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
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Homemade 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 hubub that comes ... 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
20 Healthy Fast Breakfast Ideas for Busy School Mornings
Busy school mornings mean healthy breakfast ideas. Here is an awesome list of 20 fast breakfast options for school, ready in less than 5 minutes and bursting with flavor! Options like blueberry baked oatmeal and easy-to-make smoothies. Duhn-duhn-duhn. Here we are again, at the start of another school year. Start your day with alarm clocks, school lunches, and homework. Are you ready? I know I'm ... 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 o's ... Continue Reading
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
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
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