breakfast

Weekly Meal Plan Posts are Back!

Abby H.

0a5e9dab796cea8a07eabe4eb4795b9e.jpgI tried y’all.

After seven months, it’s time to bring back the weekly meal plan post. And it’s to hold myself accountable. Everyone’s been fed, so that’s not the problem. The problem lies in that unless I have something staring me in the face saying, “Hey, this is what you’re eating tonight!!” I will just ignore that and graze like a raccoon. Everybody’s fed. The kids always have a nutritious dinner, but I will just stand in front of an open cupboard and eat crackers out of a box. Or I will eat a cheese stick and handfuls of greens like it’s dinosaur time.

So my hope is that when I  write out this whiteboard weekly meal plan, I will hold myself to it.

The whiteboard has been repurposed yet again, and it’s ready for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.

Breakfast: We tend to eat cereal, a bagel, or an MBS (Mrs. Bear Special) each morning for breakfast. I usually have a proffee and a bagel.

Lunch: M-F I pack myself and the kids’ lunches. I bring 5 lunches to work on Monday and stash them in the fridge. I pack the kids lunches each night before bed, except for the cold stuff and ice pack- those I put in when I get up in the morning.

Dinner: This week, for dinner, I chose some easier options to ease back into meal planning.

Now that it is fall and it is officially soup time (even though it’s like 90° outside most of the time) I will be making a big batch of soup once a week, so I will have soup for lunches and for dinner at least one to two nights during the week. This week’s soup is Zuppa Toscana. I also have a casserole planned for this week.

I love me a good old-fashioned casserole, and so does the little one. The big one not so much, but he’ll drink a smoothie any day of the week, so I’m not terribly concerned about him not getting something nutritious in his belly.

  • Sunday:  Soup and fruit salad
  • Monday: Pizza, Pasta, and Salad

  • Tuesday: Chicken, Rice, & Broccoli Casserole with Cheese Toast

  • Wednesday:  Sandwiches or Smoothies

  • Thursday: Quesadillas, Beans & Rice

  • Friday: Takeout night!
  • Saturday: Leftover Palooza and fruit salad

Food As Medicine Initiative: Free Food with Medi-Cal

Abby H.

In California, those who have Medi-Cal may be eligible to receive free food delivered to their home if they have certain health conditions.

Several programs partner with Medi-Cal that deliver pre-cooked meals or fresh fruits and veggies. To qualify, check with each program listed below. Each program has its own perimeters and availability.

The following programs appear to be available throughout Southern California. I recommend verifying that they are available in your county.

To find out about the Food is Medicine movement and medically tailored meals, I recommend checking out the California Food is Medicine Coalition and the California Department of Health Services website here.

If you have questions, it’s best to contact your Medi-Cal provider, as they know all of the details of your specific plan.

If you need help finding free or low-cost food resources near you, check out my page here.

Swap your Coffee Shop habit with Protein Coffee

Abby H.
Nothing better than an iced proffee in the morning!

I love coffee, but drinking an iced coffee every morning doesn’t help me stay full or get me to my nutritional goals.

I started drinking a Proffee/protein coffee every morning about 2 years ago. It’s a good way to hydrate and get vitamins and minerals into your system in the morning. Because yes, even though coffee has caffeine in it, it is still hydrating!

If you are looking for a way to kick your coffee shop iced coffee habit, here is what you’ll need. 

Cold brew. I make cold brew at home twice a week. If you are short on time, there are plenty of pre-made store-bought cold brews available. 

If you want to make your own cold brew, this mason jar brew system is pretty good.

You can also use a cold brew bag and a plastic or glass pitcher that you already have. I have made these in the past, too. It’s a small drawstring bag made from muslin and a cotton drawstring.

Protein shakes. I prefer the Premier Protein premade shakes. They are less chalky and don’t have the weird “protein shake aftertaste” that some other shakes have. They come in 10+ flavors.  Atkins also has some great-tasting tasting ready-to-drink to drink shakes.

This is a nutrition label from the cinnamon roll Premier Protein- check out all of the vitamins and minerals.!

