week of 1/1 menu plan

sunday: 

dinner: our beloved grill and chill  ritual

  • our new year food traditions

  • 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

    • make extra bacon for monday, wednesday’s dinners

monday: sandwiches

why we love a weekly sandwich night

  • my favorite scrambled eggs

  • brett’s favorite biscuits

    • or miss b’s frozen biscuits

  • and various fixings like jam, cheese, bacon/sausage/ham, honey, butter, etc for a build your own biscuit situation - but Brett loves to build his own breakfast sandwich

  • cut up all the oranges in our pantry

tuesday: something easy

or

my favorite build your own pinto bean bowl

wednesday: something from freezer

  • this could be something I froze to prepare for postpartum. this could also mean frozen chicken nuggets and tater tots. this could be an easy freezer favorite from Costco. (or anything from that Trader Joe’s run we did rightttt before my induction to grab postpartum snacks + freezer meals.) anything goes.

  • my favorite slow cooker broccoli cheese soup, pulled from freezer

    • here’s how i freeze (and reheat!) soup

    • but here’s the deal. brett detests broccoli cheese soup. and I love this recipe in particular. so I make it and I eat mine with saltines and I’m GIDDY.

    • for brett, I make a few baked potatoes, and I may offer him some bacon, some leftover cheese in our fridge, some green onions, some shredded bbq beef from our grocery store’s premade meal section, and some sour cream. and he’s THRILLED. but also? he’s okay with broccoli cheese soup when it’s a baked potato topping. win, win!

  • my favorite ranch dressing + salad

thursday: something easy

friday: takeout

saturday: snack dinner saturday or dinner with loved ones

I’ll clear out the fridge and make some sort of snack platter: produce, cheese, crackers, meats, dips, whatever’s hanging around. (I could also do some frozen chicken nuggets or fish sticks or taquitos or PB&Js - nothing’s set in stone here.)

And really quick, here are few of my favorites for making dinner even remotely possible:

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:

favorite things

  • while we followed (and loved!) my postpartum menu plan the last two weeks of pregnancy and the first two weeks of joey’s life, I’m ready to get back to my regular menu planning and cooking. and although I miss being in the kitchen, the meals being cooked in said kitchen will be easy easy for the foreseeable future.

    • as I mentioned at the very bottom of my baby prep blogpost, once Joey arrived, I dropped all routines and just did what we needed to get by. And only once I crave a routine do I add it back, and only when I feel ready. no guilt, just grace.

  • did you catch that? joey’s here! instagram post coming soon. but know that he arrived on december 14th, and all 9 pounds 10 ounces and 22 inches of him came in four pushes. (so fast that he had to have a brief little stint in the nicu to help him get some fluid out of his lungs.) but the best news of all is that there was no tearing this time around, and WOW does that make postpartum a heck of a lot more enjoyable. (for those that are new, I had a heinous third degree tear with my daughter.) i haven’t even needed to use my beloved donut this time around! PRAISE BE. a christmas miracle!

  • i’m doing everything I can to reallyyyyy rest and heal and soak up our new family of four. a few favorite things off the top of my head:

  • 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.

postpartum menu plan

One of the ways I prepared for Baby Boy was to create a postpartum menu plan. Mainly because I wanted to think of a rough draft of a plan before that hazy, wonderful newborn phase - a plan that gave us the slightest bit of structure, a plan that accounted for easy meals, leftovers, takeout, and food from loved ones. And because I knew Future Haley would rather edit or rearrange a loooooose menu plan than completely start from scratch each week.

So that said, I won’t be publishing a weekly menu plan for awhile. Instead, I’ll be referencing the following format for our meals for as long as I need. :)

Because as I mention at the very bottom of my baby prep blogpost, once Baby Boy is here, I drop all routines and just do what we need to get by. And only once I crave a routine do I add it back, and only when I feel ready. Which means it’s hard to say when I’ll go back to my normal weekly menu planning - may be four weeks, may be four months, may be 2024. And that’s okay. No guilt, just grace.

So without further ado, here’s our easyyyy menu plan for however long we need postpartum.


A few notes to start:

  • I actually started following this postpartum menu plan in the last bit of pregnancy. It was the best way for me to rest - and enjoy my family of 3 - before my induction.

