We’re very lucky. Our 11 month old baby girl will eat anything we put in front of her. And I mean anything. She’s happy with beef burgundy, calamari, lamb curry, chickpea masala, shrimp jambalya, and even pizza. Getting her to eat the daily recommended serving of fruits, vegetables, grains, and protein is not a problem at all, but it also means my meal planning and meal prep game need to step up tremendously. Especially since my husband and I are trying to cut down on dining out during the weekdays, and this includes lunches! So with that, here’s what my weekly grocery list currently looks like.
MY WEEKLY GROCERY LIST
PROTEIN
- 1 dozen eggs
- super firm tofu
- rotisserie chicken
- salmon
- chicken / beef (varies depending on what I’m making for dinner)
- apple smoked bacon
PRODUCE
- large container of spring mix
- cherry tomatoes
- Persian cucumbers
- 3 avocados
- bananans
- corn
- celery stalks
- granny smith apples + honey crisp apples
- 1 lb carrots
- 1 lb green beans (at least once a week as a side dish!)
- lemons
- parsley / thyme / rosemary (varies on what pan sauce I’m in the mood for)
- several pints of berries (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries)
- 1 bunch of grapes
- sweet potatoes
- baby red potatoes
- shallots & yellow onions (always needed for a pan sauce)
PANTRY / RANDOM
- 20-ounce tub of infant formula (hopefully we’ll have the baby weaned next month, as this sh*t is expensive!!!)
- 1 loaf of bread
- unsalted butter (we go through so much butter)
- 1 quart of almond milk (mainly for my morning coffee)
- brown + white rice (I buy in bulk, but I make a batch of brown and white rice each week)
- hummus
- greek yogurt
- 1 dozen La Croix (yaaaaas!)
Not all of this shopping gets done in one go. Since I’m in and out of the grocery store multiple times a week for my clients, I usually grab a few separate items for my household — items we’re running low on / dinner ingredients for that night or the next.
However, I do try to get a majority of my meal prep done on Sunday / Monday / Tuesday.
MEALS PREPPED IN OUR FRIDGE
- hard boiled eggs
- crispy fried tofu (super easy, just salt, pepper, garlic powder, corn starch, olive oil — baked for 18 minutes at 400 degrees)
- brown rice
- white rice
- mashed / roasted baby red potatoes
- mashed / roasted sweet potatoes
- oven roasted salmon
- shredded rotisserie chicken (left over from the salads I prep)
- lunch salads for me and my husband (which do require a bit of prep, but using rotisserie chicken is a life saver on time!)
- blueberries + raspberries
- cut up grapes / strawberries (varies week to week)
- a bin full of red and green apples (I don’t bother pre-cutting these)
It takes a lot of time, and most of it gets done in little increments here and there over the course of several nights but the pay off is wonderful. Our fridge is always stocked with healthy and yummy things ready to grab and heat up. The best part is that a lot of it can be mixed and matched, the variety helps with the baby and her willingness to sit down for meals.
For the baby’s breakfast, we usually scramble up an egg, heat up potatoes, a bit of banana / avocado / apples. And lunches at home with the baby are even easier. I grab 3 pyrex containers (protein, grain, and vegetable), mixing and matching throughout the week, and let her go to town. And for her dinners, she’s more than happy to eat whatever we’re eating — which is awesome!
Keeping a healthy and stocked fridge of healthy foods for our little family of three is NO JOKE. But feeding baby girl is a top priority for me and my husband, so we (read: I) do what it takes to make that work.
Note: For lunch, we used to give the baby one of those pre-made pouches of fruit / vegetables / protein. Mainly because they’re so easy and offer a great option for grab and go. But then, I turned it over to look at the nutrition facts and was absolutely horrified by how much sugar is in them. I was having difficulty finding any brand at the store that had less than 15 grams PER POUCH. Which for someone who weighs less than 20 pounds is a ton, and I mean a ton of sugar consumption for one meal. And that’s how this whole breakfast / lunch / dinner meal prep ratcheted up a notch!