2025 ins + outs

so into that #54

Hi, how are you?

I know that a lot of you are still in winter break mode thanks to snowstorms cancelling schools… and to my people in and near LA facing the wildfires: I’m sending so much love.

Here are a few vetted ways to help. Please let me know by commenting here or responding to this email if you’ve been personally affected and this community can help in any way — I’ve gotten a lot of messages from LA moms who have old cribs, baby clothes, absolutely anything that they’re ready to donate to a fellow What To Cooker in need.

I once read a tip to think about metamorphosis when things feel especially messy and overwhelming — how a caterpillar literally melts into goo before its body can restructure into a butterfly. So whenever my life is feeling insane and chaotic (like it did two weeks ago when I was hosting a house full of vomiting guests while still trying to make holiday magic happen), I like to remind myself that it’s all temporary and that on the other side of the challenge will be a slightly more capable version of myself. Obviously wildfires are on a completely different level than hosting sick houseguests (everyone in my fam got the stomach flu over Christmas), but I’ve found that perspective to be helpful in hard situations. Even if we had no need or desire to become stronger versions of ourselves, we do, always, come out stronger.

I’ve had fun reading these round ups on Instagram. Here are mine!

2025 INS:

• Whole foods and minimally processed foods (without being obnoxious or stressing about it)

• Batch cooking — like making a big container of tuna salad, etc. I love roasting a ton of veggies so that I can snack on them all week. Kind of a meal prep lite!

• Getting together with friends outside of just playdates with our kids

• Traveling with the kids even though it’s hard

• Dining out with the kids even though it’s hard

• FaceTimes instead of calls (this is always my MO hehe but it’s staying in)

• Taking deep breaths to regulate my nervous system when things with the kids feel hard

• Clogs

• Taking a lil mental health stroll (10 minutes!!) even if I don’t have time for a long exercise walk

• Hanging out with each kid individually in a low-stakes way (versus trying to make it a big moment, which is difficult to make happen) — whether it’s a quick coffee and croissant before school or just spending 10 minutes drawing together one on one

• Treating my phone like a landline (keeping it in one place while at the house and going to visit it versus carrying it around everywhere)

• Quality over quantity shopping

• Making post-bedtime hangout time with George more intentional (phones away, eating an adult dinner, watching a series together — not just getting on our laptops and working, which can be our default as a dual-entrepreneur house)

• Celebrating little milestones so that the year doesn’t pass by in one giant blur of working and parenting (last night we went out for Mexican to celebrate a work win and the fact that Mattis is now fully READING!)

• Weight training

• Having people over for dinner and not making a fuss over it

• Being an intentional friend (writing notes to myself and Google calendar reminders to check in on how their mom’s surgery went, how the interview went, etc. really helps me be a good friend during a phase of life where my brain is all over the place)

• Getting enough sleep (unless the book is really, really worth it)

• Heaping gratitude and praise on my spouse and children

• Long baths

• Learning how to be an electric vehicle person (I just got a Rivian and I’m obsessed!!)

• Telling people what I love about them

• Documentaries (tell me your faves in the comments pls!)

2025 OUTS:

• Feeling like a shitty mom for spending time with my friends without our kids

• Letting my kids be my alarm clock (getting up even 10 minutes before them starts my day in a much, much better place)

• Ultra-processed foods (not keeping them in the house, but not stressing about a birthday party or road trip snack)

• Looking at my phone after 8 p.m. (it’s so hard but it makes my brain so happy!!)

• Scrolling aimlessly on Instagram

• Pumping gas!!!!

• Feeling perpetually “busy” — I’m striving to take things off my plate instead of living in a state of busy

• Obsessing over getting protein at every meal. Sometimes I just want vegetables, OK!!!!

• Finishing books that I’m not into

• Work calls when we can just as easily email or text about it

• Working 9 to 5 every single day of the week — I want to be more creative about my how I use childcare to also have some free time

Now tell me yours!

My current uniform hinges on a cute and comfy sweater. Here are my faves in case you’re on the hunt!

1. I love the Jenni Kayne oversized fisherman sweater so, so much. It was my treat to myself after I had Calum 4 1/2 years ago and it's held up beautifully. It's also *very* pricy.

2. Quince doesn't have an oversized version, and simply sizing up does not have the same effect (I tried!), but I do love their classic fisherman sweater and it's a much better price point. I own it in camel and white, and I want it in navy!

3. The best priced, coziest crewneck sweatshirt.

4. … and hoodie!

5. A sweater that doubles as a chic top.

6. I've tried to find a less pricy oversized sweatshirt that I love, but this one is just absolutely perfect. I have the M/L and it's so big and cozy.

7. I bought this fleece for my sister for Christmas and it's so cute (and currently on sale).

8. This is my coolest sweater — it makes me feel instantly pulled together. I've scooped a few Mini Marins up when they were on sale over the years and am currently coveting the emerald green one.

9. I've shared it before, but this Quince sweater in chocolate brown (or any color, but the brown...!) is so good.

Quote by writer and journalist Joan Didion, spotted via

Virginia Chamlee

’s Substack notes. I am not in a fancy phase of life, but I am in a celebrate the little things because “every day is all there is” phase of life.

What to Cook launched in December 2020, which means there are more than 200 recipes in the archives. To help you cook through them, let’s revisit what we cooked this week over the last few years.

1. coconut curry lentil veggie stew, 2024

A very cozy and hearty stew packed with lots of plant-based protein!

2. sheet-pan roasted sweet potatoes and chickpeas, 2023

Oooh, this is one of the best vegetarian meals in WTC history. I typically serve it along with quinoa. It’s a great one to meal prep for lunches.

3. creamy but cream-less tomato soup, 2022

A whole lotta plants this first week in January! This soup contains tomatoes, sweet potato, AND carrot. If you use plant-based butter it’s totally vegan while also being perfectly creamy. I also introduce you to homemade biscuits in the recipe. From Molly: I’m making this for dinner right now!

4. sheet-pan miso-ginger salmon, 2021

Also from Molly: This meal converted me from both a salmon hater to a salmon lover, and a cauliflower rice skeptic to a roasted cauliflower rice mega fan. It’s the first What to Cook meal I ever cooked (way back in January 2021) and after tasting it, I was immediately obsessed with WTC and sold on anything Caroline ever told me to make. (Omg, I love this, Molly! -Caro)

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Editor: Molly Ramsey