Everything I Made This Weekend: January 26, 2025

Well, well, well. Another week, another food prep. I look forward to the weekend because I genuinely love meal prepping… it’s one thing that I do to really make our lives easier each week and it never fails to actually do that. My goal is always to prepare a few breakfast and lunch items, a sweet treat, and then anything that we can use for snacks.

This week, I also wanted to share what I bought for our groceries—obviously, I won’t be listing everything, but the big pieces that help. I am on a freezer food buying ban currently (I wrote about my goal to clean out our freezers on my newsletter this week), but that won’t stop me from stocking up on stuff, you know.

Everything I Bought

Danny got paid Friday which means I got both our usual weekly grocery delivery and went to Costco. I had originally planned to go to Costco in person on Friday morning, but the timing did not work out (Forrest had a half day and I had several important things to do in that 4 hour span of time). Instead, I got an Instacart delivery, which yes, I know is more expensive, but damn, it’s convenient.

Here are the biggies I purchased that will help us throughout the week:

From Walmart:

• Salmon (Alaskan, never Atlantic)

• Canned pineapple (for Hawaiian chicken this week)

• 2 bags of potatoes

• Meatballs

• Egg noodles

• Enchilada sauce (enchiladas are an easy staple for us)

From Costco:

• Rotisserie chicken (obviously)

• Eggs (yes, I was blessed by the egg gods and my Costco had eggs!)

• Brussels sprouts

• Spring mix

I did also visit our community sharing program this week (it’s a food bank!) and I got:

• Some cans of beans

• Chicken thighs

• A ham

• Fish fingers

• 5 avocados

• A bunch of older bananas

• Apples

I utilize food banks because 1) the more people who use the programs, the more funding those programs will get and 2) the income requirements for food banks are much, much higher than you would ever suspect. For example, the income limit for a family of 4 to use the community sharing is just a little under $8,000 a month. That’s… a lot. That’s nearly every single family of 4 I know. So if you’re reading this and stressing about grocery prices, go ahead and visit that food bank. I promise it’s not as scary as you think it is.

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Alright, those are the basics I bought and received this week. Let’s get to the good stuff: what I made!

Breakfast Burritos

Danny is a breakfast burrito fan. Last week, I made him both sandwiches and burritos and while he likes both, I knew he preferred the burritos. (He bragged about them to his students. That’s a compliment.)

This week, I made a quick guacamole with some avocados I had plus the leftover tomatilla salsa I made two weeks ago. I had about 2 tablespoons left in one container and wanted to get it cleaned out, so it was quick and easy to add avocado, lime juice, and some red onion.

For the rest of the burrito, I partially cooked a potato in the microwave, chopped it up, and then crisped it in ghee before adding a few leftover bell peppers diced up. Then I scrambled the eggs. I cooked the bacon in our toaster oven and added 1 slice to each burrito, followed by the egg and potato, some cheese, and a healthy amount of the guacamole. Wrap up and repeat. I made 5 burritos in total for Danny to have this week, which means he won’t be secretly stopping at a fast food place for a breakfast sandwich.

Rice & Chicken Fried Rice

As I mentioned, I got a rotisserie chicken from Costco. This is an every-other-week purchase for us: we love rotisserie chicken and I try to use all of them. However, I have a TON of chicken stock saved up, so I knew I wouldn’t make chicken stock this week.

After I shredded as much meat as possible off the chicken, I decided to make Danny some chicken fried rice. I had already planned to pre-cook some rice for lunches and dinners throughout the week, so it was easy to make fried rice.

I sautéed some frozen veggies (peas, carrots, and corn) then added some of the shredded chicken, before adding 4 eggs and scrambling them up. I added about 1 1/2 cups of the rice I had cooked, then about 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, a splash of rice vinegar, and a drizzle of sesame oil. Once it was mixed up and looking good, I divided it into 3 containers for 3 lunches this week. Super easy.

Miscellaneous

I always have a few bits-and-pieces that aren’t full blown things I’m cooking or baking that I make each weekend. Here they are this week.

• Boiled eggs: Violet and I are both big boiled egg fans. She often eats 2 of them a day (breakfast and lunch or sometimes lunch and snack) and i often each 1 a day. So we go through a lot of eggs in our house (hence the constant hunt for eggs). I boiled 6 eggs for this week, which I’ll try to make last until at least Wednesday or Thursday.

• Rice: as I mentioned, I pre-cooked some rice for the week. I use a rice cooker and made 2 cups of rice. I always just use water with a small amount of butter, garlic, and soy sauce for a little flavor. It turns out perfect every time. Highly recommend a rice cooker in your home!

• Pre-washing fruit: I have oranges and apples for snacks this week, plus some strawberries and blueberries. I like to get berries pre-washed and doused with a little bit of watered down vinegar to keep them from going bad in .5 seconds. This way breakfast for Violet is as easy as peeling a boiled egg and plopping some berries on her plate (this is her favorite breakfast—even better if there is a banana bread muffin there too).

