Friday Chit Chat: Kid Snacks & John Wick Receipts

Summary

Office Ladies – Friday Chit Chat: Kid Snacks & John Wick Receipts

Date: January 30, 2026
Hosts: Jenna Fischer, Angela Kinsey
Guest Contributors: Matt (co-producer), Sam (audio engineer)

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Overview

In this special Friday Chit Chat episode, Jenna and Angela catch up on personal adventures, relive hilarious “John Wick” podcast lore, and field a listener question about busting out of kid snack ruts. They banter about friendships, behind-the-scenes stories, viral Office Ladies reels, and swap real-life parenting hacks—all in their signature warm, witty style.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Jenna’s Couples Artist Retreat

[01:27 – 02:54]

• Jenna just returned from a two-day trip to New York with her husband. She jokes it was a “couples artist retreat” packed with reading, theater, good food, and deep conversation.
  • Jenna: “It was just two days of reading books, seeing theater, eating food, just like, immersing in really cool conversations.” [01:41]
• They saw “Bug” by Tracy Letts on Broadway, describing it as both a horror story and a love story about ideas as much as infestation.
  • Jenna: “What happens when you get infected with an idea and you’re just living in an echo chamber. It’s so good.” [02:35]
• Angela reflects on how their podcast partnership allows one to step away and the other to “keep the lights on.”
  • Jenna: “One of my favorite things about our partnership is how one of us can go off and have a moment…and we’ve got this other person who keeps the lights on.” [02:57]
  • Angela: “I was happy to do it, lady. You’ve done that for me so many times.” [03:14]

2. Social Media Wins & Behind-the-Scenes Memories

[03:27 – 04:40]

• Shout out to the Office Ladies social media team for reaching over 100 million reel views in less than a year.
  • Jenna: “We have over 100 million views and we haven’t even been doing reels and stuff for even a year.” [03:53]
• Angela discusses sharing her “digital clutter” of old on-set videos, promising new, unreleased Office footage.
• A favorite reel: footage from pandemic-era podcasting inside closets, which segues to the infamous John Wick debate.

3. The Legendary John Wick Podcast Disagreement

[05:00 – 11:01]

• A listener (Alix) writes in to clarify an ongoing John Wick debate: did Jenna really direct Angela to watch all the John Wick films?
  • Angela admits she took a casual remark as “marching orders.”
    • Angela: “I clearly took this as marching orders. Like, okay, Jenna’s gonna watch John Wick. I’m gonna watch John Wick.” [07:02]
  • Jenna reads from the transcript:
    • Jenna: “Maybe I’ll watch John Wick next.” [06:35]
    • Angela’s husband dissuaded her because he thought they’d be too intense.
  • Memorable Moment: The group laughs over their escalating misunderstanding, and how John Wick “became such a huge part of our friendship.” [07:08]
• Jenna confesses she only finished the first film later, started the second with Angela, skipped the third, but they all saw John Wick 4 in a “4D theater” where the seats moved—reminiscent of amusement park rides.
  • Jenna: “The seat was moving the whole entire movie. And there was that long scene at the end, the stairs, where he can’t get up the stairs.” [07:53]
• Everyone riffs on absurdities of the franchise: endless rave scenes, assassins in dress shoes, flip phones, and “orthotic” concerns.
  • Angela: “Like, it’s like so much running in dress shoes without—without orthotics. You know those can’t fit in those shoes.” [08:50]
  • Jenna: “Angela, I love that you’re worried about his orthotics. That’s very you.” [09:00]
• The mystical “John Wick towel” legend: Jenna’s obsession with Wick’s tidiness leads to her using Angela’s mom’s handmade trivet next to her coffee pot.
  • Angela: “You said, Angela, we put it next to the coffee pot because John wicked us.” [10:19]

4. Listener Question: Breaking Out of Kid Snack Ruts

[11:01 – 17:53]

