Meal Planning/Recipes

I am all for anything that will save time or make my life easier these days. It’s amazing how many things I *think* I will accomplish until all of the mundane day-to-day household and family responsibilities get in the way. Don’t get me wrong, I would much rather read stories and build towers with my kids than do dishes and laundry, but we do need clean dishes and clothes too. When I find a mom hack that works for us, I run with it.

Ah, February. The month of love and hearts and chocolate and roses and … Whew! With all that plugged into one month, it’s easy to understand why February is also American Heart Month. To help celebrate, our team of Mealtime Mentors has rounded up some of our all-t <p>Whew! With all that plugged into one month, it’s easy to understand why February also is American Heart Month. To help celebrate, our team of Mealtime Mentors has rounded up some of our all-time favorite heart h

I have decided to take a dose of my own medicine.  Before becoming a stay-at-home mom, I worked in a Preventive Cardiology clinic where, day in and day out, I helped patients set goals to better their own health.  The typical method I used when helping people set goals was to make a S.M.A.R.T goal.  

Is it just me, or does every mom dread a certain little question from their husband after a long day at work? Every day as I leave work and call my husband to ask about his day, I hear it: “What’s for dinner?” Now don’t get me wrong – my husband is great and helps cook meals too, but no matter who is cooking, he always has to ask the question, and it drives me crazy.

What you eat is probably top of everyone’s list when it comes to changes in a new year. We’re big fans of eating loads of fruits and vegetables, and we’ve come up with a variety of ways to do that. We’ve also worked hard to make it super simple for you to keep an eye on which produce items are at their peak each week by updating that information every week online here.

I did not grow up in a hunting family, and frankly, venison was an acquired taste. After 16 years of experimentation, I’ve learned to “hide” the flavor. To celebrate the kick off of rifle season, here’s my open face venison steak & onion sandwiches.

We recently asked our pediatrician to get in the battle, asking him to very clearly point out how important fruits and vegetables are to eat.  While his recommendation helped, ultimately it is still up to me and my husband to get our four-year-old, Elsie, to eat well.  So, I have enlisted some of my favorite kitchen gadgets to make fruits and vegetables more appealing.

I will let you in on a little secret.  I am the chaotic mom in this story.  Between work, school, baseball, golf lessons, swimming lessons and a traveling husband, life is chaotic.  As strange as it may sound, Costco understands my chaos and helps make life easier.</p>

Packing a school lunch for the first time. Should be easy, right? Thoughts rush into my head of other people actually seeing what I feed my child at home — some days are great, I am supermom — I actually made dinner that night (rare occasion). Most days are an agglomeration of what I know she likes and will eat, and me attempting to sneak in some veggies (nearly impossible).