What are some of your “go-to” meals? Are they seasonal? Our temperatures here are all over the place right now. I nearly had to turn on the air conditioner the week before last and then the bottom dropped and it got very cold again.

If I eat a salad, I like to do it when it is warm out (unless it is Chicken and Fries salad, Mmmmm, mmmm) and soups when it is colder. Of course “colder” is relative to what the temperatures have been. If it is the fall and just come out of 100º temperatures then the 60’s is definitely colder but if it spring and the temperatures have been in the 30’s and 40’s then 60 is definitely warmer. See?

Soups/Chili

Well, all that to say . . . my go-to meals are subject to temperature. When it is a bit on the chilly side, we lean to adding chili and soup to our menu at least a couple of times in the week.

I’ve shared some of our favorites here. Sometimes I make this crock pot meal with added broth for more of a soup than gravied type casserole.

Hand-held Food

Hamburgers, hot dogs, tacos, and fajitas are ones that make it to our menu frequently, especially in warmer weather. I don’t know why it is more frequent during warmer temps unless it is the fact that it heats the house up less than turning on the oven.

There are other hand-held foods that we eat but not as frequently as those, such as quesadillas, grilled sandwiches/paninis, and chicken nuggets.

Casseroles/Pasta/Grains

We don’t have a lot of casseroles any more unless you call spaghetti a casserole. Spaghetti and pasta dishes frequent our menu. Spaghetti is one of Tiffany’s favorite meals; she has been known to ask for it for her birthday dinner frequently.

I’ve shared several pasta dishes that are THM compatible in the last year, as these are ones that Tiffany loves to just throw together on the fly. She’s been enjoying quinoa again for lunches lately too.

Pizza

Yep, pizza or a pizza flavored dish is a weekly meal here. For a while I had stopped making pizza for dinner and Sean said he missed it. I happily brought it back to our menu as it is a favorite of mine.

We are really enjoying pizza with a sourdough crust for the last several months. It is our current favorite. We’ve even learned to enjoy it with little cheese. I know, shocking! However, when we are needing a cheese fix, we will switch to either a fathead type crust and go keto-style or shift to my pizza skillet or pizza topping casserole.

Salad?

When it is warmer weather we will sometimes do a salad for dinner but more often than not we will just have a side salad with whatever entree I’ve decided to cook.

My other go-to meals are printed out from recipes I’ve found online; I thumb through them to be reminded of how good they are and if they are simple, all the better.

My menu this ‘week’ is

• fajitas
• chili
• pizza with salad
• split pea soup
• fried pork chops, crispy asparagus, and caulitaters
• spaghetti
• crock pot chicken and noodles with caulitaters (mashed/creamed cauliflower)

The chili was nice the day the temperature stayed in the 50’s and rained. Fajitas were a nice quick fix meal. Crock pot meal will make errand day dinner easy. And the fried pork chops will be a nice change–they were on sale a couple weeks ago, as was the asparagus.

I hope this helps you create your menu.

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº