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 o's ... Continue Reading
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Easy Soft Pretzel Recipe
Ready for an easy soft pretzel recipe that comes out delicious and even smells like the ones from a pretzel shop? Try this easy recipe! You can make it Gluten-Free if you'd like, or even use healthy oat flour! 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. Yes, when the family snacks, 8 times out of 10, ... 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
Two Week School Lunch Meal Plan
Healthy school lunch menu ideas for kindergarten, high school, teenagers - kid-friendly for all ages, and picky eaters! Can be hot or cold, plus recipes like homemade spaghetti-o's and homemade cheez-its! When we switched from homeschool to a traditional school several years ago, I had NO IDEA how tricky and troublesome packing a school lunch could be. Sure I heard of some lunch-packing hacks for parents to ... Continue Reading
20 Healthy Fast Breakfast Ideas for Busy School Mornings
Busy school mornings mean healthy breakfast ideas. Awesome list of 20 fast breakfast options for school, ready in less than 5 minutes! Options like blueberry baked oatmeal and easy to make smoothies. Duhn-duhn-duhn. Here we are again, at the start of another school year. Back to starting your day with alarm clocks, school lunches, and homework. Are you ready? I know I'm not. We've had a great summer, ... 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 lunch ... Continue Reading
Easy and Healthy Homemade Gummies
If I could pick only one topping for frozen yogurt, it would be gummy bears. My whole life I've loved gummy everything. Bears, worms, sour... (sour patch kids were THE BOMB!). Now there's even "life saver" gummies and "jolly rancher" flavors too. Oh my. I'm not sure whether to rejoice at the myriad of gummy flavors out there (because they ARE my favorite you know), or be slightly disgusted that the corn ... 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 was ... Continue Reading
Five School Lunches in Less Than an Hour (free printable)
School lunches. Dun dun dun… They’re a plague on parents far and wide. Deciding what to pack, finding the time to pack, fighting the kids on what you just packed and potentially losing your pretty reusable containers to the school trash can. The whole thing is battle I’d rather not fight, but the kids have to eat and it’ll be goldfish and gummies if I don’t step in and do something. ... Continue Reading