Veggies & Virtue

It can be such a challenge to come up with meal and snack ideas the whole family enjoys, especially if you have picky eaters at home. That's why, I love sharing this tip with families so that kids can get involved in an age-appropriate way, offering their suggestions and reducing overwhelm for moms. Eliminating mental fatigue of what to plan and prep each week is a must during the busyness of back...

Feeling in a rut and in need of new ideas for school lunches? Whether it is your first-time packing school lunches or you are a few weeks in and already feeling stuck, this episodes offers a simple mindset shift EVERY parent needs (myself included!). It is an easy concept to forget but also, one of the easiest shifts you can make to save your sanity, extend your food budget a bit further, and reve...

In this episode, I give you two tips that will keep your fruits and veggies from going bad before you eat them. Even if your weekly meal prep is less than 15 minutes, keeping this simple mantra in mind with transform how you prep your produce. Make it so your kids are no longer turning their noses up to moldy berries, dried out veggies, or groceries that go bad before they're even offered. Instead...

It's easy to say what it will be like as a parent...when you aren't yet a parent. But now, four years into being a mom of three kids, I am taking a quick minute to reflect on four key things I have realized as we move into our "oldest youngest's" 4th birthday. As we celebrate Owen this week, I open up about how our season as a family is finally changing, how my capacity feels like it is finally ex...

Piggy backing on episode 52, this episode gives you the quick and dirty stats on how the six bento boxes that our family has owned over the last six years rate in terms of: being the most kid-friendly, easy to clean, affordable, versatile, and durable. Having had experience with each and all of them now, I wanted to share a synopsis of how these compare so that you can shop according to what matte...

We are about to kick off our sixth school year with nothing less than... our sixth bento box! And while you shouldn't need to get a new bento box each year, I am in the business of testing these out. Both as a dietitian and a mom, I like to test out each and every product I share with my clients and community. So this episode will do just that! Sharing with you what I like (and what I don't), I di...

Anyone else remember when their child first learned about “needs” vs “wants?” I vividly remember it as one of the things my oldest took the most interest in during a parent-led instruction on the topic her kindergarten year. And even though our needs versus wants as adults are a bit more significant than the yearning for more art supplies or a new backpack in little kids, we too have to discern ou...

With everyone stocking up on back-to-school supplies, I wanted to share our five favorites for the upcoming school year. These are the ones you will see me share on social media throughout the coming year and ones that I have already found to be tried and true favorites after over five years of packing lunches for my family of five. Plus, I talk about the longevity of such items so you hear my per...

On this episode, we are going to talk about a voice message that I got from another mom. She asked if and how she and her husband can eat snacks in the presence of their kids (that they don't want or didn't plan to also offer to their kids). So, whether it is a sweet, a treat, or any food that parents keep in their "secret stash," this episode highlights four mistakes that parents often make when...

This time of year, it is easy to get sucked into saving all of these aspirational lunch box ideas (even if we know half of them our child wouldn't ever eat). We start the year strong and with good intent, but too often, our kids end up burnt out on the same PB&J every day before we even make it to Christmas break. That's why, in this episode, I want to give you my three-step plan to take BEFORE th...

It is hard to believe that we are gearing up for back to school already! And besides the fact that I would like each of you to be able to take advantage of the sales while items are still in stock, this episode is your friendly PSA to get anything you need for packing lunches ordered and in your hands ASAP! More specifically, I want you to get these items in your child's hands. Because bento boxes...

While there is a lot of fun that is being had in the summer, I know that bathing suit season can also expose our kids to some things we wish we could just put extra sunscreen on to protect our kids from, like fat-shaming and diet-culture. That's why in this episode, we talk about how to handle things like negative body image and/or inappropriate comments that are made in front of our toddlers and...

Recently, a mom asked me to share some “competitive” dairy free snack options that Owen likes. She shared how her daughter was newly dairy-free, and how the family was struggling to find snacks the little girl loves that also stand up to her friend's snacks at play dates etc. While I will do another episode on how to handle this in a school setting, in this episode I teased out some of my family's...