• Leah from Connecticut asks for “quick and easy snacks your kids loved,” seeking to overcome her toddler’s “snack rut.”
• Angela and Jenna swap stories and hacks (with Matt chiming in):
  • Jenna: Her kids loved Trader Joe’s Rosemary Crackers—until they suddenly didn’t. Then moved to frozen blueberries, frozen peas, and banana slices with peanut butter and a chocolate chip.
    • Jenna: “My kids loved just straight frozen blueberries. My daughter still likes them. They also love frozen peas.” [14:15]
  • Angela: Heart-shaped PB&Js, homemade fruit sorbet (just freeze fruit and scoop), and “octopus hot dogs”—pasta threaded through hot dog slices.
    • Angela: “Our kids loved that. And they would put a little bit of honey.” [14:44]
  • Matt: Apple and cheese “flowers”—alternating slices in a petal shape. [13:27]
  • All: GoGo Squeeze applesauce in a pouch, Cheez-Its, fruit snacks, granola bars.
  • Jenna plugs Jennifer Garner’s “Once Upon a Farm” organic snacks.
• Angela’s parenting fail: Trying to pass off baked cauliflower as “popcorn.”
  • Angela: “She was little… I was like, Isabel, you want to try this? It’s like a type of popcorn…She was furious. I was like, oh, crap.” [16:42]
• Creative feeding: plates designed like racetracks with covered treats as an incentive for new foods. Success is “short-lived” but fun.
  • Jenna: “These plates work once, maybe twice. Right. Like, they work for a hot second.” [17:56]

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Notable Quotes

• Jenna: “To me, it’s a love story. But it’s also like what happens when you get infected with an idea and you’re just living in an echo chamber.” [02:35]
• Angela: “I clearly took this as marching orders. Like, okay, Jenna’s gonna watch John Wick. I’m gonna watch John Wick.” [07:02]
• Jenna: “Somehow...these John Wick movies have now become such a huge part of our friendship.” [07:08]
• Angela: “If you want to meet an assassin, go to a rave.” [08:14]
• Angela: “So much running in dress shoes without—without orthotics. You know those can’t fit in those shoes.” [08:50]
• Jenna: “Angela, I love that you’re worried about his orthotics. That’s very you.” [09:00]
• Angela: “You said, Angela, we put it next to the coffee pot because John wicked us.” [10:19]
• Jenna: “These plates work once, maybe twice. Right.” [17:56]

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Timestamps of Key Segments

• [01:29] – Jenna’s “couples artist retreat” recap
• [03:37] – Shoutout to Block Party social media team: 100 million reel views
• [04:53] – Introduction of the “John Wick debate” reel
• [05:29] – Listener letter clarifies John Wick podcast lore
• [06:36] – Scripted recap of the original John Wick conversation
• [07:53] – John Wick 4D theater experience and franchise absurdities
• [10:19] – The “John Wick towel” story and Angela’s quilted trivets
• [11:01] – Fan question: Kid snack rut solutions
• [13:27] – Matt’s apple and cheese snack hack
• [14:15] – Jenna’s favorites: frozen blueberries and peas, banana/peanut butter snack
• [15:00] – Octopus hot dog lunch hack
• [16:42] – Angela’s popcorn/cauliflower fail
• [17:16] – Incentive racetrack plates for trying new foods

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Final Remarks

Angela and Jenna close out the chat with well-wishes to all parents in the snack trenches, laughing about the unpredictability of kids’ appetites and their own parenting experiments. The episode is a heartwarming, laughter-filled check-in brimming with behind-the-scenes nuggets, friendly ribbing, and relatable real-life advice.

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Episode summary by Office Ladies Podcast Summarizer

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

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[A]

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[B]

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[A]

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[B]

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[A]

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[B]

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[A]

Yes, and I like that it's reversible. You can, like, pick which way you want it to go.

[B]

Macy's has all the things you need to make little changes to your beauty rituals that can make you feel that much better.

[A]

Shop now@macy's.com or in store.

[B]

Hello, everyone. Welcome to another Friday chit chat. This is two in one month. Thank you, Macy's.

