Try this easy soft pretzel recipe for delicious, chewy pretzels that taste and smell like they’re straight out of the gourmet pretzel shop! You can even make these pretzels gluten-free! One of the questions I get most often is “What do you guys eat for snacks?” Unfortunately, my answer is quite plain and not very exciting: fruit. Since starting our real food journey several years ago, snacking has ... Continue Reading
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Two Week School Lunch Meal Plan
These healthy school lunch ideas work for kindergarten, high school, and everyone in between! Feed your kids real food that doesn’t break the budget, with these yummy kid-friendly recipes they’ll love to take to school. Enjoy Homemade Spaghetti-os, Homemade Cheez-its, and more! When we switched from homeschooling to a traditional school several years ago, I had NO IDEA how tricky and troublesome packing a ... Continue Reading
How to Make Nut Butter
This a simple recipe for homemade nut butter that can be swapped for any nut you have on hand. Make this into a PB&J and pair it with no-cook freezer strawberry jam and homemade sandwich bread! Let me preface this post with this statement: I am not a make-your-own-peanut butter type of gal. Oh no. I buy my all-natural peanut butter in bulk from Costco and don't mess with the commotion that ... Continue Reading
Turn Plain Cooked Oatmeal into Delicious Baked Oatmeal + 21 Recipes
Turn plain cooked oatmeal into delicious baked oatmeal with this simple conversion recipe, plus 21 BONUS recipes filled with delicious flavor combinations! Also, try out my chocolate leftover oatmeal cake and blueberry baked oatmeal. When the kids seem to tire of "regular" oatmeal, baked oatmeal comes to the rescue. I had been testing out a variation of carrot cake baked oatmeal, which the kids had ... Continue Reading
Homemade Fruit Leather and Fruit Roll Ups
Simple recipe for homemade fruit leather and homemade fruit roll ups. No sugar added and no dehydrator needed. Perfect for a snack or packed school lunch! After you've been reading food labels for a while, you start to become a bit immune to the junk that agribusiness puts in their "food-like products." Despite this, every now and then my eyes do a double-take and only one word can accurately describe what's ... Continue Reading
Classic Homemade Spaghetti O’s
I grew up loving spaghetti O's, but this homemade spaghetti O's tastes so much better and it’s much healthier than the store-bought version. Plus, it's super budget-friendly and always a family favorite! Confession: I love spaghetti O's. The kinda cheese-y but definitely tomato-y sauce with all the fun little noodle ‘O’ pasta shapes that would nestle into each other… I used to pick out all the tiny ... Continue Reading
The Ultimate Guide to Homemade Instant Oatmeal Packets
Homemade instant oatmeal packets are healthier and an easy way to fuel the kids before their day starts, and with the prep work done ahead of time, it makes mornings a bit smoother too! Try my oatmeal pancakes and read 20 healthy & fast breakfast ideas for busy school mornings. We love oatmeal at our house! My kids get excited when I make Instant Pot Oatmeal (adding fresh fruit as a topping), blueberry ... Continue Reading
The Best School Lunch Boxes (on a budget)
As of this post, I’ve packed over 1200 school lunches. (Yes, I know you can teach your kids to pack their own school lunches, but I’m not ready to let this part of my job go just yet.) I’ve packed for homeschool and traditional school, and I’ve even packed lunches for summer camps, hiking excursions, and 2500 mile road trips. I’ve packed for toddlers, elementary kids and adults (and have these 18 school ... Continue Reading
18 Hacks for Packing School Lunch – A Parents Guide
It's been one full week since my kids started school and oh.my.goodness. No amount of training or mental preparation could prepare me for the mother of all wrenches in your real food plans - a.k.a. packing school lunch. I mean, I THOUGHT I was prepared. I knew it would take work, some planning and a few cursory talks with the kids to make sure we were all on the same page... but in all seriousness, reading ... Continue Reading
Strawberry Chocolate Granola Clusters Recipe
Sha-blam! I have figured out the trick to crunchy granola CLUSTERS. That's what I shared on Facebook last week after discovering the two-part secret process (and secret ingredients!) to making homemade granola clusters. What you didn't see though is the BEAMING SMILE on my face behind the camera. First, I mastered the art of homemade granola clusters. A feat in itself, lemme tell you. Second, I ... Continue Reading