Recently, I posted on Instagram asking what questions you all had and would like answered on an upcoming episode. There was a staggering number of you asking how "bad" hot dogs, kielbasa, and summer sausages are for their families, what brands of hot dogs are best to buy, and if and how often you should be offering them if at all (amidst the endless grilling opportunities of summer). Like episode...

Summer travels are always fun, but often we can come home with little routine and a whole lotta laundry. That's why in this Mealtimes Made Easy episode, I share with you a real-life take on our return home from Tennessee - featuring a little something we brought back with us and are going to be enjoying at breakfast this week. My kids haven't eaten, slept, or operated like "normal" for over a week...

In today's episode, I cover a mom's question that came in here talking about how we set up a firm foundation for handling things like popsicles, ice cream, and all those really fun sweets and treats that come with summer (as well as throughout the year). Sharing that her daughter is, "still a bit young," she asked how I recommend handling this AND how I handle this personally within my own family?...

If you listened to episode 40, you know why I advise a bedtime snack being appropriate. If your family has decided to do a bedtime snack, you might still be wondering WHAT is a healthy bedtime snack for kids? Many parents want to know if offering this is creating a bad habit or how it can be something healthfully included in your family's routine, and my answer to that focuses on these two things....

Bedtime snacks are a particularly confusing time to feed our children. Because as parents, we all want our kids to just sleep through the night and not wake up complaining of hunger at any ungodly hour of night. However, when we put the time and energy into fixing a balanced dinner, and our kids don't eat it, it can feel so counter-productive to then offer a snack after what was otherwise "the fin...

I love nothing more than biting into the perfect watermelon. So as we celebrate all things RED, white, and blue for the 4th of July, what more iconic summertime food for us to talk about than watermelon? Except, I know a lot of people don't feel confident in picking out the perfect watermelon. Don't waste another minute thumping melons at the store. This episode covers 4 fool-proof tips that work...

I would love to be the dietitian whose kids ate anything and everything at a summer barbecue. From marinated meats to grilled veggies to an assortment of mixed pasta salads and fresh green salads, there are so many foods I love about summer...that my kids won't touch. I recognize that I am not alone in this, especially considering how many times I have seen parents carefully make a plate with the...

There is something to be said for the laid back, laissez faire attitude of eating an easy afternoon poolside. That's why in this episode, I outline the five tips every mom should think through when filling their pool bag with healthy snacks for kids. These are tried and true as a mom of three and have my stamp of approval as a dietitian. When used together, these tips will ensure your family has t...

Right before our third child was born, I had this random idea to convert the lowest drawer in our fridge to a “snack drawer.” This way, whether it be my parents helping with my older kids over snack time (while I was newly with the baby) or needing to reach for something satisfying myself, we had a kid-friendly snack drawer stocked with nourishing options at any given time. Since sharing about thi...

Whether your kids have been out of school for almost a month, or you are just starting your summer, Tuesday is officially to the first day of summer. And with that, I want to make sure that you are thinking of how you can create some easy wins when it comes to meals and specifically dinners this summer. Because with our schedule, and I know with so many other family schedules, there are a million...

Feeding our kids is A LOT like teaching them to swim. And as much as we might wish a sink or swim approach would work when introducing them to new foods, the frustration many parents face each day reiterates that forcing them to take a bite isn't a sustainable nor stress-free approach. Instead, much like taking our kids to the pool, there are some steps we need to go through in order for it to be...

Whether you are at home with your kids or want the flexibility and freedom of a spontaneous day in the sun, something many of us still feel stuck coming up with is lunch ideas! Because while we may not have to pack lunchboxes each and every day of summer, the daunting feeling of feeding our kids (plus any neighbors or friends that come to spend the day with us) can threaten our fun. That's why, in...