So, I tried Peapod. I liked it (for the most part). But just what did I order, and how does it fit into my meal plan for the week?
Note: I have no affiliation with Peapod and haven’t received any compensation or freebies in exchange for this post. If you DO want to support more free meal plans on NCK, you can use this link to do all your Amazon shopping (no extra charge to you). Thanks!
As I mentioned, I’m putting together as many easy meal plans as possible for when the baby comes. For me, cooking is a hobby and a stress release, something I’ll need to hold onto even when I’m sleep deprived and my hair hasn’t been washed in two days. However, I’ve come to acknowledge that, as the exclusive feeder for a while (we’re going to try to stay away from bottles as long as possible), my window for cooking with a baby in the house may be limited to the pocket somewhere in between Steve getting home, feeding or changing the baby, and feeding and “changing” the pugs. Sounds like a pretty small pocket. But I’m determined to cook some dinners, even if they’re far simpler dishes than I would have considered putting on my meal plans two years ago.
Another thing to keep in mind is that I eat all my meals at home, but if you want to use this plan, breakfast is easily transportable or quick to scarf down at home, and lunch is always leftovers. My grocery lists clearly differentiate what each item is for, so you can easily filter out any meals or snacks you don’t plan to make and just keep the ingredients for dinner.
Because we eat a lot of leftovers, I usually don’t think too much about how many servings a recipe makes. I aim for four servings, two for Steve and me at dinner, plus a leftover lunch or two. We’re pretty big eaters at dinner, me being pregnant, and Steve just having gotten home from a long commute. If I’m using another recipe for dinner (as opposed to one of my own), and it serves six, I’ll usually just make the whole recipe, not modifying the quantities unless it makes something ridiculous like 12 servings and also doesn’t freeze well. In my experience, extra meals in the freezer are never a bad thing, no matter how large or small your household.
The Plan
Without further ado, here’s my meal plan for this week using my Peapod groceries!
- Breakfast: Tofu scramble with onions and peppers; orange juice and/or pineapple
- Snacks: Apples and peanut butter, cottage cheese, trail mix (store bought), cheese and crackers…and all the chocolate
- Dinner 1: Cashew and rice stuffed portobellos with tomato sauce; green salad
- Dinner 2: Squash and greens gnocchi skillet
- Dinner 3: Dijon lentil cakes and lemon butter green beans
- Dinner 4: Quick classic enchilada pie; green salad
The Prep
At the beginning of the week (Monday, since it was a holiday), I did some advance prep to help the week go smoother:
- Made the tofu scramble for breakfasts
- Cooked two cups (ending quantity) brown rice for the portobellos
- Cooked lentils for the lentil cakes
- Washed salad greens and chopped some extra red onion and bell pepper for side salads
So far, the portobellos, excluding baking time, were pretty quick to prepare all in one skillet. Ditto for the gnocchi skillet. Aside from the rice and lentils, since those are ideally prepared ahead of time, each dinner has only two main pieces of equipment and SEVEN INGREDIENTS or fewer. Things I never thought I’d be able to claim about my recipe creations. To keep dinners from getting bland with so few ingredients, I rely on one or two flavor powerhouses in each dish. In the gnocchi skillet, for example, I quickly infuse the oil with a couple smashed garlic cloves and finish the dish with a pop of lemon juice to lighten all those rich flavors and textures. Nothing fancy, but an extra pantry ingredient or two makes all the difference in flavor.
The Meal Plan
I’m trying not to make this a crazy long post, just a summary of what I’m doing this week that’s organized enough for you to replicate. Watch for each of these recipes to get their own post in the future. Meanwhile, my approximate recipes are included on the recipes tab in the meal plan spreadsheet. Let me know if you give it a try!
Click here for my Google Sheets document with all the details.
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