~ Texas Homesteader ~ 

I get asked this a lot:

“How in the world do you serve homemade meals every day??!!”

Well, I’ll let you in on a little secret – I use several shortcuts. And they could help you too! Serving homemade meals every day doesn’t have to be time consuming. There are lots of tips, tricks & easy shortcuts. Come see! 

Making Homemade Meals Every Day

Many are surprised to find that I serve homemade meals every day. There are actually several good reasons for that. And none involve the words “Because I love to cook“!

• • Location, Location, Location! Living in a rural area means there’s a limit to close places to go out to eat. And home delivery is certainly not even an option!
  • Healthier Eating. I know eating at home is a healthier option than the high-fat, high-sugar & high sodium options that tempt you at a restaurant. I’m able to serve a delicious homemade meal while still having control over any unhealthy ingredients in recipes.
  • Eating Out Is Expensive. It’s significantly cheaper to cook from scratch than to eat out, or even to utilize packaged convenience items sold in the stores. Being self employed means I’m extremely mindful of our budget. 

Cook Once, Eat Twice Method Of Cooking

I’ve written about this many times. And it’s a huge reason I’m able to serve homemade meals every day. Cook Once, Eat Twice. 

It means I cook a huge amount of a main entrée all at once. I’m already firing up the oven, pulling out the seasonings & food preparation bowls are being dirtied up anyway.

So instead of mixing up a single Meatloaf, I’ll make FOUR. (since that’s how many fit in my oven at one time) 

We’ll enjoy meatloaf for supper of course. And RancherMan’s fond of meatloaf sandwiches the next day. But then the rest of that meatloaf is cut into 2-person-sized portions, packaged, labeled and frozen.

This means there are now several servings of homemade meatloaf as close as my freezer. I simply thaw some of that cooked meatloaf, add a couple of simple sides and BOOM! A homemade meal, literally served in minutes.

There is always a wide variety of main entrees already cooked & waiting  for me in my freezer.

Planned Leftovers Method Of Cooking

Similar to the Cook Once, Eat Twice method mentioned above, Planned Leftovers is where I cook a very large amount of a main ingredient all at once.

This is with the intention of reworking that cooked ingredient into several completely different kinds of meals later.

There is a great list at the bottom of this post with various ways I remake leftovers into new meals. But here are a few of my faves:

• Cooking A Huge Pot Roast

Let’s use a pork roast for example. I’ll load up all my slow cookers and cook several pork roasts at one time. Some cooked roast is sliced & frozen for roast meals for later.

But other portions of that cooked roast will be reworked into completely new meals for us to enjoy for the next few nights.

For instance I’ll take some of that leftover roast and quickly Shred It With My KitchenAid to use for a brand new meal that is completely different.

We particularly love Carnitas Tacos! 

Another way to use cooked shredded meat is by tucking it inside a corn tortilla and adding cheese to fashion it into Shredded Pork Enchiladas. 

Perhaps yet another night I’ll chunk up some cooked roast and make a hearty pot of stew. You get the idea – I refashion the cooked meat into completely different meals. It’s super fast because the main ingredient is already cooked.

• Cooking 2-Lbs of Dried Pintos

Another example of planned leftovers is when I cooked a whole 2-lb bag of dried pinto beans at one time. It helped get an inexpensive, delicious yet homemade meal on the table quickly.  

The first night we enjoyed beans & cornbread for supper. Then each night I’d take out a couple of cups of cooked beans & season them differently for a completely different taste:

Ranch-Style Beans – just add a chili-sauce made from diced tomatoes, seasonings, brown sugar and a splash of vinegar.

BBQ Beans – stir in some Homemade BBQ Sauce – fast & easy!

Bean & Cheese Burritos – just mash seasoned beans, spread on a tortilla & add some shredded cheese for quick lunches too. We like to grill them on the griddle to make them crispy.

Leftover Bean Homemade Hummus – whirr the leftover beans with my hummus seasoning to whip up a leftover-bean hummus, which RancherMan loves.

See what I mean? Different dishes but a main ingredient has already been cooked. It sure makes for a nice way to get a home-cooked meal on the table fast! You can see how to make all these Leftover Bean Serving Ideas Here. 

• Pre-cooked ground meat 

Another example of planned leftovers is pre-cooked ground meat. I’ll cook several pounds of ground meat with sautéed onion & garlic.

Typically no other seasoning is added other than salt & pepper. Then I’ll section it off into about 1.5 to 2 cup portions & freeze. 

This cooked ground meat is used for tacos, spaghetti, enchiladas, or stuffed peppers. Or actually any dish calling for ground meat.

It’s as simple as pulling a portion of that meat from the freezer, heating it up, seasoning the meat and using it in my recipe. No sautéing the onions/garlic first, no cooking the meat until no pink remains & draining the fat. It’s already been done! 

Endless Soup

For a healthier and more vegetable-heavy quick lunch choice than sandwiches I started opting for Endless Soup where I make a large pot of soup and add to it each day.  

Hot & healthy in the winter for sure, but in the summer I often utilize excess veggies from the garden. 

I start by making a meat-heavy soup and we enjoy it as a meal. Then next time I bring that soup pot from the fridge I’ll add a can of vegetables – broth & all.

Over the course of a few days that soup becomes more brothy and veggie heavy – my favorite.

I’ll enjoy that soup for healthier lunches for several days before I quit adding veggies to the soup pot and allow the rest of the soup to be eaten. It’s a healthier lunch option than sandwiches yet just as fast to serve. 

Utilizing Leftover Ingredients

I most often plan supper around what’s left in the fridge needing to be used.

Half a jar of spaghetti sauce from yesterday’s meal might top Homemade Ravioli or Stuffed Peppers tonight. Leftover cooked rice might be turned into Chicken Fried Rice or mashed potatoes transformed into Potato Cakes. 

Whatever is leftover in the fridge gets first consideration when planning supper.

Plus it’s a huge step in eliminating wasted food too!

Plan Ahead For Homemade Meals FAST 

It’s not always possible to know exactly where everyone will be tomorrow at suppertime.

But by deciding the main entrée in advance I can assure that homemade meals will still be possible. Here’s how I make it easy:

The previous evening I look in the freezer and choose from the prepared entrees I see. I put that main entrée in the fridge to thaw overnight. 

Tomorrow when we come in tired and late from working in the pastures a homemade supper is easy. It only involves heating up the main entrée, adding a salad or a couple of veggie sides and maybe some fresh Homemade Oat/Honey Bread.

See? All easy stuff. And using these methods assure healthy, inexpensive yet delicious homemade meals adorn our table every night.

• 
• 
• 
•