Hi there. I hope your weekend is off to a great start. Finn is down for his morning nap so I’m popping in quickly to share recent eats.
This is probably the saddest recent eats that I have shared in a while. I was talking to my mom last week about how much I’m struggling with having the desire to cook after I put Finn down. I come downstairs and I’m like “what can I throw together as fast as possible that requires the least amount of cooking?”
One reason that this is throwing me off so much is that cooking has always been something that I’ve enjoyed, looked forward to and relaxes me…even after a long day. I’ve always looked at it as an act of self-care. Most of you probably remember that pre-Finn I didn’t get home from work most nights until almost 8 p.m. and would still cook a meal. These days, after I put Finn down (usually anytime between 6:30-7:30) I simply have zero motivation left to cook.
All that said, I still LOVE cooking…it just needs to change a little for me right now. Some of the ideas that I have for getting back into a better groove include…
- Preparing something on Sundays or slow days that I can eat several days in a row. I used to not be the biggest fan of leftovers but I am all about them these days! I have no problem eating something two or three times in a week…I just need to make that thing!
- Cook earlier in the day. I find that I have a lot more motivation to cook during the afternoon or early evening before bath/bedtime. If I can get my meal started or mostly cooked by the time I head up for bath time, I am good.
- Meal plan. I keep saying that I am going to start doing this again but I REALLY need to commit to it. Without a meal plan, I go to the grocery and buy the same things over and over that I know I can easily make meals out of, and that is becoming so monotonous.
- Start going back to the farmers market. I used to be a big fan of the winter/off season market but I haven’t been this year. I would like to get back to going to the farmers market at least a couple of times a month. Having the fresh produce and local meat/eggs really inspires me to cook and be creative.
And…I’m back…12 hours later. I thought I’d get this post done during Finn’s nap but then he woke up and I wanted to hang out with him before he went to spend time with his dad. And then I got busy with life. So back to the recent eats!
BREAKFAST
I’ve been mixing it up a bit with Dave’s Killer English Muffins with butter and cream cheese alongside scrambled eggs and fruit.
And of course smoothie bowls.
LUNCH
I didn’t even take photos of the turkey sandwiches that I ate…
One day I did mix it up and have a tuna melt with avocado and cheese on sourdough. There was another day that I had a smoothie bowl for lunch.
DINNER
Be prepared to be underwhelmed. Haha.
Hands-down the best thing I’ve made lately is burrito bowls! I ate this two nights in a row. Brown rice, roasted sweet potatoes, rotisserie chicken tossed in salsa, shredded red cabbage, avocado, cilantro and sriracha aioli.
Hands-down the worst thing that I ate was spaghetti and zucchini noodles. I bought these frozen zucchini noodles at Trader Joe’s that were a disaster. So watery and mushy once cooked. And I defrosted some homemade spaghetti sauce from the freezer that I can’t tell if it didn’t reheat well or was attributed to the “noodle situation.” The moral of this story is that frozen zucchini noodles are no bueno.
Arugula, quinoa, veggie burger, hummus, feta, half an avocado and Tessamae’s avocado ranch.
Repeat. Add cheese, subtract hummus.
After two nights of random veggie burger/grain bowls, I had to make something a little more substantial. This is my braised red cabbage with roasted cauliflower and sautéed Trader Joe’s chicken Italian sausage. Buttered sourdough toast on the side.
ETC
So much ice cream. I posted on Instagram Stories that the Haagen-Dazs Caramel Cone is my fave. The chocolate peanut butter is a close second.
Finally, a pear tart from Renaissance Patisserie. If you’re in the Charlotte area and close to SouthPark, you must pay them a visit. 🙂
Okay so next week, better job on cooking. I’ll report back.
Favorite tips for making homemade meals happen when juggling work/life/parenting/etc.?
Do you go to the farmers market off-season?
I totallllly feel you. My bubs is the same age as Finn and I’ve had toast a few times for dinner in the past few weeks. :/ So your meals look pretty good by my standards -ha!
