My New Favorite Trader Joe’s Product Makes Breakfast Easier — Grocery News

I am generally not a morning person, so I need breakfast to be easy. I’m not going to turn on the oven, and there can’t be a ton of ingredients involved. I usually gravitate towards simple things like breakfast tacos, eggs on toast, and smoothies. That’s why I was super excited last week when I discovered a new-ish product from Trader Joe’s that makes my morning so much easier and delicious. Have you tried this?

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Summer Jobs: The Summer I Ran a Baseball Snack Stand — Summer Jobs

This month we’re looking back on all the strange and wonderful food jobs people have held during the summer. Whether it’s a job at a local scoop shop, a grocery store, or the concession stand at a baseball field, the skills and memories you gather in those short, hot months usually turn out to be invaluable. Here’s Bex vanKoot on her summer running her own business at a baseball field.

The summer of 1998 was one of many firsts for me. I was finishing up my first year of high school, preparing to take my beginner’s driving test, dating my first boyfriend, planning my as-yet-only trip overseas, and working my first real job at a baseball park snack stand (babysitting doesn’t count, right?). I would spend that summer learning the ins and outs of running my own business, a first that I can say now, almost 20 years later, led directly to the last decade I have spent freelancing and traveling the world.

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7 Kitchen Drawer Organizers We’re Really Excited About — Apartment Therapy

From Apartment Therapy → 7 Kitchen Drawer Organizers to Actually Get Excited About

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3 Bento Boxes Sure to Make Your Kids Eat Their School Lunches — Shopping

Even little kids, with their limited palates, know that meals are more fun when you get to have a bunch of snacky stuff versus just one main dish. (It’s our favorite way to eat too!) That’s why bento boxes are so darn popular with the school-aged crowd. Parents can fill various little compartments with pretzels, cheese cubes, fruit, and more. And you never have to worry about the strawberries touching the peas! Because we all know that can just be the worst thing ever — according to a child.

Here are our three favorite bento boxes for school lunches.

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Recipe: Weeknight Teriyaki Meatball Bowls — Quick and Easy Weeknight Dinners

(Image credit: Joe Lingeman)

Keeping a bag of meatballs in the freezer means a quick meal is never far away, but that doesn’t mean it always has to be spaghetti and meatballs or meatball subs. Yes, frozen meatballs do tend to be Italian flavored, but the seasoning is usually mild enough that we can easily change their flavor profile.

Simmered in an easy teriyaki sauce made with pantry staples that require minimal chopping, then tossed with udon noodles and a bag of frozen vegetables, this fast dinner has it all: tender meatballs cooked straight from the freezer, chewy noodles, and vegetables all coated in a sauce that will please little ones and adults alike.

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Recipe: Esquites (Mexican Corn Salad) — Quick and Easy Weeknight Sides

(Image credit: Joe Lingeman)

Now that we’re entering the height of sweet corn season, you’re going to want to keep this salad on repeat in your meal plan rotation and make it your go-to dish for picnics, pool parties, and potlucks. Crisp, sweet kernels are charred on the stovetop, then partnered with a slew of ingredients for a salad that’s just the right balance of smoky, spicy, and tangy flavors. Serve it warm, chilled, or at room temperature, it’s up to you, and totally delicious in every form.

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3 Ways Plastic Bread Tags Can Keep Your Kitchen Clean and Organized — Organizing Tips from The Kitchn

In case you’ve been looking for a reason to eat more carbs, this is a direct order from us: Stock up on some bread today! Why? The plastic tags used to keep the baggies closed will be useful long after you’ve eaten that last slice of seedless rye.

Just check out these alternative uses for bread tags.

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Recipe: Turkey Avocado Burgers — Wine and Dine

(Image credit: Joe Lingeman)

These turkey burgers look beef burgers straight in the face and make them quiver a bit. These are far from the wimpy, dry-as-sandpaper turkey burgers you’ve had before. Instead, they are juicy, spicy from chili powder and cayenne, and fragrant from cumin and chopped shallots. Topped with melted Monterey Jack and lime-scented avocado mash, this is how you make a turkey burger that people will actually want to eat.

