What I cook & eat while working from home (and trying to eat healthy-ish)

This is what I cooked and ate on a day when I'm working from home. A mix of filming, making food, and writing up content.
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📃 RECIPE Link(s):
- How to make Tostadas: www.ethanchlebowski.com/cooki...
- Pasta Salad: www.ethanchlebowski.com/cooki...
📸 Instagram ➔ / echleb
🎚 TikTok ➔ / ethanchlebowski
🐣 Twitter ➔ / ethanchleb
USEFUL KITCHEN GEAR
🌡Thermapen Thermometer: alnk.to/6bSXCCG
🍳 Made In Wok I use: bit.ly/3rWUzWX
🥌 Budget Whetstone for sharpening: geni.us/1k6kComboWhetstone
🧂 Salt Pig: geni.us/SaltContainer
⚖ Scale: geni.us/FoodScale
🍴 Budget 8-inch Chef's knife: geni.us/BudgetChefKnife
🔪 Nicer 8-inch Chef Knife: geni.us/TojiroChefKnife
🧲 Magnetic Knife Rack: geni.us/MagneticKnifeRack
🥘 Cast iron griddle: geni.us/TheCastIronGriddle
📄 Baking Sheet: geni.us/NordicBakingSheet
🛒 Wire Rack: geni.us/WireRack
🍳 Saucepan: geni.us/Saucepan
🪓 Woodcutting board: geni.us/SolidWoodCuttingBoard
⏱ TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Morning
4:54 Snack
6:24 Lunch
8:45 Afternoon
12:30 Dinner
🎵 Music by Epidemic Sound (free 30-day trial - Affiliate): share.epidemicsound.com/33cnNZ
MISC. DETAILS
Music: Provided by Epidemic Sound
Filmed on: Sony a6600 & Sony A7C
Voice recorded on Shure MV7
Edited in: Premiere Pro
Affiliate Disclosure:
Ethan is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to [Amazon.com](amazon.com/) and affiliated sites.

[@maymorning8504]

I admire your approach to balance in your life. Answering emails and texts twice a day and ignoring messages outside of that, having a work uniform for your channel, making time for structured workouts, outdoor time and pure leisure activities like video games. The work and life divide are clear and I just love that there is room for everything you want to do without any one thing taking over. Really inspirational!

[@EthanChlebowski]

It's been something I've been working on in the past year, so glad I could share! I definitely was having some blurred lines with my work life balance, but it's much better now. I feel like I'm able to do more in less time which is great 🤝

[@mrcx6142]

@@EthanChlebowski I admire your approach and your dedication as well. All those little things you've incorporated are very healthy habits and especially powerful at preventing or even combatting certain mental-health related issues that can arise, particularly when working from home with a very flexible timetable. Great work even outside of your content.

[@invioletlight1930]

@@EthanChlebowski when is your Apex Legends clips channel going up? Haha. Agreed with all above, great video.

[@HeatherPack]

A dedicated tostada video? Yes please! I had no idea you do all your own filming. That’s amazing.

[@nunyabusiness4606]

Yes, would love to see a video on tostadas, I've only had a mediocre frozen one from trader joes, I'm sure Ethan's is tastier and cheaper.

[@coachaarsh]

with how you wanna try short form, it might be the best way to do a tostadas video too :-D

[@thefarmingnurse]

Grocery shopping is great and I am teaching my kids how to as well. This is not a judgmental statement directed at parents who let your kids have devices to try and keep peace while shopping, but know that your kid is missing out on important values. Spend time with them looking at the prices and quality and the nutritional facts and ingredients. Talk through purchases. They’ll be better shoppers and more capable on their own

[@rai1879]

Can attest to this, because of cultural upbringing I was always at the market and grocery with grandma and my mom. But my brother never went, and now as adults poor guy 1. Gets lost and overwhelmed 2. Just buys something in the cereal and instant ramen aisle and goes home 😢 Tried to help him once but he was very mean about it 😅😂

[@ymarkone]

I was lucky! I was the first one home when I was in middle school. So Mum always left a note on the fridge so I knew what I was supposed to start for dinner. Surprisingly, I fell in love with cooking and have always enjoyed it (so much so that I refused to do it as a job). I don't know many 12 year olds that would be excited to get an electric wok for his birthday (1970's). So I made the decision to go grocery shopping with my parents and learned so much. You're so right!!! This is a life skill that should be taught to children as is cooking. I grew up knowing so many teenagers that had no idea how to cook and I just couldn't understand how they were going to live once they left home. I have now fell in love with ALDI for the simple reason that they make shopping even easier by restricting your choices. I no longer have to look at 40+ different types of salad dressing and then make a decision, I simply look at the 8-10 options and the decision is so much easier.