Additives like sugar-free syrups, sugar-free chocolate, or caramel syrups. Even 1-2 T of sugar-free pudding powder can give your Proffee a creamier, more coffee shop flavor and texture.  

Ice– I have a tabletop ice maker. Having your favorite ice helps. As much as I love pebble ice, it goes so fast at my house, so this type of ice is better for cold drinks.

Select the right size cup for you. I have a 30-ounce Yeti that I love. I won it online. I don’t have Yeti Tumbler money. 5 Below has a great selection of Yeti and Stanley dupes. Heck, Simple Modern has a really good one too!

And finally, I love my drink frother for mixing up my Proffee. My drink frother gets a lot of use in my kitchen. Between mixing drinks and making pudding/mousse, I’m constantly cleaning it!

Upcoming Changes to Weekly Meal Plan Posts…

Abby H.

0a5e9dab796cea8a07eabe4eb4795b9e.jpgI’ve been posting weekly meal plans here and on IG for over 7 years. I was reminded by an IG memory today of our weekly meal plan 7 years ago this morning.

I kinda stopped about Thanksgiving. I’ve been busy with my day job, juggling the children’s various weekly appointments, and life besides being a parent (spoiler: it’s hard y’all).

Here are a few changes I’ve made to save time, and money, and keep food waste down.

I have changed our Yasukochi Family Farms CSA box subscription to twice a month. I prep all of the produce the afternoon we receive it. That looks like:

  • Make a fruit salad
  • Make Salsa
  • Roast two sheet trays of veggies
  • Chop and prep any Cruciferous vegetables (specifically broccoli and cauliflower) for stir fry or soups.
  • Make up 2-3 bags of mirepoix (onions, carrots, celery) for soups.
  • Make a veggie-based soup, this one is a current favorite.

Next up: I spend a few hours on Sunday  (or Monday in the case of three-day weekends), doing the actual prep. Planning meals, pulling recipes, making lunches for myself for the week, and making a few main dishes, or at least putting them together.

This week I prepped Pot Sticker bowls. a bag of frozen pot stickers, a bag of peas and carrots, rice, water, and teriyaki sauce. I had little takeout packets of teriyaki left, but if I needed to, I would use the tiny condiment containers I have (like these) to store the teriyaki sauce.

I made rice, fried the potstickers, and steamed the veggies. Portioned out four servings into reusable containers, and set on the counter to cool. Once they are room-ish temp, they get stashed in the fridge. DO NOT PUT HOT FOOD INTO THE FRIDGE.

I also cut up Cara Cara oranges, divided mini carrots into Ziploc bags, and pulled tiny hummus cups from the freezer. Yes, you can freeze hummus.

I also made sure that we have all of the veggies cut up for stir-fried orange chicken this week (chicken is already grilled and cut up in the freezer, all I have to do is defrost and heat it). I’ll cook some rice while the veggies are cooking, and dinner will be ready to go in less than 30 minutes.

I pulled a couple soups from the freezer this week too. When I make a batch of soup I freeze half of it for a future meal. This is an easy dinner that I can pull together with a fruit salad, a green salad, and garlic bread.

This week’s soups are: Split Pea and Chicken Noodle.

I pulled the half package of breakfast sausage I had in the freezer and we’ll be having breakfast for dinner one night: Sausage, fruit salad, hashbrowns, and waffles. The waffles I make using Kodiak Flapjack mix, milk, and an egg for a little added protein. I usually buy it at Costco, but Amazon has it too.

One night we’ll have a quick dinner: Beans and rice bowls, grilled cheese and fruit, salad, macaroni and cheese.

Friday is take-out night, and one night we do leftovers.

Because I have been prepping and planning for years and I have a pretty good inventory of our pantry and fridge, this process is fairly streamlined.

I do 99% of my shopping at Aldi these days, with a quick stop at Grocery Outlet if needed. I cook a lot more from scratch as of late to keep our grocery budget to a small fortune (about $150/week). That’s for three people, three meals a day, plus snacks.