[A]

Thanks, guys. You know what, can I just say before we get going on this chit chat? That you look really refreshed.

[B]

Do I?

[A]

You do.

[C]

How.

[A]

How was your trip to New York?

[B]

Yeah, I just got back from a little couples artist retreat with Lee. We went to New York.

[A]

Couples artist retreat.

[B]

That's what I'm calling it. And I want to do more of these. It was just two days of reading books, seeing theater, eating food, just like, immersing in really cool conversations. I mean, I was reading this book and I came across a line in the book and I was like, lee, can we unpack this line?

[A]

This is you like your absolute happy place.

[B]

I loved it. It was romantic. It was uplifting. We saw this play. We saw Bug. It's still out. You can still catch it on Broadway. It was written by Tracy Letts years ago, but it's still so relevant. This couple, they're in a motel and they start to believe that they're infected with bugs.

[A]

Oh, gosh.

[B]

And they are falling in love at the same time. And to me, there's some stuff I had to watch, like, through my fingers, like a horror movie.

[A]

Almost all I can picture is Jim saying to Dwight, was It Smug. Oh, yeah.

[B]

Smug bedbug.

[A]

A smug bedbug.

[B]

Yes. You're so right. But no, to me, it's a love story. But it's also like what happens when you get infected with an idea and you're just living in an echo chamber. It's so good. We absolutely loved it. But yes, I had a great trip. And Angela, that was thanks to you.

[A]

Oh, come on.

[B]

It was. I want everyone to know that one of my favorite things about our partnership is how one of us can go off and have a moment. Maybe it's to work on a creative project or even just do a home project or whatever it is. And we've got this other person who keeps the lights on. And you kept the lights on while I was gone.

[A]

Well, I was happy to do it, lady. You've done that for me so many times. I remember there was a weekend where I was like, I just need to see my mom. I just gotta get eyes on her.

[B]

I remember that.

[A]

And we moved things around so I could just go sit with Birdie Jo.

[B]

I loved it. And I wanna give you another shout out, actually, lady. Oh, I wanna give a shout out to you and to our amazing social media team, Block Party.

[A]

Oh, they're so great.

[B]

You have been running point on this and I just have loved what you guys have been doing. Did you tell me recently that we have over 100 million downloads on our reels in less than a year?

[A]

Views, I guess. Views, yes.

[B]

Not downloads. You don't download a reel. This is why you're in charge of this.

[A]

No, I mean, I am not that tech savvy. I lean very hard on Claire and Eitan at Block Party. They are so fun. They have a lot of great ideas. And yeah, we have over 100 million views and we haven't even been doing reels and stuff for even a year. I, you know, I just had a meeting with him and I have to tell you something, lady. I introduced them to my digital clutter.

[B]

Oh, my gosh. What does that mean?

[A]

Well, hopefully I haven't scared them away. I made this folder. I have so many videos from us on set. You do behind the scenes moments, pictures. So they're going to start making some really fun reels with these old little moments of us on set, lady.

[B]

I have some of that stuff too. I got to send it to you because it's priceless.

[A]

Yeah. Oh, send it.

[B]

Oh, I love this. Well, speaking of throwbacks, there's actually a really hilarious reel that went up today and it's one of my Favorites. It's from when we were podcasting in our closets during the pandemic.

[A]

Right?

[B]

It's our John Wick.

[A]

Our John Wick debate.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Yeah, they had a lot of fun putting that together. I was so glad we were over Zoom. I mean, obviously, I would love to be in person with you, but we have this video now.

[B]

Well, I think it's even funnier when you can see our faces. I love that we have it. It makes me laugh every time. But I do have something to share about the John Wick debate. A new development.

[A]

Wait, can I just tell you guys? This is when I wish we were filming? Maybe because Jenna just covered her mouth like. Like. Well, I have something to tell you.

[B]

Okay, well, I was in our general mailbox, and I found this letter. We got this letter from Alix. Lex says Jenna did not say she watched the John Wick movies on the podcast. She just said she was enjoying Keanu Reeves movies and she might try John Wick next. So I was like, wait. Because in this video, if you go watch it or if you guys remember, we get into this whole argument, because.

