3.08.2016

Weeknight Meals & Thoughts on Dinner

I'm going to try and keep up with and share the meals we're cooking. It took me three solid months to start cooking actual dinners again with any sort of frequency. We lived on freezer meals my mom stocked for us, and then once we were solo we would spend every Sunday making meals for the week ahead.

Now that we're out of that fog (!!yay!!), I'm really enjoying being back in the kitchen. Grocery shopping, meal planning, and cooking dinner look much different than they did pre-Leo, but the importance of it all has been greatly increased.

Not only do I feel like it's part of my contribution since I'm home during the day (and I enjoy it), but when I'm cooking five or six days a week, we are eating healthier, saving money, and getting into the habit of sitting at the table as a family every single night. Plus, I try and make dinners that serve 4-6 so that Joel and I have leftovers for lunch most days of the week.

Both Joel and I grew up having dinner as a family at the table every night and its something that is really important to us. We've always been good about this, but now its one of our more special times of the day. *We use the Phil & Teds Lobster travel seat or a space saver high-chair so everyone is eye level and at the same table. The lobster chair is one of my current "cant live without" items.

 Leo is going to be eating "human food" soon, so I'm trying to stock up my recipes so that he will be getting a diverse amount of foods that are nutritious.

Most of the recipes I use are from Pintrest but here are my pictures from our menu last week.  
**also, we/I am trying to keep low carb


 
This one was my favorite of the week. Crock pot makes life so easy, and it was a really filling and delish salad. I don't typically use ranch dressing, but I found a jarred version of a Jalapeno Ranch that was ammmmmazing.  

 This was Joel's favorite of the week. It was my second favorite, and not only because it only required 7 ingredients!

Wednesday- Oven Fajitas
I make these all the time, easy as pie and good.

Friday- Red Curry
 
I use the recipe as a base, but follow it really loosely. No two curries of mine every taste exactly the same.

Hopefully I'll be back next week with another batch!

5 comments:

  1. Ahhhhh I love this post bc we need quick and healthy too. I hope you do this every week. Taco salad and fajitas are on my list for next week. Tell me where you got the jalapeƱo ranch!!! Yum!

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  2. Crazily one of my calming, joyful activities every week is meal planning and then grocery shopping. It's both creative and OCD so checks both of those boxes, and then once at the store (the local place in my town is THE GREATEST - farm sourced, mostly fresh foods / few packaged goods, and the loveliest people) it's just calm and straightforward. Sounds ridiculous to LOVE planning and shopping and cooking for something we just *have* to do, but I love it.

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  3. Thanks for sharing! I will have to try some of these out! Also, I agree about loving my crock pot...it makes dinner so stress free!

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  4. I always come back to your blog to search for meal ideas! I'm with Mallory - planning, shopping, and prepping for our meals is one of the highlights of my week. Not only does it make the weeknights much less stressful and hectic, but it keeps things fresh (versus the same meals in constant rotation) and gives me the chance to seek out the recipes I've saved or Pinned. I definitely make the recipes for 4-6 as well - nothing easier than leftovers for lunches!

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  5. I love spending Sunday afternoon in the kitchen. I have tacos on my list next week for meals but this post is giving me lots of ideas!

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