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Speaker 1: Hi everybody. I'm Kelsey Nixon and this is Kitchen Prescription,

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Speaker 1: the podcast you listen to when you don't know what

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Speaker 1: to make for dinner.

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Speaker 2: Today.

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Speaker 1: Is episode ninety six Kitchen Office Hours. About once a

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Speaker 1: month or so, I hold Kitchen Office Hours to answer

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Speaker 1: your questions that I collect from both Instagram and within

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Speaker 1: my Recipe Club membership. When asking for questions, I remind

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Speaker 1: you that it can be anything related to cooking or

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Speaker 1: the kitchen, really, just anything that might make it easier

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Speaker 1: for you to get dinner on the table. You guys

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Speaker 1: submitted some great questions this week, and I can't wait

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Speaker 1: to dive into those. There are a lot of questions

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Speaker 1: about cooking again as you transition out of summer routines

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Speaker 1: and into fall routines, which has obviously been top of

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Speaker 1: mind for me in my household because I am living

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Speaker 1: and breeding that right now as we attempt to get

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Speaker 1: a handle on our extra curricular activities after school, our

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Speaker 1: earlier bedtimes, earlier wake up times, and hopefully as we

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Speaker 1: fall into some better habits. But before we do that,

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Speaker 1: let's do what we always do here on the podcast

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Speaker 1: and start by discussing three recipes you could throw on

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Speaker 1: your meal plan for the week if you haven't been

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Speaker 1: meal planning as consistently or much lately at all. One

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Speaker 1: of my best pieces of advice is to start small.

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Speaker 1: Don't plan to make seven recipes at once. Decide to

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Speaker 1: make two and just shop for those and put that

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Speaker 1: on your list for the week. So with that in mind,

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Speaker 1: here's what's on my meal plan for the upcoming week,

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Speaker 1: and hopefully these might sparks my ideas for you. So

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Speaker 1: first up is a new recipe that we are adding

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Speaker 1: to Recipe Club come September. First, can't believe we're in September.

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Speaker 1: Mediterranean chicken stirfry. Now, this recipe has been a favorite

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Speaker 1: of mine for a while, and it was one of

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Speaker 1: those recipes I mean, I love making stirfry for my

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Speaker 1: family because it's quick and easy.

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Speaker 2: But it's almost always Asian focused, right.

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Speaker 1: It's always got some sort of soysapas with some rice

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Speaker 1: vinegar and you know, a little chili sauce and onions

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Speaker 1: and peppers and chicken like that's usually what sturfray means.

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Speaker 1: I love Mediterranean flavors. In fact, if you were to

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Speaker 1: ask me what my favorite type of food is, I'd

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Speaker 1: probably tell you Mediterranean or Greek food, and so I

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Speaker 1: just took that same process of making a simple sturfray

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Speaker 1: and a skillet, and I just use Mediterranean flavors and

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Speaker 1: it is so delicious. In fact, I'm a little embarrassed

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Speaker 1: at this recipe hasn't been in Recipe Club because I

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Speaker 1: love this recipe and it's about time that it's lanted

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Speaker 1: in there.

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Speaker 2: So it's so good. It really simple ingredients. We typically serve.

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Speaker 1: It over farrow, but you could serve it over rice

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Speaker 1: or any sort of grain quin wad, even cauliflower rice

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Speaker 1: if you wanted. I like jazzing it up like I

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Speaker 1: would maybe a peda, so a little tzatziki sauce, a

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Speaker 1: little fresh dill, some lemon, a little chopped cucumber, and

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Speaker 1: it's just really, really yummy. It's an easy one to

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Speaker 1: deconstruct for my kids too. If they don't, I want

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Speaker 1: the whole complete chicken stuf fry all right. Number two

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Speaker 1: chicken palm meatballs. Two things my kids like, chicken palm

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Speaker 1: and meatballs. These are really delicious. I make them in

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Speaker 1: a skillet and they're made with ground chicken, which is

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Speaker 1: an awesome protein to rely on.

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Speaker 2: Really simple flavors.

