when I was suuuuper pregnant with KK, Brett asked what I wanted for Mother’s Day.
so I said, “I want Grill and Chill. every Sunday. for the next year.”
let me back up a second.
when I was a teacher, I had a coworker that did Grill and Chill every week with her husband. he’d grill for Sunday dinner, and he’d grill any additional protein that would be helpful for weekday dinners that week. a few beers were also involved, and they would just hang out and chill together as a family, resting and recharging for the upcoming week. (while also taking care of their Future Selves with some leftover grilled meat.)
to which I said, GENIUS. I want that.
and then Brett casually mentioned that he wanted to grill more. that he liked to grill and that he wanted to get better at it, but that he never found the time to prioritize it. to which I - ever the opportunist - said, “how about every Sunday?”
and Sunday Grill and Chill was born.
to say we love it is an understatement. let’s talk through how this simple ritual has benefitted us.
1.) Sunday has now become our day.
Unintentionally, we started guarding our Sundays. Rarely do we schedule anything on this day anymore, as we now devote it to recharging together and preparing for the coming week.
We do something as a family - like a long neighborhood walk, a hike, a trip to the farmer’s market, a lunch together, a cozy movie at home, a visit to the Wildflower Center, whatever. Sundays give us a reason to prioritize adventures together.
(For this reason, planning family adventures have become so easy since we know we naturally have Sunday available to do so.)
We do things to make our upcoming week go smoothly and we do things that recharge us. Brett usually tinkers in the garden, accomplishes things on our whiteboard, tidies his home office for the week, and/or cleans floors. I meal prep here and there, I plan out my week and sketch out my to do list - and I rest.
And then we Grill and Chill: Brett grills a bunch of meat (plus plenty for leftovers), I make a few sides (plus plenty of leftovers), and we have a big ol dinner. We eat, we drink*, we talk, we hangout. We pack away leftovers, we clean up the house for a new week, we talk some more, we hangout some more. Sometimes it involves a football game, sometimes it involves our fireplace, sometimes it involves our patio rocking chairs. (I’d love a hot tub for this reason.) We love our Sundays.
*could be wine, could be limeade, could be iced tea, could be a fun punch, could be water. we switch it up!
Even if our weekdays get crazy, we love knowing the guarantee that Sunday is our time together. Brett and I both feel the best in our marriage when we’ve had quality time together, and before we relied on our daily walks to do this. But, as Brett got busier with work, and I was recovering from a heinous amount of tearing postpartum, daily walks were no longer guaranteed. So now, Grill and Chill fully fills our cup and we’re ready for whatever the week throws at us. And, now whenever walks are able to happen organically, we’re thrilled. They’re now a fantastic supplement to our marriage, not a lifeline.
And, even better, we knew that we were creating a weekly ritual that could still continue happen as our family grew, even in the midst of babies and toddlers. And we loved the idea of our kids growing up with this Sunday tradition.
2.) This ritual now inspires our gifts.
We’ve found that when we truly love a tradition, ritual, or routine of ours, it inspires our gift giving. We’ve found that a tangible gift that is used for these things can bring SO much joy. (And, as an added perk, the gifts actually get used.)
Like, for this year’s Christmas Eve Box, one of our favorite gifts was a grill table. And every week, we talk about how much we love it (especially now that Brett is no longer having to pile dishes on the patio itself). Or, for Father’s Day, we have a gift tradition centered around Grill and Chill.
Having gifts tied to the ritual of Grill and Chill not only makes gift gifting easier, but also gives meaning and purpose to our gifts.
Want some grilling gift ideas? Here’s our post on our Grill and Chill must-haves!
3.) Brett loves how much he’s learning and loves prioritizing this hobby.
Brett now has a blocked off time each week, strictly dedicated to learning more about the art of smoke, fire, and meat. He loves it. Whereas before it was a “someday when I actually have time” kind of thing he wanted to do, now he’s actually prioritizing it. Some weeks he goes with his old standby recipes he could do with his eyes closed (say, grilled chicken), other weeks he plays around and tries something new (a new technique, a new cut of meat, a new marinade, a new whatever).
Also, also! Side note. Before he didn’t have any standby recipes he could do with his eyes closed. But now, thanks to this weekly ritual, he does. He has recipes he loves, books he loves, tools he loves.