• Pre-mashing banana: As i mentioned, I got a bunch of bananas from community sharing and they aren’t… the best bananas. They are bruised and a little rough looking, but that’s ok: we’re a banana bread household. I peeled and mashed all the bananas to freeze in 1 cup increments for future banana breads. Doing stuff like this is so, so simple and makes me feel so accomplished. Who would have thought I would ever get excited about having mashed banana in my fridge?

Banana muffins

I know: I mentioned banana bread too many times for this to be a surprise. But yes, I made banana muffins. This weekends meal prep has been a little lighter than usual, but I knew I needed to make some muffins. They’re a great quick breakfast and snack; they are easily carried along in the car; Violet can eat them independently; they’re a sweet treat without being a flat out dessert… banana bread is just the perfect vehicle for getting kids to eat something healthy.

As always, I use the most simple recipe from Better Homes & Gardens recipe collection (I have that classic red-white-and-blue book).

Violet loves these so much, they’re often the first phrase out of her mouth in the morning. “Banana bread muffin?” she will ask, blearily, as I’m bumping into her room because it’s 4:30am on average.

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And friends, that is that. It was a lighter meal prep this week. Don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter for more food writing, general musings, and more.

Lazy Sunday: Everything I Made This Weekend

I originally sent this out as a Substack newsletter, but I’ll be moving these posts here for now.

Oh, hey, look who it is! It’s me, writing for once!

Happy Sunday after the first full week of 2025. Let me tell you—it was a bit of a doozy for me. I don’t want to get too into it, but for the sake of transparency: in this first full week of January I started AND quit a new job.

Honestly, that’s pretty impressive. Again, don’t want to get too into it, but I was mislead into accepting the job—which I think was purposeful, as I was the 4th hire for this role in the span of a year.

After a lot of thought and discussion about the last year, Danny and I came to the conclusion that I will aim for part-time employment. In a post-COVID world that has had a serious backlash to the working conditions that came during lockdown, life has gotten way, way harder for mothers in the workforce. It’s near impossible to find a flexible role anymore: the amount I’ve had to argue about my children in the past 2 1/2 years has been astronomical. I just don’t think school pick up is the end of the world—after all, I work in marketing. I’m not a doctor. No matter how much someone feels like something is an emergency, it’s not an emergency. It’s never that serious.

There are a lot of things I’m willing to compromise on when it comes to working. But I’m not willing to compromise on my kids and I’m not willing to overschedule my life in order to work at a “butts-in-seats” kind of place.

This is all to say: 2025, what a year already!

So anyway, I’m settling into being a partial stay-at-home mom for the time being. I have some freelance work and a part-time gig already lined up, but I’ve decided the next year is about healing for me.

Ok, that’s the general life update. Let’s discuss why we’re here today: cooking.

It’s been one of my goals for 2025 to make more things homemade, to do more food prep to make our lives easier, and to get back to cooking and baking, one of my favorite hobbies. A lot of this is a money saving endeavor (groceries are… expensive?), but I also just enjoy cooking and baking on the weekend. I haven’t really done it for the past several…. years (?) because, let’s be honest, I’m tired. I’m really tired.

So here’s everything I made this weekend.

Rotisserie Chicken - a Classic

If you go to Costco and don’t get a rotisserie chicken, what are you doing? Full disclosure, I had to Instacart my Costco stuff this weekend—I’ve had a cough for about 2 months now and I really don’t want to get sick again—so my rotisserie chicken was at the mercy of Dylan. While Dylan struggled to identify eggs, he did pick a good rotisserie chicken.

I shredded the rotisserie chicken into roughly 2 cup portions (I got about 3 containers) to use in lunches and dinners throughout this week. Then, I did my usual: make chicken stock with the leftovers.

If you haven’t make chicken stock, it can seem really daunting. I just use my crockpot.

Here are the simple instructions:

• In your crockpot, place your rotisserie chicken carcass. (As a note, you can also do this with any bone-in chicken leftovers—like if you make a half-chicken or a quarter piece).

• I usually add 2-3 carrots, just cut into large pieces, and whatever amount of onion I had. This time, I had a leftover half onion that I didn’t want to go bad, so I chopped it roughly and tossed it in.

• I add 1 tablespoon of kosher salt, 1 tablespoon of pepper, and 3-4 cloves of garlic as well. This time I did add some fresh ginger I needed to use up.

• Then, you add water to cover the chicken, or as close as you can if it’s a big chicken.

• I set my crockpot to low for about 10-12 hours. It will smell incredible all day.

I’m currently learning how to can chicken stock, but you can also just freeze it when it’s done.

Speaking of when it’s done, you’ll want to let it cook before you strain out all the physical pieces. I usually double strain through a mesh strainer and then portion it out.

Included here: I cooked up a pound of ground beef I’d defrosted in my fridge; I’ll either use it for a dinner this week or freeze it. I often like to batch cook several pounds of ground beef at once to have ready for weeknight dinners…but I didn’t quite plan that far ahead. Maybe next week.

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

I got a bag of tomatillos this week, so I knew I needed to make some salsa as they were already looking rough. Plus, I had some jalopenos leftover from making a dupe of Chipotle’s corn salsa last week. (If anyone would like a round up of what I made to make Chipotle bowls, let me know!)

