week of 7/17 menu plan

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meal plan

sunday: 

dinner: grill and chill  

• no grilling today!

• slow cooked chicken caesar wraps

  • we usually do grilled chicken or rotisserie chicken, but the slow cooker is calling my name this week

  • and we usually offer lettuce, tomatoes, red onion, crumbled croutons, caesar dressing, and parmesan cheese as our toppings

• those sweet potato tater tots lurking in our freezer

monday: sandwiches

why we love a weekly sandwich night

• build your own BLT or build your own chicken bacon ranch paninis

  • make plentyyyy of extra bacon for lunch leftovers + tomorrow’s dinner

  • use sunday’s leftover shredded chicken

  • use our ranch dressing

  • freeze any leftover shredded chicken in these containers

• our veggie box with our ranch dressing

  • and/or a favorite bagged salad

• frozen french fries

• big bowl of fruit

tuesday: quick, make-ahead, or crockpot

• pancakes to use that random bag of mix in our pantry

• + favorite scrambled eggs

• any leftover bacon

or!

• build your own breakfast tacos

  • using the above eggs, leftover bacon, and roasted potato

or!

• build your own avocado toast bar

  • using the above eggs, leftover bacon, cheddar slices, and tomatoes

or!

• build your own croissant breakfast sandwich

  • using the above eggs, leftover bacon, and american everloving cheese

wednesday: pizza, pasta, or rice

• this new-to-me IP macaroni and cheese recipe

• tons of charred, roasted broccoli NOMMM

• our veggie box with our ranch dressing

  • and/or salad with our ranch dressing

  • and/or a favorite bagged salad

• big bowl of fruit

thursday: quick, make ahead, or crockpot

• we’ll make Brett’s day with homemade hamburger helper

• big bowl of fruit and/or bagged salad and/or my favorite steamable bag of seasoned broccoli

friday: leftovers or takeout

saturday: snack dinner saturday or dinner with loved ones

• frozen pizza or leftovers weeeee!

• leftover fruit

• whatever’s left in our veggie box + our ranch dressing

  • and/or salad with our ranch dressing

  • and/or a favorite bagged salad

---

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

• pick up our ranch dressing for the week

• make croutons - post coming soon!

prep some sort of dessert for the week:

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

• bake a big batch of banana muffins

  • freeze half, or take to a friend

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

• prep a big pile of cheese quesadillas and/or PB&Js for the week? i’d be so dang happy

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

• make the weekly pot of beans so I can make this other favorite quick breakfast/lunch

  • favorite bean recipes: instant pot black beans or slow cooker refried beans or this copycat chipotle recipe, or this beloved slow cooker bean recipe of mine

• let’s prep smoothie cups in these containers

• 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

• 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 7/10 menu plan

want my weekly menu plan delivered straight to your inbox each week? subscribe here!

meal plan

sunday: 

dinner: grill and chill  

• brett grills chicken + plenty of chicken for lunches

  • freeze half the grilled chicken for future quick meals

• burrito bowls or my favorite bean and rice bowl

  • 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.

monday: sandwiches

why we love a weekly sandwich night

• my favorite summer sandwich

• veggie rice soup

  • pulled from the freezer in these containers - here’s how i freeze (and reheat!) soup

• 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

tuesday: 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++.

wednesday: pizza, pasta, or rice

• lasagna

  • from my impromptu freezer cooking day

• bagged caesar salad

  • or our veggie box with our ranch dressing

  • or salad with our ranch dressing

• that random can of breadsticks in our fridge - maybe use them to make garlic knots?

thursday: quick, make ahead, or crockpot

• easy tostadas or quesadillas using Sunday’s leftovers

friday: leftovers or takeout

saturday: snack dinner saturday or dinner with loved ones

• frozen chicken nuggets and whatever produce we have hanging around weeeeeee!

---

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

• pick up our ranch dressing for the week

• make croutons - post coming soon!

prep some sort of dessert for the week:

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

• raspberry almond ricotta cake

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

• pull spinach banana muffins or blueberry muffins from freezer

• make the weekly pot of beans so I can make this other favorite quick breakfast/lunch

  • favorite bean recipes: instant pot black beans or slow cooker refried beans or this copycat chipotle recipe, or this beloved slow cooker bean recipe of mine

• let’s prep smoothie cups in these containers

• 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

• this ice pack head wrap - my absolute favorite thing with this week’s headache - Brett makes fun of me but I don’t care with the amount of BLISS this thing provides

• seashore sounds: kk’s favorite book (a noise book, of course!) right now

• kk’s play dough tray this month, ocean-themed!

• kk’s easy, sandy (but clean!) sensory bin!

• kk’s “mama and baby turtle” color-sorting/nesting set

  • see our ocean-themed month of play for allllll our favorite activities right now

• THE LIST! my yearly tasks + expenses list! the list I NEED as a mom/homeowner/human. I cannot function without it. this gem of a system is saving my behind right now and I’m SO grateful for the kindness shown towards this new post.

• a love letter to homemade cornbread

• 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 7/3 menu plan

want my weekly menu plan delivered straight to your inbox each week? subscribe here!

meal plan

sunday: 

dinner: grill and chill  

• brett grills hotdogs (but also cooks some hamburgers for tomorrow night)

• our fourth of july tradition: an epic Build Your Own Hot Dog bar

  • We get good hot dogs, we make homemade buns (or buy goooood buns), and we invest in some fun toppings. I won’t inundate you with all the topping possibilities here, but I do encourage you to google topping ideas for a hot dog bar. The possibilities are beautifully endless. We love this tradition - an excuse to do hot dogs well. And the leftovers for lunch all week are awesome.

  • but know that this cheese sauce is an absolute must for us

  • we also do this epic Build Your Own Hot Dog bar as one of our New Years Day traditions - yep, we love this tradition so much we do it twice a year

• big bowl of watermelon

monday: sandwiches

why we love a weekly sandwich night

• my parents’ house

tuesday: quick, make-ahead, or crockpot

• my all-time favorite meal!!

  • use this beloved slow cooker bean recipe of mine

  • I could make Brett his favorite cornbread?

• biggg bowl of whatever fruit we have hanging around

wednesday: pizza, pasta, or rice

• cheese tortellini + pesto

• big bowl of fruit and/or veggie box

thursday: quick, make ahead, or crockpot

• my chicken noodle soup recipe (it’s the best!!)

  • but omit chicken so it’s just this awesome noodle veggie soup

  • freeze half - here’s how I freeze (and thaw!) soup

• big bowl of summer fruit

friday: leftovers or takeout

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 my chicken noodle soup recipe (it’s the best!!)

  • but omit chicken so it’s just this awesome noodle veggie soup

  • freeze half - here’s how I freeze (and thaw!) soup

• make cheese tortellini + pesto

• make this beloved slow cooker bean recipe of mine

prep some sort of dessert for the week:

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

• none this week

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 lemon muffins, freeze half

• 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

• just ordered this and this Very First Book of Things to Spot and I can already tell they’re going to be KK’s new favorite books

• our vitamins + supplements - especially this week with us being under the weather

• our deep cleaning schedule

• our diffusers + our orange essential oil - my favorite way to add a delightfully light citrus scent to our home. see the full list of things I do every morning here.

• starting to set out our july activities and KK is already obsessed with the simple sensory bin (and the turtles!) - BLESS the inventor of kinetic sand

• 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.