• In the Kitchen

    Easy Meals from Trader Joe’s: What We Are Trying

    easy meals from Trader Joe's

    Lately, we’ve been enjoying Hungryroot for meal delivery. The food is healthy, packed with vegetables, SUPER easy to put together each night (10 minutes or less), and relatively affordable. However, we are starting to get tired of the repetition. Also, the kids are not thrilled about the recipes. Enter Easy Meals from Trader Joe’s!

    My plan is to recreate the Hungryroot experience with ingredients from Trader Joe’s instead. Will it work? We shall see!

    This week’s menu ideas:

    1. Lemon, Garlic, and Spinach Gnocchi
    2. Pizza
    3. Burritos
    4. Vegetarian BBQ Sandwiches with arugula salad
    5. Kung Pao Cauliflower with Rice

    Each of these recipes seems pretty straight forward and easy. They also seem healthy … Read More

  • Purposeful Parenthood

    Special Summer Activities for Working Parents

    special summer activities for working parents

    I’m feeling so conflicted about the summer. On the one hand, I really want to work. I love my work, and I am fulfilled when I get to work and parent. On the other hand, my children don’t want to go to summer camp. They would rather stay home with the family. I’m trying to figure out how to make sure they have a fun summer, even though they can’t stay home. I think the trick is to come up with easy special summer activities for working parents that seem enticing and engaging for kids.

    We can do two activities per week. I will post this tracker on our refrigerator. … Read More

  • Good Times

    Inexpensive Greeting Cards: My System

    My file folder system for organizing inexpensive greeting cards

    I’m pretty obsessed with the inexpensive greeting cards at Trader Joe’s. I’ve never been one who is comfortable forking over $5+ for a single card. I’ve always thought, “Someone would probably rather receive a note on copy paper with a $5 bill than a $5 greeting card!” (Maybe that’s just me and not other people. I am a bit weird like that.)

    But at the same time, I do want to honor celebrations with something nice looking. Enter the $1 inexpensive greeting cards from Trader Joe’s. These cards are fantastic. For example, they are sturdy, well-designed, and well-written.

    Inexpensive Greeting Cards from Trader Joe’s

    Trader Joe has a frequently … Read More