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5 Ways to Use Brown Bags Beyond Packing Lunches — Lunch Box Bootcamp

Raise your hand if you have a lunch box or a tote that you use for packing lunches (either for you or your kids). We thought so. Yet you still probably have a pack of brown paper bags in your kitchen, right? You should! These things are pretty handy. Not only can use them to make your own puppets on a rainy day, but you can also use them for a slew of other things in the kitchen and around the house.

Here are five of our favorite non-lunch-related uses for brown paper bags.

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The New Movies and TV Shows to Stream in August — Stream, Eat, Repeat

Hot days call for cool nights with the AC blasting — underneath the covers, wrapped up in blankets, with the warm glow of the TV. This August there are a ton of new shows and movies available including Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later and The Matrix trilogy on Netflix. Looking for something a little more food-related to watch this coming month? I’ve gathered up all the new things to watch so you don’t have to search.

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Grocery Shopping with a Spouse vs. Solo: A Scientific Test — Shopping

When my now-husband and I moved into our first apartment together two years ago, grocery shopping (like pretty much everything else on our agenda outside the office) was a glorious activity to be shared. Our local Trader Joe’s — a beautiful converted bank in Brooklyn with ceilings far too high and light far too natural for even the hipster-est of markets — was a new frontier to explore together, a place where we would discover whether we preferred bagged salads to making our own, and if we were going to be the kind of people who had fancy cheese on hand “just in case” friends dropped by. After six years together, I still didn’t know what kind of trail mix my partner liked. Clearly, we had a lot of relationship work to do in Trader Joe’s.

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Upgrade Your Kitchen Utensils with This Bamboo Set — Amazon Deal of the Day

Take a quick survey of your kitchen utensils. We’re willing to bet it’s a pretty motley crew between the half-melted spatula you left on a hot stove for too long, the worn-out wooden spoon you’ve been carting from apartment to apartment since college, and the various other tools that have seen (much) better days.

It’s time to upgrade, and there’s no better way to do it than by buying a set. Everything will be brand new and everything will match (a first for many of us).

We’re partial to this Viable Creations set (on sale right now on Amazon).

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Turn a Wasa Cracker into a 5-Minute Lunch, 10 Ways — Three-Ingredient Upgrades

(Image credit: Kelli Foster)

Do you know Wasa crackers? These crunchy, whole-grain crispbreads are a mild yet sturdy cracker with a touch of earthy flavor. And that is precisely what makes them the perfect base for lunch. Think of these cracker combos like an open-faced sandwich, or tartine, ready in two minutes.

Here are 10 easy and delicious ways to turn any type of Wasa cracker (or another style or brand of savory cracker) into lunch. All it takes is three everyday ingredients.

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Use the Minimalists’ 90/90 Rule to Help Declutter Your Kitchen — Cleaning Tips from The Kitchn

It’s amazing to me how quickly my kitchen gets cluttered. Even though I tend to use the same things every day — the same pots and pans, same dishes, same glasses — my cabinets are totally full. Part of it is that we love to entertain, so in addition to the everyday stuff, we need the party stuff, like the big salad bowl, and the serving tray, and the cool brass-plated silverware I found on eBay that lives in its own special, enormous box. Part of it is the kids’ stuff. And the backup kid stuff, that I hold on to just in case other, younger kids come over and we need different kinds of age-appropriate sippy cups. Add in all the tools and gadgets and kitchen linens and birthday candles, and it’s a slippery slope.

It’s daunting to think about weeding through it all, though. I don’t have any desire to touch all those things to see if they spark joy. I need a rule that’ll make it easy to make a quick-and-dirty decision over what stays and what goes to keep this space streamlined.

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