Now with two tiny humans in the mix, I needed to adjust how I meal plan right now.
Near the end of pregnancy I was tired and lacked inspiration and so meal planning looked like this:
DINNER
Sunday = cook
Monday = eat Sunday leftovers
Tuesday = cook
Wednesday = eat Tuesday leftovers
Thursday = clean out fridge or eggs + toast for dinner
Lunch
sandwiches + chips + fruit/veg for like 6 weeks straight lol
Now with a newborn and toddler, I don’t have time (and don’t want to take time) to make a sandwich during nap time because usually, I’m not child free during Cal’s naps. Sometimes I get Teddy to nap laying down and not on me during Cal’s nap, but that isn’t often. So, this is my new meal planning strategy that is working so far.
We have community group (a small group that meets from our church) on Sundays from 5-7pm so we pick up Roots for dinner on that night. My go-to bowl is the El Jefe – tasty and filling since the portions are hefty. I really like not cooking on Sundays.
Mondays for lunch we eat leftovers from the weekend or eggs + toast.
Then on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I cook dinner and the next day we eat the leftovers for lunch. Tuesday dinner becomes Wednesday lunch and so on.
To put it simply, it looks like this:
Sunday dinner = eat out
Monday lunch = leftovers or eggs + toast
Monday through Thursday dinner = cook
Tuesday through Friday lunch = leftovers
And then most Fridays we grill pizza and either have a quieter night in with just us or we invite friends over – it just depends on how busy the week has been and what we have going on the rest of the weekend. Trying to perfect our grilled pizza has been really fun and been something “new” to do during the weirdness of COVID when life can feel really mundane and unexciting. Although, we don’t make our pizza dough. We live about a five minute walk from Albemarle Baking Company which makes amazing breads, baked goods and pizza dough – and so as long as we live this close to an incredible bakery, I have zero motivation to spend my time learning to use yeast. Maybe one day…maybe.
We do make our own sauce though! Using this recipe. And most weeks we are purist and top the pizza with cheese + pepperoni. If others are joining us we branch out and make the second pizza with spicy sausage + pepper + onion. It’s taken some trial and error to get the grilling part down but dang, you guys, now that we have I think I can confidently say our homemade grilled pizza is my favorite in all of Charlottesville – and there is some really good pizza here!
Back to how I meal plan right now. Cooking dinner each weeknight and then having leftovers for lunch the next day is working well in this season of life for two reasons.
1) All I have to do is heat and eat
2) I have a hearty meal ready to go which works well to tame breastfeeding hunger. That doesn’t mean you can’t/shouldn’t eat dinner leftovers if you aren’t breastfeeding (that goes without saying) but rather, a snack plate lunch or salad or something like that just isn’t going to cut it these days
I typically have 2-3 quick meals planned and 1-2 meals that are new recipes or something that takes longer than 20-30 minutes to get on the table. Before Teddy was born, when it was just Cal, Nick would usually go running with Cal in the jogging stroller while I cooked dinner (it was so nice for me to cook solo with a podcast)…but now with a newborn, sometimes they still go jogging and Teddy sleeps on me in the wrap or if the tiny humans are more needs, it’s a team effort to get dinner cooked and everyone fed.
Thankfully (seriously, it was so helpful!) I didn’t have to cook for the first time until Teddy was almost six weeks old because we had a wonderful meal train, my momma was in town for two weeks feedings us well and Nick’s parents were here for a week after that and did some cooking. Now that I’m getting back in the swing, I’m back to doing the meal plan and grocery ordering + delivery on Fridays. That works well for us.
Last week’s meal plan lineup was:
Monday – salmon burgers (using this recipe) with garlic aioli + roasted yukon gold potatoes + roasted broccoli **this day was…A DAY. So at 6pm when dinner was nowhere in sight and we had two upset children in our hands we called an audible and made cheesy eggs + baked potatoes and roasted broccoli. Life with two under two (and kids in general) means always being prepared to pivot.
Tuesday – spaghetti with meat sauce + salad + garlic bread
Wednesday – grilled bbq chicken with corn on the cob, roasted potatoes and green beans
Thursday – hawaiin chicken tacos from POY (this is a new recipe) + chips and salsa
The salmon burgers and chicken tacos might take longer than 20-30 minutes for this week. Spaghetti and anything on the grill is always super quick and easy. Other simple fast meals I might make from week to week are tacos, quesadillas, baked ziti and when it gets cooler curries are always pretty fast.
For snacks, we usually have a good stock of bars, granola, etc (I spent our life savings at Costco before Teddy was born and we are still working our way through that stock) and then throughout the week Cal and I bake something one or two afternoons – usually some rendition of banana bread or a snack type cookie or bar. We made these last week and they are fab.
