The slow cooker is the workhorse of my kitchen, and it is used so often that it holds a permanent place on the kitchen counter. Although this humble appliance often wins praise for its ability to magically transform meat from tough to tender, it actually is the perfect vehicle to coax the best characteristics out of a variety of vegetables.

Many slow cooker soups benefit from all-day cooking, while there are some whose flavors reach their peak after just a few hours. These five vegetarian soups are what we consider the essentials and we’re even going to share how they can work on in your meal plan. There some that deliver when you need a soup that is ready as you walk in the door after a day out of the house and some you set to simmer for an hour or two while you work around the house or run errands.

No matter what, we say: Don’t relegate vegetarian cooking to Meatless Mondays. Instead, commit these five vegetarian slow cooker soups to memory, and breeze through dinner knowing one of these vegetable-packed soups will work in the meal plan.

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On nights I want to guarantee both cooking and cleanup are a total breeze, I lean on recipes that come together with a single pot, pan, or skillet. One-pan is basically kitchen code for “easy” — something you can totally appreciate when you’re following a Paleo diet. Since the diet makes eating out and ordering in kind of tricky (although not impossible), it requires a lot of cooking. So why not keep delicious grain- and dairy-free dinners as simple as possible, with one of these recipes that come together in a single pot, pan, or skillet?

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It feels a bit like everyone in my family has been under the weather since December. Between sniffly noses and upset tummies, we’ve had plenty of sick days in 2019 already. But since we seem mostly on the mend at the end of this week, my new goal is no more sickies!

This week’s meal plan is really focused on lots of vegetables, whole grains, and nourishing broths, because while even I can be skeptical about certain health claims — side-eye to “superfoods” — you can’t really argue with delicious foods that keep you fueled and feeling good too.

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Most kitchens aren’t perfect. Some are too tiny, some are too dark, and some are too outdated with a fat chance that they’ll ever come back in style. That last issue is a real doozy. Trust us — if we could call in your fairy godmother for some Bippity Boppity Boop action and, BAM, you all of a sudden got the kitchen that you’ve been wishing for upon a star, we would. But life isn’t a fairy tale.

Instead, might we suggest 10 tips for making your dated kitchen feel brand new? Short of a gut renovation, here are some surprising (and surprisingly inexpensive) ways to improve the space you have.

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Despite all my best intentions when it comes to meal planning, there are many, many times when I just don’t get around to it. Maybe I was traveling over the weekend or, more likely, I was too lazy to think about it. Suddenly it’s Monday and I have no idea what’s for dinner — plus, I don’t have time to stop at the grocery store.

That’s when pantry meals come to the rescue. Dig around your dry pantry as well as your fridge or freezer and I guarantee you, even if you think you have nothing to eat, you most likely have the makings of a simple-but-satisfying dinner. It’s cheaper than resorting to takeout, and puts a few lingering ingredients to good use.

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IKEA is famous for a lot of things: their maze-like floor plan, those big blue shopping bags, furniture that sometimes requires a PhD to put together. But there’s no denying that their assemble-yourself furniture is at the top of that list, and the latest foray might be their most delicious yet. In honor of Easter holiday approaching (April 21!), IKEA just announced a new DIY milk chocolate bunny that is going to be on sale in their U.K. stores.

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Sunny side up, hard-boiled, fried, poached, or over easy, eggs are one of the most versatile ingredients we have at our disposal. We eat them for breakfast, as egg salad for lunch, and in our ramen bowls for dinner. That combined with the recent findings that eggs are a good source of quality protein and omega-3 fats, AKA healthy fat, makes a recent finding by the government not so surprising —we’re eating more of them than ever.

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Here is something I recently learned: Every year since 1949, Pillsbury has held a bake-off competition open to all American home cooks. The goal? Find the most delicious, creative, bakery-worthy recipe (that uses a Pillsbury product, of course) in the country, created not by a celebrity chef but anyone who ever been called an “amateur” because she (or he) has never cooked professionally. Well, these winning recipes are far from average.

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Forget winter, what’s really coming is a new Oreo. No, we’re not talking about the holiday-themed Easter Egg oval-shaped ones, nor the recent king-size cookies and creme Oreo candy bars. These are something darker, cooler, maybe a bit more menacing, and definitely way more mysterious: Game of Thrones Oreos.

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If you like craft fairs and sweet homemade pieces — like bespoke pottery, screen-printed tea towels, and hand-cast cement coasters — then you need to shop on Amazon more. Not really the place you’d think of when it comes to handmade goods, right? You probably hit up Amazon for cases of La Croix, trash bags, cookbooks, small appliances, and other kitchen items and then head to Etsy for the cutesy stuff?

What you might not have realized is that Amazon has a very Etsy-like shop called Amazon Handmade. In fact, a lot of Etsy makers are also on Amazon Handmade, where you can sometimes get free Prime shipping — and there’s a whole section dedicated to artisans who make wares for the kitchen and dining room.

Keep reading to check out some of our favorite finds.

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