[A]

I say, jenna, I did what you told me. I watched all the John Wick movies. Right?

[B]

And I'm like, I never said that. Well, Aliex is confirming that I did not say that. So I had a little Detectives moment, and I found the episode of Office Ladies where we first discussed this. It was in the negotiation. And sure enough, Angela, it's actually your idea that you watch all the John Wick movies.

[A]

No, no, no. You say something like, you're gonna be a Keanu Reeves aficionado and you're gonna watch.

[B]

I have it. I wrote it down from the transcript.

[A]

Okay, let's read it.

[B]

Okay. I'm saying how Keanu Reeves movies are getting through the pandemic, and I say, quote, maybe I'll watch John Wick next. And then, Angela, you say, josh has seen all of them, but he said you probably shouldn't watch them because they'd be too intense for you. But then you say, quote, maybe I'll watch them with you. And I say, okay, cool. That's it.

[A]

That's it. I clearly took this as marching orders. Like, okay, Jenna's gonna watch John Wick. I'm gonna watch John Wick.

[B]

Yes. But can I just say, I absolutely love how somehow, between the two of us, these John Wick movies have now become such a huge part of our friendship. But, you know, something we've never shared on the podcast was how the three of us went and saw John Wick. Four in the theater. I didn't even. Never even saw two or three. I did finally finish all of one. I started two with you on our book writing retreat. Angela. We didn't finish it, skipped three. And then we went to see four in the theater. In one of those, like, 4D theaters where you're shining. Oh, my God, the seat was moving the whole entire movie. And there was that long scene at the end, the stairs, where he can't get up the stairs.

[A]

He can't get up the stairs. That was so much.

[D]

The movie's 90% stairs.

[A]

Yes, it is. He's this poor guy with so many stairs. And also, the thing that I grew to really appreciate about the John Wick movies since I've seen them all is how many assassins love a rave.

[D]

Flip phones.

[A]

Flip phones. But they love to go to a rave. If you want to meet an assassin, go to a rave.

[D]

The reason they hang out in suits.

[B]

They'Re so easy to spot. And they're not dancing.

[D]

Generally my takeaway from it. Do you remember? He's walking through. It's like an airport. And he's shooting at somebody. He's shooting in, like, a train station at somebody. But nobody else is aware of it. Nobody's like, hey, that guy has a gun. And then they. They stab each other on the train.

[B]

Oh, I don't remember. Was this in four?

[D]

I think it's the third one. I think it's the rave one is the one I'm thinking of.

[A]

Yeah. So many raves.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

So much running. So much running and running and then like, just everything.

[D]

And in dress shoes, too.

[A]

Literally, like, they throw everything at him but the kitchen sink. Like, it's like so much running in dress shoes without. Without orthotics. You know, those can't fit in those shoes.

[B]

Angela, I love that you're worried about his orthotics. That's very you.

[A]

Well, those dress shoes don't look comfortable to be that athletic in.

[B]

You're not wrong, Matt. I feel like we need to check in with you. Have you seen the John Wick movies?

[C]

So, guys, I have not seen the John Wick movies. Janet, can we just be real clear? Is this something I should do? What should I do next?

[A]

Well, it depends who you ask, I guess.

[B]

I'm leaving it up to you, Matt. I am definitely not going to mandate that you watch them, but you can see how much fun we're having with it, so. I don't know, Angela.

[C]

I want to see how it all works out with the shoes. So I'm in.

[A]

Okay. Matt, the other thing you should know, I know you're going to check out his shoes and all the running he does, but the thing that Jenna couldn't stop talking about, which is why I think that you had watched them all and that I was behind and I needed to go watch them, is the little towel that he has his, like, coffee pot or something next to the coffee pot.

[B]

You were very. His mugs.

[A]

His mugs. What? You would sit him on a towel and lady, I remember the day you came in because my mom had quilted us these little quilted trivets.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And I had given you one.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And you said, angela, we put it next to the coffee pot because John wicked us.

