sunday:
dinner: 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
and we’ll set out ingredients to make our favorite Grill and Chill Meal
or our beloved burrito bowls
Brett may do this too to make our week easier while the grill’s still hot
I’ll also set out flour tortillas if someone prefers a taco-type situation. Whatever speaks to our heart!
ingredients like:
instant pot black beans or slow cooker refried beans
I omit the onion in both recipes out of personal preference, and often times I’ll use black beans in the refried beans recipe
or my slow cooker pinto beans, omit sausage
freeze half in these containers
or pull beans from the freezer if too tired to make
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
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 tostadas or something.
monday: sandwiches
why we love a weekly sandwich night
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.
but know there’s a chance I might cut up my chicken patty to make my absolute favorite chicken caesar wrap with crushed croutons and parmesan cheese instead
bowl of fruit + frozen sweet potato fries
tuesday: something easy
wednesday: pizza/pasta/rice + veggies
spaghetti + jarred sauce + that ground beef in our freezer + gooooood parm
sourdough bread (or frozen garlic bread)
my favorite green salad (or bagged caesar salad)
thursday: something easy
one of our all-time favorite easy dinner combos
haven’t had this one in awhile so I’m excited!
friday: date night or something from the freezer
dinner date with Brett
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.
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
pull a big stack of freezer pb&js from freezer
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
updated my amazon store to prepare for some new content this week (fingers crossed!)
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.