Just when you think life couldn’t get any crazier, guess again! My hardworking hubby is going back to school. He works as an 8th grade English teacher, runs the after school program, and is now getting his reading certification. So for the next 15 months, he will have night classes 2-4x/week! Yikes! So now our dinner, Noah’s dinner, bath time, bedtime routine, lunches for the three of us, and dishes will all be me! I’m not looking for sympathy; in fact, I look at it as a challenge! How can I master my meal planning? The answer – cooking meals in advance. This way by 8pm I can still park my butt on the couch with a glass of wine and watch The Bachelor!
So moving forward I will mention which meals I prepped in advance and what I did the day I served the dinner.
Monday – Avocado/spinach pasta. This was an easy make-ahead meal. The sauce couldn’t be any easier, and it makes a great finger food for baby, too! Reheat in microwave when you’re ready to serve it!
Tuesday – Sirloin steak with roasted brussel sprouts and parmesan riced cauliflower. For those who follow my IG account, @megsmealplanning, thank you for all the recommendations for riced cauliflower. This entire meal was prepared in advance. I know reheated steak isn’t as good as fresh steak, but I’d rather reheat than eat at 9 pm, and you know what, it still tasted pretty darn good!
Wednesday – Peri peri chicken with brown rice and kale chips. This was my first time having peri-peri, sauce which is basically a red pepper sauce. Both the chicken and the brown rice were cooked in advance. I made the kale chips 20 minutes before we were going to eat. The prep work is minimal, so it’s easy enough to do and still keep an eye on the baby. TIP- Make extra chicken and brown rice for Friday night’s dinner!
Thursday – Stir fry with brown rice, mushrooms, and kale served over brown rice. Who knew how much two cups of rice really makes! I had enough rice left over from last night’s dinner that I could make a 3rd dinner using it! And we used the rest of the steak from Tuesday’s dinner , as well as the rest of the kale.
Friday – Leftover peri-peri chicken wraps. This is the 2nd dinner using the left over chicken and rice from dinner on Wednesday.
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