week of 6/19 menu plan

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meal plan

sunday: 

dinner: grill and chill  

• no grill and chill - brett has to work so we moved our father’s day grilling spread to next sunday!

• our go-to easy, last-minute dinner: air fryer breaded chicken sandwiches

  • hoping to post this on Instagram, but know I keep these frozen patties from Costco in our freezer always for dinners like this. I heat them in the airfryer, I buy our favorite buns (Martin’s), and offer up onion, tomato, lettuce, etc. SO GOOD.

• big bowl of watermelon and/or peaches

• sweet potato tater tots

monday: sandwiches

why we love a weekly sandwich night

• one of our favorite, easy dinners!!

• build your own avocado toast bar (ft. scrambled eggs and bacon)

  • make extra, extra bacon so Brett can have BLTs for lunches

• orange slices? watermelon? peach slices? all of the above?

tuesday: quick, make-ahead, or crockpot

• instant pot buffalo ranch tacos

  • i froze the leftover meat last time I made this, so this dinner will be especially easy!

• leftover salad from Sunday? orange slices? watermelon?

  • and/or our veggie box with our ranch dressing

  • and/or salad with our ranch dressing

wednesday: pizza, pasta, or rice

• baked ziti

  • from my impromptu freezer cooking day

• big bowl of watermelon

• and/or my absolute favorite easy green salad - prep triple the ingredients for easy dinner sides + easy lunches this week (could make a few mason jar salads?)

  • and/or our veggie box with our ranch dressing

  • and/or salad with our ranch dressing

thursday: quick, make ahead, or crockpot

• that trader joe’s mandarin orange chicken hanging out in our freezer

• white rice? that trader joe’s fried rice lurking in our freezer?

• any leftover fruit still hanging around

• that bag of edamame (and/or those frozen Trader Joe’s carrot coins?) also hanging out in our freezer

  • this dinner may be questionable in terms of authenticity, but it’ll be delicious and it’ll clean out the freezer. YES.

  • and really, in terms of “My Word, Groceries are So Dang Expensive so We’re Eating at Home Way More and Trying to Be More Intentional With What We Have, But Also Planning Easy, Restful Meal so Haley Doesn’t Burn Out,” this dinner scores an A++.

friday: leftovers or takeout

• our anniversary - see our wedding anniversary tradition here!

  • see a full post on our wedding weekend in Santa Fe here!

saturday: snack dinner saturday or dinner with loved ones

• on or around our anniversary, we like to do something to celebrate Our Family’s Birthday. :)

  • we like to go on some sort of fun family adventure…

  • …and we like to do an epic charcuterie board for dinner!

  • see the full post here!

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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. (you’ll notice I allow space in my daily rhythm for potential meal prep.)

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:

• during the summer, I prep as much dinner stuff on Sundays as possible, so that KK and I can spend plenty of time at the pool after her nap

• prep produce, make veggie box

prep some sort of dessert for the week:

• see here why this is our new favorite thing for our marriage.

• none this week - we have lots of leftovers from hosting family!

prep some things to make breakfasts/snacks/lunches smoother:

• make sure to buy stuff for my favorite, go-to sandwich or my absolute favorite wrap for my lunches this week

• make our favorite yogurt muffins, freeze half

  • I love love love these muffins when eaten like this!!

  • or make these favorite mini blueberry muffins, freeze half

• pull egg muffins out of the freezer

  • I omit the bacon, add in a bit more cottage cheese, and omit the thyme. makes the loveliest cheesy egg bites. while this is technically a toddler recipe, I cannot get enough.

• make a batch of oatmeal like this

  • excerpt from my “my breakfast and lunch favorites” blogpost:

  • up until, like, a year ago, i swore I disliked oatmeal. but it turns out I was just eating the wrong kind. my mom one day made oatmeal like this with good oats, and served it to me plain with a generous slab of butter stirred in. it was this savory risotto-like situation. it was heavenly. and from then on, I was a converted oatmeal lover.