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Speaker 1: You've got that melted cheese on top, and we typically

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Speaker 1: serve these over pasta and it's just a fun way

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Speaker 1: to take those chicken palm flavors and kind of repackage

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Speaker 1: them differently. I haven't made these all summer. It tends

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Speaker 1: to be like more of a fall or winter recipe

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Speaker 1: for us, not really for any particular reason, but I'm

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Speaker 1: excited to see these back on the meal plan. And

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Speaker 1: the third recipe is super simple sandwich my apple and

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Speaker 1: bacon grilled cheese sandwiches. These were in my very first cookbook,

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Speaker 1: something I have made for many, many years. It's basically

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Speaker 1: my favorite version of a classic grilled cheese where I

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Speaker 1: use a little bit of whole grain mustard. Do you

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Speaker 1: either honeycrisper Granny Smith, thinly sliped apple with some bacon cheddar.

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Speaker 1: Super super yummy. I've been doing it on sourdough lately

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Speaker 1: and I'll probably do that again. And whether or not

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Speaker 1: I heat up some of the roasted red pepper and

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Speaker 1: tomato soup that I get at Trader Joe's to dip.

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Speaker 1: Sometimes I'll do that. Sometimes I'll just do a hearty

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Speaker 1: salad on the side. But everyone loves these, and I

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Speaker 1: typically use the method where I will make a bunch

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Speaker 1: of grilled cheese sandwiches at once so that I'm not

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Speaker 1: a slave to the skillet.

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Speaker 2: And I will take a.

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Speaker 1: Big sheet pan and I can usually do about six

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Speaker 1: sandwiches at once, and I'll lay them all out and

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Speaker 1: build the sandwiches, pop it in a four hundred degree oven,

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Speaker 1: let it go for a few minutes, pull it out,

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Speaker 1: flip the sandwiches, and then they're all done and warm

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Speaker 1: at the same time. And then what's great about this

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Speaker 1: method is that if you do have kids who have

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Speaker 1: you know, different extracurricular schedules. I in fact, I recently

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Speaker 1: did this couple weeks ago. I will make the sandwiches,

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Speaker 1: have them ready to go for everyone who's home to eat.

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Speaker 1: And then let's say you've got someone's like a baseball

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Speaker 1: or softball or something. You can turn the oven off

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Speaker 1: and just keep the sandwich in the warm oven to

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Speaker 1: keep the sandwich warm. And that's a great way.

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Speaker 2: To do it.

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Speaker 1: There are your recipes for the week. You can find

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Speaker 1: and print them all in Recipe Club individually or in

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Speaker 1: our weekly meal plan with an easy to follow shopping

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Speaker 1: list that's broken down by recipe. You can also build

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Speaker 1: your own custom meal plans if you like the idea

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Speaker 1: of picking and choosing your own recipes based on ingredients

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Speaker 1: that you already have on hand, which is an excellent

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Speaker 1: happit in practice if you're trying to save money on

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Speaker 1: your grocery bill and just wasteless in general. There are

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Speaker 1: just a few days left to get free shipping on

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Speaker 1: our recipe binder using the code back to School the

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Speaker 1: number two. So if you're wanting to build out a complete,

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Speaker 1: simple dinner system that will carry you throughout the entire

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Speaker 1: school year, now is the perfect time to get your

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Speaker 1: binder and join us in Recipe Club for the year.

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Speaker 1: We've had so many of you take advantage of this,

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Speaker 1: and I'm so happy to see that we've got a

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Speaker 1: whole new bunch of home cooks. They're going to be

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Speaker 1: cooking with us throughout the school year, and it gives

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Speaker 1: us an opportunity to support you as you go through

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Speaker 1: the ebbs and flows of holidays and school and extra

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Speaker 1: curriculars and all of those things. We are always there

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Speaker 1: providing ideas, shopping lists, one click shopping, easy recipes, never

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Speaker 1: with any ads. All of that to help you get

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Speaker 1: dinner on the table because we know it's important to you. Okay,

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Speaker 1: let's jump into the back half of the podcast and

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Speaker 1: officially open up kitchen office hours. Today we're going to

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Speaker 1: tackle three questions that will hopefully be helpful to you.

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Speaker 1: I typically do a weekend Q and A on Instagram,

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Speaker 1: so if I'm not answering a question that you submitted today,

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Speaker 1: you can always send me a DM or submit your

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Speaker 1: question in the question box during one of my weekend

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Speaker 1: Q and a's and hopefully I'll answer.

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Speaker 2: It there for you.

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Speaker 1: You can also always email me at Kelsey at Kelseynixon

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Speaker 1: dot com and I'll do my best to take back

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Speaker 1: to you all right. Question one is from Jenny B.