Tomatillo salsa is the easiest salsa to make. Here’s what I did. (You might notice all my measurements are general and approximate. It’s your salsa. Do whatever you want.)

• Peel your tomatillos and rinse well.

• On a baking sheet, place tomatillos along with a chopped white onion (can be rough chopped!) and 1-2 jalopenos. I personally cut the jalopeno I used in half and removed about 75% of the seeds.

• Add oil to baking sheet and toss, then salt and pepper.

• Roast at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes, until everything is soft. Take out of the oven and let cool.

• Once cool, add to a blender with the juice of 1 lime and about 1/4-1/2 cup of water. Blend.

I separated into two small containers. I’ll use one container for enchiladas this week and the other to make some tomatillo ranch soon.

Cranberry Sauce

Cranberry sauce, in January? In my world, yes, because I kind of use it as jam.

I got a bag of cranberries this past week (for free, just like the tomatillos) so I decided to make some cranberry sauce. I follow a really general recipe for it, but cranberry sauce is painfully easy to make. You can really do whatever you want.

I used:

• 1 bag of cranberries (16oz)

• 1/2 cup of water plus 1/2 cup of orange juice

• The zest of 1 orange

• 1/2 cup of sugar.

Combine everything in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Boil for about 10-15 minutes, stirring and breaking up the cranberries. When it was thick and most of the cranberries had burst, I let it cool, then blended it a little with my immersion blender. This made about 2 cups of cranberry sauce, so I froze half and kept the other in my fridge. Perfect for sandwiches this week.

Banana Bread Muffins

I had some decrepit looking bananas that needed to GOOOOO so it was banana bread time. Typically, I like to bake a loaf of banana bread, but this time I baked muffins so I’d have individual portions. I follow a super basic recipe from Better Homes & Gardens cookbook; it’s this one here. I do usually omit the lemon zest (because I very rarely have it) and add mini chocolate chips and flax seed instead of nuts.

These are great for a quick breakfast on busy days or a snack for Violet. I also like to pack them in Forrest’s lunch throughout the week. He’s notoriously a picky eater, but he’ll always eat a banana muffin.

What’s Left from Last Week?

Last week, here’s everything I made that I still have for this week:

• Chipotle’s corn salsa

• Egg, bacon and cheese breakfast sandwiches on pretzel rolls and english muffins

• Egg, potato, and sausage breakfast burritos

• Cilantro lime rice

The corn salsa and lime rice will be easy to morph into burrito bowls with rotisserie chicken, and I’ll be able to use them with enchiladas this week. That’s a win-win to me.

And that’s it, folks! Everything I made this weekend to make the week a little bit easier. I might start writing these weekly as a type of round up and I’m hoping to share everything I make for dinner throughout the week. Is this interesting? I don’t know, but it’s what I feel like writing about and I promise I’d write more this year.

Thanks for reading, as always, and let me know what I should add to my weekly meal prep rotation.

Save Money & Time With These Dinner Tips

I’ll be honest, y’all: the price of groceries currently has me shaken. For years, I’ve routinely spent about $75 a week at our usual grocery store, with 3 Hungryroot deliveries a month, a Costco trip every 6 weeks, and a few supplementary stops when needed. I don’t think we’ve ever spent more than $500 in a month on groceries. However, those $75 trips have become $100+ trips and our every-6-weeks Costco stock up that used to be $120 or so is now $200-300. We are routinely hitting $600+ on groceries every month and we’ve definitely scaled back.

It’s an incredibly stressful time for families. The rising cost of foods, especially specialty foods, means that lots of people are making difficult choices. Add in consistent supply chain issues and shortages (like the formula shortage) and families are continuing to shoulder an incredible burden, both financially and mentally each month.

This is a time where we can all help each other. Everyone probably has thought they’ve tried everything regarding food costs and cutting back—but there might be something they’re overlooking. There might be something I’m overlooking or something that you’re overlooking. Like I said: we all can help each other. If you have a great tip for cutting costs, drop me a line on Instagram @michellelocke6! I’d love to compile some of these tips into a post or IG story.

I have a few ways I’ve cut costs recently and I wanted to share. I like to think these tips can also be time-saving: i know for many families like mine, you’re working on a tighter budget, but without as much time to get the things you need. That means you don’t have time to run to a ton of different grocery stores or you might be trying to limit the amount of time you carry around, say, a newborn baby who is vulnerable to all the viral mess going around right now.

1. Use Ibotta.

Ibotta is basically a coupon app that gives you cash back when you shop at certain stores. In October alone, I earned almost $100 and since then have earned about $225 total. It’s not nothing. They pair especially with Walmart and Target, so I use the app mostly at those stores. There are often cash back offers on the same things every week (like my favorite brand of kombucha and tuna packets, two things I buy nearly weekly), but there are also often new offers, as well as bonus incentives. It’s a small way to get a little extra money back when you’re doing your weekly grocery shopping.

