healthy dinner ideas

Gung Hay Fat Choy! Chinese / Lunar New Year started Friday, February 12th here in the Northeast USA and I used it as an excuse to make some Chinese food I have been craving. I’ll likely continue this on an off for the next two weeks in celebration. Frankly the Chinese restaurants in my town are very Americanized and not flavorful enough for me.

Note on leftovers- most will tell you leftovers in the fridge are good for 4 days. It is a great rule of thumb! In our household, we inspect and smell the food, if all looks good we still eat it – but it is always reheated. You do what you are comfortable with!

if you were in the Northeast last week we got hit with a snow storm — slow and steady starting Sunday afternoon into Tuesday. So 2 snow day! To say I was mentally struggling is an understatement.

I did get out to the grocery store Sunday morning and stocked up on veggies and I prioritized making a hash for the week! Otherwise, did ZERO meal planning this week and it was a struggle. I had no inspo, didn’t really want to eat (nothing interested me) and my energy suffered along with a few headaches. No bueno.

Regardless, here is what I did for us.

Note on leftovers- most will tell you leftovers in the fridge are good for 4 days. It is a great rule of thumb! In our household, we inspect and smell the food, if all looks good we still eat it – but it is always reheated. You do what you are comfortable with!

This week got away from me and will be evident in next week’s meal planning! But I am super grateful I meal planned, had done all the grocery shopping, and prepped breakfast going into Monday. It really helps ensure balanced energy and mood stability for mama (and toddler)!

I spiced up leftovers for lunch with sauces this week!

Note on leftovers- most will tell you leftovers in the fridge are good for 4 days. It is a great rule of thumb! In our household, we inspect and smell the food, if all looks good we still eat it – but it is always reheated. You do what you are comfortable with!

This week I was not inspired by much to plan or cook, but I know doing SOMETHING helps us immensely during the week. We are still trying to figure out our flow with a toddler, although, will we ever really find a flow?!

So I leaned on Fed and Fit’s Cook Once, Eat All Week resource to get me through. They provide a free 5-weeks on their website! Here’s the link. We used week 3 which focuses primarily on pulled pork, plantains, and red peppers.

Honest review of the Cook Once, Eat All Week method -> Love the simplicity and not having to figure it out! From the grocery list already made, instructions to meal prep, and quick steps to make the meals it really is a great resource! My beef with it though, I get sick of the core ingredients. I like variety in my meals and lots of veggies to prevent boredom. We also eat a lot and for at least the week we did, we did not have much of leftovers.

Demand, demand, demand and you shall receive.

I cannot tell you the number of people that have asked me to meal prep or cook for them, or create a cookbook over the last few years. Honestly, I hate meal planning or prepping, I rarely follow a recipe to the T, and I wing most of our meals. So this was a big fat “HA NEVER!”

Well here we are, I figured out a way for this to work for both of us!

Wellness Wednesday will be me sharing what we prepped, cooked, and consumed the week prior. My intent is to do this for 2021 to show you what a year looks like. As you will see in the first week, food is not consumed to a specific week. It will most likely carry over into the following. Know in this household, if we don’t see mold and it doesn’t smell gross it gets eaten. You do you though! I am confident that our food was prepared properly and that our digestive systems are working well to kill off potential pathogens.