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Speaker 1: She says, do you have any thoughts on earlier dinner times.

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Speaker 1: I think it might be a good fit for our

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Speaker 1: family this fall, but I'm wondering if it will actually

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Speaker 1: stick or if my kids would just think it's weird

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Speaker 1: to eat dinner after school.

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Speaker 2: Jenny, I love this question.

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Speaker 1: I've been thinking about this so much, so this is

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Speaker 1: how we ended the school year as having dinner before

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Speaker 1: any activities. I would say it was about an hour

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Speaker 1: after my kids got home from school, but definitely earlier

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Speaker 1: on and it was amazing. In fact, it's one of

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Speaker 1: those routines that we fell out of during the summer

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Speaker 1: that I was really looking forward to getting back into

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Speaker 1: once school started again.

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Speaker 2: So here are my thoughts.

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Speaker 1: Obviously, I love an earlier dinner time. I think it

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Speaker 1: has so many benefits. So if your kids are anything

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Speaker 1: like mine, My kids come home starving and immediately reach

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Speaker 1: for snacky foods like chips, goldfish, fruit, snacks, bars, whatever.

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Speaker 1: Even though I got the cute fruit bowl out in

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Speaker 1: the center of the kitchen island and I remind them, hey,

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Speaker 1: grab an apple, grab some grapes, grab it orange, they don't.

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Speaker 1: They just want the snacky stuff, and in some ways

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Speaker 1: it spoils their appetite later for dinner, and I don't

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Speaker 1: love that they're kind of just filling up on empty calories. Now, look,

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Speaker 1: let them be kids that we're still a household that

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Speaker 1: has goldfish and whatever. But still it I swear it

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Speaker 1: was just spoiling dinner. So here are a few other

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Speaker 1: things I like about it beyond just the fact that

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Speaker 1: you feed the kids when they're hungry. So I think

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Speaker 1: it's easier to make dinner when my kids aren't home,

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Speaker 1: So if I can work it into my workday, and

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Speaker 1: I'm a full time working mom, I much prefer to

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Speaker 1: have things ready to go shortly after they arrive home,

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Speaker 1: then trying to make dinner once they get home. It's

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Speaker 1: so much better. So this means I'm thinking about.

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Speaker 2: Dinner earlier in the day.

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Speaker 1: Sometimes right after I'm done with breakfast, I'm like, Okay,

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Speaker 1: what are we doing for dinner? Is there anything I

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Speaker 1: can do now to make dinner easier later? Because when

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Speaker 1: if I can feed my family shortly after they've arrived home,

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Speaker 1: I it's like the night is so much more enjoyable.

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Speaker 1: I don't have this over my head, like, oh, I

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Speaker 1: gotta make dinner. I gotta make dinner. I gotta make dinner.

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Speaker 1: So I just like prepping it when no one's there.

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Speaker 1: It makes cooking more enjoyable for me, and it's not

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Speaker 1: as chaotic. One way I like to think about this

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Speaker 1: is if you're having an earlier dinner, you're taking that

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Speaker 1: snack that you might have had after school and having

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Speaker 1: an evening snack. Because I don't expect my kids if

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Speaker 1: they're gonna eat at four thirty, they're gonna be hungry.

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Speaker 1: Again before they go to sleep. But I like the

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Speaker 1: evening snack is opposed to the after school snack. And

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Speaker 1: if you live with picky eaters, I don't care how

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Speaker 1: old they are. We have a picky eater in my

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Speaker 1: house who's nearly forty years old. Like you can have

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Speaker 1: picky eaters of any ages. The best ingredient for any

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Speaker 1: picky eater is hunger. If kids are hungry, they are

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Speaker 1: more likely to try something. Now, we'll take toddlers out

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Speaker 1: of this, because meltdown the city. I also have experienced that.

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Speaker 1: I think there's a greater chance if you've really got

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Speaker 1: a hungry kid after school and you're putting something new

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Speaker 1: on their plate, they are more likely to try it.

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Speaker 1: If you have older kids that are participating in more

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Speaker 1: physically demanding activities, whether it's football or baseball or track

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Speaker 1: or whatever it is, I like the idea of getting

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Speaker 1: some good fuel in them before they head to practice. Now,

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Speaker 1: if you have high schoolers, you might have them coming

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Speaker 1: home from school, like be going directly from school to

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Speaker 1: practice and then coming home, so of course they're going

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Speaker 1: to be starving.

