Hello!
How is your August going so far?
Around here, our summer vacation travels already feel like a distant memory. I’m setting alarm clocks, packing lunches and trying not to have an emotional breakdown in the school pick-up line.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m mostly thrilled that school is back in session. But the first week is always an adjustment. I’m glad the kids are back in school and I love having a regular work schedule again. But whenever I remember that it’s August 18th and not September, I just want to be sitting in a lawn chair near water with a drink in my hand.
It’s hard to get back into a productive groove when it’s still August and 85 degrees outside.
But now that I’ve been a parent for 11+ years, I’m better at managing my expectations. I didn’t expect the first week back at school to be completely wonderful and amazing for the kids. I knew there would be bumps. And I didn’t expect that I’d jump back into work with boundless energy and accomplish all three hundred bazillion things on my to-do list.
But also, I’m excited for this new school year. It’s fun to watch kids grow and mature and learn new things.
My newly minted 2nd grader has learned the word “pet peeve” and is delighting in saying the word “peeve” over and over again.
She’s right, it’s fun to say. Just as fun as one of her other favorite words, legume. She likes to spread the word out, so it’s pronounced le-guuuuuuume.
Which means that she looks forward to having beans for dinner so she can say, “please pass the le-guuuuuumes!”
Don’t you love 2nd graders?
Batches of Beans
I’m not going to lecture you about how dried beans are so much more affordable and flavorful than canned beans. I love canned beans! Two ingredients I always, always have in my pantry are canned garbanzos and black beans.
Canned beans are also affordable and the convenience can’t be beat. But every once in awhile, I do love cooking dried beans from scratch. It’s good for the soul and an easy way to meal prep for the week. It’s also surprisingly easy to do if you use a pressure cooker.
Cooking dried beans is one of the things that an Instant Pot does best.
Instant Pot Black Beans
I made a batch of black beans this week (8 ounces of dried beans) and we ate most of them with arroz con pollo. The next day, I put beans, rice and grated cheese in lunchboxes, with tortilla chips on the side.
Instant Pot White Beans
White beans are really versatile and can be a side dish for any type of meat or seafood. They can be a main course with toasted bread, pesto and tomatoes or turned into a simple white bean soup.
How to Cook Garbanzo Beans
One of my favorite beans, mostly for salads but also in dishes like chickpeas and spinach and chickpea stew with chicken and potatoes. This recipe has instructions for cooking chickpeas on the stove, in a pressure cooker and in a slow cooker.
Kitchen Skip also has recipes for Instant Pot pinto beans, red lentils, and black lentils.
What We’re Eating, The School Lunch Edition
There is no question that I’m guilty of over-complicating school lunches. I firmly believe that a sandwich, apple slices, chips and a cookie is the perfect school lunch.
And yet…
Because I’m a recipe developer and food blogger and I work from home, I devote entirely too much time to packing lunches in the morning. This year I’m really trying to simplify the process. Here’s what I’ve come up with so far, plus some lunch-packing advice from others parents.
Together, my kids and I came up with a list of “main courses” that they like in their lunch. I keep this list on the fridge as a reminder of what I should buy and pack each week.
I fill out the sides with fruit, snacks from Trader Joes and occasional homemade muffins or cookies.
Tuna (one kids wants a sandwich, the other likes it in a container), always packed with potato chips
Cheese and crackers for one kid, matzos with butter for the other
Rice and beans (sometimes leftover from taco night, sometimes I make frozen microwaveable rice and combine it with canned black beans)
Cold tortellini
Baguette with butter + cheese + olives
Peanut butter and jelly sandwich (only my 6th grader)
Yogurt with Rice Krispies on the side and berries (only my 2nd grader)
Smart School Lunch Packing Advice
Pack all the lunches on Sunday, and pack the same thing everyday. I love the simplicity of this! This is an older blog post from Feeding the Soil, but it shows how it can be done.
Check out the school lunch category from the Didn’t I Just Feed You podcast. Lots of podcast episodes to choose from.
YummyToddlerFood.com has tons of lunch ideas, mostly for little kids but also grade-schoolers
That’s it! I hope you’re still enjoying summer OR going easy on yourself during the first weeks of school.
Jenny
P.S. All of my past newsletters with links to recipes can always be found in the archives.