2. Find a grocery service you like.

The cost of grocery stores can be incredibly variable from city to city, town to town. For example, I think overall, stores like Albertson’s and Safeway tend to be more expensive, especially in smaller towns. The Safeway closest to me definitely charges a lot more for certain things than anywhere else. I used to exclusively shop at Safeway, because it was the most accessible store for me (specifically pre-pandemic). For a while, I switched to Fred Meyer, which has some fairly decent deals on certain things, but not on others—however, they offered grocery pick up during the pandemic, which wasn’t available at other stores.

However, I’ve recently switched to Walmart delivery for my groceries. My weekly shop at Fred Meyer had started to climb into the $150 a week territory—which I just couldn’t fit into our budget. Walmart is averaging about $100 a week for the same things (give or take on brands). Plus, I signed up for the Walmart+ service which offers free delivery, as well as additional cash back offers. I got a deal on it—it’s usually about $100 for a year of Walmart+, but I got it for $50 in October. Walmart is not my favorite grocery store and my local Walmart (in a small town) tends to have pretty limited stock—but it’s the most affordable store by far right now.

3. If you need a specialty diet, find an online service you like.

This is again very dependent on your budget and what you’re willing to pay. If you have a specialty diet, online delivery services like Hungryroot can be a great addition to your budget. One small box a month is $65 and gives you 33 credits to use: that can get you stocked up on lunch supplies, some produce, and a few extras. I find Hungryroot works best as a supplement to my additional groceries. If you’re curious about what I pick up, I do weekly Hungryroot hauls on my Instagram story!

If you’d like to try Hungryroot, you can still use my code PAUSES2021 for an additional amount off your first box. Definitely a great deal right now, even if you just want to try it once or twice!

4. Don’t hesitate to visit a food pantry.

You get what you give. Food pantries are designed to help everyone in need—and if you need just a little extra to stretch you to the next week for grocery shopping or the next paycheck, then food pantries are 100% something you shouldn’t be ashamed to use. They often have shelf stable products—like pastas, jarred sauces, and canned goods—that you can use to make some simple meals to get you through the week. They also often have breads and peanut butter, perfect for kid lunches or snacks.

There is no shame in using resources like these, especially when times are hard. And when things improve or when you have a little extra money, you can always give back to food pantries and help others in need—it’s a win-win situation.

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Want some additional resources? I’ve got you:

• Meal Plan on a Budget

• Kids Lunch Ideas

• Learn More about Hungryroot

• Got a picky toddler? Here are some ideas

• Simple meals for baby-led weaning

How to Meal Plan on a Budget

Welcome to my new series, Meal Planning March! I’m excited to share all the tips and tricks I have for meal planning. It’s one of those things that most people know will help them eat better, eat cheaper, or just have less stress—but can feel overwhelming to get started! In this series, we’ll talk budgeting, creating meal templates to reduce decision fatigue, and more!

When you think of meal planning, what comes to mind?

Do you think of those complicated printables you see on Pinterest? Or do you think of those cutesy templates that are almost too simplified?

Or, are you like me and do you immediately want to go lie down?

I make so many decisions every single day: how to respond to comments for my work, how to respond to emails, how to do this, things I need to research, to do lists that I need to prioritize… it can be hard to add one more decision to my day, like deciding what to make for dinner or, worse, deciding what to make for 7 days worth of dinners.

So how do I make meal planning easier? And how do I not spend thousands of dollars every single week considering every possible meal option?

Let’s start with the second question: budget.

Setting Your Weekly Grocery Budget

For my family, we typically spend about $50-75 on groceries every week. Then, every 6 weeks or so, we do a big Costco shop that is between $100-200 (it depends on if we need dog food and toiletries, like paper towels, at the same time).

On this note, we also buy meat through co-op systems, like splitting a cow or pig from a local farmer with other people. That saves us a ton of money and we usually don’t buy meat week-to-week—the only exception is turkey or chicken, if we’re using those that week.

This is all to say: setting your weekly budget is hugely personal and one of the most challenging parts of meal planning. If you’re like me and a little obsessed with saving money, it can also be a huge headache when you end up spending a ton on groceries that you end up not using.

Here are a few factors to consider when creating your weekly budget:

• Be realistic about how much food you need to buy.

• Be realistic about what you will eat. I usually stick to buying 2-3 fruits to have for snacks every week—not a selection of every fruit I like. If it’s in season, even better. The same goes for vegetables; rather than buying a few of all the veggies I like, I pick my few rockstar veggies that I like in everything, typically broccoli, carrots, and spinach.

• Do you need all those snacks? I know lots of people buy lots of snack foods every week. And while some weeks I definitely go hogwild in the snack aisle, I don’t think it’s necessary. We usually keep pretzels, granola bars, and fruit snacks stocked and that’s pretty much it, as we try to snack on whole foods otherwise. If a significant portion of your grocery bill is going towards a ton of snacks, it might be time to re-assess, as they can’t be used in meal preparation.

Another huge part to consider: how much can you afford to spend each week? For us, we could probably spend a bit more on groceries (and/or I could spend less time shopping sales and looking for coupons), but we have found that our budget gets us what we need, and isn’t too time consuming for me to shop at this point.