Here’s a list of some of his favorite things.
It all makes him so happy. And really, especially as adults, we all need hobbies that slow us down and bring us joy.
4.) Having this themed weekly dinner helps make menu planning easier…
Holy moly. Knowing that Sunday was our big dinner of the week, knowing that we’ll have plenty of leftovers to use for weekday dinners, and knowing that Brett was going to grill or smoke a bunch of meat? THIS MADE MENU PLANNING SO EASY. It became my automatic starting point every single week.
Like, “Okay. What will Brett grill on Sunday for dinner? What can he also grill on Sunday that we could use for weekday dinners? And what sides can I make on Sunday that could also be reused for weekday dinners? What weekday dinners will these leftovers become?”
For example, Brett might grill a bunch of chicken and I might throw in some sausage I found in the freezer. That chicken could then be turned into Monday’s Caesar wraps, Tuesday’s burrito bowls (or quesadillas), and Thursday’s pasta. And that sausage could be Wednesday’s sausage wraps. And I’ll make a big salad on Sunday and do that thing where we can use the salad all week for dinner sides. And I’ll cut up lots of grapefruit that way we like, make a big pan of cornbread, and roast a bunch of potatoes, all of which I’ll reuse for weeknights, too. And then we’ll do Fajita Friday and Snack Dinner Saturday.” BAM. Menu planning is SUPER easy and SUPER quick.
And, let me say this. Before Grill and Chill, menu planning could be overwhelming. I’d look at a blank week and ask Brett, hoping for some guidance, “What do you want to eat this week?” To which he’d respond, every stinking time, “I don’t know. Some sort of food? Whatever you want.” And I’d bang my head. REPEAT FOREVER.
But now, I’m like, “Hey Brett, what do you want to grill or smoke on Sunday?” And THAT he is invested in. He has OPINIONS. (And even if he doesn’t, I have grilled cravings of my own.) So automatically we have a starting point that inspires almost an entire week of dinners. PRAISE!
Here’s our weekly menu plan where I post every week, if you ever want dinner ideas!
5) …and also inspires us to try recipes we would normally do someday or for a special occasion.
Having a day that’s not only a bigggg old special dinner, but also a day just for us to all hang out together, means having a weekly built-in excuse to try a new recipe that catches our eye: a new chicken marinade, a different cut of meat, a fun alcoholic drink, a new-to-us piece of produce at the Farmer’s Market, a snazzy salad dressing, a labor intensive bread dough. All inspired by Sunday Grill and Chill. I can’t express enough how much we love this day. No Sunday Scaries around here!
6.) Our weekday dinners have completely changed now that we have Sunday leftovers.
I’ve always been this way: my biggest amount of cooking energy falls on Sunday and Monday. And after that, it’s a deep dive into “I can’t even,” by about Thursday. Which, in the past, means I obliviously still planned elaborate meals Wednesday-Saturday, only to - week after week - fail miserably and spend too much money on fast food and takeout out of desperation.
Grill and Chill changed that. Now, I lean into that immense amount of Sunday energy by making plentyyyy of food for Future Haley. By having leftover proteins (and leftover sides) from Sunday Grill and Chill, weekday dinners are super, super easy. So easy that Tired Thursday Haley is able to handle it, and we no longer blow our budget on fast food.
ALSO. Brett being able to help with dinners is AMAZING. And while logistically speaking it would get tricky having him make weekday dinners, he can totally make a big pile of meat on Sunday. And MY WORD I didn’t know how much that would help until he did it.
And admittedly, I don’t really like cooking meat, so before Grill and Chill, we fell into a pretty protein-less rut, much to Brett’s dismay. So by him helping out on Sundays, he’s happy he has grilled proteins in the fridge all week at his disposal, and I’m incredibly happy to have dinner assistance.
I can’t stress this enough: we love Grill and Chill. Like I always say, create routines that take care of you, your family, and your home - however that looks for you. And Grill and Chill does just that for us.
(And, it might be my most popular routine with y’all. I love love love how often I’m tagged on Instagram in y’alls Grill and Chill. I smile so stinking big.)
Happy Grill and Chill, y’all!
