Creating a Soup & Stew Routine (Meet the Core 5)

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January 10, 2025

We talked last week about how soups & stews are a lifesaver for healthy eaters.

I mean, right?? They're easy, satisfying, and nutritious.

About the easy part: I found it helpful to have 5 core items on hand at all times when I was eating super-healthy.

I appreciated not having to think about this part of my list when I shopped—these items were on mental "auto-order" every time.

The Core 5 for Soups & Stews:

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So, now that you've got the Core 5 in the house, what should you do with them? Easy: 2 soup nights per week, make big batches (bulk up on meats & veggies), and store leftovers in canning jars for lunches.

Using the Core 5:

Loose sausage - Stash a variety of flavors. Google "soup recipe with [whichever flavor] sausage." Pick a recipe & print. Throw in more meat & veg than called for. Here's a favorite.

Ground beef - SO many possibilities. Do a Google search, pick a recipe, print it out. Throw in more meat & veg than called for. Here's a great one to try.

Whole chicken broilers - BONUS! 2 meals in one. Night 1: Cook the whole chicken and add sides. (If you have one, Instant Pots make chicken dinners SO easy...) After dinner: Shred and store leftover meat, start bone broth with carcass. (See below) Night 2: Bone broth + shredded meat = chicken soup. Add lots of meat and veggies.

Stew Beef (Beef stew cubes or beef kabobs) - No surprise here: it's beef stew time. This recipe is fantastic, or Google around for unique twists and variations.

Bone broth - Buy it premade, or make your own. It's so super easy to make - instructions are included here.

A few more tips:

Pair soups with a big salad topped with chopped veggies, homemade dressing, seeds, and crumbled raw milk cheese
Another tasty pairing: soup & whole grain (or grain-free!) muffins or cornbread
A handful of nuts and raisins makes a great dessert
Boost nutrition with soup add-ins like healthy oils, pastured collagen powder, mushrooms, cabbage, beans and grains (if you eat them).

Do you have a favorite soup or stew recipe? Comment below and share it with us!

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Family Friendly Weeknight Bolognese

If you're like me, family dinners are important. It feels like there are a million different responsibilities these days, and it's easy to get so busy that there doesn't seem to be time to sit down as a family and enjoy a filling, nutritious meal - much less cook one! The more I learn about the food industry, the more committed I become to making my family's food from scratch as much as possible. So then the challenge becomes finding recipes that fit my criteria... For a meal to be a winner in my book, here's what it needs to be: easy to make with very few separate stepseasy flexibility for dietary needs of individual family memberscustomizable for personal tasteeasy to swap ingredients to a) make it seem like a different dish sometimes and b) use what I have on handbe overall inexpensive (since I have a growing family of 6)have no "weird" ingredients or crazy spices. (In other words, it has to be "kid approved") Now. A quick browse on Pinterest might yield hundreds of recipes that mostly match those criteria, but as soon as I click the mouth-watering picture and actually read the recipe, my stomach churns at all the pre-packaged, ingredient-laden, seed-oil-filled "conveniences" that cook used. 😞 My meals also must be nutritionally dense and use no mystery ingredients or seed oils. Since I created this family-friendly weeknight Bolognese recipe that actually meets all of these requirements, I thought I'd share, because you may be "in the same boat" searching for recipes like this for your family, too. Hannah's Family Friendly Weeknight Bolognese Ingredients: 16 oz dry pasta (For extra kid-friendliness, I usually choose penne or rotini) 1 pound ground beef 1 pound ground pork sausage (My go-to is breakfast sausage, but you can use any flavor. It does need to be pork sausage because of the fat content.) 2 whole carrots (diced) 1 small onion (diced) 1 1/2 tsp salt (I only use REAL salt) 1/2 tsp ground black pepper 1 tsp EACH dried basil, dried oregano, dried parsley (substitute with 1 Tablespoon of fresh herbs when able. 😊) 4-8 garlic cloves (diced) - depending on size and preference 16-32 oz pasta sauce or tomato sauce - based on preference (I use my home-canned tomato sauce, but any will do) 1/2 cup whole milk or heavy cream (again, depending on preference) Steps: Cook pasta according to package instructions for al dente and set aside. Cook and crumble meats together in a large saucepanIn the meat pan, add vegetables and spices/herbs and cook until tenderAdd tomato sauce and simmer for 10-15 minutes to infuse flavorsStir in milk (or cream) and cook until warmStir sauce into cooked pasta and serve immediately with parmesan Recommended sides: Green salad or caprese (tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper) Sauteed kale or Swiss chard Roasted green beans, squash & zucchini, or asparagus Garlic toast Let me know if you try this dish, what you changed, and how you liked it! There are endless substitutions and changes that make this meal so so easy to keep in the back of your mind and just use whatever you have on hand. And its so easy that even kids can help with prep (which I love to have my kiddos do).

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