Creating a Meal Plan with Budget in Mind

There are a few foods that are cheaper to make. Things like bean and rice bowls are highly affordable. Conversely, anything with a meat-based protein (or plant-based protein that is highly specialized, like Beyond Burger) is going to be more expensive. Pastas, rice, and most grains can be bought in bulk and make meal planning a lot easier.

Here’s what I do:

• Each week, I sit down with a cookbook and PInterest and start searching for things that look good. I keep in mind what I have on hand—typically, a lot of beef, some freezer items, and salmon that I buy from a local fishery—and pick meals based on those things.

• I also pick recipes that include more fresh ingredients, rather than canned.* While canned foods are cheaper, I don’t typically like them—but that’s just me!

• Recipes with less ingredients tend to draw me in more than time-consuming or multi-step recipes, probably because they’ll end up costing more overall.

My favorite cookbook right now for meal planning is Danielle Kartes’ Rustic Joyful Food: Meant to Share. These recipes are all big, meaning they make a lot (and are therefore easy to freeze extra or simply cut in half). She also tends to create recipes that don’t contain very expensive ingredients and that’s one thing she notes in her book as well.

Once I have a list of things I want to make, I start writing out what I don’t have for those recipes. If the list starts getting too long, I will re-assess what I’ve picked to make and swap things around to save for later.

My Best Money Saving Tips

• Buy in bulk if you can and if you have the storage. It’s more cost up front, but if you break it down, it lasts longer for less. However, that being said: the up front cost can be off-putting and the storage aspect can make it tough.

• Shop the sales. If there is a big sale on chicken or turkey, buy a few and plan meals around those for the month. I get weekly emails from my grocery store to better help me see what’s going to be on sale when it’s time to go shopping.

• Repurpose leftovers. Here’s an example: after I make tacos, I always have extra meat, rice, and beans. I usually will turn those into a layered taco casserole the next day just to change things up. If you make a roast on Sunday, you can work those leftovers into your meals for at least one or two extra days—think roast beef sandwiches, chili, beef stew, or shepherd’s pie. Super simple!

Have tips you want to share? I’m all ears! Leave your thoughts in the comments below!

Everything You Need to Know About Hungryroot

New Year, New Me—except just like in January and February of years past, I’m writing about Hungryroot. Some things really never change. For me, one of those things is how much I love getting groceries delivered to my front door. (The pandemic has also definitely increased this love for me!)

If you know me, then you know I love Hungryroot. I’ve gotten at least 2 Hungryroot deliveries every month for the past… 2 years? If you want to read a bunch of my old posts about Hungryroot, here’s a round up!

Hungryroot has added a ton of new items in the last 6 months—pretty much since I last wrote about them! Every week when I customize what’s coming in my shipment, I get super excited to see what new items I can add and try. With winter setting in, the pandemic not letting up, and things feeling darker than usual, one way you can take care of yourself and reduce your stress is to get the things you need delivered. This is a huge privilege, obviously, but it’s one that I encourage you to use if you need it.

Here are my top 5 favorites right now (and how I use them!).

Roasting Vegetables with Herbs - these aren’t necessarily a new item, but they are seasonal and I had been looking forward to them all summer. They make the besssst soup. I usually just roast or steam them, blend them up with veggie stock, add the herbs, and simmer on the stove for a few minutes. So quick and easy.

Microwave Ready Potatoes with Herbs from the Little Potato Company - these are an every single order item, easily. We love them in our house! I’ve used them for potato salad, for quick evening dinners, everything. I usually microwave them (5 minutes is perfect); let them sit for another 5; then slice all the potatoes in half and put them sliced side down in a hot pan with butter. Top with the included herbs and ugh! They’re so, so good.

Vegetable and Beef Blended Patties - another absolute winner, these patties are a combination of ground beef and vegetables, primarily mushrooms and kale. They are so good as burger patties. However, you can also break them up and use them as taco meat—a great option for kids who need a little extra veggie!

White Flour Tortillas from Maria & Ricardo’s - these are my absolute favorite tortillas. They’re just so good, they taste fresh, and they crisp up so deliciously for quesadillas. We always have a pack in our fridge.

Dark Chocolate Covered Almonds from Skinny Dipped - I know everyone has had these almonds, but it is such a treat to get them delivered every month with my groceries! I usually add a small handful of these to my oatmeal in the morning—that just add such a nice crunch and it’s like eating a dessert, to be honest. They’re the perfect sweet snack for the afternoon.

You may have noticed: Hungryroot has expanded the brands they offer! You can get Beyond Meat, Skinny Dipped items, oatmilk, cold brew coffee, bread, lunchmeat, salmon and shrimp, veggies, packaged breakfasts and lunches… brands you recognize, foods that look delicious.

If you want to try Hungryroot, they are having a really, really great January deal right now: 40% off your first order with the code PAUSES40 at Hungryroot. If you get the small box, that would make your first delivery around $42—which is a great deal. Visit Hungryroot, check out all the new options, and let me know what you think!

5 Easy Kids Lunches (That Aren't Fast Food)

Now, here’s the thing: I love a fast food lunch. Drive-thru dinner. Easy peasy, everyone is happy, we all live in harmony. But that being said: fast food can add up fast and become a habit even faster. And while there is nothing inherently wrong with fast food, it can strain your budget and make you feel not-so-great after a while.

