The Naptime Chef

Last spring we skipped making our own maple syrup because we had such crazy weather. It warmed up early and the sap started running. But then it suddenly stopped when we had a late spring frost, and never really had a chance to start again since the weather transitioned from winter straight to blistering hot summer. Instead, I invested in a big jug of real maple syrup in Cooperstown and have been doling it out ever since. Last week I used some syrup to make this Pumpkin Maple Yogurt Loaf for some friends. Though we use maple year round, it feels like such a fall flavor to me and with a little added pumpkin it was the perfect cake to kick-off the fall season.

This post is sponsored by Cascadian Farm

The most convenient kind of dinner recipes for any busy household are the ones when the whole meal can be made in one dish. Whether it be an eggy casserole, or a pot of soup, anything that be transferred straight from the heat to the table with ease is bar-none the simplest way to cook. One of my favorite dishes that achieves this is my favorite Parmesan chicken and fries sheet pan dinner.

I thought I’d stop in with a few fall favorites today. It is always fun to share what I’ve been reading and hear what you’ve been up to lately. Here are some of my favorite things from around the web these days!

A fun article about my friend Suzanne from the Charleston Academy of Domestic Pursuits.

My absolute favorite face treatment lately.

When we went to Napa in 2015 we had some delicious wine and this little winemaker is still a favorite.

This Madewell x Sézane fashion collaboration is my favorite, I love it when a new capsule collection debuts.

Some books I’ve pre-ordered have started arriving and they are fabulous so far.

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but this Denim Wash is worth every penny, my jeans smell amazing and stay so soft!

Have you ever read any Jo Nesbo mysteries? I highly recommend!

Forever and always, it’s time to break out my favorite Fall Baking Gear.

We are back in the weeknight swing and I’m working on some new dinner recipes to add to my current repertoire. Over the summer we got into two dishes: zoodles, and shakshuka. Both are simple to make and taste delicious. Up until now I’ve been serving them separately, but this week I decided to combine them into one easy dish. My plan was to bake the eggs in the tomatoes and serve them over zoodles for an easy, healthy dinner.

This post is sponsored by Whole Foods Market. The opinions and photographs are entirely my own. Thank you for supporting the sponsors that support The Naptime Chef.

This week I am participating in 5 Affordable Weeknight Dinners from Whole Foods Market with my friends at Whole Foods Market. We were asked to come up with five delicious family meals that we can make with one bag of groceries using Whole Foods’ super fresh ingredients .

This is the perfect challenge for me since I love Whole Foods Market and have long admired their commitment to high quality food and food education. Before I visited the store I also downloaded their new app and looked up my local sales flyer. They are great ways to find everyday deals and coupons at the store. I love it when I find a way to save a little bit on groceries.

Thinking of five easy weeknight dinners was not hard since I have a whole roster of delicious meals on my blog and in my books. To use a wide variety of food from their store I decided to make some of our true favorites, it was fun to make them all again!

Curry has never been my strong suit. I have a recipe for Curry Chicken Salad in my first cookbook, and am devoted to Aimée’s slow-cooker chicken curry. Other than that, I didn’t have much else in my repertoire until I stumbled upon this Coconut Shrimp Curry recipe on Sophie Dahl’s cookbook. We’ve been eating more shrimp lately and this recipe looked accessible for a non-curry expert and simple enough for a weeknight.

My kids are fruit fanatics. They love having fruit in their lunch boxes and for snack time. Of course I am happy to oblige but I do run into snafus now and then. Sometimes the fruit they want is out of season. Other times I have to pack fruit creatively so it doesn’t bruise or wither. It isn’t always easy to keep fruit safely contained in a lunchbox! Here are five of my favorite tips for packing fruit for school this season. Please share yours!

1) Mix it up! – There is nothing worse than finding uneaten fruit that has made the return trip to your kitchen. My daughter used to do this when she said I packed “too many” of the same berry. My solution – making a berry “salad” and using a few of each variety to mix it up. Since I often use frozen fruit for this I am never worried about buying too many or too few of one thing. I also like to add coconut chips, toasted oats, and even whole grain cereals. It is a nice way to eat fruit and keep it healthy.