Lovely Meals Lately: January 2026

Happy mid-January, pals! We got back from Cabo on Sunday and it was just magical. We stayed at an Airbnb right on the beach and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. Incredible views, fresh shrimp tacos and the best acai bowls, and countless hours swimming in the infinity pool. A dream!

I was so glad I packed a ton of snacks not only for the plane but also for the trip since the Mexican grocery store was a little tough to navigate and the store with healthier options was suer expensive. Next time I'd pack more!

I packed Bamba from TJ's, parm cheese crisps, Aloha cookie dough protein bars for me and Jeff, Cheerios, Solely fruit snacks, dark chocolate almonds (kids love!), apple chips, popcorn, these lower sugar cookie kids bars, and frozen yogurt pouches + cheese sticks for the plane.

Onto the regularly scheduled eats! These lemon blueberry overnight oats...OMG. A must make.

I'm still making these epic no bake mint chocolate protein bites. Gotta put the leftover candy canes to good use, right?

When I'm not having overnight oats, it's eggs and toast for breakfast. If it's the weekend and Jeff's around to watch the kids, I may put 5 extra minutes into my breakfast. I love a smoked salmon moment!

Very into my 30-min Vietnamese cabbage and chicken salad over rice. Coleslaw mix for the win! Sooo flavorful and satisfying.

Whenever I have chickpea flour to use up, I make these blueberry banana muffins that the kiddos love, too!

Chocolate PB zucchini smoothies for the win! Frozen zucchini makes it sooo creamy. Cacao nibs for crunch!

My nourishing chicken and dumpling soup for a cozy dinner! You guys have been loving this one.

We had a hankering for fun breakfast sandwiches so I made our famous zesty cashew sauce I created for Alchemy, which is just raw cashews blended with water and Frank's hot sauce. So creamy!! We slathered that on Dave's Killer Bread english muffins plus eggs, lettuce, turkey sausage, and cheddar.

I leaned into a lot of read-to-eat foods earlier this month when I was in a cooking rut. This was Amy's canned black bean chili with Greek yogurt and cheddar, some TJ's oven-roasted turkey, Bubbies pickles, and these awesome seedless sweet mini bell peppers.

Another heat and eat situation--TJ's frozen butter chicken. Actually so good! I added peas.

The whole fam loves snacking on my cottage cheese cookie dough bites and they come together in no time! When I can't be bothered to blend cottage cheese, I use Greek yogurt instead and add a good pinch of salt.

We've made my easy salmon burgers twice for dinner this month already, once with peppers and once without. Love getting more wild salmon in without the wild price tag of fresh! I serve with Dijon, air-fried potatoes and salad. Kids usually steel cut oatmeal on this night, lol.

This dinner was easier in my head haha BUT I used TJ's gyoza dipping sauce, their frozen veg fried rice, and stir fried veggies to make this chicken veg stir fry situation.

We also grilled some shockingly good ribeye we had in the freezer from when we got an order from Chop Box!

We've made this recipe for chicken parm many times and it's such a hit! Brami pasta, Rao's sauce, roasted broccoli, and freshly grated parm. YUM.

Fave date night in recent memory: Glo Noodle House! This time we did the cabbage salad (sesame vinaigrette, chili crisp, green onion, tempura crispies), teriyaki salmon skewer, filet skewer with crying tiger chimichurri, and wagyu brisket ramen. Everything is divine and the vibe is 10/10.

We've also been hooked Whole Foods' $12 (!!!) big pizza deal on Fridays and my mind is kind of blown over how good it is. I'm not sure how I don't have a pic, but trust me when I say we're converted!

Stuff I'm Loving Lately

1. TV: Land Man season 2, The Pit season 2, Stranger Things. What's your current fave?
2. Books: Currently listening to All The Broken Places and enjoying it! Flew through Twice by Mitch Albom and adored it.
3. I got Max a Yoto mini player with a bunch of cards for his 5th birthday since he loves listening to stories. It was syper handy to have for travel as a break from the tablet (he listens to it tons at home, too.) He uses headphones but it also plays out loud like a Toni player so Charlie could listen too. This referral link gets you $20 off!
4. I just got this black wallet and it's been an amazing replacement for my other one that was falling apart! Really pretty, only $35, and just what I was looking for.
5. I got Charlie this and this beachy terry short and tee set for the trip. So adorable if you're like us and in need of cute warm weather sets!
6. I ran out of this face wash last week and had to share how much I love it. Great ingredients, no fragrance, and great price point. I use their moisturizer, too (also sold at Target).
7. A great staple set of cookie scoops I've used countless times since buying for muffins, meatballs, and cookies.

Have a delish week!