Hi, everyone! August is here and kids throughout the country will soon be (or already are!) heading back to school. If you’re gearing up for the back-to-school season, here are a few What to Cook resources that will come in handy:
what to pack in your kids’ lunchboxes
This is huge guide, including a lunchbox-packing cheat sheet with ideas for school lunches that you can print out and stick on your fridge. You all shared a bunch of great ideas in the comments section, too!
kid-approved dinners
The start of school means a return to schedules, and this section of the recipe index is devoted to recipes that WTCers have reported are a major hit with their children. Add them to your meal plan in the coming weeks, and pack leftovers for lunches!
what to cook when you want to stock the freezer
And here’s a section of the index that’s filled with freezer-friendly dinners. Double these meals and freeze the leftovers to have on hand for busy school nights later this month or next.
24 really simple meal plans
Click here to browse all of our really simple meal plans, which will set you up for five days of easy and delicious lunch and dinners.
From Caro: Believe it or not (and I cannot! but what is time for me right now?), back-to-school week is upon us here in Carmel. My big back-to-school Thrive order arrived on Monday, so I’m all stocked up on the boys’ favorite snacks for school pick up and for packing in their lunchboxes on days they want a lunch from home (their current faves are Chomps, dried strawberries, Skout bars, the Good Crisp Co.’s Pringles dupes, Hippeas, and Harvest Snaps!). I appreciate that Thrive has done the product vetting for me — they have super high standards on the brands they carry in terms of both ingredients, like no high-fructose corn syrup or synthetic dyes, and company practices (fair pay and safe working conditions for employees). The snacks are always cheaper than if I were to buy them at my local grocery store, and Thrive is currently running a big month-long back-to-school sale, offering 25% off tons of lunchbox staples. Online shopping is the only shopping I’m doing these days (from my bed with baby Tav!), so I’m exceptionally grateful for my Thrive membership right now. Join Thrive Market today to get 25% off back-to-school essentials — click here to sign up and you’ll also get a $60 free gift and 30% off your first order! Thank you to Thrive for sponsoring this edition of So Into That!
We are SO EXCITED to introduce you to this week’s guest for Caro’s maternity leave series: Jenn Lueke Dezurick!!!
Jenn is a Boston-based recipe developer, content creator, and author of the eat goood newsletter (and soon, a cookbook!). She’s a meal-prepping queen, known for her healthy and cost-efficient recipes, ingredient-prep guides, and meal plans. From Caro, who cooked with Jenn last year in her Boston kitchen: “Jenn is the real deal — she’s such an incredibly kind and humble person, and such a hard worker.” If you follow Jenn on social media or Substack, you know what Caro means — she’s prolific, and her recipes are delicious. You’re going to love the meal Jenn has in store for us this Saturday (it’s a sheet-pan dinner!), but in the meantime, let’s get to know her.
Molly from What To Cook: Hi, Jenn! We’re so excited you’re here with us this week. We like to start at the beginning for these Q&As: What was your first official job in the food world?
Jenn: Does resident private chef for my fam of 5 count?? Throughout my teenage years and into my 20s, I worked in restaurants in different roles (front of house staff, kitchen expo, even business ops) and I was completely in love with the restaurant world — my college summer internship was at a vegetarian cafe in Exeter, NH, while all my peers were in analyst roles down in Boston. I actually majored in business because my dream was to have a restaurant of my own. Of the roles, the most impactful was a bakery job I picked up after I graduated college (if anyone is local to the Boston area, you NEED to make your way to Honeycomb in Hamilton, MA). That job taught me that working in a kitchen is no joke. It was hard work and I was taught so much by the staff and head chef about the importance of technique, precision, and even science when it comes to baking. I also worked the breakfast sandwich station on Sunday mornings and haven’t experienced stress like that since… 😂 I think of that job as my introduction to real development and testing, as a silent observer. It influenced the first recipe I ever developed, which was a gluten-free chocolate chip banana loaf!
Molly: Cooking for your fam growing up DEFINITELY counts. How would you describe your current job in the food world?
Jenn: I’m the author behind the eat goood newsletter here on Substack and upcoming cookbook Don’t Think About Dinner, which officially comes out January 13th (and is available for pre-order now!). Both the newsletter and the book are designed to simplify meal planning and everyday cooking, where I share grocery lists, plans, guides, and recipes that help get delicious, nourishing meals on the table without overwhelm. I’m also the creator of @jenneatsgoood on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook, which I started back in 2018 and use to share my recipes and my life.
Molly: Huge congrats on your book! I especially love your ingredient prep guides and know other What to Cookers will, too. What's a career accomplishment you're proud of but not many people know about?