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Speaker 2: So just thinking about.

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Speaker 1: Bumping dinner up in general, I think is such a

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Speaker 1: good idea now, last, but not least, for me as

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Speaker 1: an adult, I much prefer to have a bigger meal

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Speaker 1: earlier rather than later. I think it's better for my metabolism.

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Speaker 1: I think I sleep better, I think I feel better.

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Speaker 1: So I in fact, we've been doing as we've been

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Speaker 1: trying to get back into this, we've been doing popcorn

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Speaker 1: at night as a family, even if we are just

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Speaker 1: hanging around kids or doing some homework, or we're watching

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Speaker 1: something on the TV, or sharing funny memes or whatever.

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Speaker 2: It is. Popcorn such a great snack, like so much.

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Speaker 1: Better than my kids coming home and eating six packs

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Speaker 1: of fruit snacks. So anyways, Jenny, to answer your question,

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Speaker 1: I am a huge fan. I totally think you should

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Speaker 1: try it. I think you should try it. The key

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Speaker 1: is to just think about dinner earlier in the day.

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Speaker 1: I bet you're gonna become hooked. I bet you're gonna

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Speaker 1: love it. I think this should be a new norm.

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Speaker 1: Is everyone eating dinner earlier?

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Speaker 2: Okay.

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Speaker 1: Question number two is from Jenna G. Jenna says, I

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Speaker 1: feel like every time I make chicken, it's so dry

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Speaker 1: and bland. I don't even want to eat it. Any

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Speaker 1: general tips for cooking more delicious chicken, so both me

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Speaker 1: and my kids will eat it. Okay, Jenna, I hear you.

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Speaker 1: Chicken is such a good protein for so many reasons. Obviously,

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Speaker 1: it's a lean protein. It's kind of like a blank

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Speaker 1: canvas where we can do a lot with it when

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Speaker 1: it comes to flavor. It's fairly affordable. It's a fairly

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Speaker 1: affordable protein. So yeah, we'orrying a lot of chicken around here.

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Speaker 1: I have a couple of tips for you. So the

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Speaker 1: first is, if you are buying traditional chicken breast, which

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Speaker 1: is probably the most popular chicken protein people are buying,

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Speaker 1: I want you to cut them in half. I want you,

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Speaker 1: and I mean like in half horizontally, so they're not

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Speaker 1: as thick. It is much harder to cook a tender

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Speaker 1: chicken breast when it is really thick.

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Speaker 2: And to be honest, I don't know anybody that wants to.

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Speaker 1: Eat a big, old thick chicken breast. So sometimes they're

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Speaker 1: called cutlets, or they're called thinly.

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Speaker 2: Sliced chicken breast.

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Speaker 1: You can actually buy them at the store like that.

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Speaker 1: They're more expensive per pound. So if you can get comfortable,

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Speaker 1: which is taking a sharp knife and slicing down horizontally,

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Speaker 1: so you get a chew for one. Essentially, I find

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Speaker 1: that my kids are way more likely to eat the

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Speaker 1: chicken if it's if it's not so thick, and it's

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Speaker 1: more tender when and it's not so thick, and bonus,

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Speaker 1: it cooks way faster. So whether or not you are

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Speaker 1: thawing this chicken from the freezer, you are just you know,

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Speaker 1: doing a quick skillet meal. I did this last night

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Speaker 1: with salted chicken skillet. I'm just a huge fan. It

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Speaker 1: is a rare situation now for me to make a

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Speaker 1: traditional chicken breast, I almost always slice them in half,

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Speaker 1: and if you've got big eaters then have to, but

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Speaker 1: they I find that it's easier to keep the chicken

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Speaker 1: tender and delicious when it's not so thick. You'll always

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Speaker 1: want to allow it to rest. You don't want to

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Speaker 1: pull it off of the skillet or off of the

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Speaker 1: sheet pan or how even the girl however you're cooking

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Speaker 1: it and just slice right into it, give it a

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Speaker 1: few minutes. That helps to maintain the juices inside the meat.

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Speaker 1: And you know, Jenna, you might actually just be overcooking it.

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Speaker 1: So if that's the case, and you feel worried about

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Speaker 1: am I over cooking it? Am I not get a

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Speaker 1: meat thermometer. It does not have to be an expensive one.

