Scattered Sundays and Meal Plan
I have questions for you all, and I’m hoping you have some answers! Those answers will inform my next steps in a way that I hope will be of benefit to you.
I’m batting around the idea of separating my meal plan from my normal Sunday posts. The way I think of it, if anyone is looking for ideas for what to have for dinner, Sunday is probably too late at that point. If I were to post a weekly meal plan on Friday, it would give you the weekend to grocery shop and prep. But I realize that is making a lot of assumptions about how you meal plan (or don’t), grocery shop (or don’t), and prep (or don’t). Hence the poll. Could you please help me out and leave the answers to these questions in the comments?
a) When do you do the bulk of your grocery shopping?
- Weekend
- Weekday
- Who plans that ish? I go when I need stuff.
b) Where do you do the bulk of your grocery shopping?
- Traditional grocery store (including Costco, Sams Club, Super Target)
- More specialized grocery stores (including Whole Foods, Trader Joes)
- Online delivery service (including Amazon)
- Co-op or health food store
c) Do you meal prep?
- Yes!
- B, you’re crazy
d) When do you meal prep?
- Saturday or Sunday
- During the week
- B, you’re crazy
e) Would you be interested if I posted weekly meal plans on Fridays, and included a printable menu AND shopping list? For free of course.
- Yes!
- Nah, keep your Sunday posts as is. And the pass the Nutella.
I appreciate your answers in advance! My goal and hope is to make this blog user-friendly for ya’ll, and I think this may be a way to serve a need.
Jack is out of school this Wednesday, and I am borderline freaking out. Currently, I work on blog stuff while Bennett is down for his afternoon nap. He dropped his morning nap (whaaaaaaaa), so I now crunch hard for 90 minutes when he is sleeping. I am always working once B is asleep, and the afternoon work time is vital to me. I feel like I am finally getting traction on taking this space to where I want it to go, and having Jack home is going to put a damper in the routine. He’s signed up for a few activities and camps this summer, and we plan to be at the public library summer program almost every other day. But day in and day out, I am still faced with having him around and bored during my critical work time. He is a wonderful independent reader, but I feel like if I want to work without interruption, he’s going to be watching more television than I am comfortable with this summer.
I have already reworked my early mornings to hopefully accommodate an extra hour of work time. Currently, I get up between 4:30 and 5 am to help my mom. I then shower, eat breakfast, and try to do some blog work. Bennett is now waking up by 6 am most days, which further compresses my ability to get computer work done. For the summer, when Troy is home, my plan is to get up at the same time, but instead of the doing rest of the stuff, I’ll just do computer/blog work. Having Troy around in the mornings means I can shower and get ready when everyone is awake. When Troy is at work, I’ll do my normal routine, and just try to add extra time at the end of the day. We’ll see how it goes.
Oh hey, happy Father’s Day all the dads out there! Hoping your day brings some sleep in time, a great breakfast, wonderful hugs, and thoughtful gifts. We are headed to Troy’s parent’s house today, along with my parents and Troy’s sister. We’ll be giving my dad his gift this afternoon. I’ll post a photo of it on Facebook and Instagram later if you want a good laugh. It cracks me up any time I think of it. Troy found the inspiration for it months ago, and my sis and I had it made for him recently.
Hey, for any podcast fans with kids out there, did you know NPR now has a podcast just for kids? It is called Wow in the World. Frankly, it makes me roll my eyes in the way that those horrid Disney channel situational comedies make me cringe, but I am not the target audience. Jack loves it and looks forward to new episodes each week. Guy Raz is one of the hosts of Wow in the World, and I just love another podcast he does called How I Built This.
My feet are healing nicely(ish), and I hit 10k steps almost every day in the past week. There is no more crawling on the floor, and I can wear normal shoes again. Still no bare feet around the house and flip flops are a no go for now, but I am happy to feel like I am headed towards normal. When I saw the foot doc for the second time, I asked him for new walking shoe recommendations. My current pair is almost shot after a year of walks with Bennett. He gave me a list of a few, and most of them were not really in my price range. However, these Asics that he recommended were super reasonably priced and were Amazon Prime eligible. I ordered a pair, but need to wait until my feet are totally 100% before deciding if they have found their forever home.
