This Week: Cheesy Spaghetti Pie, Retro Snack Mix & Ham-and-Cheese Muffins

Plus more weeknight dinners, the baking hack you'll never forget and more.

May 11, 2026

This week’s lineup is all about meals and snacks that feel comforting without creating a pile of extra work for you. Keep scrolling for easy dinners like crispy salmon cakes and hoisin pork tenderloin, a smart make-ahead lunchbox solution and a retro-style nuts and bolts mix with seven flavour variations (because apparently no two people in the same family can ever want the same snack at the same time).

Here’s to less “what’s for dinner?” spiralling this week—

Katie Dupuis
Editor, ParentsCanada

Weeknight recipes that work even when your patience does not.

Sheet Pan Hoisin Pork Tenderloin
A one-pan, sticky-sweet dinner that comes together and can be cleaned up in a flash.

Sesame Ramen Salad with Chicken and Celery
Crunchy, fresh and uses the weeknight dinner secret weapon—a grocery store rotisserie chicken.

Crispy Salmon Cakes with Mustard and Dill
Quite possibly the best thing you’ll ever make with canned salmon.

Cheesy Spaghetti and Meatball Pie
The classic dish everyone loves baked with gooey cheese…what’s better than that?

Sofrito Beef Beans and Rice
Packed with both flavour and protein, delicious on its own or folded into tortillas.

Tiny tricks, big payoff.

Grate Cold Butter to Soften It Quickly

Ever realize halfway through baking that your butter is still too cold to use? Instead of microwaving it—which often melts the butter unevenly—try grating it with the large holes on a cheese grater. The shreds soften much faster because more of the butter is exposed to room-temperature air.

If you’ve ever wondered why it matters, here’s the explanation: In baking, softened butter and melted butter behave very differently. Room-temperature softened butter can trap air when creamed with sugar, which helps create light, fluffy cakes and cookies. Melted butter can’t do that, which is why it often leads to greasier results (and cookies that spread out way too much!). Grating gets you to the right texture faster without messing with the science of the recipe.

Lunches kids might eat and parents can repeat.

These savoury muffins are full of protein, freezer-friendly and surprisingly great room temperature (or even cold!), which makes them ideal for rushed mornings and lunchboxes alike. Bonus: They’re easy to customize with whatever cheese, veggies or deli meat you need to use up.

Lunchbox formula: Ham and cheese muffins + cucumber slices + strawberries + pretzels or a cookie for an extra snack or dessert

For the 3:15 p.m. snack-mergency.

This retro snack mix is crunchy, salty and wildly customizable, which makes it perfect for after-school snacking, road trips or “just one handful” situations when you’re cruising through the kitchen. Our recipe includes seven flavour variations ranging from sweet and spicy to herby ranch—which inevitably means everyone in your house will have a different favourite. Sorry about that.

The unofficial highlight of the week.

These cookies are packed with sweet and salty mix-ins, which means every bite has a little something different going on. They’re colourful, fun and exactly the kind of baking project kids love helping with.