If you’ve ever caught an episode of HGTV’s hit show Fixer Upper — and who hasn’t?! — you might’ve wondered what makes up Joanna Gaines‘ diet. Really, what is it that gives her the energy to flip houses and raise four kids with hubby Chip Gaines? One of the things we love most about Joanna is that she doesn’t seem much different from us — and that same relatability extends to what she puts on the table for herself and her family.
Joanna Gaines loves to start with a hearty breakfast.
Time and time again we’ve been told that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and it looks like Joanna Gaines is heeding that advice. The 40-year-old seems to like a big breakfast in the morning: eggs, pancakes, biscuits and gravy, you name it!
It's a biscuits and gravy kind of Saturday… #andjellytoo
She feels the same way we do about meal prep.
“Meal planning is one of those things that I always have the best intentions of doing, and then with everything else going on, it’s usually the first thing to fall through the cracks,” she wrote on her blog. How is she reading our minds?!
But when she has time, one of her favorite things to do is prep a pan of roasted veggies. She sets aside just 30 minutes at the start of the week to wash, cut, season, and bake a rainbow of produce, including broccoli, cauliflower, and sweet potatoes. Joanna says that sweet potato in particular is a healthy alternative that still cures her sweet tooth.
The hardest part to eating healthy is the prep work. I like to set aside thirty minutes at the beginning of the week to clean and chop my veggies and fruits. My kids aren't big fans of raw or steamed veggies but they love the taste and texture of vegetables when I oven roast them. It's simple- line your pan with foil and drizzle your veggies with olive oil (I like to stir around to make sure it's all coated) and then sprinkle with sea salt and fresh ground pepper. Bake at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes. (I love adding sweet potatoes to the mix bc they curb my sweet tooth. Oven roasted kale chips are a favorite too!). #eatgoodfeelgood ❤️
She even has a handy meal-planning guide on her website that will help you map out your dinners for the week. When you’re busy running your empire, the last thing on your mind (but the first thing on your kids’) is what’s for dinner.
And she doesn’t make us feel guilty for ordering takeout.
Don’t feel bad if you don’t have a dinner ready at 6 p.m — who does, anyway? According to Joanna, the most important thing is to remember that “it’s not about perfection or homemade meals on the dinner table every single night at 6:30 — it’s about doing what you can with the time you have.”
Frozen pizza for the win. #notreally #butkindof
She has her own vegetable garden (and quite the green thumb, too).
Nothing tastes as sweet or crisp as a veggie straight from the garden! She and Chip live in a beautifully renovated 100-year-old farmhouse on 40 acres of land in Waco, Texas — so it sounds like there’s plenty of room for gardening.
Looks like Italian tonight! #summergarden #lasagna
But what if you have the opposite of a green thumb? Or maybe you don’t want to eat your plants? There are plenty of low-maintenance plants that are pretty hard to kill. There are even indoor plants for bathrooms that will help purify the air.
Most importantly, she recognizes the importance of dessert.
My kinda box of chocolates! We are already preparing for ❤️ Day- you won't want to miss these new flavors! #silosbakingco
Like the rest of us, Joanna has a sweet tooth. And now that she and Chip have opened Silos Baking Co., we imagine the temptation is very real: Cupcakes, cookies, cinnamon rolls, and crumbles are all on the menu for Jo.
It's a sweet Sunday! #happybdaydad
Fortunately, there’s a way to eat and cook like Chip and JoJo.
After a week long photoshoot for our cookbook, celebrating with some homemade mac n cheese and brownie pie just feels right. #MagnoliaTableCookbook
Joanna recently released her new cookbook, Magnolia Table: A Collection of Recipes for Gathering ($17.99, Amazon), and the couple’s restaurant, Magnolia Table, opened in February of this year — so you have plenty of opportunities to eat like the Gaineses.
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