There have been plenty of nights in our home when every leaf is in the dining room table and we’ve pulled every available chair in the house around it. Sometimes it’s our own family plus a few of our kids’ friends. Sometimes it’s friends and their children, extended family visiting for the weekend, or an entire soccer team.

We’ve always loved having a full house. And here is what I’ve learned after years of feeding others: the food doesn’t have to be fancy. In fact, it’s probably better if it isn’t.

Make What You Know

When I’m feeding a big group, that is not the night I’m trying the beautiful new recipe. I make food I know. Soups. Pasta. Pulled pork. Shredded chicken. Tacos. Something on the grill. I especially love anything I can make in a big pot—and make bigger if I suddenly discover we’re feeding four more people than I expected.

If there’s chili on the stove, I can add three more cans of beans and put more garlic bread in the oven. If we’re having pasta, I’ll throw another pot of water on the stove. (Although, if I’m being honest, I almost always make too much pasta anyway.) Tacos can stretch with another stack of tortillas and more toppings.

I’ve learned that when you want to be able to say, “Can you stay for dinner,” it helps to have a handful of meals that can easily make room for one—or six—more.

Keep the Basics in the House

Our pantry and freezer aren’t particularly complicated, but there are a few things you’ll almost always find: Ground beef, chicken, pasta, marinara, and the makings for tacos. Those basics have rescued dinner more times than I can count.

Spaghetti and meat sauce, tacos, homemade mac and cheese with toppings, chili, our family’s Spicy Soup, or something thrown on the grill are all meals I can pull together without a lot of planning.

After feeding a family of six for years, I have a pretty good sense of how much food we normally eat—with leftovers—and can adjust from there when the table gets bigger. There’s nothing scientific about my method…just a lot of practice.

Not Every Meal Has to Be an Event

This is especially important when people are staying for an entire weekend. I love to cook, but I don’t want to spend the whole weekend in the kitchen. I might make cinnamon rolls, scones or pancakes one morning. But I also might put out cereal and bread— homemade sourdough is always a treat.

And of course, coffee. Really good coffee. Coffee is a big deal in our house.

Lunch might be sandwiches, chips and veggies or maybe a quick soup and salad. Dinner can be the meal where we gather around the table and linger. Hospitality doesn’t require turning breakfast, lunch and dinner into three separate events.

Let People Help

When we’re having a larger gathering, we often make the main dish and ask everyone else to bring a side or dessert. For a really big group, we’ll serve buffet style. With a smaller group, we’ll pass everything around the table family style. And once we hit more than 12 people? Paper plates. Absolutely.

I should also say that I don’t do any of this alone. My husband has just as much of a heart for hospitality as I do, and he’s a rock star when our house is full. He grills. He makes grocery runs. He handles drinks. He finds the extra tables and chairs and he always makes the guacamole. When everyone leaves, he’s usually the first one cleaning up the kitchen.

We’ve been welcoming people into our home since our kids were little. It’s certainly easier now than it was when we were trying to wrangle little kids while simultaneously getting dinner on the table. I’m very grateful we didn’t wait until hospitality was easy to practice it.

Invite People Into Your Family, Not Just Your House

When our kids had friends over for dinner, they didn’t usually eat somewhere else while we had our family dinner. They joined us. They sat around our table. They prayed with us before dinner. They joined in conversation. They often helped clear the table afterward. Plenty of nights, they stayed at the table and joined us in one of our crazy games.

We weren’t trying to entertain them. We were simply inviting them into our family for a little while.

I hope that over the years those kids experienced more than a good meal in our home. I hope they knew that we were genuinely interested in their lives and cared about them. And I hope they experienced some of the things we’ve always wanted our home to be filled with: Joy, peace and generosity.

Hospitality Becomes Part of Your Family Culture

One of the sweetest things about this season of life is watching our children begin to create homes and lives of their own. Our older daughter loves to cook and have people into her home. Our college-aged son enjoys making meals for his roommates and friends and all of our kids have always felt comfortable bringing friends home because they knew we’d welcome them with open arms.

That didn’t happen because we sat down one day and taught them a lesson on hospitality. They grew up around it. They watched us pull out another chair. They saw their dad set up another table. They watched mom run around cleaning bathrooms. They helped clear the plates. They watched friends become part of the family and now they’re beginning to do the same.

Last year, before our daughter’s wedding, she requested we host her rehearsal dinner in our backyard. More than 100 people gathered at our home that evening and full disclosure: we had it catered. I’m hospitable, not crazy!

As I looked around our yard that night at all those people we loved gathered together, it felt like a much bigger version of something we’d been doing for years: making room in our home and at our table.

Our Loaves and Fishes Philosophy

In all these years, I honestly can’t remember a time when we didn’t have enough food. We’ve come very close. There have certainly been nights when I’ve looked around the table and wondered how what was in the pot was possibly going to feed everyone sitting there but somehow it always has.

My husband and I have always operated with what I think of as our Loaves and Fishes philosophy. What I give to God, He can multiply for His glory. I believe He is a God of abundance and if He calls us to live with a spirit of hospitality and generosity, I trust Him to provide and to stand in the gaps where we lack.

So when someone else shows up, we pull out another chair. We add another can of beans to the chili. We put another pot of water on for pasta and we make room. Somehow, there’s always enough.