[B]

You're right. You're right. Yes.

[A]

I just have to go on record here. Ali X. You are right. I probably jumped ahead and thought Jenna had watched them all, but if you could have been here, Sam, when she talked about that towel and the little way she used my mom's clothes, the.

[D]

Way her face lit up, it was like this was the best movie she'd ever seen. If I had only known. She was 25 minutes into it.

[A]

I know I did.

[B]

I was so excited to share about the little towel that I failed to mention that we turned it off.

[D]

Yeah. That you hadn't actually seen the homework.

[A]

And I was like, oh, I'm back behind. I gotta go.

[B]

Well, like I said, I just love it. And I love that we have this. And if you want to see the video, it's on our office lady's Instagram. But now I think we need to get to our fan chitchat question. This one comes from Leah in Connecticut. Hi, Jen and Angela, this is Leah from Trumbull, Connecticut. I'm looking for some kid snack recommendations. My two year old gets in snack ruts. What are some quick and easy snacks your kids loved? Love the podcast so much. And a cool office name connection. My mom's name is Debbie Brown and my brother's name is Philip.

[A]

Thank you, Philip and Debbie Brown.

[B]

Oh, Debbie Brown. That's a deep cut.

[A]

That is. That's a good one. So, Matt, Jenna, you guys have younger kids? I have teenagers now, but I still remember some of our go to snacks.

[B]

Well, I can relate to the snack rut. Yeah, you know, because you'll have something that's tried and true and everybody loves it and then one day it's just rejected.

[A]

No one wants.

[B]

Nobody wants that thing anymore. I know. For example, my kids were really into those Trader Joe's Rosemary Crackers.

[C]

It's very sophisticated.

[B]

I know, but they have that little sweet cranberry or raisin in them, I guess. But those are the crackers that I ate by the box full during the Angela Martin bachelorette party when we were on set of the Office and Ellie and I ate so many of them that she sent me a giant jar of them for my birthday as a joke. And that's the first time my kids tried them was from the big thing that Ellie sent me. And then they fell in love with them. But then all of a sudden they hit a wall and then they wouldn't need them anymore.

[C]

For me, my kids, I have an 8 year old and a 6 year old and we get in meal ruts. Snacks. They eat the same snacks. I'm wondering if Leah, if the kids have tried Cheez its or fruit snacks, granola bars.

[A]

I mean, Leah, our kids love Go Go Squeeze. Do you remember Go Go Squeeze. It's basically like applesauce, but it's in a little pouch and they can unscrew the top and it's easy for them to hold and they just squeeze it in their mouth.

[B]

And doesn't Jennifer Garner have like a whole line of like delicious, organic, squeezable snacks? Once Upon a Farm. I follow her on Instagram. You know, she's such a doll.

[A]

Yeah, I do too.

[B]

And she's always talking about them. But you know, my kids are older now. That wouldn't be for them. I don't know how old Leah's kids are.

[C]

I've got a good snack rut breaker.

[B]

What is it?

[C]

This is something my mom used to give me and I give to my kids. It's healthy, nutritious, it's very sweet. It's an apple, cheese, flour, cut slices of apple slices of cheese and arrange them in a little petal formation alternating around.

[A]

That's very cute. I used to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and I had a little heart cookie cutter and I would cut them in a little heart. I do want to say this, that if you like to make sort of snacks at home and not buy them. And this is a very easy recipe, but our kids loved it when Josh, you pick whatever fruit that your kids love and he would make a homemade.

[B]

Sorbet where you freeze it, where you.

[A]

Freeze it and then you could scoop out a little bit. So we would do like strawberry or mango watermelon. And it's a very simple recipe.

[B]

Well, my kids loved just straight frozen blueberries. My daughter still likes them. They also love frozen peas. Oh, just A bag of frozen peas.

[C]

Rosemary crackers and frozen peas. Call it a day.

