What’s in the Cart This Week
Every Sunday after church, I do a big grocery run to set our week up for success. With four growing boys between the ages of 6 and 15, feeding this crew is no small operation — and finding that sweet spot between food they’ll actually eat and food that fuels them well is something I’m always chasing. This week’s haul felt like a good one, so I wanted to walk you through what I grabbed, why I grabbed it, and how it’s all going to come together over the next few days here in our Connecticut kitchen.
Summer is fully here, and that changes everything about how we cook. We’re spending more time outside, the boys are hungry at random hours, and nobody wants to stand over a hot stove for an hour. So this week’s shop leaned into quick proteins, fresh fruit, and a few fun meal setups that let the kids get involved.
The Proteins Carrying This Week
Chicken wings were the clear anchor of this haul. I picked up two bags — a large bag of Tyson Air Fryer Ready Crispy Chicken Wings and an additional bag of Tyson chicken wings. The air fryer ready ones are a genuine lifesaver on busy weeknights. My oldest can practically make those himself at this point, which is exactly the kind of kitchen independence I want to encourage. The second bag gives me flexibility to do something a little more hands-on when I have the time.
I also grabbed a box of frozen mini beef sliders — 20 count — which I know are going to disappear fast. My 10-year-old spotted them the second we unloaded the car and immediately started negotiating for slider night. We’ll see how long they actually last in the freezer.
Recipe 1: Cheesy Buffalo Chicken Wraps
One of the meals I’m most excited to pull together this week is a build-your-own wrap night using the Tyson chicken wings, Velveeta cheese sauce, and Mission Carb Balance spinach tortillas. Here’s the basic plan: air fry the wings until they’re crispy, let them cool just enough to handle, then shred the meat off the bone. Warm up some Velveeta, toss the shredded chicken in a little buffalo sauce if the boys are feeling bold, and wrap it all up in those spinach tortillas.
The Mission Carb Balance tortillas are something I’ve been buying for a while now. They hold together well, have solid fiber, and honestly the boys don’t even notice or care that they’re a lower-carb option — they just taste like a good wrap. I grabbed three jars of Velveeta this week because we go through it faster than I expect, and I’d rather have too much than run out mid-meal with four hungry guys staring at me.
This is a meal where I put everything on the counter and let everyone assemble their own. There’s something about building your own plate that makes kids eat better — I’ve believed that for years and it holds up every single time.
Bread, Bagels, and Smart Swaps
I picked up several packages of 647 bread this week. If you haven’t tried it, 647 is a lower-calorie, higher-fiber bread that doesn’t taste like cardboard — which, if you’ve tried some of the other “healthier” breads out there, you know is not a given. It works great for sandwiches, toast, and I’m planning to use it alongside the mini sliders for our slider bar night later this week. I also grabbed a package of bagels for breakfasts and quick snacks. My youngest has been on a bagel kick and I’m not going to fight a 6-year-old who wants to eat breakfast.
Recipe 2: Summer Watermelon Berry Yogurt Parfaits
I cannot overstate how good it feels to walk out of the store with a whole watermelon in the summer. There’s something almost festive about it. Between the watermelon, a container of fresh strawberries, and a package of mixed berries and grapes, we’ve got the foundation for one of my favorite easy summer recipes: yogurt parfaits.
I layer Chobani Zero Sugar Greek yogurt in the bottom of a bowl or cup, add cubed watermelon, fresh strawberries, and whatever berries we have on hand, then crush some of the Cookies and Crème Protein Cheerios on top for crunch. That’s the whole recipe. It takes about four minutes and it works as a breakfast, an afternoon snack, or an after-dinner dessert. The Chobani Zero Sugar is genuinely good — thick, creamy, and the boys don’t miss the added sugar at all when there’s a pile of fresh fruit involved. The Protein Cheerios are a family-size box, which at our house means it’s gone by Thursday.
We’ve been making versions of this parfait all summer and it never gets old. It’s one of those recipes that feels like a treat but is actually doing real nutritional work — protein from the yogurt, antioxidants from the berries, a little extra protein hit from the cereal. I’m grateful for simple food that takes care of the people I love.
The Rest of the Haul
Rounding out the cart: Silk Almond Milk and two cartons of heavy whipping cream for coffee and cooking, Planters peanuts for snacking, Late July Jalapeño Lime tortilla chips to go alongside the slider bar night, a package of pasta for a mid-week backup dinner, and a box of Hot Pockets Pepperoni Pizza for the moments when someone needs lunch in under two minutes. I also grabbed a few packs of Spearmint gum, because apparently that’s a household staple now according to my teenagers.
That’s the week. Six people, a full fridge, and a handful of meals I’m genuinely looking forward to making. If you try the buffalo chicken wraps or the parfaits, let me know in the comments — I’d love to hear how your family makes them their own.
