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the first free meal plan!

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Natural Comfort Kitchen

Happy. Healthy. Homemade.

Plant-Based Batch Cooking Meal Plan 1

Welcome to the inaugural plant-based batch cooking weekly meal plan by Natural Comfort Kitchen. No matter how many people you’re feeding and how you or they like to eat, this totally free meal plan is going to help you:

  • Eat fully vegan/plant-based at dinner
  • Spend less time in the kitchen and zero time making a shopping list
  • Avoid that dinnertime stress (and the resulting takeout or cold cereal)
  • Generate fewer dirty dishes (my personal favorite)
  • Keep grocery spending in check
  • Avoid food waste

My family and I have noticed every single one of these benefits since I started batch cooking and meal planning accordingly.  And this plan is for YOU, too, if you see any of your dinnertime goals on that list above.

FREE plant-based, batch cooking weekly meal plan to cook for 3 nights and eat for 6. Download it now at naturalcomfortkitchen.com

Pin this to come back to the full meal plan later!

Here’s what’s for dinner this week. It’s a week full of black beans, butternut squash, and comfort food, and it’s all 100% plant-based:

  • Quinoa and black bean stuffed peppers
  • Black bean and butternut squash chili
  • Mac and cheese with butternut squash sauce

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A Month of Post-Baby Freezer Dinners

We are in the home stretch people! I’m a little bummed we didn’t get a slightly early baby, but the signs of labor do seem to be appearing, albeit very slowly. It’s up to the baby, and I’ve been trying to relax and remember that this baby’s arrival time was appointed before he or she was even conceived.

So what have I been up to in the meantime, as I continue to stink at regular posting here on NCK? Every week for the last month, I’ve made multiple batches of two or three of our dinners and packaged them up for the freezer. I’m proud to say that, at this point, we have a month, give or take, of dinner for at least two in the freezer. I also have one pan of lasagna ready for the birth center and several sweets, snacks, and/or breakfasts (plus about 60 pounds of raw dog food…yummy).

A month of post-baby freezer dinners
A month of post-baby freezer dinners

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A Fresh Direct Delivery Meal Plan!

This meal plan for my first Fresh Direct delivery has been a while coming to the blog, although when I made it last week it couldn’t have gone better! I was hoping to post it mid-week (last week) with pictures of a couple things that we’d eaten so far, but life (and pregnancy) won. Looking back at my calendar, I’ll be honest–I’m not totally sure what I spent the week doing, but there was a lot of driving around to errands (just not groceries!) and I’m really trying to stay committed to a light workout routine even though I let it go for a while in the second trimester. I’m trying to walk a mile or two every day, plus do either the Spinning Babies daily activities or some yoga.

A delicious weekly meal plan with lots of freezer friendly recipes to double

Note: I have no affiliation with Fresh Direct 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!

Today, after I dropped the Clar Bear off at doggie day care, the rain cut my walk short, and now I need a break from lugging the contents of our dining room (still being used, a year later, as the move-in room) to the basement so it’s ready to seat a crowd at my baby shower! I can make about half a trip down those stairs before being in complete oxygen deprivation. Thank you baby for squishing my airways.

Now it’s only a matter of minutes before sitting starts to kill my back and I’m back to the stairs, so apologies if the writing is a little disjointed–I’ll take what I can get for time! Just practicing for the demanding infant schedule.
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Thoughts on my First Fresh Direct Grocery Delivery

It just so happened that shortly after dipping my toes in the water of highly convenient grocery delivery with Peapod, I received a couple of snail mail coupons from Fresh Direct, a similar service that delivers in the Northeast U.S. With two coupons for $50 off an order of $125, and free delivery (okay, actually delivery for one cent), I couldn’t waste any time checking out my second grocery delivery service. $125 is right around my average spending on groceries for the week (probably excluding the weekend), so I didn’t have to spend beyond what I normally would to get the discount. I buy a lot of produce, and when tallying up my grocery spending for this week, the promo essentially equated to getting all my veggies FREE. I will most definitely take that.

What I loved (and didn't) about Fresh Direct

The promo code is “SAVE2017”. Feel free to give it a try before February 17–it will likely still work!

Check out the post about Peapod for more about how I’m planning for deliveries and meals. I’ll post the meal plan I used for the Fresh Direct order in a day or two, but for now here are my general thoughts on Fresh Direct delivery service.

What I loved (and didn't) about Fresh Direct

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A Peapod Delivery Meal Plan!

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?

5-ingredient squash and greens gnocchi skillet

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.
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Thoughts on my First Peapod Grocery Delivery

Welcome to 2017! Although pregnant, I got to end 2016 with a half glass of nice bubbly, surrounded by my boys (and maybe a girl, too?!), watching…a thought provoking documentary on minimalism. It was actually the perfect way to transition into a new year. Looking at my home, you probably wouldn’t describe me as a minimalist, but I really identify with the mindset, and I try to keep items without use or value out of our house. As we add furry friends and a tiny human it gets to be more of a challenge, but the film reminded me that there are families out there–families full of pets and children–who make a minimalist lifestyle work in their own way, and I plan on honing in on their example as we decide what baby Schatteman needs in order to exist upon his or her entry to the world (2 months!).

With the baby’s impending arrival in mind, Steve is really pushing me to look into services that can free up my time. And “pushing” in the best way possible. My husband encouraging me to spend a little extra money to make life easier is most partners’ dream, but, being a stubborn perfectionist, I’m a little harder sell that someone else would be better at doing my grocery shopping or cleaning my house than me. Don’t even get me started on my highly specialized laundry system.

I’m writing simple meal plans ahead of time for when the baby comes, and testing one out this week presented a great opportunity to try out Peapod for grocery delivery. I had no excuses left: my meal plan for the next week was finished by Wednesday, and, using the promo code “60DAYSFREE” (still active as of this post date), I got $20 off my first order plus delivery fees, which range from about $7 to $10, waived for two whole months.

Now, I know there are several other services out there, and since my experience wasn’t perfect, I’ll probably test one or two others before baby Schatteman hits the ground. Rachael Ray Everyday magazine had a nice comparison  in a recent issue of some major services. That should also clarify that I have no affiliation with Peapod and am writing this review totally of my own accord, hopefully to help some of you simplify a busy schedule in the coming months, or new year. With that said, my initial thoughts.

First Peapod order
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