I’ve had the same struggle since going back to work after baby. The only thing that has worked for me has been to cook one thing ahead on most nights after I put baby down. I cook a side or a main or at least prep some of things that need chopping (being my own sous-chef 😉 for the next night, do a little cleaning, and then collapse on the couch for a short blast of Netflix or straight to bed. It isn’t glamorous, but these are big, happy days on the whole.
#1 Meal Plan
#2 Source Local…it gets you out of the house
#3 Start cooking early in the day…allow Finn to see, smell, even taste
#4 After bath/bed for Finn, finish your meal(if needed), light a candle or diffuser, soft music or favorite Netflix and ENJOY. Dine. It makes the cooking worth the effort.
Momma, you’ve got this!
Hi Jen
I love your recent eats for fab ideas!
I have 2 girls, now aged 3 and 5, and I can thoroughly recommend slow cooker meals. I usually prep at breakfast time then pop it on low, sometimes when I’m tired and the girls were younger I would forget about it, then wonder what the amazing smell was at 4pm! I often make something with ground beef, then turn it into ragu, chilli or lasagne later
Use your slow cooker! Good for making pulled (taco/teriyaki/etc) chicken, soups, roasts, etc. I have a 7 month old and work full-time, so I understand the struggles! I also try to always have left overs, so that way, I am only needing to plan about 3 or 4 meals a week, vs 7! Also devoting a day to make freezer meals (turkey meatballs, burritos, bean burgers, ziti, etc) while Finn is with his dad, so when you are exhausted, you can just pop in something from the freezer!
Jen- I am with you on the sad meals lately, the struggle is real with a baby. I think your meals still look great to me! If I throw someitng together most nights, and only order delivery once or twice a week- then I call that a win in my book. Just doing the best I can w baby and a job. I enjoying seeing these meals as inspiration for busy mom life – so please keep posting 🙂
Try frozen carrot noodles – they don’t get mushy when you cook them.
Thanks for the recommendation! 🙂
Same experience with those zuch noodles? ha! So gross!
NOT GOOD!
i actually think your meals look pretty damn good! *says the girl who eats basically the same breakfast, lunch, dinner daily bc she’s super lazy*
hope your weekend was fabulous 🙂
Haha, I am so guilty of repeating the same breakfast and lunch over and over again.
Can I ask why you don’t just eat regular noodles?
I do! Regularly. I’m having them tonight for dinner. 😉
I just like to mix it up sometimes, on this night…I had not had any vegetables all day long so I decided to try the zucchini noodles I had in the freezer from TJs.
I love making a big batch of butternut squash soup on a Sunday and making my way through it during the week: as a side with a sandwich, with roasted broccoli or Brussels sprouts, with sautéed spinach or kale…
For me it’s all about finding a good foundation (like chicken cooked in the crockpot with some beans and salsa) and letting yourself get creative.
Or just have a really good sandwich instead 🙂
I love butternut/carrot/ginger soup and haven’t made any this year. I need to do that while it’s still cold out! 🙂 Thanks for the reminder.
You are not the only one with a little that has lost some cooking/food prep motivation. My husband and I used to be SO into this and now we just don’t have the time and energy to devote to it. So we’ve done the things you mentioned. Found recipes that make leftovers we can eat multiple nights, use seasonal ingredients to keep it fresh and interesting, and prep what we can on Sundays. We both work full time so weeknights are crazy. Now dinner just takes at most 30 minutes each night. And as our daughter gets older she’s trying more and more of what we are eating which makes it fun.
Meals are hard during the week. I work outside the home and commute back and forth, so most nights I don’t walk in the door until after 6 p.m. I have two kids (18 and 9) and their weeknight activities keep us busy, sometimes with little time for anything fancy. The biggest thing that helps us is planning ahead. When I do my shopping I know which nights we’re having what meal, and everything is planned from the main entree down to the sides. I create a weekly calendar with our dinners for each day of the week, and I also note whatever activity we have going on too. If we have an usually busy night I try to go for something I can throw in the crockpot, or a casserole I can put together ahead of time and then just pop in the oven. Good luck!