[@556musicman]

YES! I am not a parent myself, but as a person who was once a child, grocery shopping with Mom was absolutely one of my favorite activities, and it still is! Just like you said, I learned how to read nutrition labels, understand pricing (sometimes the small box of cereal is CHEAPER per serving than the big box, etc) learn how to pick good fruits, veggies, meats, etc. Shopping time was also full of great lessons on how to interact with people, be kind to the store employees and fellow shoppers, be aware of your surroundings, and so much more. Grocery shopping is literally one of my favorite things to do. If I had a kid, I would love to share that experience.

[@lisapop5219]

True. Learning how to shop with our moms helped us out tremendously when we were newly married and broke. By the time our kids were teenagers, they knew all about sales, loss leaders, unit prices etc. It became more like a game. And this is from someone who hates shopping lol

[@cassandrarohland1956]

Good reminder!! I forgot It is a life skill like cooking is. They are going with me this weekend 🙂 and working on grocery list for the weeks’ dishes.

[@aliabdaal]

Super interesting look into your day ❤

[@allyeatworld]

Ali Abdaal watches Ethan??? would be super curious to see if there's potential for some kind of collab here 😋

[@alex-c808]

@@allyeatworld how i make cooking as productive as possible with ethan chlebowski

[@caseyfeskens]

My brain can't handle short form so much, but I'm old and really enjoy your long form videos for learning things. I will watch your short form videos just because I like watching you, so for me, just a quick entertainment clip is great. Keep up the good work!

[@muraddiab6393]

I started learning how to cook at the start of the pandemic when my mom got cancer. During that time grocery shopping became one of my favorite things to do. For my mom’s last Eid celebration I made your Indian shepherd’s pie. It was a hit with the whole family.

[@barbhuber7502]

Yes! I love to make tostados. Give us more ideas

[@thewiirocks]

A tostada video is not an option. It’s a requirement!

[@MrBraddizzle24]

I LOVE grocery shopping. Definitely get in a zen state of both grabbing stuff from the list and wandering around to find foods that look interesting. A tostada video would be amazing! You always make weeknight planning and figuring out meals on the fly look very doable. I think I always get stuck with the same old options and throw something from the freezer in the air fryer, but just combining different pantry staples with fresh ingredients you have on hand is amazing.

[@soniccookie655]

You most definitely excel at long-form content, it’s elegant and works great for delivering good educational content. What I’ve been seeing some creators do is make short-form content _about_ their long-form content, mini introduction videos to their full-size videos to hook you (see: Johnny Harris), or fun snippets of what it’s like filming their other videos (see: Safiya Nygaard) or just something they enjoyed, like how you showed off the apple section of the grocery store in this video, or the exotic fruits! Those would be fun to see in a short where they don’t fit into a full video.

[@Homer-OJ-Simpson]

El Milagro is from Chicago and legit the best tortillas and tostadas. No preservatives and taste like good corn (maize). Glad they expanded outside of the Chicago vicinity.

[@wcrb15]

My grocery delivery a couple weeks ago replaced the honeycrisp with jazz apples and they were delightful. Highly recommend.

[@syd2248]

Love the vibe of this vlog in particular. I think what I appreciate is the talking, into voice over, into no talking and subtitles…it’s a pretty nice mix.

[@beauvogames]

I personally prefer long form but short form can be fun too. I think if something takes less than a minute to convey or can naturally condense into something less than a minute then that's cool, such as "here's a cool kitchen hack" or a kind of teaser for the long form video that accompanies it, that's all perfect. But a short where e.g. a cake is baked will just be like "BUTTER! SUGAR! MIX! EGGS! MIX! FLOUR! BAKING POWDER! MIX! PAN! OVEN! BAKE! COOL! FROST!" It feels like it's rushed and there'll be a million details it'll miss such as the quantities or how long to leave it to cool for before frosting or indicators that it's baked properly or other little tips and tricks and ingredient swap outs along the way... it feels like less of a product and not because it's short but because it's lacking, focusing on style over substance.