I am always interested in rhythms that are helpful for other people – as I am transitioning to a new season of life, I’m in the process of shifting our rhythms with meal planning, cleaning, organizing etc so they work well for us as a family of four. So, share yours in the comments!
Great tips! I’m 37 weeks with baby #4 and my other 3 are 4 and under so I can relate to some days just being overwhelmed thinking about dinner. The Instant Pot has been such a blessing as well as having easy non-fancy meals saved on Pinterest for the IP. I also keep plenty of pantry items like diverse seasonings, tons of sauces(bbq, curry, Thai, Asian, Mexican, etc.) so that if all else fails I know I can shred chicken or brown some ground beef/turkey, make rice quickly and add a veggie. Then top it with whatever sauces we want. However, I do highly suggest finding a deep freeze(FB marketplace is amazing for these) to have a large selection of frozen meals. Even if you’re not into freezer cooking you can always stock up when meat is on sale, breads, veggies, fruits, etc. for quick grabbing and sanity saving.
I love seeing recipes you tried because they’re always yummy! Thanks for sharing!
these are great ideas! and from a seasoned mama 🙂 congrats on baby 2!
I don’t have kids (yet!) but this is the meal planning rhythm that’s working well for me and my husband right now. I meal plan on Thursday’s and grocery shop on Friday.
Friday: takeout
Saturday: cook – usually something more time-consuming
Sunday: cook – usually something more time consuming
Monday: cook – something quick/easy
Tuesday: cook – something quick/easy
Wednesday: sometimes cook/sometimes leftovers depending on how things go
Thursday: leftovers (and start the process all over again!)
Love this post. I am in a season of full time work + a two year old and I HIGHLY recommend Naptime Kitchen’s freezer guide- or evening just checking out her insta for tips. Double batches and utilizing our freezer for meals two or three times a week has been a game changer for my family.
Love these posts, and I look forward to reading the comments! I’m in a “cook once, eat twice” mode, so we make dinner that lasts for at least two nights. We usually pick 1-2 things for lunch such as a soup, grain salad, sandwiches, snack plates to make for easy lunches. We love baking with our toddler, so we like to make a bread or muffins on the weekend to stock the freezer. Like another commenter, we’re big in stocking the freezer and always have tons of IP shredded chicken, frozen veggies, frozen rice, frozen tortillas and breads, and so on so we can make a stir fry or quesadilla at a moment’s notice! I’d love to see some fellow readers’ fave IP meals these days!
YES! I love the “Cook Once, Eat All Week” cookbook. That helped us so much for a period of time.
I love bake and forget meals. Like sausage with potatoes, onions and peppers in the oven and I am then free until it is done. I have a one year old and being able to spend the time playing with her is more valuable to me than a super complicated dinner.
I’m 9 weeks with my first and all I want is takeout… I give you props for being so organized with two babies!
I’m a big fan of take out, eat all the takeout you want mama!
I’m envious of the community you’ve developed in a quick period of time. I love that they brought you meals. We’ve been in our current town for 2 years and despite my many efforts, don’t quite have community like we’ve prayed for, so no meal train for us with baby #2 due in a few weeks. I’m happy you had meals for 6-ish weeks!! We hired a house cleaner to come once a month & it saves us. My hubby doesn’t love spending the weekends prepping for the week, so that allows us to get a quick 20 minute clean every week & have someone come in for the deep clean. I’m so thankful! I’ve been nauseous my entire pregnancy, so we are all about the quick meals and I don’t see that changing with baby 2. I love freezing burgers to make quickly & anything from POY (thanks to you!). I love hearing from you, especially in this stage. Thanks for posting! I’d love a snack roundup if you have time…snacks with BF hunger are essential!
I’m thinking of you and hoping community comes your way with time – I’ve been on both sides and know it can be hard and lonely. Hugs to you India and congrats on baby 2!
homemade grilled pizza is THE BOMB. all other pizza just doesn’t compare. and that’s coming from someone who lives less than an hour outside of NYC!
AGREED!
Always love when you post!! This was a refreshing perspective for me as we are about to have 2 under 2 as well. Whenever you get the chance I would also love to hear about baby life- sleep, tandem nursing, self-care, etc!
I have a pp post coming tomorrow that I hope you enjoy 🙂 as for sleep, I’m bedsharing from the start this time (didn’t do that with Cal until 9 months) and while not for everyone, it has been SO GREAT for getting the most sleep. congrats to you!
Thanks for the interesting post!
I’m wondering which kind of running stroller do you use.
we bought a Bob off FB marketplace since we wanted a jogger but already had a main stroller – we’ve loved it so far!
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Enjoying reading your exerpts because we’re in the same boat over here! Havent had any motivation to meal prep and after rour freezer meals ran out, we’ve actually been relying on meal delivery currently. It’s nice to change things up, though we still have to cook the meals. The transition from 1-2 has been mind blowing but we’re figuring it out! 🙂
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