Category: The Friday Buzz

Welcome to The Friday Buzz, our roundup of all good things, good advice, good feelings. It’s the happy hour of blog posts! 

Spring break is nearly upon us and I’m preparing to go camping for the first time in 6 years. Well, it’s sort of camping. We’ll be staying in heated cabins with electricity, but still! My family of 7 will be venturing out into the wild terrain where the restrooms are 50 ft from your cabin. Wish us luck!

In all seriousness though, any tips and tricks on taking little ones camping would be appreciated! This is something we’ve wanted to ease into for awhile since it’s a budget-friendly way to make memories for a large family, but I would by lying if I said I wasn’t nervous to take my toddler twins out. What are your favorite camping dinners? Do you have any sleeping bag recommendations? Spill all your camping secrets!

Let’s see what secrets the Simply Team spilled this week, shall we?

OUR FAVORITES FROM THE WEEK

• Let’s Get Ready to Rumble! Apparently only a few people can do this with their ears. Andy and I are among those few!
• The Waiting Game – Waiting for your casserole to finish baking? Summer recommends reading this to pass the time.
• Totally Egg-cited… Emma read about cooking your eggs in these silicon molds for make-ahead breakfast burritos. Genius!
• Sticker Power – This might be brilliant. Has anyone tried it? I’m willing to give it a shot!

MEANWHILE ON INSTAGRAM

It seems that you all love canned tuna! This post about meals you can make with canned tuna did really well, and in thinking about it, I can totally see why. Most of those meals are budget-friendly, ready-to-go fairly quickly, and obviously packed with protein.

What’s your favorite meal to make with canned tuna? Mine would have to be this.

READER COMMENT OF THE WEEK

Stroganoff is also beloved by all and Lucy said this about our Rotisserie Chicken Stroganoff:

This recipe is a keeper! I always have a rotisserie chicken on hand and love discovering new recipes that use it. I didn’t have any egg noodles so I used mashed potatoes. Delicious! This came together quickly. The recipe was well written and easy to follow. Thanks SO much!

Love that she improvised and used mashed potatoes!

Cheers to another glorious weekend!

Continue reading "The Friday Buzz: Camping, Silicone Molds, and Favorite Canned Tuna Meals" »

Welcome to The Friday Buzz, our roundup of all good things, good advice, good feelings. It’s the happy hour of blog posts! Up this week: Bunny succulents, Cheer on Netflix, and much more!

There were quite the variety of topics buzzing around our team this week! We all have a bit of Spring fever, I think. Once March hit, we felt like we’d made it out of the dreary winter and are now ready to tackle whatever comes our way!

Let’s see what The Simply Team buzzed about this week, shall we?

OUR FAVORITES FROM THE WEEK

• Wear your food – Emma has a giant crush on this shirt. Oh, and this one too.
• Ready, OKAY! Megan and Cambria binge-watched this show and now the whole team is hooked!
• What to choose… I definitely want to try some of these gadgets for my kitchen. Just can’t decide which one to try first!
• Boden Buddies – The whole Simply Team whole-heartedly approves of this clothing line, especially for kids.
• Practice makes perfect – Summer is trying to improve her Spanish so she’s been practicing with this website.
• Bunny Ears – These are quite possibly the cutest succulents of all time.

MEANWHILE ON INSTAGRAM

Our Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken Chili is always a favorite with everyone! You can see just how much everyone loves it here. It seems that low-maintenance recipes that require hardly any prep time are always a winner!

READER COMMENT OF THE WEEK

Our Fish Cakes with Tarragon Mayo turned our reader, Linda, into a tuna lover. She said:

THIS was excellent. I really questioned the outcome but wow, these were so good. Thank you so much for sharing your creation, Sally. Loved it. P.s. This is great for Lent.

Linda! Thank you for taking the time to tell us what you thought! Makes our day.

Cheers to March and SPRING!

Continue reading "The Friday Buzz: 6 Things We Liked This Week!" »

Welcome to The Friday Buzz, our roundup of all good things, good advice, good feelings. It’s the happy hour of blog posts! Up this week: Easy Lunches! 

Friday is here, and for a lot of us that means we are planning our menus to get ready to go grocery shopping over the weekend. I’m pretty good about having breakfast foods on hand and planning out dinners, but I’m always on the hunt for quick and easy lunch ideas that take zero brainpower to make.

So, I thought I’d ask The Simply Team to share their go-to lunches, and here’s what they had to say!

OUR FAVE QUICK LUNCHES

• It’s a Wrap! Andy’s go-to lunch is a chicken wrap made from a whole wheat tortilla, ranch dressing (he does a homemade non-dairy ranch, but you could do your own version), spinach, precooked chicken, and craisins.
• Think Big! Emma loves to make big batches of something (anything, really!) that she can reheat throughout the week. Her two recent favorites are: Frittata made with chicken sausage and all the leftover vegetables from the weekend, and Beet and Barley Salad with a poached egg on top.
• Oodles of Noodles: Summer likes to make our Thai Noodle Salad and eat it throughout the week. (It makes a lot!) She also likes sautéed peppers and onions with an egg on top.
• Avo-Toast! Megan turns to avocado toast with an egg on top or some sort of egg scramble with a whole wheat tortilla.
• Smash It! Cambria often smashes chickpeas on a piece of Ezekiel bread with some olive oil, salt, and pepper. Simple and delicious!

