Kitchens In-Law

Summer Meal Plan #3

Taylor Borden — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 11:37:54 GMT

This week we are leaning into big flavor without a lot of fuss. We've got a marinade that we are genuinely obsessed with, a burger that will make you rethink ground turkey forever, and a noodle salad thats good even cold and out of the fridge. We also snuck in a Thai takeout night that you can make faster than delivery actually arrives. If you are new here, welcome — this is what we do every week: find recipes worth your time and tell you exactly how to make them work on a real weeknight. Grab the first recipe free below, and if you want the rest of the week, we'd love to have you.

DINNER #1: Coconut Grilled Skirt Steak | Total time: 40 minutes | Serves: 4 | Can marinate early in the day
We stumbled on this marinade and both became obsessed with the amount of flavor it brings to anything you put on it. At some point we started using it for steak even more than we do for chicken, so we are planning for you to do the same!

It will make a delicious simple dinner with sides like broccoli and rice or beans for early in the week, but we’re also cooking a little extra to make a funky steak and noodle salad later! The steak and noodle salad only calls for ½ lb of skirt steak. We like a little extra, but you can adjust for however much meat you like!

Use the marinade linked here, instead of chicken you’ll cook about 2.5 to 3 lbs of skirt steak to have leftovers for the noodle salad. No need to double the marinade, you will have plenty! Grill on medium high for 3-4 minutes per side or until the steak reaches an internal temp of 130°F

Notes: Only baste the marinade while you are cooking if you are in to that. If you don’t want to babysit it, don’t worry about it!

Summer Meal Plan #2

Taylor Borden — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 12:33:35 GMT

This week we’ve got some easy wins and some punchy flavors. Our week is full of flavors that somehow always end up in the regular rotation no matter how many new recipes we try. We've got a burger that started as a "use it up" experiment and became a household favorite, a noodle dish with a little kick but crowd pleasing enough to win over the toughest critics (5-year-olds included), and a taco night that feels like summer even on a busy weeknight. Round it out with wraps that make plain chicken exciting and a baked oatmeal bright enough to make it not feel boring, and you've got a week that's as low-effort as it is high-reward. Let's make dinner!

DINNER #1: Chicken Teriyaki Burgers | Total time: 25 minutes | Serves: 4
If you’ve been around here for long, you know we love a reinvented burger and we are always recommending this to friends and family! What started as “what do we do with this turkey we didn’t use?” has become one of our most recommended meals! They are rich in flavor and unusual and flexible and you cook them inside–a win on all fronts! We’ll use half the cabbage (slaw mix or a whole head) here and half for the shrimp tacos later in the week!

Notes:
Swap: Both turkey and chicken work well in this, just use whichever you can find! We’ve made it with true teriyaki sauce, but we also have made it with Bachan’s Japanese BBQ sauce and they are both delicious!
Add: Sometimes we add an egg to the burger mix, especially if using really lean chicken, but it works great without. If you like stronger flavors, add 1 tsp of sriracha and ½ tsp of ground ginger to the burger mix. You can also add cilantro to the slaw if you have it. Just gives it a little extra punch of flavor.
Short Cut: Coleslaw mix works great if you don’t want to shred cabbage!
Prep Ahead: If you prep these ahead you can store them raw in the fridge for a few days or the freezer for longer and they cook perfectly. If you are cooking from frozen you may want to add a lid to your skillet while you cook them to help them thaw.

Summer Meal Plan #1

Taylor Borden — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 12:33:58 GMT

Summer cooking should feel easy and a little exciting, not like a chore. This week we're doing both. A summery carbonara that proves pasta isn't just a cold weather comfort, a shrimp cobb salad that has shown up at many a backyard dinner, and a pork tenderloin that does double duty as two completely different meals. We're rounding it out with a miso chicken meal prep that is genuinely unlike anything else in your lunch rotation. It's a good week.

