You don't always have to make stock, do a lot of planning or thinking to make a great meal with what what you on hand or what is in the store ready to go.  Adding some chicken thighs, (cook them first in a pan) to Amy's soup, and other veggies, (I also added a sweet potato that was microwaved to semi softness, jalapenos and fresh cilantro) along with some curry sauce from a jar, and lots of spices, and had a really great curry soup loaded with fresh stuff.
 

 This is an easy way to make turkey carcass soup.

After you make stock and deskin and remove the meat from the carcass, and add back to the stock (I strain the hell out of it and only return part of the mirepoix), you can add other veggies, like carrots, or turnips, whatever, turkey gravy, mushrooms and gnoccis for a really great soup. I have also added pre cooked wild rice, even with the gnoccis for texture, color and taste.

 More on inspiration:

This soup is inspired by a recipe for a soup that is served at the Buckhorn Exchange in Denver, Colorado.  (That place has liquor license number one, and their white bean soup is delish)

We think about making soup as a pot on the stove, or a crock pot or an Insta Pot, but you can also make soup in the oven.  I like the roasted taste for the sausage and the tomatoes, and since I used canned beans, it really does not require a long day with the oven on all day.

This recipe is really easy--several cans of organic beans,with liquid in the roaster, lay sausages of your choosing on top of the beans, I put in a whole container of tomatoes, the grape kind, or baby romas, and then add whatever spices--if you are really in a hurry, just put in a packet or two of Italian seasoning or you can go fancy with fresh herbs like basil, rosemary, whatever.  You may want to add a chopped up onion and some crushed or minced garlic.

Bake in a hot oven, 375 plus, until the sausage is done, the rest will be too.  Remove sausage and let it rest, while you mash the tomatoes with a potatoe masher, it wont hurt to mash some of the beans.  Cut up the sausage, maybe deskin it first and add back in.  If you need more liquid, a beer or broth or stock works, return to the oven for a little while longer, or not.  Serve hot with a green salad, or a winter fruit salad, bread and good cheer.

 A cornerstone of meal planning, if you can stand to eat leftovers (if you can't, a therapist might be in order) is to make a soup and a casserole when you have a day off and enjoy the combination or one or the other with a salad or an extra veggie, bread etc, all week long.

It is not hard to be inspired for me personally, but I know we all hit a wall sometimes.  This week's choice of making a "white" lasagna was inspired by lots of leftover baked chicken and an interesting pesto and white cheddar sauce I saw on clearance at Sprout's.  The beef and barley soup was based on a soup of the day choice I saw on a restaurant menu.

I have also found inspiration by taking the time to walk through a grocery store, try to go when it's not too crowded and look at what is on sale or what looks good.  The sirloin being on sale sealed the deal.  It is shown there marinating in soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce.  I had to cut and paste that word from the web! Haha! 

I know you may come here for recipes but both of these are make it up as you go along. I will give you some advice about the white lasagna--it did not taste as good on the first day, and I think that the mushrooms and chicken and the white cheddar just needed a chance to mellow out.  I also tried some lentil lasagna noodles, which were a little tough the first day too, but were totally fine afterwards.  The green color of them was great with the white sauce and the pale cheeses.

Chef's kiss! Love you.  

Meatloaf and Macaroni or Potatoes or...

Meatloaf is another one you can make easily that is easy and filling and you can freeze or store all the ingredients for a long time.

A bag of chopped onions, which are a dollar one sweet onion, which is also about a dollar
Worcestershire sauce
Tomato paste (I buy the little packets, a jar or a can is cheaper though, but you don't need much)
1 pound of ground beef
1 pound of ground pork, or turkey
2 eggs
1 bottle of a spicy ketchup.  I am a fan of one that is called "Buffalo Ketchup" and also a jalapeno one
Bread crumbs, I do gluten free
Spices to your taste. I like Montreal Steak Seasoning for meat loaf.

Preheat oven to 350 or so.
Line a pan with foil, like your little turkey pan or roaster, if you don't have one, you can use an aluminum pan from the store or a cookie sheet.  Investing in pans is not that big of a deal if you have Goodwill :)
Saute onions in olive oil, add your Worcestershire sauce and tomato paste or even some of the ketchup until it looks like the onions are fully cooked.  Let that cool.  I put the whole pan in the freezer or out on my balcony in the winter time.
Mix with hands, two beaten eggs, bread crumbs, meat and spices, add the cooled onion tomato mixture.  Form a loaf that is not thicker in the middle in your foiled pan and cover in ketchup.  Let it bake about an hour.
You can add potatoes to make mashed potatoes, potato wedges, whatever in the oven at the same time.  White potatoes take about an hour to bake, sweet ones do not, but they smell sweet when they are done, so that should help you.
I also will make veggie pasta to serve as a bed for the meat loaf --it's tasty and the grease from the meat loaf absorbs into it.  The  veggie pastas are much more resilient and "harder". You can add a little grated cheese to it, and once it's all microwaved at lunch time or dinner time at work, it's all delicious together.  You can also add any type of green veggie, even just frozen, in with the macaroni.  I like the little leaf ball, called Brussel sprouts with this one!

This soup is easy and tasty and great for people who don't have time to shop all the time, (the veggies can all be frozen or last a long time, like the cabbage) and is filling and substantial for someone that works a more physical type of job.  Also, it not bad for any meal of the day--I have eaten this for breakfast, lunch, dinner and a late night snack.

Let's try not to get too emotional about working smart and not hard--so this recipe will be given using all prepared foods, but if you want to make your own stock and beef, easy enough to do, especially if you have a crock pot.

Onion, I like a big sweet one
Celery to taste
Seasonings to your liking
Carton of beef stock--you will only need about half of it~
Two cans of chopped tomatoes, maybe one with chilis, like a Rotel
One pound of ground beef
A squash or a bag of frozen zoodles, frozen butternut, frozen yellow and zuchini
Mushrooms--mushrooms can be sliced and frozen and they also last a long time in the frig
A bag of cole slaw or cabbage and carrots all chopped and ready to go
A bag of cooked wild rice (wild rice is a lot of work at high altitude, ain't nobody got time for that!)

Saute your beef with the onions and celery, add whatever seasonings you like.  I like a mix of onion, garlic, celery seed, pepper, salt, and maybe a little heat like cayenne or red pepper flakes. 
Add in squash if it is one you bought and chopped, if frozen, you can wait, also add mushrooms in the softer veggie stage here.
Next add in your tomatoes and let it simmer for 10 minutes or so.  Then you can add in the cabbage and the frozen squash if you have it, and let it simmer until both are cooked to your liking. Throw in that bag of wild rice too.

This is so delicious and easy, and can easily be modified with starchier veggies too, like potatoes or turnips.

Cauliflower rice and chicken soup!
No pictures and I was afraid to steal one of off the internet.

This is super easy and looks and even better, smells really great.

Boil your chicken in the big pot--add whatever spices you like, some celery, carrots, onions, garlic, whatever.

When your chicken is falling off the bone, remove from the pot and debone and dice the chicken.

To the pot add cauliflower rice (why hard it on yourself--just buy the big bag of it)
About a pound of sliced mushrooms
Something green, like peas
A can of heavy coconut cream
Something orange, like carrots or squash chunks
Maybe some lemon juice or lemon slices for garnish
And your chunky chicken.
More spices, maybe white pepper, or cayenne

Cook until the veggies are how you like them.

VOILA!!

Enjoy