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Speaker 2: You can get it.

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Speaker 1: I've got one in my Amazon store. Friend, It's like

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Speaker 1: ten bucks. And if you're nervous about not cooking it enough,

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Speaker 1: get it. You never want to cook it past one

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Speaker 1: fifty five or one sixty Now technically they would say

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Speaker 1: one sixty five, but when you pull that chicken off

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Speaker 1: the heat, there's something called carryover cooking, and so really

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Speaker 1: what you need is you need that chicken to be

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Speaker 1: to one sixty five by the time you are actually

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Speaker 1: consuming it, and it's going to retain some of that

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Speaker 1: heat and continue cooking. And so if you cook it

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Speaker 1: to one sixty five in the pan, chances are by

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Speaker 1: the time you're eating it it's at one eighty one

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Speaker 1: eighty five. You have some carryover cooking. So consider getting

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Speaker 1: a meat thermometer or using one if you've got it

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Speaker 1: and you're not using it. And then this is probably

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Speaker 1: my best tip. And it's funny as I continue, because

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Speaker 1: I had new recipes to Recipe Club every single month,

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Speaker 1: and I'm constantly thinking about what's relevant and what we're

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Speaker 1: hearing from our members and what's working for people, and

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Speaker 1: people always want you recipes, and I it is rare

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Speaker 1: that I am writing a recipe for chicken right now

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Speaker 1: that does not.

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Speaker 2: Use this tip.

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Speaker 1: If you are making any sort of sauce, marinade or

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Speaker 1: vinagrette to go with your chicken, let's just say sauce

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Speaker 1: or marinad, I suggest reserving a little bit of that,

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Speaker 1: like if you are making, you know, like a quarter

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Speaker 1: of it. In fact, if you've made my weaknight wild chicken,

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Speaker 1: this is how this recipe is written. You reserve a

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Speaker 1: little bit off to the side, and then you let

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Speaker 1: the chicken marinate, and whatever the marinate is, you cook

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Speaker 1: the chicken, and then just before serving, you take that

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Speaker 1: reserve marinad, you slice your chicken, and you drizzle it

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Speaker 1: over the top.

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Speaker 2: I think it's really tough.

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Speaker 1: In fact, I just spent way too long reading an

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Speaker 1: article on Bonapetite about marinating meats and how much it

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Speaker 1: actually does impact the flavor. It does a little, but

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Speaker 1: more than anything, it kind of tenderizes the meat. But

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Speaker 1: if you really want that protein that chicken to soak

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Speaker 1: up flavor and be flavorful, well you gotta drizzle a

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Speaker 1: sauce or a vinaigrette or a marinade on it after

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Speaker 1: it's been cooked. Then it soaks up that flavor. So

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Speaker 1: whether it's barbecue sauce we're doing barbecue chicken bols tonight,

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Speaker 1: or it's a vinaigrette, you could take any basic vinaigrette.

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Speaker 1: I don't care if it's store bought or if you've

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Speaker 1: made it from scratch. Once you slice that chicken, drizzle

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Speaker 1: a little something over it, that's gonna help a ton.

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Speaker 1: I am using the assumption here, Jenna, that you are

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Speaker 1: talking about chicken breast, But I just got to put

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Speaker 1: a plug in for chicken thighs. I love chicken thighs.

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Speaker 1: I think the flavor is better, They're the perfect portion size,

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Speaker 1: they don't dry out nearly as much. But I live

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Speaker 1: with chicken thigh haters, so my family does not like

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Speaker 1: the taste of chicken thighs. But if you don't mind

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Speaker 1: the taste of chicken thighs, that will one hundred percent

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Speaker 1: immediately make your chicken more tender and juicy, So don't

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Speaker 1: forget about those. I have a lot of recipes written

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Speaker 1: with chicken thighs and a RECIPEAE Club. But you can

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Speaker 1: easily swap them out. It just changes the timing a

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Speaker 1: little bit on recipes.

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Speaker 2: Great question. Love that.

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Speaker 1: Okay, last question. Question number three is from Alexis R.

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Speaker 1: She says, I'm a Trader Joe's shopper and I want

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Speaker 1: to know your go tos for kids lunchboxes. Great idea, Alexis.

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Speaker 1: I just did this, just did this last week, and

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Speaker 1: I will continue to do this.

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Speaker 2: Okay, here we go.

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Speaker 1: I'm just gonna rattle them off Trader Joe's. I think

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Speaker 1: if Trader Joe's is great at anything, it's snacks, right,

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Speaker 1: and it's a great place for some lunchbox things. They

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Speaker 1: don't sell them bulk, whereas Costco can be great for

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Speaker 1: some of those things. But a lot of their stuff

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Speaker 1: is generally pretty healthy, and their prices I think are

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Speaker 1: very consistent and really good. So first, alphabet cookies. My

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Speaker 1: kids love these, my younger kids, especially as I have

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Speaker 1: two girls that are learning to love letters. They kind

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Speaker 1: of taste like a gram cracker, but they're made in

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Speaker 1: the shape of leather letters and they are so cute

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Speaker 1: and big fan, big fan of those. My favorite protein

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Speaker 1: option to get from my kids are the salami sticks.

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Speaker 1: So this is going to be over by, like the

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Speaker 1: cured meats and whatnot. It for two of them, it's

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Speaker 1: like a dollar twenty something. So they're a really good price,

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Speaker 1: Like it's much cheaper than like a chomps stick, which

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Speaker 1: I think are great, but they're expensive and.

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Speaker 2: It's the same amount of protein.

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Speaker 1: I think it's nine grams for one of the containers.

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Speaker 2: My kids love these, so.

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Speaker 1: When I go to Trader Joe's, I literally buy like

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Speaker 1: ten at a time. Another let's go with another protein

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Speaker 1: option that is a little unsuspecting. They have these little

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Speaker 1: cheese bytes. I think they're just called cheese bites. They

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Speaker 1: are like little parmesan cheese bytes, and they have thirteen

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Speaker 1: grams of protein per serving, which is insane, insane, And

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Speaker 1: so they happen to be really good, like if you're

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Speaker 1: doing I mean, look, my kid does not know about

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Speaker 1: a charcutery board, but I can't help myself. If I'm

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Speaker 1: going to pack some salami, it's like, ooh, we'll do

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Speaker 1: some apples, sub grapes and these little cheese bittes and

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Speaker 1: they've got their own little charcoitery lunch going on. But

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Speaker 1: they're really yummy and you only need a couple to

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Speaker 1: get some of that protein in there.

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Speaker 2: So I will buy those.

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Speaker 1: The berry yogurt smooth smoothies. I think they have a

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Speaker 1: strawberry one and a mixed berry one. Those are great

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Speaker 1: if you're gonna pack like an ice pack. Nora went

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Speaker 1: on a huge kick with those. Uh, if your kid

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Speaker 1: goes to a nut free school like mine does. The

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Speaker 1: sunflower butter I always buy at Trader Joe's for a

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Speaker 1: good boost of protein and kind of a replacement for

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Speaker 1: peanut butter. Let's talk about some other things produce wise.

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Speaker 1: Many honey crisp apples. They're not called many, they're just

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Speaker 1: called honey crisp apples. I don't know why, but the

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Speaker 1: honey crisp apples at Trader Joe's are little. They are

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Speaker 1: the perfect size for a lunch box, so so good.

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Speaker 1: And those honey crisp apples are so sweet and delicious,

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Speaker 1: like it's impossible to get a bad one.

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Speaker 2: So I always buy those. Other produce things.

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Speaker 1: Oh, the rainbow carrots. So they have baby carrots that

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Speaker 1: are rainbow colored. And if you happen to have a

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Speaker 1: little kid in his picky and can get excited about

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Speaker 1: a rainbow, get those They're also just really pretty to

401
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Speaker 1: have on hand. Else, Hummus snack packs way more affordable

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Speaker 1: there than like the sabras kind. My middle schooler in

403
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Speaker 1: particular likes taking a Hummus snack pack that's got like

404
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Speaker 1: the pita chips or the pretzels with the hummus, so I'll.

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Speaker 2: Get those there there.

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Speaker 1: Organic chocolate chip granola bars and the fruit squeezers are

407
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Speaker 1: are pretty good when it comes to ingredients. If you

408
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Speaker 1: go to Costco or Sam's Club, you're gonna get those cheaper.

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Speaker 1: But they are great at Trader Joe's, and my kids

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Speaker 1: like the way they taste. So those are some of

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Speaker 1: our our go tos at Trader Joe's.

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Speaker 2: But I'm a fan.

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Speaker 1: I go at least three times a month. I wouldn't

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Speaker 1: say go every week, but almost every week to Trader Joe's.

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Speaker 1: As much as I love grocery delivery, I love enough

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Speaker 1: things at Trader Joe's that I'm willing to go once

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Speaker 1: a week and luckily it's close to me. All Right. Finally,

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Speaker 1: let's finish with the weekly gimme five. These are five

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Speaker 1: things that made my life easier or more enjoyable this week. First,

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Speaker 1: I spent a lot of time talking about lunch boxes.

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Speaker 1: The last month, we talked about how I got Nora

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Speaker 1: a larger Bento box because she's getting hungrier and wants

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Speaker 1: more food. We talked about my favorite Planet box that

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Speaker 1: I've used for seven years, literally the same lunch box. Alie, Nora,

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Speaker 1: and Penny have used it. And now Allie. Ollie is

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Speaker 1: in seventh grade and he wanted a like lunch sack.

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Speaker 2: But he likes to take stuff that stays cold.

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Speaker 1: He likes to take like string cheese, he likes to

429
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Speaker 1: take those Hummus snack packs. He likes to take one

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Speaker 1: of the salami sticks, and so I bought him the

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Speaker 1: packet freezable lunch sack.

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Speaker 2: It's small.

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00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:36,040
Speaker 1: I was worried it was going to be too small,

434
00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:39,640
Speaker 1: but he rides his bike to school, so he can't

435
00:21:39,720 --> 00:21:42,680
Speaker 1: like in these middle schoolers. It's like, I don't know where,

436
00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:44,760
Speaker 1: for whatever reason, where my kid goes to school, no

437
00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:48,040
Speaker 1: one uses their lockers, so he carries around his stuff

438
00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:50,840
Speaker 1: all day. So it had to be compact. And these

439
00:21:50,840 --> 00:21:53,360
Speaker 1: are great. They freeze so it stays cold and they're

440
00:21:53,400 --> 00:21:56,439
Speaker 1: not too big. Really happy with it. Had some like

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00:21:56,520 --> 00:22:00,119
Speaker 1: cool prints that was you know, approved by a seventh grade,

442
00:22:00,359 --> 00:22:04,280
Speaker 1: so that was good this week. Every August I do

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00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:07,600
Speaker 1: a fun favorite Things exchange with my sisters in law.

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00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:11,560
Speaker 1: I have many, very lucky. My husband is the youngest

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00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:14,479
Speaker 1: of seven, so I have six sisters in law on

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00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:16,760
Speaker 1: that side of the family, and every August we send

447
00:22:16,800 --> 00:22:20,399
Speaker 1: each other all a favorite ten dollars item. So I

448
00:22:20,440 --> 00:22:22,240
Speaker 1: bumped it up to twelve this year, and I send

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00:22:22,280 --> 00:22:25,240
Speaker 1: everyone a pair of my favorite twelve dollars sunglasses that

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00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:27,960
Speaker 1: I get on Amazon. I'm in a stage of life

451
00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:31,200
Speaker 1: where me and expensive sunglasses are not a good fit.

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00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:34,480
Speaker 1: These I love for a couple of reasons. A. I

453
00:22:34,520 --> 00:22:37,119
Speaker 1: don't stress if I lose them or they break, which honestly,

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00:22:37,119 --> 00:22:38,920
Speaker 1: I don't think I've ever had a pair break. They're

455
00:22:38,920 --> 00:22:39,920
Speaker 1: pretty good quality.

456
00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:42,720
Speaker 2: They don't scratch that easily.

457
00:22:42,680 --> 00:22:46,200
Speaker 1: As someone who likes to toss their sunglasses about, which

458
00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:49,159
Speaker 1: is nice. They're so comfortable on my head. They have

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00:22:49,200 --> 00:22:52,280
Speaker 1: a couple of different styles, but this one style in particular,

460
00:22:52,280 --> 00:22:55,760
Speaker 1: I think is flattering on everybody. So favorite twelve dollars sunglasses,

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00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:58,360
Speaker 1: That's what I sent for favorite things. My cute Penny,

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00:22:58,800 --> 00:23:02,040
Speaker 1: who's four and a half. She just started TK and

463
00:23:03,200 --> 00:23:06,640
Speaker 1: she is getting into games, and one game in particular,

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00:23:06,680 --> 00:23:08,280
Speaker 1: and let me tell you, we've been playing a lot