[B]

Well, and then their other favorite snack was if you slice a banana and they still eat this one too, and then you put a little dollop of peanut butter on each slice and then put a single chocolate chip on top. They love it.

[A]

Our kids loved that. And then they would put a little bit of honey. A little bit of honey. Yeah. And then now this isn't a snack, but it was like our go to lunch for so long. In fact, we made it one time and brought it over to your house, Jenna. And then your kids loved it.

[B]

Octopus hot dog.

[A]

So my husband called it octopus. And he would take hot dogs and cut them into little round pieces and then put the pasta through the middle, and then you just boil the whole thing. And then they just can pick it up and eat it with their hands too. When they're little, they just pick up the little octopus spaghetti hot dog thing.

[B]

I remember your son Jack introduced that to my kids and they flipped out for it.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So sweet. Well, I'm always looking for ways to avoid all of the, like, preservatives and additives that are in the kind of, like mass produced snacks. So one of the things my kids love also we would do these for breakfast, but they would also become a snack are mini pancake muffins.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

So I would just make a homemade pancake mix. I just found one on the Internet. I bake it in a mini muffin tin and then I pop the whole bag of those in the freezer and then you just get em out and you can put em in the microwave for five seconds and they're just like little. It's a pancake, but. It's a pancake muffin. But I made it at home, so there's no preservatives in it.

[A]

Yeah, no, those are great. Anything mini, like, that is so good. This was like a parent fail. I was trying to get Isabel to eat cauliflower, like to try it, and there's no way in heck she was going to eat cauliflower. She was little. So I read on some mommy blogger site that you can bake it, you know, with like a little bit of olive oil, a little bit of salt, and kind of tear it apart in little pieces. It kind of looks like popcorn.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

So I did that and I tried it. I thought it tastes great. I put it in a bowl and this is like, probably horrible parenting, but I was like, isabel, you want to try this? It's like a type of popcorn.

[B]

Oh, no.

[A]

So I should have never said, like, compared it to popcorn. So she puts it in her mouth and she goes, dad, not popcorn. She was, like, furious. I was like, oh, crap. But, yeah.

[B]

Have you seen those plates that they've made now to help your kids at dinner time, where it looks like a little racetrack and you fill in the little spots with different foods, and then when they get to the end, there's, like, a little covered spot, and you take the COVID off and it reveals a treat. Like, that's where the little dessert is.

[A]

Oh, my gosh. This feels a little bit like dog training or something.

[B]

Well, we got these when our kids were little, and what we did was we alternated between, like, two things we knew were a winner and then, like, one new thing. So, you know, or one thing that maybe they weren't as enthusiastic about. So we'd put, like, you know, a little chicken, a little macaroni, and a piece of broccoli, and then a chicken nugget, macaroni, piece of broccoli. And you go down the little line until you get to whatever the treat was, but the treat's covered up, so there's like, it kind of made it to.

[C]

Can they just lift it before they could?

[B]

Yes. As things go, these plates work once, maybe twice. Right. Like, they work for a hot second. But that was another little thing we did. And every once in a while, they'd get excited about it. They'd be like, oh, can we do the race car plate again? Sure.

[A]

Yeah, sure.

[B]

Try it.

[A]

We sort of went all over the place, but we just hope you're well, and we hope your kids are happy, and we hope there's a snack here that you heard that you can try at home.

[B]

Yes. Tell them the office lady's set to try it.

[A]

Oh, no.

[B]

Well, everyone, I think that wraps it up.

[A]

Yeah. Thanks for hanging out with us on this Friday chit chat. We hope you have a great one.

[B]

We'll see you next week. Thank you for listening to Office Ladies.

[A]

Office Ladies is a presentation of Odyssey and is produced by Jenna Fisher and Angela Kinsey.

[B]

Our senior producer is Matt Beagle. Our audio engineer is Sam Keefer, and our associate producer is Ainslie Bubaco.

[A]

Odyssey's executive producer is Leah Reese Dennis.

[B]

Office Ladies was mixed and mastered by Bill Schultz.

[A]

Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton.