Didn't I Just Feed You

The breaded chicken piece has become a symbol of “kid’s food” despite almost every cuisine having a version of this simple but sophisticated home cooking. This week, we dive into the idea that what has been co-opted by fast food and freezer companies — in this case, chicken nuggets — can actually be taken back by parents and home cooks. Stacie and Meghan debate the merits of keeping frozen nuggets on hand and walk us through different ways to cook chicken nuggets at home from scratch while minimizing cost and dishes while maximizing flavor. Plus we revisit a season one interview with Melissa D’Arabian to learn how what is billed as “kids food” can also be used as a tool for equilibrium at the family table. Find our favorite recipes and more in this episodes SHOW NOTES. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Classroom celebrations have nothing on us: We share ALL the ideas for how to make the easiest classroom treats for any holiday celebration. From clever kitchen shortcuts to store-bought hacks, we'll help you score points with the kids (and their classmates!) and still keep your sanity. Or with Valentine's Day coming up, still have time for some kid-free hanky panky — or you know, alone time on the toilet (which is not to be underrated). Find our favorite recipes, products, and more in this episode show notes. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

This week is all about nachos — but not for the reason you might expect. Because would we ever dedicate a whole episode to game day food just because of the World Series? (We kid. We know it’s a super white Maroon 5 concert.) No, we’re talking nachos because they are one of the most underrated family meals around. We’ll tell you why, fill you in on all the gloriously easy ways you can use nachos to make a fast meal packed with good stuff your kids will actually eat & give tips on how to build them perfectly. Because soggy, structurally unsound nachos suck for everyone. Our favorite recipes and more can be found in the show notes on Didn't I Just Feed You.com. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Ever heard of the “health halo”? This week, we break down the idea that a food is healthy just because a single claim of healthfulness can be made about it. Are those cookies healthy because they’re made with organic sweet potato? Maybe — but maybe not. It depends on a lot more than the sweet potato. Dietician Katie Morford of Mom’s Kitchen Handbook helps us think through issues like how to quickly read food packages, determine if pricey supplements are worth it, and figure out if hiding veggies and other nutrient-dense foods are valuable as we try to figure out which foods live up to the labels they’re given. Not to determine if they’re “good” or “bad,” but to figure out their rightful place in our families’ diets — and in our grocery budgets too! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Over the last few months, both Stacie and Meghan have taken a long, hard look at their families’ finances and were shocked to discover how much they were spending on groceries. As it turns out, they’re not alone. When Meghan reached out to Kumiko, aka The Budget Mom, she found out that food is the biggest expenditure for most families. In fact, before Kumiko became an accredited financial counselor, she paid off $50,000 in debt in less than a year and one of the biggest budget cuts that saved her was in the food category. Whether or not you thought you were looking to save money on groceries this year, this episode is for you — because who doesn’t want to save money?! Sure, we go deep with hardcore tips for people who are ready to get serious about their budgets. But we also talk about practical ways that anyone can save money by being more mindful and less wasteful: a worthwhile practice in more ways than one. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Welcome to season 2, dedicated to solving kitchen problems & building practical cooking skills to help feed your family more easily, quickly & affordable. When thinking about how to save time, energy & money in the kitchen, there was no question of how to kick things off: with the Instant Pot! And if doing a primer on the IP for busy parents, there was no question of who to talk to Michelle Tam of Nom Nom Paleo. Here's everything you need to know about an electric pressure cooker & how to use it most effectively to feed a family. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Just like the first semester at a new school, Stacie and Meghan (that's us!) nervously launched Didn't I Just Feed You in Aug 2018 and wrapped season one in Dec 2018, right before winter break. From our first conversation about school lunches to our last on mastering the holidays, we not only survived our freshman season, we learned tons from interviews that still make us giddy. In this "Best Of" show, we both share our top three eps and the take-away from each that changed our cooking, approach to feeding, or kitchen mindset for the better. Or at least made us laugh the hardest. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

There’s no escaping the holiday onslaught now! So this week, we do our part to keep it all from feeling overwhelming by helping you take charge of how you want the next month to look. We pull out our kitchen expertise to share tons of suggestions for easy homemade food gifts that will save you time and money, and also our fastest, simplest family meals that you can whip up when you’re super exhausted thanks to all of the extra stuff you have to take care of this month. Basically: We share ideas and shortcuts that will help you take care of yourself so that you can holiday like a boss. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

This week, to help us sort through the best cookbooks of the year, we invited Brian Stewart of Salt and Spine, a podcast that explores the art and craft of cookbooks. Tune in for his picks in unconventional categories thought up just for us: the home cooks who have to feed families night after night. After night. Show notes for this episode can be found at Didn't I Just Feed You.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

