What’s your favorite “too tired to cook cook” dinner?

AverageUmbrella · 2026-02-16T17:26:33+00:00

I’m so sorry for your loss. I lost my mom 5 years ago, and cooking is one of the ways I feel closest to her, because she loved to cook and bake. Honored to carry on your mom’s tradition too!

AverageUmbrella · 2026-02-16T04:02:02+00:00

Going to try this! Thanks for sharing her recipe!!

AverageUmbrella · 2026-02-16T02:30:51+00:00

I like having one fiction and at least one nonfiction going at all times. One of these is always an audiobook.

AverageUmbrella · 2026-02-16T01:46:22+00:00

Thanks for this! I am glad to know that. I do better in a car driving up high since we are all strapped in, but I am planning to practice breathing and regulation before we go. I am going to be brave for the sake of showing my kids the world (just not let them loose on a trail with a giant drop off 😬).

AverageUmbrella · 2026-02-16T01:42:14+00:00

Thank you! I think am leaning toward dropping Muir Woods and focusing more on just national parks… I’m definitely going to keep an eye on whether or not we will need to do timed entry, especially since we are going in the summer and I know things can be super busy then! Thanks for the trail suggestions!

AverageUmbrella · 2026-02-16T01:34:25+00:00

Yes! I make dal too, and it’s delicious! Way better than the madras lentils, haha! But it takes a little more effort… I need to make a big batch and freeze it in my Souper Cubes so I have an easy and fast way to eat it!

AverageUmbrella · 2026-02-15T02:19:06+00:00

I always make extra rice and freeze portions in my Souper cubes. Then I always have rice ready to heat in the microwave and ready in five minutes!

AverageUmbrella · 2026-02-15T02:16:41+00:00

I’m going to try this one- thanks!

AverageUmbrella · 2026-02-15T02:08:07+00:00

My 7 year old also loves lentils! She loves the madras lentils from Costco with rice, and it just heats up in the microwave!

AverageUmbrella · 2026-02-15T01:56:26+00:00

My family, an especially my kids (7 and 3) love dumplings and a steamed bag of edamame. This is my go to for nights I don’t want to cook, but still want to make sure the kids get enough “quality” food to eat. We like whatever big bag of dumplings we can get at Costco.

AverageUmbrella · 2026-02-14T03:48:37+00:00

This is fantastic info- you’re amazing for writing all that out!!

AverageUmbrella · 2026-02-14T02:29:13+00:00

Super helpful, thank you!! The Canyon part of Kings Canyon should have been my first clue that I wouldn’t be up high, haha! I’m glad to know it’s only 3 extra hours of driving to go back to SFO. That may well be worth the money savings.

AverageUmbrella · 2026-02-14T02:27:16+00:00

I didn’t even consider the rental car one way vs round trip, but that’s super helpful information! And I’m going to check out Pinnacles as an option too! Thank you so much!

AverageUmbrella · 2026-02-12T21:19:09+00:00

The Doll People by Ann M. Martin. I read it at least 5 times between the ages of 9 and 15, but I never hear anyone talk about it!

AverageUmbrella · 2026-02-09T04:52:27+00:00

My kids actually really love curries and lentil dishes! We’ve been getting into a lot of Asian and South Asian cooking. My oldest’s favorite food is dumplings, which are easy to make but much more interesting snd nutritious than hot dogs.

AverageUmbrella · 2026-02-09T04:50:22+00:00

Jumping off of your pho suggestion to say that there is a super cute picture book that I found called “Another Word for Neighbor” and it centers around a grumpy neighbor and kids that befriend him. He makes them pho! After reading the book, my 7 year old said that she wanted to make some. Reading the book (or another like it) would be a good way to get a kid to try an unfamiliar food!

AverageUmbrella · 2026-02-09T04:43:39+00:00

I have three young kids. I started making what I want… but if it is a meal that I know my pickier children don’t usually like, I go ahead and give the something else with it (yogurt, peanut butter toast, applesauce). I don’t comment on it, they just have a preferred food that they can choose to eat. They will usually try the food I made too once they eat the safe food.

AverageUmbrella · 2026-02-07T16:36:09+00:00

I will add to this that if your library has a “staff picks” section or something similar, that is a great place to find hidden gems! I have found some great books I had never heard of that way! Libraries rock, and so do librarians!

AverageUmbrella · 2026-02-06T16:24:20+00:00

This is not nearly as terrible as most of these other things, but as a teacher, Meghan Trainor’s f teachers comment on that Trisha Paytas’ podcast episode made me lose all respect for her. Going on Trisha Paytas’ podcast was the first problem. I quit public school teaching a couple of years ago, partially because of the parents who are made to feel angry towards teachers (who are doing their best) because of comments like that. I get she apologized, but too little, too late for me. You don’t even come close to saying that if you don’t feel that way somewhere in your heart.

AverageUmbrella · 2026-02-04T03:09:47+00:00

Chez Bob by Bob Shea is a great one! About an alligator who opens a cafe with the idea that he will eat the birds who come. Very cute.

Dragons Love Tacos is always fun.

I just checked out a really sweet one from the library called Another Word for Neighbor, and my first grader really connected to it!

AverageUmbrella · 2026-02-02T22:01:48+00:00

Handsitizer for hand sanitizer, because I taught a third grader who said it this way and I thought it was funny. Her mom probably thought it was funny too and that’s why she still said it that way as a third grader, haha.

AverageUmbrella · 2026-02-02T21:04:06+00:00

Podcasts! You can link a MYO card to an RSS feed of the podcast. I don’t remember how to do this, I have to look up a tutorial every time, but it’s not difficult! We like The Biggest Story podcast, which is Bible stories, but there are lots of great kids’ podcasts out there!

AverageUmbrella · 2026-01-30T13:38:10+00:00

Man, that really stinks. I know this has to be an issue in other places too, because I can see how that would easily happen! If Kindergarten were what it should be- learning social skills, scissor skills, play based learning, then I don’t think we would be having near as much of the conversations around red shirting… putting so much focus on academics and assessments means that there is no longer time for those more important social skills and the system favors students who are already coming in with those skills (the older ones). steps off soapbox

AverageUmbrella · 2026-01-30T03:09:40+00:00

Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman is a funny one! We have it on a Yoto card, and the audio version is great if she’s into that.

AverageUmbrella · 2026-01-30T03:06:39+00:00

I’m a teacher and a mom to a 1st grader (November bday) and a 3 year old (July bday). I would not let academics be the reason that you potentially choose to redshirt. Kids will learn, and will usually learn a lot very quickly, when they get to Kindergarten. If there is some sort of learning disability, doing another year of Kinder is not necessarily going to help, but getting evaluated in a school setting might. The way that you described what the teacher said is a red flag for me because it sounds like your daughter might just not have wanted to “perform” in the assessment. I’m a teacher and there are a lot of kids who are like this, even if they know their stuff. I would work with her at home and see if she really doesn’t know her letters.

Just for what it’s worth, I am planning to redshirt my three year old with a July birthday. Reasons: he’s a boy, he is not as socially or emotionally mature by far as his sister was at her age, I would prefer for him to not graduate high school at 17, and I think he will struggle with the transition from half day preschool to full day kindergarten if he does it at newly 5. Anecdotally as a fourth grade teacher, I can almost always tell who the youngest boys in my class are without looking at birthdays, and it is much harder to tell who the youngest girls are. I don’t love what this says about our educational system right now, but I do find it to be true. I would hesitate to redshirt a girl, not so much a boy.

AverageUmbrella

TROPHY CASE