DINNER #1: Shrimp Cobb Salad | Total time: 25 minutes | Serves: 4
If you’re someone who thinks a salad isn’t a complete meal, this one will make you think again! Full of hearty toppings that don’t leave you hungry and tossed in a zippy, but slightly sweet dressing, this salad screams summer. We’ve made it and taken it to the lake or to a friends house for dinner in the backyard and it’s a hit every time.

Notes:
Simplify: There are a ton of ingredients on this salad, but the shrimp and the dressing are what really set the tone. We’ve used store bought bacon bits, left bits and pieces out, and it’s still fantastic
Swap: frozen or canned corn works perfectly fine in the dressing. If you don’t have chipotle powder, chili powder works just fine. If it’s not quite peach season where you live we’ve swapped in other fruit like pineapple or strawberries and they were great!
Hands off: we cooked the shrimp in the air fryer while we made the dressing to keep it a little more hands off!

Spring Meal Plan #13

Taylor Borden — Fri, 29 May 2026 11:31:14 GMT

This week we’ve got four dinners, one strategic shortcut, and breakfast you can make on Sunday and coast on all week. We're kicking things off with chicken thighs that do double duty later in the week as the easiest sheet pan nachos you'll ever make, and the planning that makes that possible is exactly what makes weeknight cooking feel sustainable instead of exhausting. In between you've got a weeknight egg roll bowl that scratches that takeout itch without the price tag, and ricotta meatballs that have become a reader favorite for good reason. As always, we've linked everything so you can get in and out of the kitchen without spending your whole evening there. Let’s get cooking!

DINNER #1: Chicken Thighs with Avocado Salsa | Total time: 35 minutes | Serves: 4-6
If you’re looking for a high protein, easy to make dinner, this is it. These flavor packed chicken thighs go in the oven or the air fryer and you whip up an avocado salsa while those cook. There’s an optional green sauce if you’re into that, but you could easily just serve it with the salsa. You’ll have dinner on the table 30 minutes and everyone will like this one. We suggest that you make extra chicken and your dinner later in the week is over halfway done!

Notes:
Quantities: The recipe calls for 2 lbs of chicken thighs. That is usually enough to serve 4-6 people, but if you want more for the nachos, just add an extra pound of chicken and increase your seasoning by half!
Cook Time: The recipe creator bakes the chicken in the oven for 30ish minutes, which we definitely recommend if you are making a large batch (like for nachos later in the week). If you are doing fewer, the air fryer is also great! We airfry at 375 for about 12 minutes.
Swap: You can make pickled shallots like the recipe recommends, but store bought or homemade pickled onions are great. You can also easily leave them off.
Serve with: You can serve this as is or we like to serve it with black beans as well!
Sauce: The recipe includes a green sauce that is delicious, but feel free to use any kind of store bought sauce you prefer. Or leave it off. We think the salsa provides plenty of flavor and moisture!

Spring Meal Plan #12

Taylor Borden — Fri, 22 May 2026 14:00:51 GMT

Weeknight dinners shouldn't feel like a second job. This week's plan is packed with meals that feel a little special without requiring a lot from you — and if you play your cards right, two of them basically make themselves. A crispy chicken with a savory gochujang butter that your family will request on repeat. A french dip that’s so tender and it comes together in minutes. Street corn that's creamy, tangy, and better than anything you'd expect from a weeknight bowl. Let’s do this.

DINNER #1: Crispy Gochujang Chicken | Total time: 35 minutes | Serves: 4
We’ve recommended this crispy gochujang chicken before, but Tara’s family keeps asking for it to make a comeback in their rotation so we thought it might need to make one here as well! It’s a surprising twist on a crispy chicken and the gochujang butter adds a great savory flavor. You can easily double the chicken (leave off the sauce) and use the leftovers for a flatbread recommended later in the week! We’ve given you two options for how to pull that meal off!

Notes:
Simplify: She prompts you to cut chicken breasts in half, but you can also just buy the chicken tenderloins if you prefer!
Serve with: We like to serve this with our salad of choice, a bagged salad really makes this come together easily. It is delicious with Yum Yum sauce as suggested! If you don’t want to buy Yum Yum sauce you can make it with things you probably have already.

