Put on your mom glasses and fill in the blank:
“I know it’s summer because _________”
I asked this question on Substack Notes the other day and got some very accurate and funny responses:
Shoes are everywhere
10 glasses on the counter and no one knows which one is theirs
Beach towels permanently living on every chair
The floors need to be swept multiple times a day
Multiple grocery store trips per week are suddenly necessary
No one knows what day it is
How funny is the last one?! I wonder what you would add to this list:
The cadence of summer is different, right? Erratic drop-offs and pick-ups, later bedtimes, and last-minute plans that pop up out of nowhere. What’s helped me most is leaning into the season instead of working against it.
Our schedule feels much more unpredictable, so my dinner routine has shifted too.
What’s working for me right now is planning two dinners at a time instead of my usually four. I love summer spontaneity and don’t want to be locked into a full week of meals.
Ideally, three would be perfect, but right now two is what’s happening. This type of planning would not work for me during the school year, but it’s easier now because I’m out a lot and can hit up a store or farmer’s market on the fly.
The other shift has been selecting meals that are flexible, things we can make once and easily reheat later when everyone is home at different times. I’ve also generally been avoiding things with a long cooking time.
Instant Pot Shredded Chicken Tacos
Hands-off, delicious and easy. The chicken is also great for kid quesadillas the next day or tossed on a salad for lunch.
If you like bell peppers and onions on your chicken tacos, a shortcut is to roast them in the oven while you’re prepping the rest of the toppings.
This is the Instant Pot I use. Over the years, it’s become one of my favorite tools for helping me feed my family well.
Street Corn Chicken Bowls
So, so tasty, seasonal, and fresh! I like adding a handful of greens to my bowl.
Baked Potato Bar (no recipe link, just a great combination)
Baked potatoes topped with an easy beef chili and whatever toppings you like. I’ve been using cheese, green onions, and sour cream. This meal was inspired by a mild chili packet I had lingering in my spice cabinet from Simply Organic. If you need more veggies in your life, serve this meal with some steamed broccoli.
Protein + Vegetable + Starch
This formula is so important to me that I recently wrote an entire post about it here. Basically, you pick one element from each category and voila! dinner is planned.
It takes very little mental effort and you don’t have to spend an hour looking for recipes you know you saved «somewhere».
During farmer’s market season, I reverse my meal planning process. I head to the market first, and then I plan our dinners around the produce I buy.
This allows me to make the most of local, seasonal produce, which is a HUGE part of my wellness philosophy. I absolutely love supporting local agriculture, but from a health standpoint, the benefits are big.
Some studies show that the nutrient value is higher in local produce due to soil conditions and less distance traveled. It also pushes me and my family to increase the variety of foods we eat, which is so important for nurturing the gut microbiome - a keystone of overall health.
If you need a quick example showing how this works, I used the formula to plan Father’s day dinner:
Protein: ribeye steaks (father’s day would not be complete without this)
Vegetable: roasted carrots and cauliflower dressed up with pickled red onions and fresh parsley (pictured below)
Starch: oven fries (store bought)
Even my 13-year-old commented that this was “a really good meal,” something I don’t take lightly from my toughest critic.
I don’t know what it is, but I can’t stop eating these! They are also a very approachable vegetable recipe for your littlest eaters. My kids loved them when they were toddlers, but have gotten more wary of them with age.
I’ve never made them with the sauce the recipe suggests. I’m sure it would be amazing (especially for the kids), but I usually don’t have time for one more thing.
“Life becomes more meaningful when you realize the simple fact that you’ll never get the same moment twice” — from This Moment Is Your Life by Mariam Gates
I hope this newsletter brought some joy and inspiration to your day.
Before you go, I'd love to invite you to join me on Facebook. I've dabbled there in the past, but I'm planning to share more quick meal ideas, simple nutrition tips, and behind-the-scenes glimpses of real life between newsletters. If that sounds helpful, come on over to my page.
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