If you’re feeling stuck in a rut with your kids’ lunches, I feel you: I feel like all I’ve done since March is make breakfast, lunch, dinner, and 2 snacks without stopping. Have I actually worked? Participated in my hobby? Or is my life only cooking now? I love spending time making something time intensive for Forrest… but I also like being able to just slap something on the table that I don’t feel horrible about and calling it good.

I wrote a post a few weeks ago about getting kids to eat healthier snacks (for those times when you feel like you’ve been throwing a box of Cheez-Its into the living room and running). But today, I want to share some ideas for lunches that are: easy; not the worst for you; and don’t require that much energy. These are for the low days, the days you just can’t anymore, or when you need just 10 more minutes to get that one task done.

Let’s start with my big tip: not every meal needs to be homemade, nor does every single meal need to be 4-5 courses. I promise you, none of us grew up eating perfectly prepared, handmade dishes… and we’re all totally fine. Another hot take: a few years ago, one of my friends said to me, “you know dinner can be a sandwich and that’s fine.”

Dinner or lunch can be a sandwich and that’s fine. How freeing is that idea? You don’t even have to cook!

That being said, here are my 5 easiest, not-that-bad-for-you, kid-friendly lunches.

1. The Classic Sandwich

Honestly, this one goes without saying: if your kids with eat sandwiches, then just throw anything in a sandwich. Cream cheese and fruit? Boom. Peanut butter and jelly. Turkey and cheese. There are so many options. You can also cut sandwiches into fun shapes, into dipping sticks.

Arrange in a bento box with some fruit and a handful of something else (pretzel bites, chips, crackers, veggies, whatever) and you’ve basically got an ideal lunch anyway.

In this photo, we have Forrest’s favorite sandwich: ham with cheese, plus peaches and peanut butter pretzel bites. Nothing spectacular, but I know he’ll quietly eat this for 20 minutes.

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2. Freezer Section Frenzy

Let me tell you: if you aren’t utilizing quick foods from the freezer section, then run, don’t walk, to the nearest Trader Joe’s (safely, of course, please wear your mask) and invest. The Trader Joe’s turkey corn dogs are honestly really, really good, very kid friendly, and done in 60 seconds. They have lots of options like this: chicken nuggets, pizzas, mac and cheese. Add a side of fruit and some dipping sauce, and you’ve made lunch in maybe 5 minutes.

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3. Breakfast for Lunch

When I make breakfast foods, I tend to make enough to last few several breakfasts or, honestly, several lunches. One thing Forrest will always eat is a waffle, pancake, or French toast. We’ve started making breakfast kabobs that he has fun assembling (I don’t even have to do the work!). Cut whatever breakfast item into 4ths and then cut your favorite fruit (strawberries, grapes, peaches, apples) and put onto skewers. Add a little dish of syrup for dipping and again, voila! Easy peasy, it took 5 minutes tops.

Big tip: Like I said, make a big batch of breakfast food to have in the freezer or fridge to reheat quickly when you need it.

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4. Leftover Grab Bag

We always have leftovers in our house because I am terrible at cooking for 3 people. 4, totally doable. 2, fine. When it comes to estimating amounts for 3 people, you think it’d be easy, but it’s not.

Thus, leftovers. I think sometimes we hesitate to feed our kids leftovers because we want to save them for our own lunches (especially if you have a member of your family still working outside the home). However, if it’s stuff your kid will eat, then why not portion it into their bento box for lunch!?

In this photo, we have the Hungryroot chicken & spinach sausage (leftover), some corn and bean salad (leftover), a crisped up cauliflower pizza crust (also leftover), and some caesar salad (which I’d made for myself for lunch—just wanted to see if Fo would eat it). Forrest will always (and I mean always) eat this chicken and spinach sausage—it’s one of his favorites. If you want to try Hungryroot, you can get free black bean brownie batter (another kid-friendly favorite) by using PAUSESBROWNIE. Let me know what you think.

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5. Homemade Lunchable

Kids love Lunchables and they’re a frequent purchase in my house. But they are very expensive, so that adds up fast. As it turns out, they’re very easy to make at home. A few slices of deli turkey or ham, a slice or two of your kid’s favorite cheese, and some crackers—boom, you’ve done it. I always add a fruit and something sweet (in this case, a Partake Birthday Cake cookie, which I highly recommend).

If your kiddos prefer pizza Lunchables, you can use small tortillas (these ones are the perfect size), a dollop of spaghetti sauce, and some cheese and pepperoni (all of which are great fridge staples) to recreate them.

The best thing about Lunchables has always been that they are fun and easy for kids to eat—they make food interactive. It’s pretty easy to replicate that at home with little effort (and much less money).

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There you go—5 easy lunch ideas you can apply to your life, preferences, and more. Let me know what you’re favorite easy lunches are for your kids!

My 4 Tricks for Getting Kids to Eat Healthier Snacks

Snacking is a shockingly controversial topic in the parenting world.

Some parents are vehemently anti-snack. And some parents let their kids go hogwild.

The truth is: no matter what your approach is, as long as you’re approaching it from a mindset of wanting the best for your kids, that’s great. Do what works for you!