Spring Meal Plan #11

Taylor Borden — Fri, 15 May 2026 11:30:54 GMT

We tested, tweaked, and ate a lot of food so you don’t have to. This week’s plan is a little bit of everything — a cozy weeknight staple, something fresh and seasonal, a burger that will make you feel like you ordered from somewhere cool, and a one-pan dinner that delivers all the flavor with none of the fuss. Whether you’re cooking for a crowd or just trying to get through the week without defaulting to takeout, this lineup has you covered. Grab the grocery list, pick your nights, and let’s do this mid-may craziness.

DINNER #1: Sesame Noodles + Ground Chicken | Total time: 35 minutes | Serves: 4
The first time Chase grabbed these leftovers in the fridge he said “whoah, those are way better than I thought they would be”...so now they’ve become a new staple for us because they are so easy, flavorful, and just as good reheated. We like to add some form of protein to give them a little more staying power, but do whatever works for you!

Notes:
Add Protein: add ground chicken to the skillet with the garlic and ginger, then follow the recipe as stated. Or if you don’t like ground chicken you could use something like the best air fryer chicken thighs.
Add veggies: finely chopped spinach or kale or shredded carrots work great mixed into the hot noodles if you want a veggie included. I also love adding shelled edamame for some plant based protein. Or serve with steamed broccoli on the side.
Swap: You can use a different sweetener like honey instead of brown sugar if you want
Make it saucy: The noodles soak up the sauce nicely in this dish so it’s not soupy, but if you prefer a saucier noodle dish you can grow your sauce with an extra tablespoon or two of soy sauce and oyster sauce.

Spring Meal Plan #10

Taylor Borden — Fri, 08 May 2026 11:31:26 GMT

This week follows a rhythm that we’ve come to love. We start with a hands-off chicken dinner that sets you up for an easy end-of-week pasta salad: one cook, two meals, minimal effort. In between we've got a sheet pan gnocchi that smells absolutely incredible and a fresh sushi bowl that feels a little fancy without requiring much from you at all. We also threw in a broccoli slaw you can prep on the weekend and snack on all week. It's a good one.

DINNER #1: Change Your Life Chicken | Total time: 1 hour | Mostly hands off |Serves: 4
We’ve made change your life chicken probably fifteen times and the move that changes everything is doubling the chicken. It’s five extra minutes of effort, and Thursday dinner is halfway done. You will use bone-in skin-on chicken thighs, which might be new for some to work with, but her method makes it so easy. You’ll need about an hour for it to cook, but after you prep the chicken and veggies, it’s completely hands off.

For this we want you to double the chicken for another meal. You don’t need to double the veggies, you can even do the extra chicken on a separate pan if you want to and just cook it next to the one for tonight. When it’s done, pull it off the bone and put it in a container for later in the week.

Notes: We included our preferred veggies on the grocery list, but you can to swap any of the ones she suggested.

Spring Meal Plan #9

Taylor Borden — Fri, 01 May 2026 11:31:34 GMT

This week we are leaning into warmer weather with a lineup that's big on flavor and you’ll genuinely look forward to. We're kicking things off with a bahn mi burger that's anything but boring, then moving on to steak tacos that we make in a bigger batch so that this week’s fried rice is halfway done. We also have a Peruvian chicken that genuinely surprised us and has already earned a spot in our regular rotation. If you're prepping ahead for busy mornings, don't skip the high protein French toast bake — it's become a fan favorite in our fam. And because it's Cinco de Mayo week, we're throwing in a margarita recipe that's simple and absolutely worth making on a Tuesday.

DINNER #1: Bahn Mi Burger | Total time: 35 minutes | Serves: 4
This bahn mi burger is perfectly described. It is like a bahn mi sandwich in burger form and it’s such a fun twist. If your burger rotation is feeling tired, this is the shake-up you didn’t know you needed.