We love shopping, but just like every other busy parent, we get overwhelmed as soon as the holidays hit. So this year, we asked our friends at Parents magazine for holiday gift inspiration. This week, Parents Senior Editor Karen Cicero shares fun food gift ideas for kids, and even some holiday shopping tips to help save money, keep kids from obsessing over immediate gratification, and even keep us from indulging in gifts that may not satisfy over the long haul. Show notes for this episode can be found at Didn't I Just Feed You.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Food writers, editors, and recipes developers love good food and want to spread food joy. Truly, we do! But we also have jobs that rely on selling magazines and getting enough clicks to sell ads on the sites that hire us. So sometimes we can get a bit, well, aggressively helpful, as Meghan puts it. In this episode, Stacie and Meghan get honest about the holiday cooking tips, kitchen strategies, and eating mindsets that we find actually helpful to get us through the holidays not just feeling sane, but feeling happy and focused on what matters most: spending time with our families. Show notes for this episode can be found at Didn't I Just Feed You.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

We get it — cooking with our kids is not the joyous, breezy bonding that Instagram promised us, but we’re doing it anyway. Joined by guest and Raddish Kids founder Samantha Barnes, Stacie and Meghan dive into the practical aspects of engaging our kids in the kitchen and exactly why we all need to do a bit more of it. Show notes for this episode can be found at Didn't I Just Feed You.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

We preach the importance of cooking with our kids but how can we get messy in the kitchen without losing our minds? This week we have craft expert Jodi Levine — author of one of our favorite websites Super Make It —on to talk about how we can have pure fun in the kitchen with our kids without worrying that they will ruin dinner or our batches of holiday cookies. Jodi dishes on her favorite super market ingredients for quick, engaging crafts with our kiddos, plus how she deals with the inevitable messes of cooking up crafts with our kids. A special thank you to this week's sponsor Raddish Kids! This holiday season, give the gift of bringing a family together in the kitchen to experience the fun of taking risks, getting creative, and maybe even making a few mistakes before enjoying a delicious, well-earned meal together. To learn more about how Raddish subscriptions work, what’s included, and pricing options, go to RaddishKids.com Show notes for this episode can be found at Didn't I Just Feed You.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In the last of our three-part series on the sweet stuff, we call on baking expert, television host, and cookbook author Shauna Sever to find out if natural and alternative sweeteners are better for our bodies. And most importantly, to learn more about how to use them effectively to keep sweets in our life smartly. Show notes for this episode can be found at Didn't I Just Feed You.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Not sure how to manage sugar in your house? Press play now. Because if there’s one episode from which you’ll walk away with a blueprint to take action, this is the one. In our second of three episodes exploring sugar, renowned child nutrition expert Jill Castle brings her magic as a long-time expert and mom of four. Every bit of what Jill says is shared mom-to-mom, yet still manages to be a concrete expert tip shared without judgement. Even when Stacie decides she hasn’t been handling dessert well — for years. But it’s cool, because Jill walks her through what to do. And shares plenty of tips so that you’ll walk away with a plan of what to do too. Show notes for this episode can be found at Didn't I Just Feed You.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

There’s something terrible lurking in our pantries. And you bought it knowingly. Even worse? It’s hiding in other foods you bought, too, some of which you may be aware of, but many of which you aren’t. Creepy, right? Even creepier is that some people consider it poison. Even worse, our kids — our precious BABIES — are addicted to it. It’s SUGAR! Show notes for this episode can be found at Didn't I Just Feed You.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Interviewing is an art we’re still mastering, so perhaps it’s no surprise that our very first curveball comes courtesy of Food Network star Aarti Sequeira, who you may not know is also a trained journalist. We interviewed Aarti for our series on picky eating, but she managed to expand the conversation in such a compelling way that we turned it into a stand-alone episode. There was talk of picky eaters, but Aarti tapped into much something larger — so we had to also. Welcome to something different this week. Show notes for this episode can be found at Didn't I Just Feed You.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In the last episode in our three-part series on picky eaters, we explored the topic from perspectives on two ends of the age spectrum: Amy Palanjian of Yummy Toddler Food spoke to us as about picky young ones while Debbie Koenig chimed in about older picky eaters. Does it get better? Does how we intervene when they are young improve our picky eaters as they grow up? We may never really know, but talking to each other helps. And maybe that’s what matters most: Helping each other so that we can all relax and let go a little. Show notes for this episode can be found at Didn't I Just Feed You.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In part two of the three-part series on picky eating, Stacie and Meghan chat with TV host and cookbook author Melissa d’Arabian. The mom of four is best known for her budget-friendly family meals, but also spent a great deal of time digging into the root causes of picky eating and trying to shift her daughters’ picky habits for the Food Network video series, The Picky Eaters Project. With practical tips, a shocking (and totally hilarious) you-can-do-it-tonight takeaway, and non-judgy attitude, Melissa shares what she learned from the experience, including reflections on how successful it was now that her kids are older. A huge thank you Mom’s Best for sponsoring this week's episode and for offering our readers a seriously awesome giveaway. Visit Didntijustfeedyou.com to learn how to enter. Show notes for this episode can be found at Didn't I Just Feed You.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