Just like before, breakfast and lunch are pretty much the same:

Breakfast: I’ve been really into protein coffee lately. It helps me hit my protein goals and keeps me full until lunch. I use premade protein shakes like these. The kids request bagels and fruit most mornings. The big kid is on a smoothie kick; his favorites are here. 

Lunch: I have a plastic tote full of self-serve snacks. I buy treats and snacks in bulk and fill up snack-sized zip-top bags. I have a post here about our lunches. While lunches are free in California schools, my kids prefer to bring their lunches from home.

So, overall, not much has changed here for me, just streamlining systems, and I feel like unless I make something really yummy and cool, I may not come back to posting weekly meal plans for a while.

11/17/2024 Weekly Meal Plan

Abby H.

0a5e9dab796cea8a07eabe4eb4795b9e.jpgIt’s our last week of school before Thanksgiving break! It’s going to be chilly this week, so there might be some soups in the future!

With after-school appointments 2-3 days a week, a lot of our meals these days are easy to make and I do most of the prep on the weekends. This weekend I cleaned the fridge, re-organized the freezer and pantry and got a pretty good list of easy meals for this week.

Thanks to the great freebies from Social Nature and Aisle, we’ve been trying new foods lately. It’s fun to try new foods.

If you are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101-style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.

I’ve gotten a good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and fridge (I try to update it after every shopping trip), so I plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste.

I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same.

Breakfast: I’ve been really into protein coffee lately. It helps me hit my protein goals and keeps me full until lunch. I use premade protein shakes like these. The kids request bagels and fruit most mornings. The big kid is on a smoothie kick; his favorites are here. 

Lunch: I have a plastic tote full of self-serve snacks. I buy treats and snacks in bulk and fill up snack-sized zip-top bags. I have a post here about our lunches. School lunches are free for kids in California, but my kids usually bring lunch from home. I pre-plan my lunches for the week and I take a week’s worth of lunches to work on Monday and stash them in the breakroom fridge.

Dinner: The weather will be cooling down this week, so soup is back on the

  • Sunday:  Asian Chicken Cashew Salad, Garlic bread, smoothies
  • Monday: Homemade pizza, fruit salad (Aldi Pizza crust is GOAT and less than $1.50!)

  • Tuesday: Soup and Grilled Cheese, baked apples

  • Wednesday: Greek Salad with Chicken, Hummus, and pita bread

  • Thursday: Smoothies and bagels

  • Friday: Takeout night!
  • Saturday: Leftover Palooza and possible cauliflower cheese soup (depending on how many leftovers we have left0

10/27/2024 Weekly Meal Plan

Abby H.

0a5e9dab796cea8a07eabe4eb4795b9e.jpgNow that we are back into the full swing of school, work, and therapies, I feel busy all day from the second my feet hit the floor until my head hits the pillow.

With after-school appointments 2-3 days a week, a lot of our meals these days are easy to make and I do most of the prep on the weekends.

Thanks to the great freebies from Social Nature and Aisle, we’ve been trying new foods lately. It’s fun to try new foods.

If you are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101-style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.

I’ve gotten a good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and fridge (I try to update it after every shopping trip), so I plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste.

I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same.

Breakfast: I’ve been really into protein coffee lately. It helps me hit my protein goals and keeps me full until lunch. I use premade protein shakes like these. The kids request bagels and fruit most mornings. The big kid is on a smoothie kick; his favorites are here. 

Lunch: I have a plastic tote full of self-serve snacks. I buy treats and snacks in bulk and fill up snack-sized zip-top bags. I have a post here about our lunches. School lunches are free for kids in California, but my kids usually bring lunch from home. I pre-plan my lunches for the week and I take a week’s worth of lunches to work on Monday and stash them in the breakroom fridge.

Dinner: The weather will be cooling down this week, so soup is back on the

  • Sunday:  Soup, grilled cheese, strawberries
  • Monday: Macaroni and cheese, Fruit Smoothies

  • Tuesday: Homemade Pizza and Salad

  • Wednesday: Roasted Veggie Soup, quesadillas, chips

  • Thursday: Whatever we feel like, it’s Halloween!

  • Friday: Takeout night!
  • Saturday: Leftover Palooza

10/6/2024 Weekly Meal Plan

Abby H.

0a5e9dab796cea8a07eabe4eb4795b9e.jpgThis week is going to be bonks. We’ve got appointments every day this week.  I did a bunch of meal prep today, and we’ll be having a lot of grab-and-go pre-prepped meals as a result.

I’ve also fallen off my more regimented eating plan, and I haven’t been able to get to the gym as much as I’d like lately, so I’m buckling down on my personal food intake and sticking to what I’ve planned only (for myself, we’ve got all kinds of back up meals if the kids aren’t feeling what I had planned).

Thanks to the great freebies from Social Nature and Aisle, we’ve been trying new foods lately. It’s fun to try new foods.

If you are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101-style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.

I’ve gotten a good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and fridge (I try to update it after every shopping trip), so I plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste.

I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same.

Breakfast: I’ve been really into protein coffee lately. It helps me hit my protein goals and keeps me full until lunch. I use premade protein shakes like these. The kids request bagels and fruit most mornings. The big kid is on a smoothie kick; his favorites are here. 

Lunch: I have a plastic tote full of self-serve snacks. I buy treats and snacks in bulk and fill up snack-sized zip-top bags. I have a post here about our lunches. School lunches are free for kids in California, but my kids usually bring lunch from home. I pre-plan my lunches for the week and take a weeks worth of lunches to work on Monday and stash them in the breakroom firdge.

Dinner: With everything going on this week, meal prepping has been a huge lifesaver.. Hopefully after this next hot spell, we’ll get some more typical fall weather and I can use my crockpot more often!

  • Sunday:  Soup, grilled cheese, fruit salad
  • Monday: Chicken Nuggets, Watermelon slices, chips

  • Tuesday: Fruit Smoothies, bagels with cream cheese

  • Wednesday: Soup, quesadillas, chips, fruit salad – We have a bunch of soups in the freezer!

  • Thursday: Hashbrown breakfast bake- I didn’t have time to do this one last week

  • Friday: Takeout night!
  • Saturday: Leftover Palooza

9/30/2024 Weekly Meal Plan

Abby H.

0a5e9dab796cea8a07eabe4eb4795b9e.jpgThis week’s meal plan is very loose. I try to meal prep and plan on Sunday’s, but we have a   Yasukochi Family Farms CSA box coming tomorrow, so I think I’ll be doing the bulk of the meal prep tomorrow. At least veggie-wise.

I’ll be roasting cauliflower, squash, and other veggies with some of these Urban Accents kits.  The Citrus pepper is my favorite.

Thanks to the great freebies from Social Nature and Aisle, we’ve been trying new foods lately. It’s fun to try new foods.

If you are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101-style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.

I’ve gotten a good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and fridge (I try to update it after every shopping trip), so I plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste.

I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same.

Breakfast: I’ve been really into protein coffee lately. It helps me hit my protein goals and keeps me full until lunch. I use premade protein shakes like these. The kids request bagels and fruit most mornings. The big kid is on a smoothie kick; his favorites are here. 

Lunch: I have a plastic tote full of self-serve snacks. I buy treats and snacks in bulk and fill up snack-sized zip-top bags. I have a post here about our lunches. School lunches are free for kids in California, but my kids usually bring lunch from home.

Dinner: I’m working on a couple new recipes this week, so meals may get swapped around based on my free time. We’ve got therapy every week, so that cuts into our time at home (and my time to cook). Meal prepping has been a huge lifesaver on those busy days. Hopefully after this next hot spell, we’ll get some more typical fall weather and I can use my crockpot more often!

  • Sunday:  Spaghetti with veggie/meat sauce, garlic bread (I have leftovers from last night)
  • Monday: Chicken Nuggets, Watermelon slices, chips

  • Tuesday: Italian Chicken (recipe coming up this week), fruit salad

  • Wednesday: Fruit Smoothies, bagels with cream cheese

  • Thursday: Hashbrown breakfast bake (new recipe coming up this week)

  • Friday: Takeout night!
  • Saturday: Leftover Palooza

9/22/2024 Weekly Meal Plan

Abby H.

