week of 8/7 menu plan

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meal plan

sunday: 

dinner: grill and chill  (or Brett cooks something from his favorite cookbook)

• brett grills those random four hamburgers and six hot dogs lurking in our freezer

• frozen french fries + big bowl of watermelon

monday: sandwiches

why we love a weekly sandwich night

• my favorite, go-to sandwich or my absolute favorite wrap

  • (but obviously get other toppings too for Brett so it’s a Build Your Own kind of situation)

• the frozen sweet potato tater tots in our freezer

• big bowl of watermelon or strawberries

tuesday: tacos, tostadas, or bean bowls

• 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

• the frozen fish from costco in our freezer

• the boxes of annie’s mac and cheese in our pantry

• tons of charred, roasted broccoli NOMMM

  • and/or 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: soup, crockpot, or IP

• veggie rice soup

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

  • I follow my own recipe - and need to write it down - but the linked recipe is a similar version

• frozen garlic bread or some grilled cheese since Brett isn’t eating with us tonight

• big bowl of fruit

friday: eggs, pasta, or leftovers

• easy tomato cream sauce with jarred pasta sauce + pasta

• frozen breadsticks + blistered garlic green beans

• 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

• 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.

• no bake peanut butter chocolate bars or no bake chocolate cheesecake

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

• 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

• now that kk’s talking, she’s obsessed with talking about alllllll she sees in these big, wordless board books - they keep her entertained for a good long while!

• our evacuation bag we always keep packed, and our emergency tub we keep nearby. I like to check these things every now and again, but I definitely checked them again this week with all the wildfires in Texas and they gave me incredible peace of mine. (they also gave me incredible peace of mind two weeks ago when there was a wildfire near our home.)

• our huuuuge lazy susans under all our sinks - one of my favorite home purchases I’ve ever made. this month I’m cleaning out underneath our bathroom sinks - thanks to our easy deep cleaning schedule - and it reminded me how much I love our huuuuge lazy susans.

• our big list of august toddler activities - kk can’t get enough of this month’s simple sensory bin.

• 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 7/31 menu plan

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

meal plan

sunday: 

dinner: grill and chill  (or Brett cooks something from his favorite cookbook)

• brett will do something with those chicken thighs in our freezer

• I’ll make those garlic noodles I never got around to making last week

• maybe cook that random bag of edamame in our freezer, too?

• bigggg bowl of watermelon

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 and tomatoes)

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

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

tuesday: tacos, tostadas, or bean bowls

• build your own easy tostadas

  • but I use this refried bean recipe (but omit the onion out of personal preference)

  • use that random bag of Trader Joe’s Mexican Roasted Corn in our freezer

  • freeze any leftover beans in these containers

• big bowl of fruit

wednesday: pizza, pasta, or rice

• baked ziti

  • from my impromptu freezer cooking day

• use any leftover bread from Monday to make garlic bread

• tons of charred, roasted broccoli NOMMM

  • and/or our veggie box with our ranch dressing

  • and/or a bagged caesar salad

  • and/or that bag of Trader Joe’s Frozen Carrot Coins in our freezer

• big bowl of fruit

thursday: soup, crockpot, or IP

• IP (or crockpot) italian beef sandwiches

  • freeze any leftover in these containers

• frozen french fries and/or big bowl of fruit

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

friday: eggs, pasta, or leftovers

• would love to do something easy with eggs…and that random leftover ham in our freezer. something easy…but something that also honors the fact I don’t like ham.

  • let’s do some biscuits - either canned, frozen, or my favorite homemade biscuits.

  • let’s make my favorite soft scrambled eggs.

  • and let’s set out the aforementioned ham and some cheese, along with a big bowl of whatever fruit we have hanging around.

• bam! done! now we can build a biscuit sandwich, stir the cheese/ham into the eggs and eat a biscuit on the side, or do something else entirely. i’d bet money brett will do the first option, whereas I’ll delight in plain scrambled eggs with a buttered biscuit.

saturday: snack dinner saturday or dinner with loved ones

• I’m making a Trader Joe’s run this week, so I’m sure I’ll grab something snack dinner-y there.

---

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.

• nothing this week!

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

• august’s play theme YAYYY! I’m SO excited for the sensory bin and play dough tray.

• my massive pool hat

• these face cleanser brushes!! brett and I each have one in the shower, and one by our sinks.

• this face cream + this hair oil - my current Holy Grails (and conveniently from the drugstore!)

• kk’s play blender - she loves using it with our favorite color-sorting produce set!

• 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 7/24 menu plan

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

meal plan

sunday: 

dinner: grill and chill  (or Brett cooks something from his favorite cookbook)

• I don’t know. We might just use that pancake mix in our pantry, scramble some eggs, grab that bacon in our freezer, and call it a day, TBH.

monday: sandwiches

why we love a weekly sandwich night

• slow cooker bbq chicken sliders with that bbq sauce lurking in my pantry

  • or instant pot bbq beef sandwiches

  • or slow cooker bbq beef sandwiches

• freeze leftover meat in these containers - see my impromptu freezer cooking day for more ideas

• slider rolls + coleslaw + good pickles + diced onions - assembled sliders shown in this post

• our veggie box with our ranch dressing

• big bowl of fruit + frozen sweet potato (or regular) fries

  • how I feel about frozen fries for dinner

tuesday: tacos, tostadas, or bean bowls

• our favorite, favorite ground beef tacos

  • from my impromptu freezer cooking day

• or easy tostadas

  • but I use this refried bean recipe (but omit the onion out of personal preference)

  • freeze any leftover beans in these containers

• our veggie box with our ranch dressing

  • and/or a favorite bagged salad

  • and/or a big bowl of fruit

wednesday: pizza, pasta, or rice

• our favorite slow cooker chicken tikka masala + rice + naan

  • or, IP risotto?

  • or slow cooker chicken stroganoff over rice?

• tons of charred, roasted broccoli NOMMM

  • and/or 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: soup, crockpot, or IP

Build Your Own Baked Potato to clear up some leftovers

• IP baked potatoes

• leftover shredded meat from Monday

• whatever cheese we have in the fridge

• that half pack of bacon in our freezer

• butter, sour cream, etc

whatever’s left in our veggie box with our ranch dressing

• and/or a favorite bagged salad

• and/or a big bowl of fruit

friday: eggs, pasta, or leftovers

• our favorite creamy garlic alfredo sauce + pasta

  • or our favorite garlic noodles

• my favorite steamable bag of seasoned broccoli

• big bowl of fruit

saturday: snack dinner saturday or dinner with loved ones

• frozen chicken nuggets + frozen french fries weeeeee!

• leftover fruit

---

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 (I didn’t get around to making them last week)

  • 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

• smoothies. always.

• kk’s goggles we love

• kk’s current favorite book: big book of colors

• our list of open-ended, all-time favorite toys we keep out 24/7

  • also, our ocean-themed month of play: our favorite toys, books, art activities, play dough invitations, and sensory bins for July

  • these things are SAVING me in this Texas heat!

• our fridge whiteboard and our system of split household responsibilities

• things I do every. single. evening. to take care of myself

• our newest cereal obsession - we can’t stop eating it with its serious Waffle Crisp vibes

• our “if haley dies” document

• the humble dinner we love all year long, but live off of during the summer

• our latest meal rotation

• our Decide Once Gifts - aka how I learned to love gift giving again

• 4 reasons I love our unlimited car wash subscription, especially now I’m a mom

• why I freeze leftover pasta (and soup!) in a silicone muffin pan

• 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.