Simply Recipes

The Friday Buzz: What We Make for Lunch

Tim Dempsey

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!

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The Friday Buzz: The Better Butter Edition

Tim Dempsey

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

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!

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