Sub Salad

This salad is not for hardcore salad people. If you enjoy raw kale, this isn’t for you. Now that it’s just us – we love that juicy bottom of a sub so this salad celebrates some veggie crunch, some creamy cheese, some pickles, and that drippy mayo-oil-vinegar bit!

Clean out your fridge a bit – the specific meats and cheeses aren’t important. Use what you have! Add in croutons if you want!

Sub Salad
Ingredients (serves 2):

3 cups iceberg lettuce
1 cup tomatoes
1/3 cucumber
cheese – mine was havarti
meats – mine was salami
pickles
3 tablespoons mayo
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon oregano/Italian seasoning

Directions:
Chop the tomatoes, cukes, meats, cheeses, and pickles.

Whisk together the mayo, oil, red wine vinegar, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Taste and adjust if needed.
Toss the salad with the dressing.
Enjoy!

I love this. It has all the best parts but nicely dressed all over. The iceberg is just good – it isn’t a new year’s resolution style salad, but it is really addicting.

One-Pot Dumpling Soup

TikTok kept showing me the viral 1-pot dumpling bake and I thought it could easily be soup. ‘Tis the season for all the soups as lunch right now. Soup is the best since it is easy to make a little or a lot. I keep making a few servings, having them on hand to pack, and stashing one or two in the freezer for variety at a later date!

I loved this – it was flavor packed, so quick, and perfect to add some variety to my prepped meals.

Coconut Curry Dumpling Soup
Ingredients: (serves ~3)

~12 frozen dumplings
1 cup bell peppers chopped
1 can coconut milk
1 cup Red Curry Sauce (or 2 tablespoons red curry paste)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 cup broth

Directions:
In a medium/large pot, sear the dumplings on each side over medium heat, then remove them from the pot.
Add in the peppers to soften for ~3 minutes.
Still over medium heat, add in the coconut milk, red curry, soy sauce, sesame oil, broth/bouillon + water, and return the dumplings to the pot.
Cook for 5-10 minutes bringing it to a low simmer.

Taste and add water if too strong, or add more curry sauce if too mild.
Serve & enjoy!

No peppers? Swap for spinach, or broccoli, or carrots, or cabbage! Spice it up with chili flakes or chili crunch. Serve it over rice if soup gets tiresome.

This is also great reheated too. The TJ dumplings are easy to cut with just a spoon and the red curry and coconut flavors are so so good.

December 2025 Recap

December is a flurry – and a delicious one, but so full. From holiday meals, to cookie swaps, to cooking for PTO breakfast, to the hustle of the season – it was joyful and tasty.

I made these Jingle Jangle Cookies for a cookie swap and I loved them! They are packed full of everything with sweet and salty.

I’m on a soup kick and went vegetarian with Gnocchi & Mushroom Soup using creamed spinach as a speedy way to add flavor.

These Maple Bacon Waffles are fun and handy to pull from the freezer.

The Big Kid: He is having a great time with hockey. Christmas cookie season is a fun one for him.

The Littler Kid: She has done better eating enough despite this being an exciting time.

Goals for the year:
Year of new footwear – I’m switching to socks & shoes. December is socks!
Side dish emphasis  – tomato/cucumber/feta/garbanzo salad
Soups & salad – Gnocchi & Mushroom soup was a veggie packed
More drinks – spiked hot chocolate was a nice way to end the night.
What I’m reading – the end of the year is approaching and I’m at 46 books

Gnocchi & Mushroom Soup

Soup is the perfect hands-off lunch to have at the ready. At a season when more veggies are needed, I was glad to throw this together and have a few servings ahead of me.

Creamed spinach was the quick ingredient for a light creaminess. This was brothy, yet filling, though creamed spinach could swap for cream of mushroom soup with baby spinach for a creamier version.

Gnocchi and Mushroom Soup
Ingredients:
(serves 3-4)
1/4 white onion
2 carrots
1-2 garlic
1 pint baby portabellas
1/2 cup white mushrooms
1 package creamed spinach
1/2 pound gnocchi
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth

Directions:
Chop the onions, carrots, and garlic to saute over medium heat in olive oil. Add in the sliced mushrooms.

Add in the frozen creamed spinach, broth, and gnocchi.
Cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes.

Enjoy!
This keeps well and freezes too. It was perfect to drop everything in – even frozen and let it come together. I packed it for lunch knowing there are never enough veggies this season. My carrots were the saddest ever, but useful for soup.

Jingle Jangle Cookies

Jingle jangle is such a treat of Trader Joe’s and were the inspiration for these kitchen-sink style cookies. They have toffee, M&Ms, pretzels, and peanuts! The mix is chocolate covered but I wanted the sweet-salty mix here. Swap any of the candy to go from holiday to anytime.

Jingle Jangle Cookies
Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg + 1 additional yolk, at room temperature
2 cups candy (1 cup toffee bits, 1 cup mini M&Ms)
1 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup roasted peanuts
1/2 cup chopped pretzels

Directions:
Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
In a stand mixer or hand mixer, beat together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar.
Add in the egg and yolk, mixing well.
Slowly pour in the dry ingredients until well mixed.
By hand, mix in the toffee and M&Ms.

Scoop into small balls – roughly golf/ping pong size. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350-degrees.
Bake on parchment lined baking sheets for ~12 minutes.

Out of the oven, top with pretzels and peanuts while still hot on the baking sheet. Allow to cool 2-3 minutes and transfer to a wire cooling rack.
Enjoy!

These Popcorn Bucket Cookies are the base I went with but have a movie-themed with popcorn and even gummy candies though I took it more salty-sweet. Buncha Crunch, Reeces Pieces, KitKats, or butterscotch chips in there too.