currently eating
here is our meal rotation for all our breakfasts, snacks, lunches, and dinners:
see this blogpost for more on why we love our meal rotation, how we created it, and tips (plus a freebie!) for making a meal rotation work for you. see how I menu plan here and where I find new recipes here.
and remember: my 2022 intentions were to make one cookbook recipe a week and one fish recipe a week, so we’ll see how that goes.
currently cooking
sunday:
dinner: grill and chill
brett grills some sort of chicken for tacos (sorry, no recipe - brett’s only told me he’d like to make this, but know that he usually references the Serious Eats website or his favorite cookbook)
taco fixings: pico, crema, salsa, cheese, guac, etc
slow cooker refried beans (KK and I look forward to these leftovers all week nom nom nom)
except I omit the oil and just dump all the ingredients into our darling rice cooker to cook
monday: sandwich night (+ soup/salad, if we're feeling it)
why we love a weekly sandwich night
pulled pork sliders, one of our favorite dinners!
here’s the slow cooker pulled pork recipe we use, but i omitted the oil, used a pork butt, and after shredding the cooked meat, i just tossed it in some bbq sauce instead of putting it back in the juices.
but last time we made the pulled pork recipe I froze the leftovers in these containers, and that’s what we’re using for tonight’s sliders
salad + ranch dressing (stored in my beloved dressing container)
roasted sweet potatoes (or frozen sweet potato fries)
tuesday: taco-ish tuesday
leftovers from Sunday (maybe repurposed into quesadillas? or nachos?)
or frozen taquitos
mashed avocado + a big bowl of fruit and/or bagged salad
don’t laugh, but I love my avocado slicer and my avocado masher
and maybe queso (we always get the Queso Mama queso at Costco, but I love this or this recipe)
wednesday: pizza, pasta, or rice
naan pizza (to use that leftover pepperoni, naan, and sauce in the freezer)
we love using our pizza stone
bowl of fruit
salad + ranch dressing (stored in my beloved dressing container)
if you’re like me, dip the pizza in the ranch dressing NOMMM. if you’re like brett, drizzle the pizza with hot honey.
thursday: chicken, fish, or sausage
salmon patties (or costco frozen fish) + tartar sauce
crispy roasted broccoli and/or whatever fruit is lurking on the counters or in the fridge
baked garlic parmesan potato wedges
or leftover roasted sweet potatoes or frozen french fries
could offer leftover ranch dressing for dipping
friday: takeout or leftovers
date night!
one of our monthly routines is the reminder to plan a date - and four times a year I coordinate with my mom a few times in the following few months she and my dad can watch KK. and i put the agreed-upon times on our calendar to prioritize those dates. brett and I learned if we don’t plan in advance, we’re not as likely to go on dates, so coordinating with my parents at the start of each season reallyyyy works for us.
(my family and I are not originally from this area of Texas, but I’m so glad we all ended up near eachother. i’m endlessly grateful for their support.)
at the start of each season, I sketch out potentialllllll date nights, adventures with KK, and family/friend gatherings. it’s so much fun, and it helps us prioritize our loved ones. if you’d like more examples, here’s a full list of what I do in December. (january list coming soon!)
saturday: snack dinner saturday or dinner with loved ones
KK and I’ll have dinner at my parents’ house to give Brett some time alone to recharge :)
or we’ll have this exact dinner, but with leftover salad or a different fruit- we’ll see how we feel!
currently using
kk’s favorite thing: her play kitchen
our favorite vitamins + supplements for our whole family - recently updated!
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Thank you so much for your support!
currently meal prepping
i usually do a little meal prep on Sundays as a part of our Grill and Chill, but I may instead do a bit here and there throughout the week. (you’ll notice I allow space in my daily rhythm for potential meal prep.) at a minimum, I try to always do this - makes the whole week SO much smoother!
below is the list of what I hope to meal prep this week - it may not all happen, and that's okay! even 5 minutes of prep is super beneficial.
prep some dinner components:
make ranch dressing
prep some sort of dessert for the week:
one of my favorite podcasters said this is an incredibly easy way to plan joy into your week and I SO agree. see here why it’s our new favorite thing for our marriage.
make vanilla pudding or rice pudding from this cookbook, thanks to my 2022 goal of cooking something from my cookbook collection once a week.
prep some things to make breakfasts/snacks/lunches smoother - at a bare minimum, I try to always prep some sort of eggs, some sort of oats, and some sort of muffins/waffles/pancakes for our breakfast rotation, and I try to change up the recipes each week so that cooking stays fun for me and so KK is exposed to variety:
use that leftover ham in the freezer to make meal prep ham, egg, and cheese quesadillas or ham and cheese egg muffins
the egg muffin link has eight different variations! so many good ideas.
prep ingredients for strawberry quinoa breakfast bowl
or pull applesauce cookies with oats and cinnamon or banana oatmeal cookies from the freezer
make raspberry oatmeal muffins or greek yogurt raspberry muffins, freeze leftovers
pull my favorite slow cooker broccoli cheese soup from the freezer
here’s how I freeze and thaw soup
pull a few freezer pb&js from the freezer
pull baked apple slices from the freezer
prep ingredients for chocolate banana smoothie and/or simple blueberry banana smoothie, if time/energy
aka I portion the frozen produce into these containers so that all I have to do in the morning is dump the contents into my blender and add liquid
see more about my daily smoothie routine here
prep a few sweet potato and cheese quesadillas, if time/energy
make a big batch of carrot orange juice, if time/energy
read more about my juicing routine here
Need more ideas for make-ahead breakfasts and lunches to meal prep? Here’s my list of favorites!
currently reading
and my favorite fertility health book. I first read this book yearsssss ago and I swear by it - it influenced and shaped a lot of my routines. reading this book again is bringing me a lot of calm and joy in this season.
(i’m not pregnant. i’m just reading to get a refresher on things I can do to take care of myself. after a season of grieving and healing, we’re in a season of nourishing and appreciating.)
curious how I read so often? read that answer - and other FAQs - here!
currently streamlining
planning my birthday - here’s my list of traditions I do every year, and a list of questions to inspire your own birthday traditions!
this weekly routine - aka the routine that was meant to bring me joy, but unexpectedly also became our marriage’s favorite thing.
my big list of my favorite routines (and things that help me feel my best)
currently loving
our favorite cleaners + toiletries. we recently did a complete overhaul of our household the past few months and i’m in LOVE with what we’re using now.
our valentines-themed play invitations and sensory bins for KK
this dinner - I think we’ve had it every month since 2015!
currently working on
my simple photo organization - aka my routine to get our favorite photos off our phones and into our home
brainstorming this year’s Mr. Valentine tradition
updating kk's list of favorite things from birth until now. ! a list of her (and our!) favorite things for playing, eating, sleeping, wearing, and general living.
currently sharing
always sharing our favorite routines, our favorite systems, and our favorite dinners on Instagram - come say hi! your kind words make my day. truly.
and know that when you share my page on Instagram with your followers, I do a happy dance. your support means everything, and your support allows me to spend time creating free content, like this menu plan. xo.