How I Connected with My Family Using New Recipes

This month's pantry challenge hits different. I wanted to lean more into connecting with our families. And that's why the challenge deck is peppered with tips & cues for getting your family involved. Here's a recap of the first week of the May foodie challenge.

Lemme give you the backstory first.

The first monthly foodie challenge was a pantry stocking challenge because that's personally what I needed going into a new season.

It was the end of January, my third baby was fast approaching & I knew we needed some easy, comforting meals on standby for after our 3rd home birth.

Now, don't get it twisted. Inventory is crucial whether you're planning to eat from your pantry or not.

But as life started to normalize again (sayonara newborn bubble 😢) the focus shifted.

Here's what happened in the kitchen this week

(Using my gamified bingo-board ofc!)

• Tried a new recipe (3 actually!, albondigas soup, lemon cookies, tacos al pastor)
• Shared a food memory at dinner (baked potatoes)
• Cooked a fam fave (burgers)
• Batch a spring meal (albondigas?)
• Had dinner at home 5 nights in a row! (whata streak)
• Preserved some produce (this might serve as my Free Space...we'll see)

Being intentional with eating at home hasn't been as much a struggle since I decided to use a less-than experience to finally fulfill a lifelong dream.

My family loves experiencing different cultures through food. And because I don't have the skills, tools or recipes yet we were eating out alot more than I care to admit.

Moving to SE Ohio changed that because there's just not great places to eat at like what we're used to back home (DMV, MD specifically). So instead of eating out for "good food", we were almost exclusively eating out at Chick-fil-A.

Well, ya girl had enough. (And so did our books every month!)