0a5e9dab796cea8a07eabe4eb4795b9e.jpgI’m back to posting Meal Plans. I took some time away to try and get back into the back-to-school/work swing of things.

I’m working on batch cooking to have soups/stews in the freezer. I made chicken noodle soup and chili from scratch this weekend. I split each batch into three: 1 for the fridge, one for the freezer, and one for my mom.

I add a lot of veggies to my soups and stews to increase the fiber content and help us get in our five a day.

Thanks to the great freebies from Social Nature and Aisle, we’ve been trying new foods lately. It’s fun to try new foods.

If you are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101-style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.

I’ve gotten a good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and fridge (I try to update it after every shopping trip), so I plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste.

I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same.

Breakfast: I’ve been really into protein coffee lately. It helps me hit my protein goals and keeps me full until lunch. I use premade protein shakes like these. The kids request bagels and fruit most mornings. The big kid is on a smoothie kick; his favorites are here. 

Lunch: I have a plastic tote full of self-serve snacks. I buy treats and snacks in bulk and fill up snack-sized zip-top bags. I have a post here about our lunches. School lunches are free for kids in California, but my kids usually bring lunch from home.

Dinner: I reorganized the freezer over the weekend and discovered some spaghetti sauce, and a few other things that were buried under frozen fruit. Because we’ve got a busy week ahead (doctor’s appointments after school/work), we’ll be utilizing a lot of batch-prepped foods.

  • Sunday:  Spaghetti with veggie/meat sauce, garlic bread
  • Monday: Chicken noodle soup or smoothies with avocado toast

  • Tuesday: Chili, tortilla chips, fruit

  • Wednesday: Chef Salad, garlic bread

  • Thursday: Breakfast for dinner- Probably Quiche

  • Friday: Takeout night!
  • Saturday: Leftover Palooza

8/18/2024 Weekly Meal Plan

Abby H.

0a5e9dab796cea8a07eabe4eb4795b9e.jpg4 days until school starts for us… Not that I’m counting.

I meal planned for the next two weeks last night as I was inventorying the kitchen. But to make it easier, I am only posting 1 week at a time

I’m trying hard to increase the kids’ fiber and protein intake. I can tell the difference when they are filling up on both- if nothing else, it helps them sleep better.

Thanks to the great freebies from Social Nature and Aisle, we’ve been trying new foods lately. It’s fun to try new foods.

If you are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101-style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.

I’ve gotten a good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and fridge (I try to update it after every shopping trip), so I plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste.

I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same.

Breakfast: I’ve been really into protein coffee lately. It helps me hit my protein goals and keeps me full until lunch. I use premade protein shakes like these. The kids request bagels and fruit most mornings. The big kid is on a smoothie kick; his favorites are here. 

Lunch: I have a plastic tote full of self-serve snacks. I buy treats and snacks in bulk and fill up snack-sized zip-top bags. We eat lunch at home most days, and I pack snacks and water for us when we are out having summer adventures. Now that we are focusing on BTS, I reorganized the snack totes (yes there are two) and set up for making school lunches. I take my lunch to work and meal prep lunches once a week.

Dinner: Now that I’m back to working full time, I’m leaning heavily into meal prepping. I’ve got all kinds of meals in the freezer, and hopefully, once the temperature drops- It’ll be soup time!!

  • Sunday:  Dream Dinner, Salad (Dream Dinner Deal here)
  • Monday: Beans, Rice, and Quesadillas, Salad

  • Tuesday: Pasta Bake, Green Beans, Garlic Bread

  • Wednesday: Mac n’ Cheese, Smoothies, chips (first day of school)

  • Thursday: Breakfast for dinner- Pancakes, smoothies, sausage

  • Friday: Takeout night!
  • Saturday: Leftover Palooza