I am not a foodie. A mere ten years ago I gave my Dearest food poisoning that required an ER trip and caught the kitchen on fire IN THE SAME WEEK.
I am much better now. I discovered that if I keep things simple and use quality, fresh ingredients it is hard to mess up.
I cook mostly with cast iron skillets and dutch ovens. I don't own a gratin dish or any specialty dishes beyond my standard glass casserole 9 x 13 and a couple of bread and pie pans. I'll fancy up the fare for weekends and company, but typically a dish has to be simple and take less than 15 minutes of prepration. I have a 4 year old and a baby. I don't have time to play around in the kitchen.
Tonight's dinner cost less than 4$ for 4 servings. Alaskan Pollock was on sale, 10 fillets for $4.25 and I split the package for two meals. Carrots and leeks were also pretty cheap.
Basically the most expensive part was the aluminum foil. Ha.
So here it is:
4 frozen fillets of white fish
3 large carrots cut long and thin (like grass, but 1/4- 1/2 inch thick)
2 leeks cut long and thin (like grass)
4 pats of butter
lemon juice
salt and pepper (and granulated garlic if you like)
foil, 8 12 x 12 sheets.
Lay out 4 foil sheets, top each with leeks and carrots, then lay a filet on top and squirt with lemon, finish with seasonings and butter. Lay foil on top and pinch the two sheets together around all 4 sides.
Bake for 45 minutes at 425.
Done.
Lamb chops, asperagus, feta cheese, warm sour dough rolls, and new potatoes in salt and butter.
Lamp chops are ity bity, but easy to cook. Basically season, brown in a skillet, finish in the oven at 350 degrees. I overcooked these but they were still pretty good. 
Easy enough for week night fare. 
Mother, wife, sister, friend. This is our second year on the farm, a dream we've had since we were first married. We unschool, AP parent, and grow our own food (or try to).