Notes:
Swap: We’ve made this with ground turkey and it’s not quite as rich, but still really good!
Toppings: We love sriracha mayo on this and then any toppings you might like on a bahn mi. Pickled onions or veggies, cucumber, spring mix, jalapeno, cilantro, you name it!

Spring Meal Plan #8

Taylor Borden — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 13:30:33 GMT

This week we are keeping things fresh with a mix of tried and true favorites and a recipe or two that might just become a new staple in your house. The best part? One of our proteins does double duty, which means less time cooking and more time at the table. Paid subscribers get four dinners including a crowd pleasing sheet pan gnocchi, cilantro lime chicken that pulls double duty for taco salad night, a saucy gochujang noodle situation that is completely customizable, and a no-bake energy bite recipe to keep your people fueled all week. If you’ve been thinking about upgrading your subscription, this is a great week to do it!

DINNER #1: Cilantro Lime Chicken | Total time: 35 minutes | Serves: 6 | Versatile

This cilantro lime chicken is the first recipe I made from Modern Proper and I’ve been obsessed with their recipes ever since. These chicken thighs are flavorful, can be used in a bunch of ways and never disappoint. We recommend that you serve these with rice and a veggie on the side, but do whatever you like! Remember you are making double for taco salad later this week!

Notes:

On quantities: The recipe as is serves 6 with 3 pounds of thighs, so adjust your quantities based on how much your crew eats and how much you want leftover. I would recommend growing the recipe a little (to 4-5 pounds of thighs) if you are feeding more than 2 people and want leftovers.
Cook how you like: The recipe calls for making these in a skillet, but feel free to cook how you like. We grill often!

Spring Meal Plan #7

Taylor Borden — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 14:00:29 GMT

Four weeknight dinners without regret; that’s the goal here every week. This week we’ve got a ginger cashew beef that tastes like your favorite Thai spot, shrimp tostadas that are practically begging to be eaten on the porch, a Mediterranean turkey burger that will make you forget you’ve ever been bored by ground turkey, and the Bang Bang Salmon every one loves making a very welcome return. Every recipe here is linked to the original source, because our job isn’t to reinvent the wheel, it’s to find the best wheels on the internet, try them out on a real weeknight so you don’t have to, and tell you exactly what to tweak, skip, or simplify. Whether you’re a longtime subscriber or joining us for the first time, here’s what you need to know: We’re not food bloggers, just two girls who really love a good dinner and hate wasting a Tuesday night on a recipe that wasn’t worth it. Let’s do this.

DINNER #1: Bang Bang Salmon | Total time: 22 minutes | Serves: 4 | Fast & Easy

You’ve seen this Bang Bang Salmon before, so you’re an old pro at it now! Between having made it before and how fast it cooks, you’ll have dinner handled in no time. The sauce takes two minutes to mix and does all the heavy lifting. This is genuinely one of the fastest dinners we make and it feels way fancier than the effort deserves. The longest part of this recipe is cooking rice to go with it, so if you need to get this on the table in 10 minutes or less, check the notes!

Notes:
Make it Quick: Use microwave or minute rice and either a premade salsa or quick veggie like frozen steamed broccoli.
Swap: You can swap about half of the mayo for greek yogurt if you need or want to. The cucumber salsa is yum, but you could use another fruit like orange, mango or pineapple here if you want to mix it up..
Check your fridge: You’re using sweet chili sauce in two recipes this week, but since we’ve made this before, check to see if you have it leftover!

Spring Meal Plan #6

Taylor Borden — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 11:32:03 GMT

Every recipe we share with you has been cooked in a real kitchen, by a real person, on a real weeknight. Not a test kitchen, not a food stylist, not someone whose only job that day was to make dinner. That’s kind of the whole point here, we go first and only pass along the recipes that work for us, complete with tricks or tweaks we learned along the way. This week we’re leaning into one of our favorite tricks: making the carnitas early in the week which does the heavy lifting for a later day sheet pan nachos, so you’re only cooking once but eating well twice. Here’s what the week looks like.