What are some of your go-to quick and easy lunches?

MEANWHILE ON INSTAGRAM

Our Orange Chicken is taking the Instagram world by storm, and it’s not hard to see why.

READER COMMENT OF THE WEEK

Man in the North left a comment that warmed our heart and souls on our Egg Drop Soup.

I followed the recipe, with a few substitutions that turned out great. My fiance is sick and when she tasted this soup, her whole day changed and lifted her spirits. We both agreed it’s the best egg drop soup we have ever had. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe, it meant more than you can imagine.

Watch out, Chicken Noodle Soup. Looks like I’ll be making Egg Drop Soup the next time I get sick!

Continue reading "The Friday Buzz: What We Make for Lunch" »

Welcome to The Friday Buzz, our roundup of all good things, good advice, good feelings. It’s the happy hour of blog posts! Up this week I dish about BUTTER. 

For the longest time, I thought margarine was butter. I grew up as a child in the 90s, which meant I was raised on margarine. It came in the little plastic tub, and I thought it was great! Fast-forward to my adult years: I was hanging out with some girlfriends who were all talking about the price of butter and how expensive it had become. I didn’t understand what they were talking about, because the butter I was buying was so cheap.

It turns out I was still buying margarine… in stick form. That’s right, because it was in stick form, I assumed I had made the switch! Nope. But you butter believe (haha) that from that day forward, I started buying real butter and haven’t looked back.

So I thought it’d be fun to focus on some butter-related products I’ve enjoyed lately, because my life motto now is butter is better!

BUTTER FAVES

• Dish It: I love storing my butter in this dish. I’ve tried many others, but I really like this one.
• Water It: But I’m also super curious about this dish and how you use the water in it. Anyone ever try it?
• Savor It: Flavored butters are intriguing, don’t you think?
• Wheel It: This little contraption would make it so easy to butter your grilled cheese sandwiches!
• Churn It: We mentioned this in our holiday gift guide for kids, but I’m thinking I need one too!

MEANWHILE ON INSTAGRAM

Y’all know how to cook your rice! We asked for your preferred technique and so many of you chimed in. Here’s what some of you said about cooking rice:

“In the oven. 2 cups of rice 3 cups of water. Cover with foil. Cook 25 minutes.”

“We use the microwave! Add butter, salt, and lemon. My son (13) makes it all the time. He takes it to school for lunch.”

“An electric rice cooker…have had the same one for 30+ years.”

“1 cup of rice, 2 cups of water… Boil water add salt, put in rice, let it come to boil and lower to simmer. I double fold some paper towels and put between pot & cover. Let simmer 20 minutes then take off flame and put on side. Fluff before eating.”

“I actually prefer to make my white rice with chicken broth. Comes out amazing with that an onion. Best part? I make it in the microwave!! Super easy!”

READER COMMENT OF THE WEEK

The memories that come with food are so strong and tender. Rob left this sweet comment on our Texas Sheet Cake. We’re so glad he has the recipe again!

My Mama made this for years and I loved it. When my mama died someone took her cookbook where she had this written in the back cover. Now I have it again. It’s one of the best cakes and so easy to make. Thank you!

Cheers to the weekend, Simply Friends!

Continue reading "The Friday Buzz: The Better Butter Edition" »

Here's our roundup of all good things, good advice, good feelings. It’s the happy hour of blog posts! Up this week: Pizza and Ranch, Oreo Nation, and Nudist Cooking.

Continue reading "The Friday Buzz: Pizza & Ranch, Oreo Nation, and Nudist Cooking" »

Here's our roundup of all good things, good advice, good feelings. It’s the happy hour of blog posts! Up this week... Zumbo, Ice Cream Obsessions, and Salad Dressing Debates!

Continue reading "The Friday Buzz: Zumbo, Ice Cream Obsessions, and Salad Dressing Debates" »

Here's our roundup of all good things, good advice, good feelings. It’s the happy hour of blog posts! Up this week... The best chopper for garlic! The best Crock Pot to ever exist! The best dance that has ever been danced! And so much more! 

Continue reading "The Friday Buzz: Alligator Chopper, Friends Crock Pot, and Tarantallegra!" »

Here's our roundup of all good things, good advice, and good feelings. It’s the happy hour of blog posts! Up this week we are sharing our favorites including (but not limited to) Clevr Chai Tea, Cooking with Wool, and the best caramels ever.

Continue reading "The Friday Buzz: Clevr Chai Tea, Cooking with Wool, and the Best Caramels Ever" »

Here's our roundup of all good things, good advice, and good feelings. It’s the happy hour of blog posts! This week we are diving into the ridiculous world of SILLY KITCHEN UTENSILS.

Continue reading "The Friday Buzz: Silly Kitchen Utensil Edition" »

Here's our roundup of all good things, good advice, good feelings. It’s the happy hour of blog posts! Up this fine week: Marie Kondo, Relative Insanity, Finding Fred, and so much more!

Continue reading "The Friday Buzz: Marie Kondo, Relative Insanity, and Finding Fred" »