Jenn: Back in 2021 when I had a teeny tiny following I spent my summer developing, testing, and photographing a recipe e-book that I designed on Canva and sold on my website for $7. I probably sold no more than 50 copies (pretty much all from my sweet and supportive friends and family) but I worked so hard on it and it was the first time I ever monetized my platform in any way. My friends and I even organized a photoshoot (we shot in my friend’s mom’s kitchen) so I’d have a nice photo of me on the cover and I bought my first camera to style and shoot each recipe in my studio apartment. It was a real “do it for yourself” moment and I wish I could tell that version of Jenn that she has a real-life cookbook coming out in a few months. I no longer sell the e-book because I’ve learned a LOT about how to accurately write recipes since then…
Molly: What's bringing you a lot of joy lately?
Jenn: Honestly, just spending summer nights in Boston walking my two mini dachshunds (Copley and Cashew) and enjoying the nice weather while we have it. My husband, Brian, and I make it a point to go on a walk with them by the river in our neighborhood every night and it’s always the most joyful part of my day. We chat about what’s going on with work, talk through all kinds of things, and get lots of laughs from seeing our 8-pound pups try to act tough around all the other (much bigger) dogs on the route. Trying to slow down life as much as possible!
Molly: Such a good perspective — I’m trying to slow down and savor the last few days of summer, too, before my kids start school again next week!
What’s a pantry staple that you can't live without?
Jenn: Those who already know me know this answer — coconut milk! I develop lots of dairy-free recipes for my community so it’s a common staple for adding creaminess without dairy. I love to use it in creamy rice situations, decadent pasta sauces, cozy soups, and lots of one-pan meals. Since it can sit in the pantry, you can get a creamy dairy-like taste without a quickly approaching expiration date and you can buy it in bulk!
Molly: How about your favorite specialty kitchen tool?
Jenn: It’s gotta be my Kitchen Aid 7-cup food processor. I love a homemade sauce to save money and I’m constantly pulling her out to make them. It’s also so versatile for blending and chopping and I love a time-saving hack — worth it alone for the help mincing veggies for lamb bolognese. Caro also loved this silicone meat masher when we cooked together at my apartment and it’s another one of those kitchen tools I’m so grateful I have in the moment. So easy to clean!!
Molly: Wait, I need that meat masher! I’ve been meal prepping ground meat for turkey taco salads, Thai chicken chops, and beef basil bowls all summer, and the meat crumbling is the most tedious part. This is going to be a game changer.
Who is your favorite person to cook with and why?
Jenn: I think I’d be lying to you all if I didn’t admit to being a total type-A control freak in the kitchen, so most times I try to invite someone in with me I usually end up taking over in less than five minutes… that being said I have many fond memories of cooking alongside my mom growing up and whenever I get a chance to cook with her it’s always nostalgic and fun. As a kid she taught me to make repeat dinners of ours like her famous chili, Italian meatballs, and chicken Parm (I was always on the breading station), so when we get to make those dishes together again it brings me a lot of joy.
Absolutely love that. Thank you, Jenn — can’t wait till Saturday, when we get to learn what YOU cook when you don’t feel like cooking!
For more from Jenn Lueke, subscribe to the eat goood newsletter, pre-order her cookbook, or follow her on social (all her profiles are linked in the Q&A above!).
What to Cook launched in December 2020, which means there are more than 235 recipes in the archives. To help you cook through them, let’s revisit what we cooked this week over the last few years!
1. one-skillet chicken & gingery rice, 2024
"Cozy as hell” is how one reader put it, and we couldn’t agree more. Chicken thighs roast over gingery, garlicky rice, then get drizzled with a creamy, peanuty curry sauce that brings the whole thing together. A one-pan dinner! Minimal clean up!
2. turkey meatballs with corn butter rice, 2023
These juicy turkey meatballs are packed with flavor, but the real star of the show is the buttery corn-studded rice. It’s sweet, savory, summer perfection. While you’re cooking, double the meatballs and freeze half for later — future you will be thrilled.
3. summer tomato galette, 2022
This is a total crowd-pleaser that looks fancy but couldn’t be easier. We layer juicy, in-season tomatoes on a flaky crust (yes, store-bought works!) with just the right amount of cheese. It tastes great hot from the oven or straight out of the fridge.
4. healthy sloppy joes, 2021
A better-for-you spin on the classic, made with lean ground turkey and sweetened with just a touch of honey, yet still every bit as saucy and satisfying. This is a sleeper hit that more people need to know about/cook! It’s truly so delicious.
Last week we asked what you all loved in July, and you guys delivered! Here are some of your highlights and faves (and a few from our team, too!) — from affordable summer slides and comfy bathing suits to the books you couldn’t put down and lots more.
