers for future meals.

How To:

On your Busy Weeknight Meals list include a few crock-pot or Instant Pot recipes. If you don’t have any favorite recipes yet, look online for “real food crock-pot recipes” or “real food Instant Pot recipes.” There are a handful of crock-pot options here on Live Simply, like: pulled pork, whole chicken, broth (for soups), and beef stew. My absolute favorite slow-cooker/crock-pot cookbook is Quick Slow Cooking. Renee from Raising Generation Nourished shares real food Instant Pot recipes on her blog.

How do you make real food work during the busy seasons of life?

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