[@igeorge25]

Love this kind of content! The behind the scenes is so intriguing, and really makes me appreciate how much time and effort you put into such amazing content

[@falconzone1]

Love your videos man!! You always include as much detail as possible, like the amount of $ and nutrition we can expect to get out of the meals you make! Your videos have been instrumental in helping me to cook affordable homemade meals that make me feel energized/productive 😊❤️ keep it up!!!

[@Hazama27]

I, personally, prefer long form content because I primarily watch makers and crafters to learn something and I believe the videos should be as long as required to convey the necessary information. As you said, I don't typically remember much of the five minute videos made purely for entertainment (many of them employ speed-up and jump editing), but I have been learning a lot from KZbinrs through 20+ minute videos that dive into the work and explain the process.

[@nunyabusiness4606]

Just discovered your content and I want to say that I really like it. I appreciate the food science explanations, understanding how a recipe works is crucial to being able to make modifications & creating your own stuff.

[@bsteven885]

YESSS!!! 😀 DEFINITELY do a dedicated tostada video -- what a great way to satisfy a tortilla chip addiction with an ACTUAL meal! 😋 Have a great week!!

[@dubro257]

I love the quick easy meals and definitely enjoy long form videos. Thank you for the great content!

[@MrAshura17]

Yes, please, a tostada video would be awesome.

[@charlyloh2656]

I am also Team long-form content.. i just love it to tune into one of your videos and just do chores next to it and listening to your tipps meanwhile.. please keep up the amazing work 😍

[@therinsig]

Super jealous of people whose "work from home" situation allows them to go grocery shopping in the AM, go on walks and take Yoga classes. lol. Good video Ethan! Forget short form, stick to these awesome 10-20 minute vids.

[@OrigamiMarie]

I really like grocery shopping. When I was little, I found it really boring. But now I enjoy seeing all the options, looking at the pretty food, contemplating what I want to make out of the unexpected tasty looking produce, etc. I find short-form videos to sometimes be useful for discovering new creators, but other than that, they just seem like empty calories. There's just not enough time in a short video to learn or understand anything. Or even enjoy anything really deeply.

[@GeorgeWescott]

Definitely the long form videos is what I enjoy. I love the time you spend on them and all the information. I have become a much better home cook because of your videos.

[@ewwmin3m]

It's nice that even though you're alone you have such high quality content. Unlike some other cooking KZbinrs who've turned into big pretentious Dbags. And I'm glad you're resisting the fad of shorts and keeping it in depth and educational. Keep up the good work. Also I'm glad to see you're a Logitech fan. So am I.🎉🎉🎉

[@andrewbenzin6980]

For cooking shows I am not a fan of short form. Love what you are currently doing, especially the deep dives.

[@keithlewis9621]

That type of Iced Coffee that James Hoffman highlighted is a Kyoto Style Iced Filter Coffee and is absolutely my favorite way to make my coffee. Highly recommend for anything wanted to get into coffee. Also, please hit us with a tostada video!

[@Robzooo7]

Agree on both the Hoffman ice coffee is great and yeah tostada!

[@boartank]

In James we trust in anything coffee related

[@avidworkslol]

Kyoto iced coffee is soooo much better than cold brew.

[@arriannahamrah4410]

Such amazing content! Love videos like this!

[@kyda__]

Mannnnn! Beyond your cooking content and knowledge, the way you run your life is incredible. I really appreciate your outlook on even minor things like pushing off notifications to focus on what you structured your day around. You’re an awesome dude keep doin ur thang man. 🤟😁✨

[@joshkaiser6755]

I love your videos man! You’re an inspiration. As a college guy who loves cooking and fitness, I look forward to your videos every week

[@VictorMTaveras]

I have been looking for a good pasta salad bowl to make and that 3rd recipe is 🔥🔥🔥 Definitely going to make it this week.

