If cooking everyday meals for your family feels like you're fighting for a place at the parenting world championships, you're not alone.
A recent Ipsos survey found that 91% of Canadian parents feel stressed trying to balance cooking with everything else in their day. For many, it also comes with guilt — 72% of moms say they feel judged if they're not meeting traditional expectations like cooking meals from scratch, and 59% of moms say they feel pressure to appear "perfect" across parenting, household responsibilities and self-care.
But there's more than one way to feed your family good, tasty food that's made with love. And that's exactly what M&M Food Market is getting at with "homemade-ish."
With a homemade-ish dinner, you start with a prepared meal from M&M Food Market and then make it your own by sprinkling on a little more care. Think garnishing the Loaded Perogy Bake with a sprinkle of freshly picked dill or leaving the Slow Cooked Beef Pot Roast in the oven just a little longer and serving it with carrots, potatoes and rosemary.
The homemade-ish approach is less about convenience and more about confidence. By making a few smart choices, like letting M&M Food Market set you up with an assist, you can serve something you feel good about, even if it didn't start from scratch.
Jessi CruickshankCourtesy of M&M Food Market
To bring that idea to life, M&M Homemade-ish is working with Canadian creator, comedian and mom Jessi Cruickshank. You may even have seen her handing out meals at Toronto's Union Station on March 23, 2026.
The one-day activation focused on reaching families in the middle of busy routines, with a reminder that putting a meal on the table can look different from day to day.
"Between hectic schedules, picky appetites, and the relentless pressure to get mealtime right, we recognize the heavy burden facing families every day," said Tammy Sadinsky, Vice President, Marketing and Innovation at M&M Food Market.
"Our Homemade-ish campaign celebrates authenticity and offers a gentle reminder to families that while cooking from scratch isn't always possible, you can still put real, delicious meals on the table that you can be proud of, and that's a win every family deserves."
If you want to explore the homemade-ish approach yourself, you can check out M&M Food Market's offerings online.