Naomi Tomky

Say goodbye to bread clips forever.

This tip is especially great for hungry families.

Say goodbye to bread clips forever.

No more sticking to the measuring cup.

This tip is especially great for hungry families.

No more sticking to the measuring cup.

Fall is a great time to renew your commitment to prepping meals ahead of time, and we’ve got three recipes that will keep your prep light, your stomach full, and your family happy this season.

The votes are in, the scorecards have been checked, and the champions await their medals — but we’re not talking about the Olympics here. This is a whole different kind of competition: the Aldi Fan Favorites survey. For the third year, the grocery store asked its shoppers to vote on their most-loved products in a variety of categories — you might remember that back in May we told you about how you could participate and also win yourself a $1000 gift card.

Last year I publicly declared my love for nectarines over peaches, causing a little stone fruit drama. Nectarine season hasn’t started here in Washington yet, but we’ve got the first few weeks of peaches under our belts. Plus, I have a giant box of Georgia peaches I ordered online to see if there really was something I was missing. I am pleased to report that while my mind remains unchanged on the superiority of nectarines, peaches are still close behind.

As disappointing as it is when Trader Joe’s discontinues a favorite product, the one thing that makes up for it is finding out what took its place on the shelves. Every Trader Joe’s shopping trip is an opportunity to discover an exciting ingredient, packaged good, or some other surprise that will pique your curiosity.

Welcome to summer, where the sunshine keeps everyone outside until the last minute, it’s too hot to turn on the stove at dinner time, and everybody wants a quick meal so they can get back to playing. None of these things makes feeding a family easy in the hottest months, so it’s helpful to have some make-ahead meal ideas stashed away so you can cook dinner before the kids go to bed the night before, or maybe even over the weekend before work gets in the way.

I spent the spring eyeing Chrissy Teigen’s spicy miso pasta, a combination of one of my favorite dishes (carbonara) with extra umami from miso and a hit of spice. Photo after photo popped up on Instagram, my Twitter feed seemed to taunt me with its popularity and its savory, carb-y heat. The internet seemed to be obsessed in general, but also a lab designing my favorite food could only have come closer by somehow working in a little ice cream at the end.