When life gets busy and overwhelming, or drops unexpected challenges in your path, you need to simplify your mealtime. Life happens, but we all still need to eat. It’s a basic need, certainly, but it’s also nourishment that feeds our emotional and familial needs as well. Sometimes when there’s change in our lives, we need to get back to the basics in the kitchen. We need to prepare something that doesn’t require a ton of energy, ingredients or thought. Instead of focusing on the sometimes daunting task of “what’s for dinner” in the midst of chaos, it helps us focus on what matters most — connecting around the table and offering our love through thick and thin. Here are 31 of my favorite easy, delicious meals to prepare during those hectic periods.

1. Three-Ingredient Slow-Cooked Meatballs
2. Quiche
3. Spaghetti
4. Oven Tacos
5. Burgers
6. Hawaiian Pizza
7. BLTs
8. Breakfast Cups
9. Grilled Salmon
10. Veggie Quesadillas
11. Grilled Panini
12. Pancakes
13. Sloppy Joes
14. Omelets
15. Steak
16. French Toast
17. Southwest Roll-Ups
18. Taco Soup
19. Chicken or Steak Fajitas
20. Baked Potato Soup
21. Pot Roast
22. Slow-Cooked Fall-off-the-Bone Ham
23. Grilled Pork Chops
24. Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole
25. Chicken Sausages & Peppers
26. Slow-Cooked Balsamic Pork Loin
27. Chicken Pot Pie
28. Slow-Cooked Ravioli Casserole
29. Mini Deli Sandwiches
30. Grilled Italian Chicken
31. Strawberry Spinach Salad