THE FIVE MEALS I ROTATE (PLUS A SHOPPING LIST!)

The age old-question, solved.

What are we going to have for dinner??

Having two kids has forced/inspired me to come up with streamlined routines in nearly every aspect of my life, and a huge one of those is dinner. I now make the same five meals each week, rotated depending on season, and on the weekends we either do take out, have leftovers, or make something else up. But this way I know what we’re having every single weeknight, and I’ve saved so much time prepping as well as 4:00pm stress.

The beauty of this is that our kids eat what we eat. These are the easiest, simplest, healthiest, quickest meals that the whole family can eat together. Everything is gluten free and almost dairy free or can easily be made so. This has absolutely changed the game for me. Some of our friends have tried it and decided the monotony was too much for them, so it may not work at all for you! Or maybe some of it will, or maybe it will spark some ideas. Here is what works for us:

This is what we eat:

Tacos. Ground turkey from Trader Joe’s with their Chili Lime seasoning, cabbage slaw, corn or flour tortillas. Sometimes beans, corn, feta. Always avocados/guac.

Burgers and fries. Grass fed, frozen burgers from Costco (wrapped in lettuce for me or buns for the boys who eat gluten), Fries - either frozen or sliced regular or sweet potatoes.

Salmon and a roasted veggie. Frozen wild salmon from Trader Joes’s, with any veggie (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, green beans, etc.), roasted together on the same pan at 425* with coconut aminos (if you haven’t tried, you are missing out! Sweet and so good.)

Chicken and a simple salad. Any combination of veggies: tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumber over greens plus sliced almonds and feta and topped with chicken or any protein you want. We deconstruct it for the kids by leaving out the greens so they get just sliced veggies and chicken. I make all our dressings and I never measure, but the loose formula is red wine vinegar, lime, olive oil, garlic, honey.

Meatballs and Tzatziki. Ground turkey “meatballs” cooked with grated zucchini. Our “tzatziki” sauce is greek yogurt, diced cucumber, lime. Could pop this in a pita if you’re eating gluten.

Bonus: If we’re out of everything, Grain bowls. Quinoa/rice/protein/veggies over greens with a sauce (something made up like a green goddess sauce, peanut sauce, or more salad dressing)

SHOPPING LIST

(I am so inexact it is almost comical. But here is a loose guide)

Proteins: Salmon, ground turkey x2, grass fed burgers, chicken

Veggies: broccoli, cauliflower, cucumbers, zucchini, salad greens, shredded cabbage, frozen fries or whole sweet potatoes, avocados, red bell peppers

Other: quinoa, burger buns or iceberg lettuce, plain greek yogurt, limes, tortillas, black beans, coconut aminos. For dressings: red wine vinegar/olive oil/honey/garlic (I like the frozen minced packs from Trader Joe’s)

And a lunch bonus: The Quarantine Salad

So good! Keeps for days, sturdy, easy, healthy, full of protein and fiber.

Garbanzo beans, red bell pepper, cucumber, feta. Dressed with lime, red wine vinegar, olive oil, s+p. (Cilantro pictured here because I had it, herbs are great but if you can’t get them right now just skip.)

EASTER BASKET GIFT GUIDE 2020

Just the strangest time for a holiday gift guide, but this was planned pre-outbreak so I’m following through. If you’re skipping Easter baskets this year - kuddos. We’ve got plenty of other priorities right now. If you’re doing them and you’d like to support some small shops at this time, read on for some ideas.

Spring themed/Easter Books. New releases by Candlewick Press:

Hoppy Floppy’s Carrot Hunt - with lift-the-flaps, based on a popular game similar to Sneaky Snacky Squirrel

Bathtime with Ducky Duckling - waterproof, great for the bath or high chair and wipeable

Follow Me, Flo! - predictable text, nice for language development

Hazel and Twig: The Lost Egg - beautiful and sweet little story of a lost egg

(Kind of a pool/beach/travel theme)

FloatSuits. On our recent trip to southern California we realized these UV FloatSuits (this print and this one) and the Go Splash Swim Vest are so much better than the “Puddle Jumpers” because they allow for natural arm movement, in the same motion as swimming.

Klean Kanteen water bottles. Our favorite, B corp, give back, reusable, insulated water bottles. This size is my favorite for preschoolers. (For me: this narrower size fits my diaper bag water bottle holder best and I pair it with the sport cap.)

Hooded towels (for bath or pool or swim lessons) - New by Copper Pearl. This print reminds me of our Disney trip and this one is cool enough that I want one.

CozyPhones - best travel headphones for kids. They stay on, and the sound doesn’t go too loud either which I like for hearing protection. Trey has these (big hit with four year old boys!) and Blaire has these.

CozyCase - turn your iPad or Tablet into a stand, or use as a headrest mount holder while in the car. Also great for a travel case and a place to store your CozyPhones. No more stacking books to hold our tablet up while we all try to watch a show!

