Chaos in the Backyard

Meal Plan vs. Reality: A Week in Real Life

Last week’s meal plan started out with good intentions… and then real life happened. It’s grocery day and the fridge is still full and the plan did not go to plan. My mom came up for the summer from Florida, my big wanted to celebrate his Spring Concert, and we had a ton of leftovers.

Monday was supposed to be slow cooker chicken tacos, but I just wasn’t feeling it and never got the salsa chicken into the crockpot. Instead, I switched things around and ended up having cheeseburger bowls, Tuesday’s planned dinner, right at the start of the week. I should have known that if I was playing the switching game on Monday, it was a glimpse of what was coming for the week.

Tuesday was originally tacos, but it turned into pizza night instead. Handsome hubs took my mom (who is up from Florida for the summer) and some family out on the boat during the day, and they ordered pizza. By the time everyone was home, we just rolled with the pizza leftovers for dinner.

Wednesday was supposed to be honey garlic salmon, but instead we celebrated bigs spring concert with a dinner out at Chili’s, his choice. The salmon got pushed to later in the week.

Thursday was planned for chicken alfredo pasta, which was going to be the “swap night” for the salmon, but we still had plenty of leftovers from Chili’s, so we never ended up cooking it.

Friday was supposed to be BBQ chicken flatbreads for the grown-ups and homemade pizza for the kids, but my mom ended up cooking cabbage with kielbasa and rice, and that became our dinner instead. The rest of the leftover pizza was finished by the boys.

And today? We’re going out to dinner with my sister, so the planned steak, sweet potatoes, and green beans won’t be happening either.

At this point, most of the meat from this grocery trip has made its way into the freezer and will roll into next week’s plan instead. It wasn’t the week I originally planned out, but it was full of family time, flexibility, and a lot more pizza than expected. Fingers crossed next week lines up a little closer to the plan, but if not, we’ll adjust again as we go.

Weekly Meal Plan + Runna Recovery Week 2

This week continues to be all about recovery, strength, and easing back into training after my half marathon PR. My Runna plan is lighter this week, so meals are too. The biggest struggle is not going with the ease of my mom’s stick to your ribs dinners filled with fried foods or gravy. While I love when she is up and visiting, we don’t eat like that anymore and don’t feel ideal when we do.

Training This Week

• Monday: Light Legs + Strong Core
• Tuesday: 3.7 Mile Easy Run
• Wednesday: 4.3 Mile Easy Run
• Thursday: Momentum Maintenance Strength
• Friday: Easing Back Strength
• Saturday: 3.6 Miles Easy + Strides
• Sunday: Active Recovery Bike Ride or Treadmill (or Treadmiller, as the little calls it) Walk

Breakfasts

Protein Yogurt Parfaits – run days

Greek yogurt, chia seeds, berries, granola, collagen, plus my Fairlife + french vanilla Javvy coffee.

Egg & Turkey Breakfast Bowls – strength days

Eggs, turkey sausage, sweet potatoes, avocado, and salsa.

Lunches

Premade Salad Bowls + extra protein – Monday-Thursday

Premade salad kits with a protein drink or bar added.

Protein Snack Plates – Friday-Sunday

Turkey roll-ups, veggies, hummus, berries, cottage cheese.

Dinners

Monday

Greek Sheet Pan Chicken

Tuesday

Turkey Taco Bowls

Wednesday

Honey Garlic Salmon Bowls

Thursday

Cheeseburger Skillet

Friday

Chicken Caesar Wraps

Saturday

Protein Pasta Night

Sunday

Creamy Tuscan Pan-Seared Chicken with Spinach & Mushrooms

Snacks

• Protein pudding
• Hard boiled eggs
• Meat sticks
• Apples + peanut butter
• Protein shakes
• Berries
• Cottage cheese