• move some frozen mango/pineapple/cherries to mason jars in the fridge for KK like this

• slice lemons for hot lemon water

• 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!

---

favorite things

• my all-time favorite bike shorts!! i basically wear these and these high-waisted athletic shorts every day from april til november.

• our easyyy red white and blue rice bin! aka what kk is currently playing with for longgg stretches of blissful time.

• our monthly play theme blogpost for july is published! I REPEAT. July’s round-up of our favorite toys, books, sensory bins, playdough activities, etc is LIVE! it’s a goooood one!

• 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.

week of 6/12 menu plan

meal plan

sunday: 

dinner: grill and chill  

• brett grills sausage for monday

• brett grills my favorite pork chops using those pork chops that have been lurking in our freezer

  • mashed potatoes and gravy - use the two russets in our pantry

  • and/or blistered garlic green beans to use up the canned green beans

  • and/or grilled corn on the cob

  • and/or or buttery peas with shallots from my favorite cookbook

  • and/or my absolute favorite easy green salad

  • and/or buttery pull apart bundt bread or artisan bread

monday: sandwiches

why we love a weekly sandwich night

• our favorite sausage wraps

• roasted potato (loooose recipe in above link) - use the yukon potatoes in the pantry

• and/or any leftover veggies from Sunday

• and/or orange slices

tuesday: quick, make-ahead, or crockpot

• our favorite, favorite ground beef tacos

  • from my impromptu freezer cooking day

wednesday: pizza, pasta, or rice

• our favorite slow cooker chicken tikka masala

  • from my impromptu freezer cooking day

• rice + naan + a big bowl of melon or oranges

thursday: quick, make ahead, or crockpot

• my all-time favorite meal!!

  • use this beloved slow cooker bean recipe of mine

  • brett could add sunday’s leftover sausage to his

  • and/or I could make him his favorite cornbread?

• biggg bowl of whatever fruit we have hanging around

friday: leftovers or takeout

• leftovers or those frozen taco things from Costco in our freezer

saturday: snack dinner saturday or dinner with loved ones

• host brett’s family for a build-your-own-biscuit brunch

  • buttermilk biscuits

  • life-changing sofffft scrambled eggs

  • oven roasted bacon

  • sausage gravy

  • cheese slices

  • butter + a myriad of jams

• if time/energy, make my favorite apple pecan salad with creamy lemon dressing

---

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. (you’ll notice I allow space in my daily rhythm for potential meal prep.)

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:

• during the summer, I prep as much dinner stuff on Sundays as possible, so that KK and I can spend plenty of time at the pool after her nap

• prep produce, make veggie box

• no dinner prep - most of this week’s menu plan is pulled from the freezer YAY!

prep some sort of dessert for the week:

• see here why this is our new favorite thing for our marriage.

• peach bars

  • or my favorite jam breakfast bars - can you tell I’m craving some sort of jam-y, oatmeal-y, bar?

prep some things to make breakfasts/snacks/lunches smoother:

• make sure to buy stuff for my favorite, go-to sandwich or my absolute favorite wrap

• make lemon poppyseed muffins, freeze half

  • and/or chocolate chip muffins with those milk chocolate chips in our pantry

• pull egg muffins out of the freezer

• make a batch of peanut butter oatmeal balls or peanut butter cookie energy balls, if time/energy

• make a batch of oatmeal like this

  • excerpt from my “my breakfast and lunch favorites” blogpost:

  • up until, like, a year ago, i swore I disliked oatmeal. but it turns out I was just eating the wrong kind. my mom one day made oatmeal like this with good oats, and served it to me plain with a generous slab of butter stirred in. it was this savory risotto-like situation. it was heavenly. and from then on, I was a converted oatmeal lover.

• move some frozen mango/pineapple/cherries to mason jars in the fridge for KK like this

• slice lemons for hot lemon water

• make a big batch of kale/apple/lemon 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!

---

favorite things

• the nature book that brett calls “the coolest” +our favorite insect-themed books, toys, art activities, play-dough invitations, sensory bins, and more!

