What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking with NYT Bestselling Author & Navy Veteran Spouse Caroline Chambers

If you’ve ever stood in front of the fridge after a long Navy day thinking, “I cannot make one more decision,” this episode is for you.

In this episode of Our Navy Life, host Teal Yost sits down with Caroline Chambers — New York Times bestselling cookbook author, recipe developer, Substack creator, mom of four, and former Navy spouse — to talk about realistic cooking for real military life.

Caroline knows the Navy spouse season firsthand. After moving from New York to Coronado to be with her husband, a Navy SEAL, she launched a “fake-it-til-you-make-it” catering company built with other SEAL spouses — a pivot that eventually led to her bestselling cookbook, What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking.

Together, Teal and Caroline unpack how food, community, and flexibility help military families survive deployments, solo-parenting seasons, PCS chaos, and everyday burnout.

In this episode, you'll hear about:

• From Coronado to Cookbook: How Caroline’s Navy spouse life sparked her career in food media.
  

• Letting go of perfection: Why “just get everyone fed” beats gourmet every time — especially with kids.
  

• Time-honest cooking: How organizing recipes by real-world minutes builds confidence and removes intimidation from cooking.
  

• Busy-life hacks: Smart swaps, fewer ingredients, and grocery-store-friendly cooking for unpredictable schedules.
  

• Solo-parent survival strategy: Caroline’s realistic meal-prep system for deployment seasons and long workdays.
  

• Food as community: How dropping off meals, salad swaps, and potluck wins help spouses connect at new duty stations.
  

• Potluck MVP: Why showing up with a great salad (hello, the Dilly Chop) makes you unforgettable.
  

• Rapid-fire favorites: Clean-out-the-fridge meals, pantry must-haves, and comfort food when depleted.
  

• The truth about kids and dinner: Even a NYT bestselling author has nights where only one kid eats the meal.
  

Caroline’s message is simple and freeing: Dinner doesn’t have to be perfect — it just has to be doable.

Whether you’re in a deployment season, PCS transition, or just plain tired of cereal nights, this episode will leave you feeling supported, capable, and hungry in the best way.

• Book: What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking

• Newsletter / Substack: https://whattocook.substack.com

• Instagram: @carochambers

• Navy SEAL Foundation: https://www.navysealfoundation.org

If this episode helped you, share it with a spouse friend in the thick of Navy life — especially the one juggling deployments, kids, and the eternal “what’s for dinner?” question.

From our Navy family to yours — stay strong, stay connected, and stay mission ready.

Stay Connected With Us:

• NSFL Website

• NSFL Facebook

• NSFL Instagram

Holidays in the Navy don’t always look like the ones we grew up with. Instead of gathering around familiar tables, many military families find themselves creating new traditions thousands of miles from “home.”

In this episode, Teal Yost and guest co-host Kathryn Butler dive into what makes OCONUS holiday seasons both challenging and deeply meaningful. From KFC Christmas dinners in Japan, to Le Befana visiting children in Italy, to 12 grapes at midnight in Spain, to fireworks across Hawaii — they explore how Navy families adapt, connect, and rediscover the heart of the holidays wherever they’re stationed.

Whether you’re preparing for your first holiday overseas or reminiscing on duty stations past, this episode is a warm reminder that home is wherever our people are.

What You’ll Hear in This Episode

• Getting to know Kathryn Hear Kathryn’s Navy journey, her OCONUS duty stations, and how living abroad shaped her family’s holiday traditions.

• What to expect during your first OCONUS holiday season Is it harder? More meaningful? A bit of both? Teal and Kathryn share their honest, lived experience.

• Japan’s unique Christmas celebrations – Christmas Eve as a couple’s holiday – Stunning seasonal illuminations – The iconic KFC Christmas dinner (yes, really!) – The New Year’s Emperor Greeting

• Italian holiday traditions – La Befana on January 5 – St. Nicholas Day on December 6

• Spanish celebrations – Twelve grapes at midnight for good luck – New Year’s red underwear tradition – Three Kings Day (Día de los Reyes)

• Holidays in Hawaii Fireworks, celebrations, and island traditions that make the season unforgettable.

• Advice for families spending their first holiday overseas Teal and Kathryn share heartfelt guidance for navigating emotions, expectations, and new memories.

Whether you’re a new Navy spouse, a seasoned partner, or a supporter of the Navy community, this episode offers inspiration, history, and a reminder that you’re never navigating this life alone.

Stay Connected With Us:

• NSFL Website

• NSFL Facebook

• NSFL Instagram
  

As Veterans Day approaches, many of us see the familiar wave of “thank yous” in the form of discounts and freebies. But what if that appreciation didn’t stop on November 11th?

In this episode, host Teal Yost sits down with Navy veteran and active-duty Navy spouse Grant Vermeer to talk about Valor, a new app making military discounts automatic — no ID, no awkward ask, and no forgetting to mention your service at checkout.

Grant shares how Valor is transforming everyday shopping for service members, veterans, and military families by connecting them directly with local businesses that want to give back. He also opens up about his own journey from Naval Academy grad to veteran, to military spouse — and what Veterans Day means to him now from both sides of service.

What You’ll Hear in This Episode

• Grant’s Navy journey and transition from active duty to military spouse
  

• Behind the scenes of The Academy Insider podcast
  

• How Valor makes military discounts automatic — no cards or conversations required
  

• Why the app launched in Coronado, CA and what’s next for nationwide expansion
  

• How Valor is helping small businesses give back to the military community year-round

Featured GuestGrant Vermeer is a Navy veteran, Naval Academy graduate, and active-duty Navy spouse. He’s part of the founding team behind Valor, a free app that automates military discounts and cashback for verified service members, veterans, and spouses. He also hosts The Academy Insider podcast, supporting midshipmen and their families through life at the U.S. Naval Academy.

Whether you’re a new Navy spouse, a seasoned partner, or a supporter of the Navy community, this episode offers inspiration, history, and a reminder that you’re never navigating this life alone.

Resources & Links:

• Learn more about Valor: www.joinvalor.com

• Download the Valor App: Available on the App Store & Google Play

• Listen to The Academy Insider podcast

Stay Connected With Us:

• NSFL Website

• NSFL Facebook

• NSFL Instagram