But I know for me, I’ve always stressed a little bit about what Forrest eats in a day. Like most 4-year-olds, he can be really picky. Kids don’t have a lot of control over their day-to-day lives so food is often the one thing they can control. Plus, they like routine and all the things being pretty similar day-to-day. Almost all kids (except the few outliers, you lucky ducks!) have a few (or quite a few) foods they simply won’t touch (Forrest’s are broccoli and potatoes).

Snacks are a great way to teach kids good habits—not just to pick foods that help them meet their nutritional goals, but also to have fun with food and to let their body’s needs guide their choices. However, making sure kids have access to a good mix of snacks—both the fun stuff and the good-for-you stuff—can be really challenging.

Here are my 4 tips for helping kids pick healthier snacks every day. (As a note, these are just a few things to try! Different things, as always, will work for different families. Experiment, find what works, and don’t stress too much about it!)

1. Focus on what your kids already like.

I am a picky eater and I can remember what it was like for me when my mother tried to force me to try new foods or eat new foods. It was stressful and it created a lot of anxiety in me. Especially with snacks, I always wanted to eat the same things over and over: chips and salsa; Cheerios; and maybe an apple with peanut butter.

Forrest is definitely not as picky as I was, but he definitely has different tastes. Whereas I would have happily lived on mashed potatoes (and only mashed potatoes) as a child, he hates potatoes in all forms: fries, roasted, mashed, whatever, he doesn’t like potatoes. However, he does love fruit and yogurt; he will eat fruit and yogurt pretty much always.

The solution? Snacks of fruit and yogurt. Freeze yogurt tubes for afternoon snacks on hot days. Keep cut up apples and peaches in the fridge. We always have apples and strawberries on hand, as well as mangos, peaches, and other seasonal fruits. Forrest is probably never going to be a kid who happily accepts carrots as a snack—but he will eat strawberries and peaches, a smoothie, or some yogurt with fruit and granola.

This has been one of the best things for my anxiety around food and making sure the snacks Forrest eats are at least 80% nutritionally sound most of the time: instead of trying to form his tastes into ones that help me tick all those boxes (5 servings of veggies? check!), I just work with what he likes—rather than what he’s still learning to like.

2. Offer variety and choices.

There are actually 2 ways to approach snacks in your house.

1. Presenting a schedule at the beginning of each day that lists what’s for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and what is for morning and afternoon snack. And that’s it.

2. Giving them choices (just 2 choices, not all the choices) throughout the day at each mealtime and snack time.

How you approach this really depends on your child and their personality—as well as how well they’ve handled quarantine. (Isn’t that true for all of us?)

For us, I try to give choices. Here’s an example of what I say:

“This morning for breakfast, you can have oatmeal with apples or peanut butter toast with peach slices and granola. Which one sounds better?” Then, Forrest gets to choose—and he knows he always will be able to help me make breakfast.

At snack time, this is what I might say:

“For snack, you can have some cheese puffs and apple slices or yogurt with strawberries. Which sounds best right now?”

It’s really easy to get stuck in the rut of doing the same thing every day for kids. And some kids definitely thrive under that kind of structure. However, it can easily lead to boredom and kids begging for other snacks that you don’t necessarily want them to have every single day.

3. Make healthy snacks accessible.

One of the best things I ever did was make a little shelf for Forrest in the fridge that he can easily reach; it has his water bottle, juice boxes, and yogurts available 24/7. He also has access to our fruit bowl whenever he wants. We have a very simple rule in our house: if he wants a snack sometime other than our usual snack times, he can always have fruit, a yogurt, water, or a juice box—and he can get it himself. I will often find him happily eating a blueberry yogurt or eating an apple while playing with his Legos. It just makes my life so much easier and lets him know that, if he’s hungry, he is always allowed to access these spots no matter what.

4. Don’t restrict snacks.

Regarding point 3, I know for many parents, they feel they need to limit snacking. Especially if they’re worried their children are snacking more out of boredom than anything else. However, I’m trying to teach Forrest that it’s ok to listen to your body and some days, you just need more food than others! He is a very active child and he needs more food somedays. That’s just the reality of life. And while I definitely want him to make choices that make his body feel good, I never want him to feel like he is being deprived or not allowed to eat.

I have noticed this works with Forrest and lots of other kids; if they’re asking for a snack incessantly, it’s probably because they’re hungry. Even if dinner is 10 minutes from being done, they’re small humans and they only know they are hungry right then. I will usually put together whatever I have ready for dinner then; let’s say I’m making BLTs with cucumbers and watermelon. Well, the cucumber and watermelon are ready, so they can munch on those while I finish putting together the sandwiches. There is nothing wrong with doing that.

If kids are begging for snacks in between meals, or in between snacks, I often ask what sounds good and offer a few alternatives. If they all want popsicles, that’s a fairly easy thing to offer! Plus, popsicles can help with hydration—always a great choice during the summer. You can also offer a variety of snacks, like some cheese puffs, a yogurt, a few strawberries, and a juice box and see what they end up picking. It’s not like you can’t save whatever they don’t eat to go with lunch or for the next snack.