  • We have a higher takeout budget than normal since we paused our gym membership and my Fit4Mom membership postpartum until I’m ready to return. See all the other tiny (and big!) things I did to prepare for postpartum here.

  • I didn’t talk about this much on Instagram, but Brett decided to completely change jobs - a month before Baby Boy was due - to follow his dream of working for a start-up company. Which I 1000% supported. But that means I’m not sure how much I can rely on him for dinner help postpartum. And that’s okay. But that definitely went into consideration when making this plan.

  • Also know that we don’t have a lot of takeout or drive-thru options near us - most things are a ~20 minute drive at least. Which is great for nights we feel like getting out of the house. But sometimes that means takeout, delivery, or drive-thru are more of a hassle and we’d rather have something easy to eat at home.

    • Another option? Both my sisters live nearby, and one grabs takeout a few times a week with her fiance. And she’s more than happy to pick something up for us as well, and swing it by our house on her way home. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: we may not be from this area originally, but I’m endlessly grateful all my family ended up near each other and I’m endlessly grateful for their constant support.

  • I am hopeful to have two very specific dinners every Sunday and Monday - both because we love these Build Your Own Meals, but also because these leftovers serve us so well for lunches and for Leftover Nights the rest of the week. These Sunday and Monday meals are also incredibly versatile so that we can decide what sounds best that night and so we don’t feel like we’re eating the same thing over and over.

    • This is also why we froze a lot of grilled chicken and beans when I was pregnant - so that if ever it felt like too much to make these two things postpartum, we had an easy option in the freezer. Here’s the full list of things I froze.

  • I bought the biggest pack of disposable eatery. Paper plates, paper bowls, disposable silverware, disposable napkins, whatever. a massive amount for postpartum - we’re shamelessly minimizing dishes for a long, long time. we did this for KK’s birth and we were so dang thankful. That last few weeks of pregnancy I store the paper bowls and plates in our cabinets, stacked on top of their reusable counterparts - this reminds us to actually use the disposable stuff postpartum. and I keep a cute wicker silverware caddy on our counter or bar for the disposable silverware. And then if we have any leftover disposable stuff when we feel human again, I tuck it away in a tub. and we pull out that tub for emergencies - whether that be a natural disaster or when we had that plumbing nightmare. (it’s also handy for family visits, camping, etc.) see my oldddd post on our prepared-ish home for more.

  • My mom is a dinner asset. A few years back my parents moved to the area, and my mom once-upon-a-time went to culinary school for funsies. So she loves to send over food and because of her, I’m not asking for a meal train from other loved ones. But also? If there’s a dinner or prepped item (like cut up fruit or a particular salad) I really want, she’s happy to do it. So having a loose menu plan also helps me know how to ask for help - I can look at the menu plan and outsource, say, that big bowl of fruit or that pot of beans to my mom.

    • Also, the menu plan be rearranged based on when she sends over food. The menu plan is just a roughhhh draft.

  • I stocked our home with easy-to-eat foods. Ritz Peanut Butter Crackers, lunchables, clementines, precut fruit, applesauce pouches, bars, grapes, cheese, yogurt, pre-made salads, smoothies, and turkey sandwich fixings. I also froze a bunch of my favorite muffins, egg bites, kolaches, oatmeal, and PB&J’s…but you can read more about that in my Things I Froze blogpost.

  • Let’s talk meal trains. (You and I may differ here and that’s 1000% okay.) When I’m newly postpartum, I don’t allow visitors and I maintain this boundary relentlessly. For the first few weeks/months/however long I need, I really don’t want to see anyone other than my own family unit, my parents, and my sisters. And that’s okay - that’s how I handle transition. (I’m also very introverted - INFJ + Type 4 - so I generally find visitors incredibly draining.) Eventually - when I’m ready - I emerge again and I joyfully reunite with others. So along those same lines, I really don’t like meal trains - I’m picky, I have three barking dogs, and I just want to be in my own bubble for awhile.

    • (Side note: I do have some dear, dear friends who know that I go underground and have already vowed to quietly leave food by my door. And for that I will always be grateful for their unconditional love.)

