Raising Riley

One of the biggest challenges for myself after having a baby (and becoming an adult in general) was cooking and planning meals! In the end, I believe I was overcomplicating this whole process. I can happily say that I no longer despise this part of adulthood, and sometimes I even find myself looking forward to it! I’ve had a few friends reach out since I’ve started sharing so many of my meals on Instagram last year, and I thought this could be a good place to share an occasional recipe, share tips and tricks, and give an overview of what I do during the week to make my life easier at dinnertime.

With all this being said, I always like to mention that I’m currently in a season of life where I stay at home with our 2 year old daughter. I feel very privileged to be able to do this and to carve out some time in my day to plan and prep. I’ll be giving examples of when I do all these things, but you have to find whatever time works best for you.

Things that have been helpful for me:

1. Meal planning EVERYTHING on Sunday (or whenever your designated day is). I make a list of our meals for the week by day, and I make a separate grocery list of everything I need to buy for the meals, lunches, snacks, pantry necessities, etc.
2. Grocery shopping on Sunday or first thing Monday morning so I know I have everything I need for my week of cooking. Of course I’m not perfect and sometimes I forget something or we run out of something faster than I thought, but being intentional about my grocery planning makes such a big difference for our week.
3. Chopping/prepping dinner ingredients during nap/before dinner. Obviously this isn’t possible if you’re working during the day, but if time allows then this is a game-changer and you will be thanking yourself during dinner time.
4. Eating one specific meal every single week. Ours is spaghetti with meat sauce. It’s easy, we love it, and we stock up on ingredients so it’s very affordable. This is so helpful for me because I know that on Mondays, we’re having spaghetti. I don’t have to do any extra prep or give it a second thought. If you get tired of that meal after a few months, switch it to a new one!
5. Make more than what you need for dinner to use for lunches/leftovers. If you’re a leftover family like we are, making more than what you need is so helpful. My husband loves to take dinner leftovers for his work lunch, and my daughter and I often eat leftovers for lunch too!
6. Prep breakfast food. I can’t tell you how much more smoothly our mornings go if I already have some breakfast items prepped. Egg bites, breakfast burritos, and overnight oats are our go-to breakfast prep, but find what works for you!
7. Take advantage of your resources. I am SO thankful for the yummy recipes that Instagram reels have brought my way! Sometimes during nap time I’ll scroll through and pick out a few easy recipes I want to try and add them to my list for the next week. I try to focus on content creators who prioritize “whole foods” and protein. This is an easy way to switch up your routine and get out of your comfort zone.

I know that this information isn’t anything groundbreaking, and many of you reading are probably like, “is this it??”, but I wanted to start by sharing simple tips that really transformed the way I approach cooking for my family. By implementing these things into my schedule, I went from barely cooking at all to cooking my family meals 5-6 nights a week! Thank you for reading, and stay tuned for some easy weeknight dinner recipes!