DINNER #1: Thai Basil Chicken | Total time: 25 minutes | Serves: 2 | Take out vibes
This is one of those Pinterest Recipes that you stumble on and it just works. It’s flavorful and reminiscent of takeout, but it takes less than 30 minutes and you don’t have to leave your house. This version of thai basil chicken is fast and simple, and doesn’t leave you feeling lost like a lot of “better than takeout” recipes do. Make this one when you are craving Thai food, maybe even curl up on the couch with a show so it really gets the whole takeout vibe.

Notes:
Quantity: This recipe serves 2 because it calls for 8 oz of ground chicken. Even when I’m cooking for 2, I double the recipe for leftovers and use a pound of chicken.
Subs: You can use regular soy instead of dark and light. Regular basil works just fine if you don’t have Thai basil (I never do). I sub a jalapeño instead of a green and red chili because it’s what I usually have, but use whatever peppers you like or omit them all together.
Toppings: Use whatever you like, but Chase says the fried egg is amazing on it!

Spring Meal #5

Taylor Borden — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 13:03:26 GMT

Spring is in full swing and this week we are leaning into bold flavors without making your weeknights complicated. We're making crispy gochujang chicken that is going to make you wonder why you haven't been cooking with this funky chili paste all along, dan dan noodles that are rich and a little spicy, a one-pan tortellini that doesn't even require you to boil water, and a burger bowl that you’ve seen before and will be an old pro at! We're also making a copycat snack that tastes like a perfect bar but costs a fraction of the price. It's a good week to be eating at your house.

DINNER #1: Crispy Gouchujang Chicken | Total time: 35 minutes | Serves: 4
If you haven’t tried Gochujang yet, now’s your time. If you don’t know what that is, stick with us because we love it. It’s a chili paste that adds tons of flavor without needing to pull out a bunch of ingredients. When Tara made this for her family it got rave reviews from all five members, which if you are feeding kids you know can be a monumental feat!

Notes:
Simplify: She prompts you to cut chicken breasts in half, but you can also just buy the chicken tenderloins if you prefer!
Serve with: We like to serve this with our salad of choice, a bagged salad really makes this come together easily. It delicious with Yum Yum sauce as suggested! If you don’t want to buy Yum Yum sauce you can make it with things you likely already have.

Spring Meal #4

Taylor Borden — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 13:02:35 GMT

This week’s plan has some of my favorite recipes that I’ve tried in a while, and I don’t say that lightly. We’ve got coconut shrimp that feels a little unexpected, chicken piccata in meatball form (trust me), a ten-minute flatbread that will save you when you’re crawling to the end of the week and crockpot tacos that cook themselves. We’re also squeezing a second meal out of a rotisserie chicken with a Thai salad that is actually worth looking forward to at lunchtime. Grab your grocery list, this is a good week.

DINNER #1: Coconut Shrimp with Springy Rice | Total time: 45 minutes | Serves: 4
I’ve been making this coconut shrimp for years and somehow it’s the perfect spring meal to me. It’s full of unusual flavors and uses ingredients that I don’t always think of, like shredded coconut and peas, without being ingredients that are hard to find. The coconut crust gets perfectly crispy while the inside stays tender, and the sauce tastes like honey mustard and honey butter had a baby. It’s a little more labor intensive than I usually recommend, but if you don’t mind a few extra minutes in the kitchen it’s a great one to mix up your norm!

Notes:
Swap: if you don’t eat shrimp, I’ve tried this with bite sized pieces of a white fish (like mahi mahi or cod) and it works great!
Add more: I do find that I’m scraping the bowl for enough of the coconut coating. Feel free to increase it to about 1 cup of coconut and panko if you like plenty of coating. We also love the sauce and find that we like to make a little extra of it as well.
Don’t Stress: the amounts in this are really just suggestions. Feel free to eyeball it and it should work well. Including the peas, your bag of frozen peas may be a little more or less than it calls for and that’s fine!

Spring Meal Plan #3

Taylor Borden — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 11:31:15 GMT

This week we are keeping things simple and delicious with a lineup that works smarter, not harder. The star of the show is a pork tenderloin that pulls double duty, you'll cook it once and use it for two completely different meals that feel nothing alike. Rounding out the week is a nod to our Louisiana roots, a sesame noodle dish that has quickly become a household staple, and a prep ahead breakfast that uses up ingredients you'll already have in your grocery cart. As always, the grocery list is below so you can knock out the store once and get on with your week.

DINNER #1: Air Fryer Pork Tenderloin | Total time: 25 minutes | Mostly Hands Off | Serves: 4

Cooking Pork Tenderloin in the air fryer was a game changer for me and makes this classic dinner so accessible. In true Kitchen’s in Law fashion, we are using this pork tenderloin for two different meals, so you will double what the recipe calls for when you cook it. If you are only making one recipe, adjust accordingly when you finalize your shopping list and just cook the amount the recipe calls for. Make it with the best roasted brussels sprouts and you’ve got dinner on the table!

Notes:
Short cut: The spice rub included here is good, but if you are short on time or patience the air fryer method would still work well with a pre marinated pork tenderloin from the grocery store.
Oven: If you don’t have an air fryer, you can roast your pork tenderloin in the oven.
Serve with: This is a moment for your favorite sides, we’ve planned for Roasted Brussels Sprouts, but you can swap out for something like crispy potatoes if you want more carbs or even frozen steamed broccoli if you need something easy.

Egg Bites Anyway

Taylor Borden — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 02:33:09 GMT

Prep time: 5-15 minutes | Cook time: 25 minutes | Makes: 12 cups | Reheats well

Confession: I (Taylor) don’t like eggs. I know… I know… It’s a bit ridiculous, but trust me I’ve tried (a lot!!) and I solemnly swear to keep trying.

Now that we have that out of the way, I’ll also tell you that everyone else in my life loves egg bites as a make ahead breakfast option, so I’m sharing the base recipe plus a handful of variations so that you can feed your loved ones, or yourself, egg bites too.

Ingredients:

8 large eggs
1 cup cottage cheese
½ tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
½ cup shredded cheese of choice
½ cup-ish of “add ins”

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 325°F.
Whisk the eggs in a medium size mixing bowl.
Add the remaining ingredients: Cottage cheese, salt, pepper, shredded cheese, and add ins. Stir until combined
Evenly distribute the egg mixture among the cups of a 12 cup silicone muffin tin (or use silicone liners)*
Bake for 23-25 minutes. Until firm in the middle and browned on the edges.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge

*We find that a silicone muffin tin is FAR easier to clean up. If you must, you can use a metal one, but grease it well and just know that there will be some clean up required.

Variations:

Here are a few variations that we like, but we encourage you to get creative and use what you have or what sounds good to you! We usually do about 1/2 a cup of cooked meat plus 1/4 cup of veggies when it adds flavor, but you can leave the extra 1/4 cup out or adjust to your preferences. These are a few of our favorites but honestly almost anything works

Bacon, green onion & gruyere
Sausage, caramelized onion & cheddar
Pulled Pork & Cheddar
Pizza: Pepperoni & Mozzarella
Sausage & Red Pepper
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Spring Meal Plan #2

Taylor Borden — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 11:16:00 GMT

This week is a little bit of everything, we’ve got two dinners leaning into the savory, sesame-forward Asian-inspired flavors that always win in both of our houses, a ground beef bowl that’s about to change your mind if last year’s viral version didn’t do it for you, and a green pasta that’s sneaking in loads of vegetables while serving as your St. Patrick’s Day hat tip. All of these come together in 30-40 minutes on a weeknight and some you can prep ahead to make dinner even faster. We’ve got another baked oatmeal for a prep ahead breakfast, but with serious spring energy and a bonus treat to help you celebrate the holiday!

Scroll all the way to the bottom for your grocery list or the Walmart cart that means you can grocery shop in just a few clicks.

DINNER #1 - Elote Ground Beef Bowl
Total time: 35 minutes | Serves: 4

If I’m honest, I couldn’t get on board with the viral ground beef bowl last year…it just didn’t work for me! However, whether you liked it or not, this is a rift on that bowl that makes street corn with the blended cottage cheese (in case you can’t get on board with the texture like me) and it’s creamy, tangy, and way more interesting than the original

Notes: if you don’t have fire roasted corn, plain frozen corn works just as well here. I put it in a colander and run water over it to thaw it quickly and then pat it dry. You could toss it in a hot skillet if you wanted to char regular corn a bit.

Spring Meal Plan #1

Taylor Borden — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 13:03:27 GMT

This week's plan uses one of our staple weeknight strategies: cook once, eat well all week. We're starting with a crock pot pulled pork that practically makes itself — and then letting elements of that meal carry us through two more dinners without feeling like you’re eating the same thing on repeat. Add a quick sushi bake, a tomato soup that’s actually good for you, and a pasta salad that makes you look forward to lunch, and you've got a full week of real food without staring into your fridge at 5pm.

You’ll find the grocery list and Walmart Cart at the bottom of the page. Just delete what you have and add your extras and you are good to go!

DINNER #1: Crock Pot Pulled Pork Bowls | Total time: 8.5 hrs | Mostly Hands Off | Serves: 8-12 (see notes)

You are making both pulled pork and rice for meals later in the week, it will seem like a lot of food but remember that we are using them both again! I think pulled pork is one of the easiest and best ways to do meat in a crock pot. You may have a pulled pork recipe that you prefer, feel free to use that, but this one works like a charm if you don’t have a recipe you typically follow. The bowl is a delicious and fresh way to eat pulled pork rather than just on a hamburger bun like you would get at your local barbecue joint.

Notes:
Taste it: The pork needs a little extra salt for my preference so once you mix the juice in, taste it. If it’s a little bland to you add salt.
Simplify: You could totally leave out the green onions in the slaw if you can’t bring yourself to chop them (and the cilantro if you must, but I think it’s worth the effort for cilantro). Feel free to estimate the amounts in the entire thing. It’s not a finicky recipe, so getting close enough on the amounts is just fine.
Work Ahead: You will have a ton of leftovers from the pork and the rice. Just throw them in containers in the fridge and we will use it again later.
Quantities: This recipe makes enough for 8-12, it should work perfectly if you are making both recipes for 4-5 people however if you are cooking for 2 you will have leftovers. Here’s how we are handling the quantity. The pork freezes beautifully for another day (or find a friend and drop off dinner!). The recipe calls for 6 cups of cooked rice. I don’t think you need that much for the bowls so you should have leftover rice for your sushi bake. If you tend to use a lot of rice you can make 3-3.5 cups of uncooked rice to make sure you have enough.

Simplified Sushi Bake

Taylor Borden — Thu, 05 Mar 2026 20:48:45 GMT

We love sushi so much, but picking it up isn’t always budget friendly and rolling our own isn’t happening on a weeknight—enter sushi bake. The love of sushi bake started with our little sister and now everyone in our family makes it!

We’ve made a few popular versions of this and arrived at our own version that eliminates extra steps. Just as we have simplified this recipe to fit our preferences you can do the same for yours! This version combines crab and salmon for a little variety, but it’s adaptable if you prefer shrimp, don’t do shellfish at all, etc. It’s such a hit in our family and we love that you can prep it ahead and then throw it in the oven on a busy night.

Sushi Bake | Serves 4-6 | Cook Time: 45 minutes

Rice Layer

1½ cups sushi rice (or any white rice)
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
½ teaspoon salt

Salmon & Crab Layer

8 oz salmon filet, skin removed, cut into ½-inch pieces
4 oz crab meat (imitation or lump)
⅓ cup mayo
3 oz cream cheese, softened (or ⅓ cup cottage cheese)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sriracha
¼ cup green onions, chopped

Spicy Mayo

½ cup mayo
2 tablespoons sriracha (start with 1 and work up)
1 teaspoon lime juice
¼ teaspoon salt

Toppings

Avocado, sliced
Green onions
Cucumber, sliced
Sesame seeds
Seaweed snack pieces

Instructions

Cook your rice. Bring 2 cups of water to a boil, add rice, and cook for 20 minutes until cooked through. Remove from heat and let sit covered for 10 minutes. Then stir in the rice vinegar and salt.
Preheat your oven to 425°F and spray an 8x8 baking dish with cooking spray.
Make the spicy mayo by combining mayo, sriracha, lime juice, and salt in a small bowl. Stir until smooth and refrigerate until serving.
Make the salmon & crab mixture. In a medium bowl, mix together the mayo, softened cream cheese, soy sauce, sriracha, and green onions until smooth. Add the salmon and crab and gently fold in, you want to keep the pieces intact, so don’t over-stir.
Assemble. Press the cooked rice into an even layer in your prepared baking dish. Spread the salmon and crab mixture evenly on top.
Bake for 10-15 minutes, until the edges are golden and the top is bubbly.
Rest for 5 minutes before serving — it will be very hot straight from the oven. Top with your preferred toppings. Drizzle spicy mayo over everything and serve family style straight from the dish.

Simple ways to add more veggies to your meals

Taylor Borden — Thu, 05 Mar 2026 01:30:13 GMT

If you’re anything like me, your social media feed is full of telling you to eat more protein! more fiber! Cut the dairy, but maybe not? The barrage of information can be confusing and overwhelming. Unfortunately I can’t fix that, but last I checked we can all agree that we’d like to eat more veggies and we’d like to not have to choke them down. Many of these tricks can be adjusted to your nutrition goals and preferences.

Add finely grated carrots and finely chopped spinach or kale, riced cauliflower to anything you cook down on the stove. Spaghetti sauce, curry sauces, and chili are all go to’s for me.
Add extra onion and garlic to anything that calls for it. Sometimes I don’t think of these as these veggies, but they are and they are great for you! I often add extra (even double) for flavor and more nutrients.
Top your salads with more prodcue. I reach for any produce that’s in my house and doesn’t have a plan. Some frequent flyers are mini sweet peppers, chopped carrots, apples, oranges, kiwi, or nuts and seeds (sometimes I just use trail mix),
Bell pepper works in almost every salad or stir fry and the meal can usually handle twice as much as you think.

Tell us your tricks! How do you weave more veggies into your meals?

Winter Meal Plan #5

Taylor Borden — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 15:17:29 GMT

If you’ve been around here for a while, you know the goal is always the same: get a delicious dinner on the table without it taking over your entire evening or your entire Sunday. We love this week’s plan because it does a lot of the thinking for you and gives you work ahead notes that will make your life so much easier.

We’re making chili and chicken early in the week, and both of them are pulling double duty later — the chicken shows back up in your caesar wraps, and if you want to add meat to your lasagna, you can brown it while the chili comes together and barely notice you did it. Four dinners, a make ahead breakfast, and a whole lot of overlap on the ingredients list.

As always, treat this as a starting point. Swap the greens, skip a meal, double the chili and put half in your freezer. You know your week better than we do.

You’ll find the grocery list and Walmart Add to Cart at the bottom of the page. Just delete what you have and add your extras and you are good to go!

DINNER #1: Chili & Cornbread
Total time: 25 minutes | Serves: 4 | Freezer - Friendly | Easy to Double
Every person we’ve made this chili for asks for the recipe and then is shocked when we share it with them. It’s one of the easiest things we’ve ever made which means we usually have the margin to make our very favorite cornbread to go with it (coming from people who don’t really like cornbread)

Notes:
Double it: Because this recipe is so easy it’s perfect to double or triple and freeze or give away.
Work ahead: if you want to add ground meat to your Lazy Girl Lasagna. You can brown it here and just reserve the portion for the lasagna before you add the other chili ingredients.