Getting into our back-to-school routine also means packing school lunches once again. And being a busy parent means that we each have to find little pockets of time for chores like laundry and, yes, lunch packing. We asked 10 multitasking mamas for their best tips to make lunch-packing faster, easier, and maybe a little bit more enjoyable.
If you have a CSA or veggie garden, this is the time of year you’re likely swimming in zucchini. It’s a nice problem to have, but you need to be armed with plenty of recipes in order to keep things interesting. One of the most popular ways to eat zucchini is to turn it into noodles, and Pinterest users are up on the trend. The most popular zucchini recipe on Pinterest is this one for zucchini noodles with creamy avocado pesto from Eat Yourself Skinny. The recipe has been saved 117,000 times and has 75 photos and comments.
The slow cooker is one of the best tools for getting easy dinners on the table. I mean, what’s not to love about an appliance that practically does all the work for you? But the slow cooker does not always produce the most flavorful results — a common complaint is that things often come out tasting one-note — so a lot of recipes rely on high-fat ingredients like cream or cheese to jazz things up.
If your health goals include eating more veggies and protein and less fat, but you still want the convenience of cooking in a slow cooker, we’re here to help you. From chicken enchilada soup to veggie burrito bowls, there’s a recipe here for everyone.
In our Meal Plan Club (have you joined yet?) there was a really helpful thread about cooking for a family of one or two. People shared their strategies (including shopping from the salad bar for small amounts of vegetables) and their favorite recipes and batch-cooking techniques. It was a good reminder for me — someone who routinely cooks for four or more every week — that every phase of meal planning has its tough spots.
When you’re meal planning for one or two in a world of recipes written for four to six, waste is a big concern. You can certainly batch-cook a few things, but you’ll likely burn out on eating pulled pork five nights a week. With that in mind, here’s a meal plan for one to two eaters that won’t leave you swimming in leftovers.
I grew up in peak Wonder Bread glory — years before moms were talking about added sugar — when we still got peanut butter and jelly on white bread and CapriSuns in our lunch bag. Since then, I’ve gone through all sorts of sliced sandwich bread phases — including stints buying only locally produced whole-grain breads and high-processed white wheat breads. Two years ago, though, I discover my sliced bread soulmate by a brand called Dave’s Killer Bread.
Here’s what makes Dave’s Killer Bread the best thing since, um, sliced bread.
Fashion is fickle, and sometimes something that’s super-popular one year is “out” (or just a little overplayed) the next. Like you, I am thoroughly sick of faux taxidermy. But there are a few other design trends that other folks may be weary of that I still think are pretty great.
A really good fruit salad can be a truly special treat. Light and refreshing, it is so simple to pull together yet has the power to be the star of your brunch, potluck, and even dessert spread. While choosing the right fruits to add to the bowl will certainly help when you want to whip up a crowd-pleaser, the real key to amazing fruit salad doesn’t come from the produce aisle. No, it actually comes from your pantry — and I can almost guarantee that you already have it in your kitchen right now.
If you’re a human, you’ve likely complained once (or twice) about the lack of storage space in your life. But there’s a blank two-by-three-foot space you’re likely overlooking, and it’s right in your kitchen.
By adding hooks and installing organizers on the back of your cabinet doors, you can create a custom system in a spot you’ve barely given a second glance.
Nothing says fast and fancy quite like the Italian-American dish of chicken Marsala. A menu staple no matter the restaurant, this dish has seen its fair share of revisions. No matter the update, the pairing of golden, pan-fried chicken with a mushroom-studded Marsala wine sauce hasn’t changed. We’re throwing our hat in the ring with a version we just can’t stop swooning over. With creamy sauce spiked with lots of garlic and, of course, the namesake Marsala wine, this take on chicken Marsala is next-level good.
And while it might sound like a dish that requires hours of cooking, it is actually a super-fast, one-pot chicken dinner that is perfect for weeknight cooking. You can serve the chicken and Marsala sauce over angel hair pasta (just like your favorite Italian restaurant), over cauliflower rice, or, my favorite, with a simple Caesar salad.
When you get hungry between meals, it can be tempting to reach for a muffin from the coffee shop. (I know I have a real weakness for Starbucks’ lemon poppy seed muffins.) But the body digests carbohydrates faster than protein, which means picking a snack that’s high in protein can actually help keep you full longer than a sugar-bomb that leaves you looking for more snacks an hour later.
If you’re trying to fit more protein in your diet, or just looking for convenient, between-meal snacks that will keep you feeling full and focused longer, here are some of the best snacks you can grab.