[@jamesevans909]

Been eating a lot of tostada's lately. A video on just them would be great. I've got a thing of Guerrero tostada shells that are seasoned with tajin. They are really good.

[@lorel747]

Thanks a lot! Had been waiting for a video like this for a while. Great quality, keep it up dude!

[@motivationforlife526]

Man I hope you start posting more videos like this. Just neat ways to spend my lunch break seeing how to eat better throughout the day

[@zheros81]

I like the longer form videos much, much more than short form. However, I totally get that short form is wildly popular right now, so do what you like! Question: How often do you go to the grocery store? I find I'm there twice a week, but I'm curious about others.

[@monicatoro2286]

I love cooking so much, and getting to see new ingredients and check on new products, that going grocery shopping might be one of my favourite things to do. Also I live Colombia so the variety of vegetables and fruits through the whole year is always endless.

[@mariafemina]

Love your shorts! Already rewatched some of them. I think you deliver *the* best ideas for fast lunch/dinner and the short form fits such content well

[@OGeeB9340]

I love grocery shopping! I like to read labels, get ideas for meal prep and find new stuff. I work at a grocery store which makes it tricky cuz I feel like I’m at work but earbuds and a good podcast help make it leisurely again.

[@ulfricstormcloak4230]

Thanks so much for making this, i find them very inspiring and motivating!

[@RickTexas]

I like grocery shopping. I check all the labels for new items I buy to check nutritional information. I would love to see a Tostada video. I am hooked on the queso tostadas that Casa Ole have. I also really like their green sauce for dipping chips. I like both your long form and short form videos. I think you are correct, some videos don't need to be long form.

[@claudinedecarlisle8647]

What a fun and interesting glimpse into your life. Thanks. I do not watch shorts. Love your full length informative videos and I learn a lot.

[@Sweetness72]

Grocery shopping is one of my favorite activities and is really comforting. I live about 5 minutes from my local spot and tend to go daily or every other day to keep cooking inspiration fresh!

[@arribalaschivas91]

I’ve reintroduced tostadas into my life recently (because it was a staple of my childhood but only started cooking more and eating out less recently, partly thanks to this channel). I now have a tostada almost daily for lunch because it’s really easy to just make a variety of shredded meat at once, freeze it in packs, thaw it out and assemble it for daily variety.

[@JCrozier1]

I definitely like this a day in the life of type video. It's not always just the exact, to topic content. It's nice to get to know the creator a little more.

[@Black_Sail_Demon]

Short form content has its place in cooking content. I've found some decent recipes for dips and sauces through shorts. But intensive cook recipes don't work well. I love your long-form content. I've really enjoyed you recording all angles and without cuts (without cutting the "boring stuff") while cooking. It has helped me refine my methodology and task management.

[@ninageishecker4136]

I love how you love your food! I’m definitely in the long videos with all the ‘nerd’ content!!

[@Symphonixz]

love these chill videos, nice stuff! Good organized day.

[@legendarygary2744]

Late to the party, but I love that you have both long and short form videos. The deep dives are always fantastic, but the shorts are awesome to have in between the longer videos.

[@OverlordMaggie]

Ah! Jazz apples are my favourite! Excellent with some peanut butter spread over some wedges. As for shorts, I don't tend to care for them personally, the longer form videos help give me a lot of context that helps me actually remember the content way better. I love the deep dives but shorts may be good to highlight a specific knife skill, ingredient, cooking technique, dish upgrade, etc.

[@Homer-OJ-Simpson]

Ethan, you have El Milagro out west? They are a somewhat small business from Chicago and up until 5 years ago, I only saw them in the Chicago area. They are the most popular tortillas and tostadas here because at least for the local market, no preservatives and has a true corn taste. Their flour tortillas might use preservatives, not sure.

[@chrisschoenthal3725]

I love grocery shopping! It's a very peaceful, relaxing activity for me. Also would definitely be in for a tostada variety video!

[@JayDeeDillaNL]

Love grocery shopping! Always feels like an adventure, especially in foreign supermarkets, but even my local supermarket I'm always thinking about potential meal ideas and checking for new products.

