I debated labeling this as “summer” because it is more like my “warm weather” habits, late spring and early autumn included, but let’s start with summer and maybe I will turn this into a series if you guys enjoy it. Living in a state where we get four seasons in all their glory, my grocery and meal planning habits are constantly shifting. In the colder months, we don’t mind getting out to the grocery store as a family because we aren’t busy with much else on the weekends typically. But once the weather starts looking up, we just want to be outside, making plans, and enjoying both busy and lazy weekends. I don’t want to have to worry about grocery shopping on top of everything else, much less meal planning. So there are a couple things that work for us.
The first thing is online grocery shopping. This not only saves me the time it takes to shop on the weekend, but saves me money because I am more diligent about what I am adding to my cart and can meet a specific number by taking away things if need be. We use a blend of Aldi, Whole Foods, and Target curbside pick-up. I love them all and they make my life so much easier!!
Second, I write out a list of meals that are fast, easy, and require not a whole lot of stove/oven time. I don’t like to cook as much in the summer, so this is crucial. For dinners, I like to have about 10 go-to recipes to bounce between. For breakfast and lunch, it is more like 5 each. Having these already listed out helps me to just point to something and plug it into my calendar. It also helps keep me on track with my grocery list for the week. I got into the habit of just buying “whatever seemed good” and getting home and having too much and no plan. So I am fixing that!
I’m going to share all my meals for summer with you right now and hope that you find a new recipe to add into your rotation!
Breakfast Rotation
#1: Nice cream bowls – the perfect sweet breakfast that is cool and delicious. My go-to is usually just bananas, a couple dates, splash of vanilla, and soy milk. Sometimes I throw in a handful of cashews for an extra boost of healthy fat and protein. My kids also like theirs with blueberries and feel like they are eating acai bowls from Florida. LOL My kids really go crazy for this and like to top with granola and fruit.
#2: Oats in all forms – in the summer, we really love overnight oats or pancakes made in a large batch on the weekend and frozen for throughout the week. But sometimes we even go for a hot bowl of oats like crazy people! They are fast, filling, and easy to change up.
#3: Toast and smoothie – simple and quick. A piece of sprouted toast with whatever we have on hand to top (Earth Balance, jam, hummus, nut butter, vegan cream cheese, etc.) and a smoothie made with fruit, greens, flax or chia, etc.
#4: Cereal – I always keep a box or two of cereal on hand for the world’s fastest breakfast. My kids like Special K red berries and Life cereal with soy milk.
#5: Chickpea egg sandwich – this is the most intensive, but also really not too time consuming. It is my favorite savory breakfast currently and my kids enjoy it, too. Recipe here.
#6: Cheesy hashbrowns – I buy a bag of frozen hashbrowns from Aldi and add to a sheetpan with my pre-made queso sauce. Bake at 400 F for about a half hour and enjoy with more veg or avocado. My kids love these, too.
Lunch Rotation
I’ll be honest and say that my lunch is almost always leftovers, a loaded hummus and veggie sandwich, or a burrito bowl. I don’t overthink my lunch too much. But my kids are where I get the decision fatigue. So here are the 5 lunches I have in rotation for them. I always serve with a side of fruit or veg and a picking snack like pretzels, popcorn, nuts/seeds, etc.
#1: PB&J or PB&Banana – one likes jelly, one likes banana. Easy.
#2: Chik’n fingers – they really enjoy Gardein chik’n tenders and a dip like maple mustard or ketchup/mayo.
#3: Savory sandwich – one like Tofurky and cheese and the other likes cream cheese and cucumber.
#4: Hummus roll-ups – I like to use lavish bread for these.
#5: Pasta with jarred sauce – I used to my my own sauce but jarred is saving me time these days. Sometimes I will add some white beans, chickpeas, or peas.
Dinner Rotation
#1: Mashed potatoes, baked tofu, and whatever vegetable I have on hand – my husband loves a meal like this. I bake the tofu in my air-fryer, so it is fast as ever. Sometimes I will also serve a grain like couscous or rice.
#2: Pasta with creamy tomato basil sauce – this screams summertime with the fresh basil from our backyard.
#3: Loaded nachos – pretty much dump everything on a sheet pan and heat up. This is a family favorite.
#4: Burgers and fries – we love to fire up the grill in the summer at least once or twice a week for vegan burgers, grilled veggies, and fries.
#5: Tostadas – we enjoy a lot of Mexican cuisine, can you tell? Beans, corn, and rice forever!! But these tostadas are my favorite. I simply air-fry the tortillas and mash up a can of beans with a bit of cumin, salt, and lime juice. Top with lettuce, salsa, cashew sour cream, pickled red onion, avocado, hot sauce, queso… whatever!
#6: Asian Rice Rolls – no cooking required at all. Prepare the veggies, tofu, or noodles you want, soak a wrap, and roll up. The peanut sauce comes together quickly, too.
#7: Falafel wraps or bowls – frozen falafel works in a pinch! Add things such as roasted red peppers, hummus, lettuce, red onion, lemony cashew cream, store-bought tabbouleh.
#8: Corn and potato chowder – this one uses the stove for a bit, but we do love a good summer chowder with some crusty bread and this is my favorite recipe.
#9: Macaroni salad – macaroni salad is a summer staple and this is a great recipe. I have swapped out the Just Mayo for cashew cream since I’ve posted the recipe a while back, but both are great choices.
#10: Enchiladas – I like this recipe because I can quickly prepare it in the morning and then throw in the oven later in the day.
I will say that sometimes if I have a real hankering, I will make an Indian curry dish or a big kale salad if we are craving something really fresh. Or sometimes we like breakfast for dinner which is almost always pancakes or sheetcake pancakes. Swapping out is cool if it flows with the day! But I really love having these 10 meals on standby so I can quickly choose and move on.
**Bonus Tip** Something else that I am doing this year, which I haven’t before, is opt for pre-cut or pre-washed vegetables for some things. I am usually a stickler for always get the whole veggie to save money and have more, but with two kids that keep me really busy, I am trying to let go of a few things to save my sanity. Things like bags of pre-shredded carrots and cabbage or pre-washed greens are going to be my friend. For the summer, it just might be worth the bit extra so I spend less time food prepping.
I hope you have found this helpful. Please let me know if you do and I can pull together meal plans for autumn, winter, and spring, too. x