I rarely wear running shoes with jeans. I feel very Seinfeldian all of the sudden.
A few months ago, my friend Angela sent me a small bottle of Plant Therapy essential oils. I think she was sick of listening to me talk about not being able to sleep, and thought the Sleep Aid blend might help. I have been using it, and I really like it. I put one drop on a cotton ball at bedtime and put it on the little nightstand next to my bed. I don’t sell oils, I’m not part of any oil referral program or anything, but I wanted to share it for all the other crappy sleepers out there. If you sell oils from another brand (that may or may not rhyme with toDerra or LoungYiving), please don’t feel the need to link your shop and tell everyone that your sleep blend is better. I have next to zero energy for tolerating the single silliest battle around – essential oil wars.
As you may have seen on Facebook, we made these burritos on Thursday for dinner, and they were a big hit for everyone. Bennett will eat anything that contains black beans, and even picky Jack enjoyed them after turning his nose up at first. I didn’t include the peppers it called for (Jack is always on the alert for things that look remotely spicy), didn’t use any chili powder, but did add smoked paprika. I used fresh garlic and minced onion and cooked it with the beef. And the end of cooking the beef, I added a bit of cream cheese to make the filling kind of creamy (I can’t stand sour cream). I really wish I had flavored the rice I used it in, as plain white rice wasn’t too exciting. I topped each burrito – except Jack’s – with my Homemade Smoky Avocado Dip. I will definitely make them again, but I think I would prefer it with shredded pork or chicken. I tend to just not be a huge ground beef fan.
(Click here to copy and navigate the meal plan below) I tried to make the links on this document open in a new window on desktop, but alas it wasn’t in the cards.
Smith Brother’s Farms – $19.84
Local grocery store – $16.65. The rice was on the clearance table for $1 each, and it doesn’t expire until 2019! The Noosa Yoghurt (our absolute favorite) was free with the store app, and the YoBaby yogurt was on clearance for $2, and eligible for a $.75 rebate through Ibotta! The lemon and bananas were free, because there was a $2 off coupon on the store app. 
Costco – 69.12. I was so excited to see organic grapes at Costco this week. They’re called Cotton Candy grapes, and holy snikeys, they DO taste like cotton candy. We went through all three pounds in five days.
What are you having this week?
I try to meal plan as the week goes on but it usually happens the weekend and I shop on Sunday. I’m most likely to cook something if I’ve seen it recently. I regularly shop at a traditional grocery store but still hit the farmer’s market on the weekends for fun. I liked your old format for the menu because I read on my phone and it was easier to see.
Thanks for that feedback, I’m going to try to figure out a way to have both the old format AND a printable menu option. I need a full-time tech person because this is not my forte!
I try to meal plan as the week goes on but it usually happens the weekend and I shop on Sunday. I\’m most likely to cook something if I\’ve seen it recently. I regularly shop at a traditional grocery store but still hit the farmer\’s market on the weekends for fun. I liked your old format for the menu because I read on my phone and it was easier to see.
A. 2
B. 1
C. 2
D. 3
E. 2
A 2
B 1
C 2
D 3
E 1
Maybe with some assistance I can become a meal planner. ?
a) When do you do the bulk of your grocery shopping?
Weekday – I do the list Thursday and shop on Friday
b) Where do you do the bulk of your grocery shopping?
Traditional grocery store – online Click and Collect (but I’m in the UK)
c) Do you meal prep?
Only if I’m slow cooking something
d) When do you meal prep?
The night before when I’m cooking (so if the slow cooker is Wednesday I prep at the same time as cooking Tuesday’s dinner)
e) Would you be interested if I posted weekly meal plans on Fridays, and included a printable menu AND shopping list? For free of course.
Yes – but I’d prefer mid-week as Friday is too late for me
a) When do you do the bulk of your grocery shopping?