  • Freezer food. You’ll see that below. That could mean something I froze to prepare for postpartum. That could also mean frozen chicken nuggets and tater tots. (Or anything from that Trader Joe’s run we did rightttt before my induction to grab postpartum snacks + freezer meals.) Anything goes.

  • Christmas + New Year. Our postpartum period blissfully overlaps with that slow, cozy stretch of holidays. Which means we may get to do our Christmas Food Traditions and our New Year Food Traditions. Or we may not. We’re very flexible this year.

And really quick, here are few of my favorites for making dinner even remotely possible:

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!



postpartum menu plan:

sunday:

our beloved grill and chill  ritual

  • brett grills chicken like this for tonight’s dinner + plenty of lunch leftovers

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

    • or pull grilled chicken from the freezer if too tired to grill

ingredients like:

  • instant pot black beans or slow cooker refried beans

  • 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

  • flour tortillas + rice

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



monday:

build your own grilled chicken sandwiches OR build your own grilled chicken wraps

  • set out grilled chicken (leftover from sunday)

  • set out goooood sliders and last night’s leftover tortillas

  • also set out: lettuce, tomato, mashed avocado, bacon, red onion, cheese cheese, bacon, ranch dressing, buffalo sauce, honey mustard dressing, caesar dressing, etc

    • like, Brett’s #1 favorite is to do a buffalo ranch style slider or wrap with blue cheese crumbles, but I almost always do a chicken caesar wrap with crushed croutons and parmesan cheese. or a grilled chicken slider with lettuce, tomato, and mayo. THE BEST.

  • with a big bowl of fruit. or sweet potato fries. or frozen French fries. or salad with ranch dressing. the heart wants what the heart wants.



tuesday:

  • some form of takeout, delivery, or drive-thru

  • with a big bowl of fruit.

    • or precut fruit from the store.

    • or salad with ranch dressing.

    • or salad made by my mom.

    • or fruit salad made by my dad.

    • or bagged salad.

    • or veggie box.



wednesday:

  • food from loved ones or freezer food*

  • with a big bowl of fruit.

    • or precut fruit from the store.

    • or salad with ranch dressing.

    • or salad made by my mom.

    • or fruit salad made by my dad.

    • or bagged salad.

    • or veggie box.



thursday:

  • a big bowl of mashed avocado + something with Sunday’s leftovers:

  • big bowl of fruit

    • or precut fruit from the store.



friday:

  • some form of takeout, delivery, or drive-thru

    • on Fridays, we may alternate between our favorite Chinese place, our favorite pizza place, and takeout from a new-to-us restaurant. for some easy structure, yes, but also these aren’t places we can normally afford on a frequent basis. so it’ll be the loveliest treat during this time (with ample leftovers for the weekend).

  • with a big bowl of fruit.

    • or precut fruit from the store.

    • or salad with ranch dressing.

    • or salad made by my mom.

    • or fruit salad made by my dad.

    • or bagged salad.

    • or veggie box.


saturday:

  • food from loved ones, leftovers, or Snack Dinner

  • with a big bowl of fruit

    • or precut fruit from the store.

    • or salad with ranch dressing.

    • or salad made by my mom.

    • or fruit salad made by my dad.

    • or bagged salad.

    • or veggie box.

also friday (or saturday, depending on the week) = movie night

  • an excerpt from my “things I’m doing to prepare for our second baby: how we’re streamlining our household and taking care of our future selves” blogpost:

    • I started a weekly movie night. all in the spirit of adding some easy, predictable structure to our household during this time of transition.

    • but also? growing up, my dad was a very successful, very busy patent attorney. and my mom - the most incredible person I know - was a stay-at-home mom to three girls, all eighteen-months apart. and every single Friday, she’d load the three of us up in the car, we’d pick up Burger King, and we’d come home to a movie night. it is honestly some of my fondest childhood memories. (a Burger King burger is still one of my favorite comfort foods and Brett will never stop giving me grief.) and looking back, my mom brilliantly found a way to prioritize some weekly, built-in rest after another long week of solo parenting.

    • so in that same spirit, we’re slowly working our way through the Disney+ catalogue (and/or holiday movies, when applicable), one week at a time.

    • and I clear out the fridge and make some sort of snack platter: produce, cheese, crackers, meats, dips, whatever’s hanging around. (I could also do some frozen chicken nuggets or fish sticks or taquitos or PB&Js - nothing’s set in stone here.)