[@Makodestruction]

I'm glad that I'm not the only one. I do it with regular tortilla chips, but always throw together 'leftover' or 'fridge' nachos. Just add cheese, and whatever you got to the top of tortilla chips. Always great!

[@staciesabatino3817]

I enjoyed this video! Thank you for giving me an easy dinner idea that is so simply(chicken with pasta and veg)

[@tawnyshangri9373]

love this kind of videos dude keep m coming!

[@grandmundi7107]

I love grocery shopping and can spend 1-2 hours in the supermarket or a farmers market. It’s often the experience of weekly shopping that lets you form the sense of prices, quality and freshness of produce and other essentials, which my parents really stressed when they first brought me to the supermarket years ago and taught me to tell good produce from bad stuff. It’s been greatly beneficial since I migrated and you get not only good food but also good topics to talk about with people.

[@jessicamdenham]

Definitely got recipe inspiration from you. I’ve never cooked anything with a tostada and yours was looking so good 😋.

[@tlaren]

Love this video for a day in the life, and adding my vote to a tostada video! That sounds fantastic~

[@DayOwlify]

I think the short form videos are great for reinforcing any skills or ideas that you have taught in the long form videos.

[@grainofsalt2113]

love these glimpses into your day lol. more of these

[@anapinto8477]

I love your long form videos but i do also enjoy short form videos, especially for quick inspiration on what to cook and things like that, sometimes i dont wanna know all the components that go into a burger, i just wanna see some burger inspiration to decide what to make for dinner :)

[@kasperbj]

We want that coffee video !!🙌

[@tWALLACEimmGROMITy]

Another great video I love some of the behind the scenes / what i do in a day videos.

[@shreyverma464]

Love your videos! Keep it up! 🙌🙌

[@domonicramey3960]

Love these vids dude!

[@lxr_rl]

Love these!

[@ross2662]

I LOVE grocery shopping, especially love to explore a place I haven't been to before and just walk around and see what they've got.

[@KO-D00M]

Just made that quick “pasta salad” for lunch. It’s delicious! I used a different protein and vinegar substitute but it was just as quick as expected - plus having pre-chopped ingredients like onions makes it all the quicker.

[@jordy808.]

leaving for the grocery store shortly... going to be making that pasta salad for dinner tonight. thumbnail had me salivating!!! thank you! 🙏

[@eiracor]

Amazing job! Quickly turning into my favorite youtuber

[@Moto_Plus]

Ethan keep up the content, love this new format of this with just following you on your day to day. I'm ready for you to do shredded chicken tacos

[@christian8657]

Really enjoyed this video, I appreciate that you reflected on your day. It’s inspiring me to create my own content

[@luci4087]

i used your pasta salad recipe as a guide, and it came out delicious. thank you.

[@russellchung3119]

I like both long form and short form. But for informational videos like yours, I love that it is long form because it has so much attention to detail and shows the care you put into your videos. That care and detail makes your videos worth watching years down the line. Like I recently found your channel and I have been binge watching your older stuff. Long form better stands the test is time, imo

[@kevincoleman242]

Ethan, I've recently gotten into fitness and getting that protein in and I'd be interested to see a video on the science of protein, and some protein heavy meal ideas. I think it could make for an interesting video.

[@michaelduncan2759]

Yessir, I enjoy grocery shopping, more without a list, and seeing what inspires me. Hey could you possibly breakdown your family Kilbasa recipe? Please.

[@drive.science]

Yes we would like a dedicated tostada video. Ideally one where you talk about all the different toppings you typically use

[@KenderBard]

I love watching your videos, Ethan. Your love of food, the fact that you get to make it such a big part of your life, really speaks to me. I feel the same way! I also love that you seem to be following a similarish diet to me (go protein! Although you get more calories than I do, haha. I'm jealous!) And to answer your video question, I prefer long form videos. Short form is great for comedy skits, but for anything discussing a topic, I definitely prefer long form.

[@aarontom]

For food videos I don't care about short form EXCEPT when it is just a snippet/teaser of a long form video that informs me of a new long form video to watch.

[@abi516]

Love the layout of the video. Really refreshing Dedicated tostada video? Yes please!! Would also love it to have ideas of other than our usual toppings.

[@GDub180]

I really enjoy grocery shopping as well!!! I live a couple blocks from my grocery store (price chopper, Midwest rise up lol) so it makes grocery shopping super convenient. When I go to the store, I only re-up on staples (seasonings, oils, starches, etc.) and buy the ingredients for the meal I'm make that day.

[@KewlStoryBroski]

Absolutely love grocery shopping. I work at a grocery store 5 days a week and still come in on my weekends 😂! Food is the must fun thing to look for. Also definitely am a fan of long form content which is why I continually come to your channel instead of watching tv or scrolling TikTok

[@chrissuthers9654]

I enjoy watching your videos. I never watch the shorts thought - anyone's, not just yours. I find they are not worth my time. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us and a dedicated tostada video would be great.

[@aliyai123]

Love these vlog style videos every once and a while

[@michicrj]

I really enjoyed how this video felt a little more personal. For sure long form videos over shorts!

[@odonnb]

Would love a tostada video and can’t wait to see what the Thai sausage is about. I like shorts for quick inspiration or quick insights into foods that are new to me and then I find long video for better understanding.

[@TomPDB]

I LOVE grocery shopping, on my list I have the usual veg, fruit, meat etc, but I decide whatever those will be there and then and what I fancy cooking that week, I get a lot of thinking done during it also, almost therapeutic.

[@FunSpiritman]

Don't like grocery shopping in general. But a "day in your life" with shopping may be an inspiration. You do enjoy food! Thanx for this behind-the-curtain peek. Kitchen clean-up on the go is a must. Yeah, do a tostada video.

[@MichaelJohnson-vi6eh]

LOVE grocery shopping. I even like comparing prices on things. I do a balance of things to help the budget, good healthy things, and one or two yummy things just cuz I like them. I usually go Saturday afternoon after I have brunch so I am not hungry.

[@mikaelwink2217]

I prefer your long form videos. I’ve really enjoyed experimenting with fast easy recipes using stuff that’s already in my kitchen. I feel like there’s a lot in my cupboards with potential untapped.

[@dede4738]

A video on how to advance prep/freeze proteins for quick cooking would be so helpful. Thanks for considering.

[@erickf1919]

Keep up the long form videos it allows you to cover everything you want/need. Short form is probably best for kitchen and cooking tips.

[@PaulaBean]

Short form is the best for ADHD kids who lose interest in any subject after about 30 seconds.

[@erickf1919]

@@PaulaBean understandable but its hard to cover everything in a recipe in a short without also having to write out full instructions and items needed. Plus shorts arent as memorable and dont allow you to rewind a specific part of the video

[@DJ_UKINSELKA]

These kind of day in life videos are my favorites

[@ariyafujita1968]

OMG ETHAN, I would never think you'd be doing Thai sausages. By far, one of my favourite recipe already

[@saladbarlol]

Interesting that you're quick go-to for dinner is a pasta salad. I might need to start incorporating something like that for my weight loss journey. I'm currently doing something similar with browning ground beef with onions and peppers, adding whatever spices I'm in the mood for, toasting a cup of rice in the grease and steaming. Such a quick and easy weeknight meal that you can dress up with greens super easy, and store for future meals. Keep up the great work Ethan!

[@funkytrunkfashion]

I also love grocery shopping. It's kind of a meditation or something for me Tostada video!!!!❤❤❤ Also, I prefer long form but no qualms with shorts

[@24kbrown22]

I love Grocery shopping U have really inspired me to try different recipes with Good Macros Thanks E

[@aimeemorgado8715]

I work in the bakery of a major grocery chain. I HATE shopping 🛒 n my own store, but LOVE shopping most anywhere else. Farmer’s markets are the best. I seldom get to enjoy them, because of my work schedule. Coming up with a balanced tasty meal from what is fresh, ripe, on sale, or on hand is a creative outlet. Thanks to those of you who enjoy grocery shopping- you are our favorite customers. You like to share ideas, you are kind and patient, and I feel like we share the love of creating good food. If you don’t like to shop- please stop taking it out on the store staff. You won’t believe how hateful and truly nasty some people can be. So thank you Ethan and your viewers- you make my day.

[@randeenapp695]

Definitely want a tostada video - love them!

[@jculbert2221]

Very rarely watch short-form video. Love your work.