Boost Your Immunity with Easy Salmon with Summer Salad Featuring Hungryroot x Hilma*

If you’re like me, the last few months have been eye-opening when it comes to groceries. I feel like I’ve never saved so much money (spending less on takeout, not going to restaurants, not going to TJ Maxx every weekend) and, at the same time, like I’ve never spent more on groceries. 

We get weekly grocery pick up orders from my local Fred Meyer (my favorite grocery store, hands down!)—but even though I love Freddy’s, it’s hard for me not to be able to pick up my own produce. Just this past week, I got a completely moldy pack of strawberries and out of the 4 sweet potatoes I ordered, 3 were completely rotten and mushy. The day of my pick up! 

That’s I’ve started using Hungryroot more than ever. If you don’t know what Hungryroot is, let me help you: it’s an online, grocery delivery service that helps you stock your fridge with your favorite groceries. They partner with Beyond Meat, Elizabeth, Joolies, and tons more, plus have their own range of groceries. I’ve written about them a ton before; you can read more here. 

With Hungryroot, I can get some of my favorite staples (like my preferred oat milk, vegetables, and more) delivered to my door. 

Hungryroot recently paired up with Hilma. When they reached out to me for this post, I was so excited. More than ever, I’ve been working to boost and take care of my immune system. While there is a lot of misinformation out there, I truly believe that doing all you can to eat healthy and take care of your body is beneficial. 

What is Hilma?

Hilma is a new brand on a mission to upgrade your medicine cabinet: they focus on natural remedies that are also backed by science. With Hungryroot, they’ve curated a selection of immune-supporting groceries. 

Hilma sent me their Immune Support to try. It has six essential nutrients in one little packet that you mix into hot or cold water. (It’s delicious both ways, but on these hot summer days, I’ve been mixing it with cold water and adding it to my morning smoothie!) It contains Vitamin C, Echinacea, Zinc, Ginger, and Turmeric with no fillers. 

If you’d like to try Hilma, you can take 20% off using my code MICHELLE20! I love Hilma’s Immune Support and I can’t wait to see what you think. 

Easy Salmon with Summer Salad

When it comes to dinners during the summer, I have a few requests: 

• Contains my favorite things about the season (corn!)

• Easy clean up

• Tastes good

• Doesn’t make my kitchen 400 degrees

This summer salad checks every single box! 

Plus, it contains a few of my favorite Hungryroot ingredients—and even better, they are all immune boosting! Here are the ingredients: 

Ingredients:

• 2 packages of Hungryroot’s Hot Smoked Roasted Salmon (or 2 salmon fillets)

• 1 package of Hungryroot’s Superblend Salad

• About 1/4 cup of Hungryroot’s House Dressing

• Garlic Salt

• 1 package of Sweet Baby Broccoli from Hungryroot

• 1 cob of corn

Salmon is so good for you and your immune system because it contains vitamin D, which helps keep your immune system working. Not getting enough vitamin D can actually increase your risk of infection. It also has protein and omega-3s, two nutrients that are vital for a strong immune system. Alongside baby broccoli (so much vitamin C!) and Hungryroot’s Superblend Salad (kale, broccoli, brussel sprouts, and more), this dish packs a one-two punch of immune boosting nutrition. 

Here’s how I made it: 

1. Start heating up your barbecue or grill. 

2. Cut the kernels off your cob of corn. Cook them in a pan over medium heat with a little bit of garlic salt and nonstick cooking spray until they are done and slightly charred. 

3. While your corn cooks, add 1/4 wish cup of Hungryroot’s House Dressing (so good!) to your salad bowl; I added a pinch of garlic salt and some pepper, but this is totally optional. Add your bag of Superblend Salad and toss. 

4. Once the corn is done cooking, toss with your salad and set aside. 

5. Create 2 separate foil packets. In one, add your baby broccoli, a drizzle of olive oil, and some garlic salt. Wrap it up. 

6. in the second foil packet, place your roasted salmon with a little more garlic salt. (Since this salmon is already cooked, you are just warming it up and creating a crust!) 

7. Cook on the barbecue for about 10-15 minutes for the broccoli, and under 10 minutes for the salmon. 

8. Serve! 

So easy and delicious, light for the summer and the clean up can’t be easier. 

Want to try Hungryroot? 

I’m so excited to be able to offer you FREE Black Bean Brownie Batter for life from Hungryroot. Their brownie batter is one of my favorite things—I always have a tub in my fridge for emergencies!. Just use the code PAUSES40 to get 40% off your first order of Hungryroot.

Don’t forget to use code MICHELLE20 at Hilma to receive 20% off your order as well. With both Hilma and Hungryroot, you can have delicious, immune boosting supplies for your pantry and medicine cabinet. 

Disclaimer: Per my disclosure policy, the asterisk (*) in the title of this post denotes that I was provided product for free to review and post on my blog and Instagram channel. However, all opinions remain my own—I created this simple recipe on my own! Posts like these help me keep the lights on here at Writing Between Pauses. I do receive a small commission from use of my Hungryroot and Hilma code. To learn more about my disclosure policy, click here.