This week, Stacie and Meghan kick off their three-part series on picky eaters. Stacie shares her point of view as a child development expert who’s researched and worked extensively with picky eaters, though she won’t exactly call herself an expert… See, it's kind of complicated. Because in the end, only you hold the answers to unlocking your picky eater's potential — or at least not making things worse by battling with them. Listen for how Stacie and Meghan think you can deal with pickiness in your home, and stay sane doing it. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Mention meal prepping and visions of spending our entire Sunday in the kitchen dance in our heads. But is this really what it takes? We chatted with the queen of meal prep, Tracy Benjamin of Shutterbean, to find out. Because we had a feeling there might be a different way. As it turns out, there are several different ways. And if you find the one that's right for you, you might even start to think about meal prepping as a form of self care. Go figure. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Admit it: Six o'clock on a weeknight is the worst time to be the family cook. The kids are cranky, everyone is hungry, and who knows what your picky 3-year old is going to actually eat tonight. Staring into the fridge wondering what the hell you're going to pull out is one way to get the job of feeding your family done, but what if there was a better way? In the first part of our two part meal planning mini series, Meghan walks us through the magic of meal planning and Stacie asks the tough practical questions about whether meal planning is right for every family and what we can do instead to take the stress out of Wednesday night dinners, because Wednesday are the worst! Join us as we dive into meal planning for real, family life. As always show notes for each episode can be found at didntijustfeedyou.com. Thank you again to our sponsors Elmhurst1925 and OnePotato — head to our show page to find discount codes for each. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Here's an idea: Let's take feeding kids public! We’ll bring them to a restaurant full of other adults who aren't compelled to think that our kids are cute. We’ll pay to make the experience happen. And let’s throw waiters who are loathe to deal with our small people in the mix, too, so we can pay them extra for having to serve us. Sounds fun, right? This, friends, is dining out with children. Let us speak of why we partake of this ritual. Because, yes, we believe it's worth it. (But, yes, it's possible we're just crazy.) Thank you to our sponsors One Potato and Elmhurst! Links to their discount codes, plus all our show notes can be found at didntijustfeedyou.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Welcome to the show notes for our very first mini episode. Every once and a while, when we just can't resist talking about something in the news or happening in the culture, we'll quickly hop on our mics for a quick chat. Mini episodes will be topical and a hot 30 minutes (or so). Just enough time to vent, process, and download with each other — and YOU. Because that's what Didn't I Just Feed You?! is all about: parents having conversation, healthy (respectful!) debate, and supporting each other. So, listen up and chime in (here, on Instagram, or on Facebook). We KNOW you have something to say about this week's topic: Gwyneth Paltrow and her $250 million Goop empire. Show notes for this episode can be found at didntijustfeedyou.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In the last episode of this three part series on school lunches, Stacie and Meghan explore the lunch box from three wildly different lenses. We ask an elementary school teacher to dish on what really happens in the lunchroom. Laura Fuentes of MOMables talks us through the perspective shift you'll need when your kiddos is diagnosed with a food allergy — and has great advice for what other parents in the classroom can do to support those allergic kids. Finally we talk with chef and artist Jenny Dorsey about her "Privilege" project and what it is like to grow up eating authentic Chinese cuisine in a cafeteria full of corn dogs and frozen pizza. You can find more details on this show and more from us at https://didntijustfeedyou.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It’s easy to think about packing school lunch as just another task to check off your list. You look for tips on how to do it more efficiently. You seek out ways to urge, or maybe even incentivize, your kids to get with the program (and eat their damn lunch). And do this on repeat 180 times during the school year. It’s not much fun, but as long as you get through, it’s good enough. This week, Stacie and Meghan speak to Catherine McCord of Weelicious who inspires them to think about school lunch as so much more. Not more work, but more freedom for parents and more opportunity for kids. Her tips are more than practical — they actually inspire you to shift your perspective. Show notes for this episode can be found at Didn't I Just Feed You.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Every year, back-to-school season has families buzzing with excitement. New sneakers, new outfits, fun school supplies — even as a busy parent, it’s hard not to get wrapped up. That is, until you remember that back-to-school also means packing school lunches. 180 times. For each child. Finding school lunch inspiration after, oh, the first week, can be a challenge, so we’ve pulled out the big guns. Check out our first episode in a three-part series on surviving a year of packing school lunches. This week, Meghan and Stacie share their foolproof tips and tricks for keeping it healthy, fun, and most of all, easy. Which, yes, includes getting the kids involved too. Here’s how. The show notes for this episode can be found Didn't I Just Feed You.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy