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
property tax dinner! swipe through this post for a little more on this informal tradition
brett takes that whole chicken in our freezer and does something with it
brett also grills sausage for monday
apple pecan salad with creamy lemon dressing
prep triple the ingredients for tonight + Monday’s dinner + and a few mason jar salads for lunches this week
pull brett’s favorite biscuits from the freezer
monday: sandwich night (+ soup/salad, if we're feeling it)
why we love a weekly sandwich night
grilled sausage wraps using the grilled sausage from Sunday
or, if you’re like me, dip sausage coins in BBQ sauce
supremed citrus, citrus slices (I cut mine like this and it’s game-changing), or pear slices
roasted sweet potato cubes or frozen sweet potato fries
or those broccoli tots lurking in my freezer
tuesday: taco-ish tuesday
chicken enchilada casserole or black bean and cheese enchiladas
or easy tostadas. haven’t decided yet.
mashed avo
don’t laugh, but I love my avocado slicer and my avocado masher
wednesday: pizza, pasta, or rice
cheese tortellini* + jarred sauce**
*I always have a pack or two in our freezer for quick meals. Costco’s Kirkland brand is my favorite.
** I LOVE Raos sauce. I like to add a splash of half-and-half or cream to mine - I don’t like straight red sauce because I’m a monster.
sauteed broccoli and parmesan from my favorite magazine
“Microwave a 12-oz pkg. frozen broccoli florets according to package directions; drain well. Heat 2 Tbsp. olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in 1/4 tsp. crushed red paper, cook 1 minute. Add broccoli, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/8 tsp. black pepper; cook, stirring, until broccoli just begins to brown, about 3 minutes. Toss with 1/3 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese.”
trying to use the myriad of frozen broccoli we have perpetually hanging around. reminder: when menu planning, the first thing I do is see what we already have on hand. it’s the best starting point!
thursday: chicken, fish, or sausage
or some sort of frozen fish from Costco or Trader Joe’s - THE BEST.
blistered garlic green beans and/or frozen roasted vegetables
trying to use the lurking canned green beans and myriad of frozen vegetables we have perpetually hanging around. reminder: when menu planning, the first thing I do is see what we already have on hand. it’s the best starting point!
leftover supremed citrus or citrus slices (I cut mine like this and it’s game-changing)
leftover artisan bread or brett’s favorite biscuits
leftover macaroni and cheese, texas cafeteria style and/or leftover salad, if any
By Thursdays, I’m tired and I’m trying to use up the leftovers in our fridge. Which usually means I - without even thinking about it - follow this dinner formula.
friday: takeout or leftovers
saturday: snack dinner saturday or dinner with loved ones
dinner with friends
currently using
this dishwasher cleaner as apart of my monthly routines
our favorite bigger toys. always and forever.
See my Amazon storefront for more things we use and love!
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
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 a big batch of supremed citrus or citrus slices (I cut mine like this and it’s game-changing)
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.
chocolate chip skillet cookie from this cookbook, thanks to my my 2022 intentions of making one cookbook recipe a week
prep some things to make breakfasts/snacks/lunches smoother - because while I love to cook dinner, I prefer my breakfasts and lunches to be made ahead of time. 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:
make a big batch of supremed citrus or citrus slices (I cut mine like this and it’s game-changing)
make homemade soft granola bars, freeze half
pull mini blueberry muffins out of freezer
pull freezer pb&js out of freezer
move some frozen mango/pineapple/cherries to mason jars in the fridge for KK
a few mason jar salads for lunches this week with apple pecan salad with creamy lemon dressing
prep a batch of life changing soft scrambled eggs or egg and cheese pockets
yes, I’ve been known to make scrambled eggs ahead of time for the week. Project Meal Prep taught me how: “For [make-ahead scrambled eggs], it’s best to just slightly undercook your eggs. Maybe 30 seconds away from when you would actually want to eat them. You’re going to have to reheat everything and you don’t want hard overcooked eggs! They’ll cook a little more in the microwave during reheating.”
make instant pot black beans or slow cooker refried beans
KK and I love these for breakfast/lunch - lots of mashed avocado always - and sometimes soft scrambled eggs - yummmmm!
sometimes I’ll omit the egg and use tortillas, tortilla chips, or fritos to dig into the beans and avo - one of my favorite lunches for me!
prep a few peanut butter and banana roll-ups, if time/energy
Need more ideas for make-ahead breakfasts and lunches to meal prep? Here’s my list of favorites!
currently reading
my favorite magazine - see where I find new recipes here.
one of my birthday traditions is to subscribe to a magazine or two for the upcoming year. the most joy-inducing gift that keeps on giving alllll year round!
curious how I read so often? read that answer - and other FAQs - here!
currently streamlining
our emergency stash - one of our January routines is to take inventory of our emergency preparedness things. what needs replacing? what are we missing? etc. having this as a yearly routine to make sure everything is stocked and in working order really helps my peace of mind. in fact, last February, just weeks after we had done our annual check of our stash, Texas had an awful ice storm that left us without power and water for days. I was so thankful we were prepared. here’s my blogpost on all we have to be prepared. it was written a year ago, so some of it is a little outdated (especially given that KK was a wee little baby when it was written), but the foundation is still the same.
currently loving
our favorite books, toys, activities, and sensory bins in january
our subscribe & save order - forever SO grateful for this service and how much mental space it clears up for me
currently working on
brain-dumping a few things I need help with from Brett onto our whiteboard system
slowly prepping our Valentine’s traditions + our mr. valentine baskets
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.