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00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:10,760
Speaker 1: of this game at our house. It's a board game

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00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:15,359
Speaker 1: called Zingo, and I'm convinced it's the best first board

467
00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:18,800
Speaker 1: game for little kids. It's like it's it's like a

468
00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:21,360
Speaker 1: little matching game. It's got this little contraption that it's

469
00:23:21,359 --> 00:23:24,760
Speaker 1: almost like an old school credit card machine. But she

470
00:23:24,960 --> 00:23:29,119
Speaker 1: loves it and it's been making my life a little

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00:23:29,119 --> 00:23:32,200
Speaker 1: easier as I try to reduce screen time. We break

472
00:23:32,200 --> 00:23:34,520
Speaker 1: some of those screen habits from the summer and get

473
00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:37,560
Speaker 1: her doing things like games. Zingo has been a hit

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00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:42,000
Speaker 1: Modern manners you've heard me talk about before. This is

475
00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:44,600
Speaker 1: Brooke Romney's little flip book. She has one for kids

476
00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:48,560
Speaker 1: and teens. We keep it at the center of our table,

477
00:23:48,840 --> 00:23:51,280
Speaker 1: flip it every night at dinner, and it's a kind

478
00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:54,520
Speaker 1: of something we can discuss. Really great life lessons in there,

479
00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:58,080
Speaker 1: written in the language of kid So it could be

480
00:23:58,119 --> 00:24:00,119
Speaker 1: something about what to do when you see some one

481
00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:02,480
Speaker 1: on the playground that doesn't have a friend. It could

482
00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:07,320
Speaker 1: be something about not talking when other people are talking.

483
00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:11,320
Speaker 1: Just really good little life lessons. And for Nora, who

484
00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:14,720
Speaker 1: is in second grade, it's fun for her to read

485
00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:17,679
Speaker 1: them because she's kind of a new reader and she

486
00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:21,720
Speaker 1: feels engaged that way. So we disappeared over the summer.

487
00:24:21,760 --> 00:24:25,320
Speaker 1: It is back for our family dinners and I love it.

488
00:24:25,880 --> 00:24:29,440
Speaker 1: And then my last give me five is these Dill

489
00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:32,560
Speaker 1: pickle cashos that I ordered off of Amazon. I saw

490
00:24:32,600 --> 00:24:35,520
Speaker 1: somebody else post about them, and I am a pickle lover.

491
00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:39,400
Speaker 1: I love all things pickle flavored, pickle chips, pickle the GUYOI,

492
00:24:39,600 --> 00:24:43,359
Speaker 1: I like it all. These were so good and so

493
00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:45,160
Speaker 1: it was kind of like a little treat to myself

494
00:24:46,480 --> 00:24:50,520
Speaker 1: midday all week and I may have eaten half the

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00:24:50,560 --> 00:24:51,280
Speaker 1: bag one day.

496
00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:52,280
Speaker 2: Because they're so good.

497
00:24:52,359 --> 00:24:56,680
Speaker 1: So deal, pickle Cashoes. If you are a pickle lover,

498
00:24:56,760 --> 00:24:59,240
Speaker 1: you gotta try them. They're so good. All right, that's

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00:24:59,280 --> 00:25:01,320
Speaker 1: it for today, you guy. Make sure you're subscribed to

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00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:03,560
Speaker 1: the podcast so that you never miss an episode. This

501
00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:05,760
Speaker 1: podcast is meant to be a quick twenty to thirty

502
00:25:05,800 --> 00:25:07,560
Speaker 1: minute listen while you map out your meals for the

503
00:25:07,600 --> 00:25:09,959
Speaker 1: week and to support helping you set up a simple

504
00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:13,880
Speaker 1: dinner system. Next week, I'm planning something fun for a

505
00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:20,159
Speaker 1: very special birthday episode. I'm turning forty and I have

506
00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:23,280
Speaker 1: lots of complicated feelings about it, but I have something

507
00:25:23,359 --> 00:25:25,879
Speaker 1: super fun in store I can't wait to share with you,

508
00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:28,240
Speaker 1: so make sure you don't miss the episode. I really

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00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:29,560
Speaker 1: appreciate you listening today.

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00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:32,159
Speaker 2: I'm so glad you're here. Until next time, happy cooking.

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Speaker 1: I'm Kelsey and look forward to chatting with you all

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Speaker 1: next week