    • but on weeks we have a little wiggle room in the eating out budget (or weeks we just can’t do leftovers for whatever reason), we’ll order our favorite pizza. or pick up some special takeout. or maybe find our own version of Burger King.


Christmas + New Year

Instagram:

  • I take a break from Instagram every December, but I’ll be back in the New Year. Peek at my stories then for a glimpse of our new daily life. Baby Boy is due December 25th, and we’ve scheduled an elective induction for before then (like we did with KK), but we’ll see what Baby Boy’s plan is. :)

  • Our Christmas 2022 talks about why I love a December Instagram Break. The post also talks about what we’re doing for Christmas gifts this year, if you need ideas.

You deserve whatever you need to take care of yourself - and for me that means a loooooose postpartum menu plan. I’m so looking forward to this graceful, cozy, slow season.

xo, h


week of 11/27 menu plan

fyi: the menu plan newsletter is being paused until I get some energy back - which may not be until after baby boy is born! (missed the pregnancy announcement? see the post here!)

meal plan

sunday: 

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

  • brett grills chicken for tonight’s dinner + plenty of lunch leftovers

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

    • see full list of what I’m freezing for postpartum here

    • set out the following ingredients so we can make quesadillas, tacos, tostadas, my favorite bean and avocado bowl, burrito bowls, nachos, etc. whatever speaks to our heart for dinner!

      • the weekly pot of beans (see meal prep section below for recipes)

      • 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

      • flour tortillas, tortilla chips, tostadas, rice

      • 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. and that way if I’m too tired to make dinner later in the week, nbd. we just throw together some quesadillas or my favorite bean and avocado bowl or something.

monday: sandwiches

why we love a weekly sandwich night

tuesday: something easy

wednesday: pizza, pasta, or rice

thursday: something easy

or, or!

build your own grilled chicken sandwiches OR build your own grilled chicken wraps

  • set out grilled chicken (leftover from sunday)

  • set out goooood sliders and tortillas

  • also set out: lettuce, tomato, mashed avocado, bacon, red onion, cheese cheese, bacon, ranch dressing, buffalo sauce, honey mustard dressing, caesar dressing, etc

    • like, Brett’s #1 favorite is to do a buffalo ranch style slider or wrap with blue cheese crumbles, but I almost always do a chicken caesar wrap with crushed croutons and parmesan cheese. or a grilled chicken slider with lettuce, tomato, and mayo. THE BEST.

  • another one of our absolute favorite Build Your Own Dinners - we usually have these ingredients on hand anyway, and the leftovers serve us well all week.

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. 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:

  • make veggie box, prep produce (like wash + destem grapes)

  • prep gooooood salad ingredients for an easy, delicious dinner side for this 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

  • make the weekly pot of beans

  • make a double batch of some sort of muffin/pancake/waffle/bar

    • make our favorite yogurt muffins, freeze half for postpartum

      • I never got around to making these last week, so I moved them to this week

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

      • Want to see my full list of how I’m prepping for Baby Boy? Click here!

  • make bread, if needed

    • Brett’s been getting into sourdough, so finger’s crossed he makes a loaf this week. we find a lottttt of joy in homemade bread, and I love how it also stretches our grocery budget…and elevates our dinners.

    • if he doesn’t make a loaf, I may make one of our easy favorites, like this recipe

  • make a batch of pasta, if needed

    • Brett works from home, and one of his favorite things is just a basic bowl of pasta, jarred sauce, and gooood parmesan. so making this (or whatever Wednesday’s dinner is) on Sundays can be a big gift for him. (and a wonderful Leftover Night option for him, too.) KK also loves this for lunch or as a quick dinner.

    • and in all seriousness, Baby Boy lovesssss the plain cheese tortellini from Costco. so we may just make a batch of that to keep in the fridge. (and Brett can add jarred sauce or pesto to his separately. or here’s 10 things to do with tortellini - GENIUS.)

  • let’s prep smoothie cups in these containers, if needed

  • make some sort of egg dish, if needed

  • make yogurt parfaits, if needed - post coming soon!

  • make a big stack of freezer pb&js for postpartum if time/energy

  • make our weekly batch of beloved oatmeal

favorite things

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.