Spring themed teethers for baby: Pastel Rainbow and Strawberry. So cute, and comes with a clip to keep off the floor.

Smaller basket fillers: egg shaped chalk (from target dollar spot long before closures), bubbles, art supplies, stickers, hair bows, nail polish, wind up toys, mini lego sets, face paint.

Happy almost Easter. It’s going to look so different this year, but we can still make it a good one.

QUARANTINE NON-ROUTINE

It’s spring 2020 and It’s a weird time to be alive.

Nothing is normal.

Nearly everything has changed.

There is so much loss.

And yet - we continue on.

I wanted to write about what our days look like right now, mostly for me to look back on and remember this strange time, and also to share our experience since no two families are exactly alike and everyone is handling this in their own way. While we don’t follow a strict schedule, there are some things we do every day and our days have a somewhat regular rhythm to them. I cannot follow a printed schedule to save my life, so we just take each day as it comes and pivot when we need to.

WHAT OUR DAYS LOOK LIKE

I workout every single day. I did this before quarantine as well, but in times of crisis I find it paramount to my emotional well being. I either do a 20 minute dance workout or a two mile run with the kids, sometimes with the double stroller, or sometimes with Trey biking next to me (which is definitely more stressful for me but more fun for him). On Friday mornings I teach a dance workout to a group of friends via Zoom, which has been super fun. Before quarantine, I would get my workout in sometimes early before Daniel left for work, or during Blaire’s morning nap. Now, the timing depends on when I’m seeing families and when Daniel has a work call, but at some point every single morning, I sweat for 20 minutes. It is good for my soul.

I am still the primary parent during this time, as Daniel worked full-time before restrictions and I worked part-time, so I have the kids the majority of the day. I am a pediatric speech therapist, and while an essential service, thankfully right now we can see families via telehealth. Our two young kids are also home with us full-time right now, so we juggle child care and our jobs, but we’ve managed to somehow make it work. It sounds so crazy when I type all that out, providing 24/7 childcare for two humans and both of us working from home, like how is that even humanly possible? But somehow we are doing it.

Blaire takes a morning nap and sometimes an afternoon nap. Trey and I get a lot of play time. If it’s nice, we’re outside in the backyard on the playset or the trampoline (direct quote from Daniel today: “The trampoline is saving my sanity.” It’s true.) when it’s raining we’re inside baking, doing crafts, and playing games. When it’s sunny in the late afternoons we get outside for a neighborhood walk or a bike ride.

One of the greatest benefits is our kids aren’t school age yet so I don’t have to follow a curriculum or intentionally home school (I bow to the moms of older children who are). Trey is 3. His work right now is play. What he needs from me right now is connection and moments of quality time. We highly value education, and we also know so much is learned outside the classroom. I know some moms are trying to relearn and teach fractions or long division or keep up with their child’s zoom meetings, and I am so impressed. If that is you, remember that this really is crisis schooling, not regular home schooling, and that you’re wearing all these new hats and even though they may not fit quite right, you’re really doing such a great job. No one has parented in a pandemic before, and this is new territory for all of us. The greatest lessons I am learning right now and that I can model include self-care, resilience in a time of crisis, flexibility, and empathy, and those to me are parenting gold.

I like to grocery shop so I still do it, but for the first month or so it was delegated to Daniel. I usually go on Mondays, either to Costco or Trader Joe’s, and stock us up for the week. It’s different now in that we wear masks, we wait in line, the stores are quiet and we don’t bring the kids or our bags. I was on a major baking kick and at one point was baking something every day, but as the weather has turned to spring we’re spending all our time out in the sun. When we shop, we don’t hoard or stock pile and I’ve never felt deprived. Things are often out, yes, but we are finding we can do without or create a replacement. I am still doing the meal planning (we rotate the same 5-10 and it’s the simplest and the greatest), and I am usually on dinner and Daniel does the dishes.

So we juggle the kids and work calls and zoom meetings and snacks and trampoline time and bike rides and all the messes and we’re doing it. And yes it’s a logistical shuffle, but overall, I’m liking it. I have to acknowledge that we are insanely lucky in that we both still have ours jobs that we can do remotely, we’re all healthy, and our biggest problem is scheduling work and childcare between us. I know it could be much, much worse, and we’ve had seasons that were much harder. Bed rest with my last pregnancy just about did me in. But this? I can do.

It’s an adjustment sure, and there are still tantrums and balancing acts and rough-around-the-edges parts and we could really use some help with all we’re juggling, but there is also time together that we wouldn’t get otherwise, cleared calendars, literal and figurative breaths of fresh air. Our days are just us, and our family life is richer and better for it. We’re finding out two truths: we already have everything we need, and somehow, we’re going to make it through this. Sending you all the hope and encouragement as you navigate your own new normal.