sunday:
dinner: our beloved grill and chill ritual
our grocery store has a great meal deal on what they call their “dinner starters” (aka their pre-seasoned/diced meats), so I’m going to grab the teriyaki chicken one and the lettuce wraps one - I’ll have Brett make both so he has plenty of leftovers for his lunches
brown rice + stir fry veggie kit + roasted broccoli
monday: sandwiches
why we love a weekly sandwich night
with leftover grilled chicken like this from the freezer
mashed avocado
maybe that frozen street corn in our freezer from Trader Joe’s, too?
big bowl of fruit
*this really isn’t a sandwich, but I say close enough - dinner themes are simply inspirational guidelines, not hard fast rules!
tuesday: something easy
carryout pizza deal from pizza place
my favorite ranch dressing + salad
and/or veggie box
and/or big bowl of berries
or, or!
slow cooker three packet roast (add baby carrots)
mashed potatoes
wednesday: pizza/pasta/rice + veggies
my favorite build your own pinto bean bowl
use this week’s Weekly Pot of Beans: my slow cooker pinto beans, omit sausage
brown rice, mashed avocado, shredded cheese, etc
big bowl of fruit
(maybe our favorite cornbread)
thursday: something easy
chicken spaghetti, pulled from freezer
for more details on how I do this see post on what I froze for postpartum here
my favorite way to use canned green beans
and/or my favorite green salad
and/or veggie box
big bowl of whatever fruit I prepped Sunday
leftover cornbread
friday: date night or something from the freezer
frozen tacos from Trader Joe’s
big bowl of mashed avocado
lefttover beans? canned corn?
big bowl of fruit
saturday: snack dinner saturday
I’ll clear out the fridge and make some sort of snack platter: produce, cheese, crackers, meats, dips, whatever’s hanging around.
see a full list of alllll the things we love for Snack Dinner here
but know I also love Yummy Toddler Food’s Snack Dinner blogpost, too
and, and! we LOVE doing a muffin pan snack dinner like this
And really quick, here are few of my favorites for making dinner even remotely possible:
a tripp trapp chair for Baby Boy with this incredible newborn insert
aka the only way we can eat dinner as a family…and with my hands free.
and our twin-size kitchen helper stool (and a second tripp trapp chair) for our toddler
I talk more in my baby prep blogpost about how I set up my home for life with a toddler and a newborn, if you’re looking for more of my must-haves!
meal prep
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. 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 sort of dessert for the week:
see here why this is our new favorite thing for our marriage.
none this week - I’m tired!
prep some things to make eating at home this week smoother:
prep produce (like wash + destem grapes)
also make veggie box
prep gooooood salad ingredients for the week
let’s just chop up a bunch of greens/carrots/etc to make a basic green salad like my favorite green salad
we learned we eat a ton more salad 1) when it’s gooooood salad and 2) when I do the prep work for multiple salads ahead of time
(ie prep greens, cut produce, make dressing, crumble cheese, etc)
could make some Mason Jar Salads for Future Haley’s lunches, too.
make a salad dressing or two
pick up our ranch dressing for the week if needed
and/or make homemade salad dressing for this week’s salads in my favorite dressing containers
make the weekly pot of beans
for a quick dinner if I’m too tired to cook (like Our Quesadilla Dinner), for a quick lunch, and/or a quick Leftover Night option
I love to eat beans plain, with eggs, with rice, in this favorite quick breakfast/lunch of mine, as my favorite tostadas, in breakfast tacos, in quesadillas, in a bean and cheese taco, as nachos, etc etc etc
recipes I love:
instant pot black beans or slow cooker refried beans, but I omit the onion in both recipes out of personal preference, and often times I’ll use black beans in the refried beans recipe
my slow cooker pinto beans, omit sausage
freeze leftover beans in these containers
see full list of what I’m freezing for postpartum here
prep a few things for quick, easy breakfasts/snacks/lunches
pull a batch of our favorite yogurt muffins from the freezer
I love love love these muffins when eaten like this!
prep smoothie cups in these containers
make a big stack of freezer pb&js
make our weekly batch of beloved oatmeal
make bread, if time/energy
we’ve been getting into sourdough, so finger’s crossed we have time to make a loaf or two for the week. we find a lottttt of joy in homemade bread, and I love how it also stretches our grocery budget…and elevates our dinners.
favorite things
joey’s birth announcement on instagram - and my mindset for this season :)
why I love monthly routines and a few examples of my monthly routines
like planning a few tentative Weekend Adventures for the month :)
our latest meal rotation to make space in our day for Outdoor Time (and space in our budget for Weekend Adventures)
aka we’re eating at home more, but also making sure I’m not burning out - we’re leaning into a variety of easy, restful dinners this season and I am loving it
one simple thing I do while my toddler sleeps that helsp her play longer when she wakes up - and three other big things that help our independent play
our newest post-dinner evening routine has me smitten
kk can’t get enough of this Magic Painting Dinosaur book as one of her evening activities
starting to plan our Valentine’s Day traditions - YAY!
KK’s scooter, bike, and helmet are the MVPs lately - we do Outdoor Time before dinner to burn off some energy + enjoy this beautiful Texas weather, and KK can’t get enough
gave a tour of how we organize our games and our art supplies on Instagram - see my “art/game room” highlight, or see my Amazon store where I linked what I could!
the big list of things, systems, and routines that help me feel my best - I’m always updating this post and it’s the best place to start to get a lot of FAQs answered!
want more?
i’m always sharing our favorite routines, our favorite systems, and our favorite dinners on Instagram.
and know that when you share kind words with me or share my page 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.