Calum comes into my room every morning and says, “Mama, can I get in your nest?” AKA the pillow fortress that I surround myself with for nursing/holding a baby all night long. The three of us snuggle until the rest of the house wakes up. —Caro
I’ve been a classic-beach-umbrella person forever, but, now that there are five people in my family, we can’t all fit under one! I finally joined what feels like the majority of beachgoers on the East Coast (or in the Carolinas, at least!) and got a Shibumi shade for our family vacation in July, and I love it. The material is quieter than it used to be and it really is so, so easy to set up and move around. We moved it down to the tide pools when the kids were playing there at low tide, then back up to the soft sand when the tide came in. —Molly
I came across the work of Alexis deBoschnek last month and have been living vicariously through her al fresco dinner parties in the Catskills while I roast away in Charleston. I got a sneak peek at her new cookbook, Nights and Weekends, which is out next Tuesday, and am obsessed. It’s divided into weeknight-friendly recipes and more time-intensive projects for weekend entertaining, and would make a lovely gift for the entertainer in your life. —Molly
I went through the jade rolling phase, then the gua sha phase, but facial cupping is my new favorite! I slather on some Primally Pure clarifying cream (which smells and feels divine!) and do it while watching TV at night — it’s super relaxing and makes my face feel less puffy and more alive. It’s supposed to help with circulation and lymphatic drainage, but honestly, it just feels great. —Jillian
You all had so many amazing book recs, but these four came up again and again. If you’re looking for a guaranteed crowd-pleaser, start here:
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Everyone is Lying to You by Jo Piazza
One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune
My Friends by Fredrik Backman
So into a new suit from Left on Friday — great fit, fun colors, and lots of mix and match versatility! I got the Double Scoop Top in Zinc and HiHi Bottom in Pepper. Super fun and makes me feel secure even though I have two little boys that are always clawing for me in the pool. The colors are so fun, I spent forever deciding on which ones to get. —Ashley S.
So into the Quince kids' swimsuits Caro shouted out earlier in the year — my mom saw the rec and got the pineapple zip-up for my daughter, and in our endless days of pools and preschool splash days, it's become her favorite! She doesn't know the term "one-piece," so she calls it "my connected pineapples" and I just die. —Margaret
Currently obsessed with my Hatch maternity bike shorts — they’re actually a comfortable and breathable enough material that they aren’t a summertime nightmare!—Amanda Q.
So into the Club Bubbly by Beach Reads & Bubbly Substack community! It’s so fun and wonderful to connect with other readers! —KH
My favorite July moment was finally eating an heirloom tomato sandwich for lunch!! —Melissa (From Jillian: Caro’s pimento cheese BLT is a top-notch tomato sandwich adjacent recipe!)
I’ve been so into my Crocs Miami sandals (shown above)!! I work on my feet all day and they are so comfortable and I’ve had several friends tell me they’re shocked they are crocs. —Hannah Z. (From Molly: Truly shocked!)
I’ve been obsessed with my $10 Birk knockoffs from Target. I’ve been wearing them everywhere and I never worry about ruining them or getting them dirty because they’re so cheap! —Chelsea
So into my summer uniform: the Athleta maxi dress. Easy to throw on and feel cute. —Meghan
I’m on my first vacation with my nearly 9-month old and my favorite things have been a Quince zip-front one piece that is flattering and breastfeeding friendly, paired with Amazon high-waisted running shorts to keep it family-friendly when I need to crawl after her. —Samantha M.
We set a family challenge this month to not use our car at all (bike/transit everywhere), and I've been really into Nuun tablets to stay hydrated with the increased activity (and for hot afternoons at the pool)! It's been a fun experiment and I am feeling so much more confident and capable biking the kids around town now. —Emma H.
So into playing mahjong!! I took a couple lessons in the spring then found a group of three other women — two more new to the game, like me, and one lovingly patient more experienced player. We've found time to squeeze in a game the past three weeks in a row, even in the midst of crazy summer schedules. It's been such a joy to learn something new but also make new friends! —Bethany (separately, Lauren B. recommended a floating mahjong table, which looks SO fun!)
Jenn Lueke wants to give one What to Cooker an annual subscription to the eat goood newsletter! Since she’s the queen of ingredient prep, comment on this post with your favorite meal/ingredient/recipe(s) to stock your fridge with. We’ll randomly select a winner next Wednesday, August 13, who will be alerted via Substack DM.
And congrats to the winner of last week’s PJ giveaway, Katie (@kvalencia)!
I love pickled onions! They make everything taste more exciting and complex! Delicious in a taco, in a sandwich, on a salad!
Honestly my favorite thing to meal prep/have on hand in the fridge and freezer are Jenn's protein breakfast biscuits. I served them at my run club's brunch and everyone loved them!!!