Who plans that ish? I go when I need stuff.- I am trying to get back into a better habit, so usually it’s on Monday after we’ve spent the weekend scrounging for food.
b) Where do you do the bulk of your grocery shopping?
Traditional grocery store (including Costco, Sams Club, Super Target)
Co-op or health food store- When I remember what day of the week it is on Saturdays, I also try to get to the farmers market.
c) Do you meal prep?
B, you’re crazy- though I’m working on it.
d) When do you meal prep?
Saturday or Sunday- This would be ideal
During the week- This is more realistic
e) Would you be interested if I posted weekly meal plans on Fridays, and included a printable menu AND shopping list? For free of course.
Either works for me- Most of your recipes are easy enough for me to adapt to our food issues, so being able to print is a nice feature, but not a deal breaker for me.
I know you’ll come up with something that works for keeping Jack busy and getting your work done. And not all t.v. is created equal, so don’t stress about it if that’s what you need to get ish done. We’ve started doing Nutritious Movement (https://nutritiousmovement.com/blog/) and so when the kid hounds me to watch t.v. I make her stretch while she watches.
Can’t wait to see what you got your dad for Father’s Day!
First detail, I am more rural than urban so shopping is always tied to other driving chores.
A. I shop according to the grocery flyers. I keep a running list of what ingredients I am out of, each week I sit down with the flyers and note what is a really good sale …. butter for $2.88 and shrimp for $5.99 this week. I try to avoid shopping Saturday/Sunday because of the crowds so often it is on Friday but mostly when I’m in the area of which ever store has the best deals that week.
B. We are part of two different community bulk produce plans so I seldom have to shop for veggies, we also have a huge garden and I freeze lots of it, plus we have discovered a fairly local commercial farm that I can ‘arrange’ to be in the vicinity of when it is seasonally appropriate. Last year and looks like again this year, broccoli was hard to find at the nursery so when it is seasonal I’ll stock up at the farm stand and get it into the freezer.
C/D. Hubby works an afternoon-evening shift so I try and make sure he eats something healthy before he heads out, that often means doing meal prep the day before…. soup, veggie/pre cooked meat so I can just slide it onto his plate without any great fuss. So, yes it is meal prep but only for 2-3 days at a time because I’m often off and running to various committments myself.
I enjoy your food plan because occasionally is sparks an idea for future reference.
I LOVE the pictures of your grocery shops because I like to see the packages and brand names of your part of the world – I’m in Canada.
Reading all the responses to your questions was interesting too.
A. 2 Weekday
B. 1 Traditional and 3. Online
C. Yes
D. 2 During the week
E. 1 Yes
Hi Sara, I usually shop on Friday after work or Saturday morning, regular grocery stores (an Aldi’s just opened up 5 minutes from where I work 🙂 !). I prep usually on Sundays. I love the pictures of your meals as they look very inspiring. The one with the quesadilla, asparagus and strawberries looks yummy. I also love the pictures of what you get at the stores. I am nosey like that. When I am standing in line, and the person before me or after me is putting their groceries on the belt, I will look to see what they are buying. Sometimes I will ask what they are making with an item I am not familiar with. And they are usually nice and tell me. I have a question, do you have a crockpot and do you use it often? Love your blog!
I uh, have two crockpots. And am in the market for an Instant Pot soon. So yes, I use them often. 😉 I have a giant crockpot that I use for soups, stews, and homemade chicken broth. The littler one is often used for beans, smaller recipes, and holds all my canning lids when I am water bath canning.
Thanks, I will have to look in your recipes for those. I have 2 crockpots as well. I love making soups in the winter and use it a lot in the summer instead of the oven, so it does heat the kitchen up.
*So it does not heat the kitchen up.
a) When do you do the bulk of your grocery shopping?
Weekend
b) Where do you do the bulk of your grocery shopping?
Traditional grocery store (including Costco, Sams Club, Super Target)
c) Do you meal prep?
Yes!
d) When do you meal prep?
Saturday or Sunday
e) Would you be interested if I posted weekly meal plans on Fridays, and included a printable menu AND shopping list? For free of course.
Yes!