• our subscribe & save order, and why I love this service for reducing the mental load of running a household

• my skincare favorites

• my list of monthly routines (and how to make your own list!)

• 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.

week of 6/5 menu plan

meal plan

sunday: 

dinner: grill and chill  

• brett grills burgers for dinner + one or two for lunch leftovers

  • + frozen french fries + big bowl of melon

• brett also grills chicken for dinners + plenty of lunch leftovers

  • when grilling, brett religiously follows anything he learns from his favorite cookbook or his favorite website

  • freeze a breast or two of grilled chicken for easy future meals

monday: sandwiches

why we love a weekly sandwich night

• caprese avocado toast

• frozen sweet potato fries and/or bagged salad

• big bowl of melon or our favorite watermelon salad

tuesday: quick, make-ahead, or crockpot

• orzo salad with grapes, arugula, and feta

  • sub spinach or mixed greens out of personal preference

  • use the leftover goat cheese in the fridge instead, too?

  • brett can add sunday’s leftover grilled chicken to his

• big ol loaf of our favorite garlic bread

• big bowl of melon or berries or carrots or something

wednesday: pizza, pasta, or rice

• chicken pesto tortellini

  • sub leftover grilled chicken from Sunday

• leftover garlic bread, if any

• leftover fruit

thursday: quick, make ahead, or crockpot

• burrito bowls or tostadas or my favorite bean and rice bowl

  • use leftover grilled chicken from sunday

  • instant pot black beans or slow cooker refried beans

    • I omit the onion in both recipes out of personal preference

    • freeze half in these containers

    • jk I can’t limit myself to only two favorite bean recipes. I also love this copycat chipotle recipe, or this beloved slow cooker bean recipe of mine. i love beans so much.

  • plenty of mashed avocado + pinch of salt to taste

  • pico, queso*, shredded lettuce, salsa, crema, onion, cheese, etc

    • *we always get the Queso Mama queso at Costco, but I love this or this recipe

  • could also grab sauces/sides/fresh tortillas from one of our favorite Mexican restaurants

• we THRIVE on this Build Your Own Dinner and we thrive even more on the leftovers all week.

friday: leftovers or takeout

• build your own BLTs

• with whatever produce is still hanging around

saturday: snack dinner saturday or dinner with loved ones

---

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. (you’ll notice I allow space in my daily rhythm for potential meal prep.)

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:

• during the summer, I prep as much dinner stuff on Sundays as possible, so that KK and I can spend plenty of time at the pool after her nap

• prep produce, make veggie box

• make chicken pesto tortellini

• prep ingredients for orzo salad with grapes, arugula, and feta

prep some sort of dessert for the week:

• see here why this is our new favorite thing for our marriage.

• make lemon zucchini bread I didn’t get around to last week (give second loaf to neighbors)

prep some things to make breakfasts/snacks/lunches smoother:

• make sure to buy stuff for my favorite, go-to sandwich or my absolute favorite turkey wrap sanckbox for my lunches this week

• make the weekly pot of beans so I can make this other favorite quick breakfast/lunch - instant pot black beans or slow cooker refried beans or this copycat chipotle recipe, or this beloved slow cooker bean recipe of mine

• make strawberry muffins (and/or the chocolate chip muffins I didn’t get around to last week), freeze leftovers

• make a batch of oatmeal like this

  • excerpt from my “my breakfast and lunch favorites” blogpost:

  • up until, like, a year ago, i swore I disliked oatmeal. but it turns out I was just eating the wrong kind. my mom one day made oatmeal like this with good oats, and served it to me plain with a generous slab of butter stirred in. it was this savory risotto-like situation. it was heavenly. and from then on, I was a converted oatmeal lover.

• move some frozen mango/pineapple/cherries to mason jars in the fridge for KK like this

• slice lemons for hot lemon water

• 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!

---

favorite things

• our new meal rotation for summer

• one of my favorite, easy ways to take care of myself

• the weekly pot of soup

• 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.