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Family Favorites: Meal Planning Help when Life is Busy
School is in full swing and you know what that means…trying to figure out what to feed my family when we have an activity almost every evening. From dance to volleyball to football we are on the go like many other families. To help ease the stress of evening meals I like to do weekly meal planning. Some weeks meal ideas come to me easily and other weeks I struggle trying to decide what to make. A tool I have found helpful for meal planning is our Spend Smart. Eat Smart. Family Favorites Recipe List. We have two different options, one that divides recipes by category (breakfast, side, main dish, salad, soup, and snack) and one that divides recipes based on protein source (beef, pork, fish, poultry, venison, and vegetarian).
Pumpkin Muffins: A Delicious Way to Start the Day
School is in full swing for my kids so today I want to share with you the Pumpkin Muffin recipe that helps fuel our busy mornings. These Pumpkin Muffins are a new addition to Spend Smart. Eat Smart. and they get a thumbs up from our house.
Fuel Your Health with Fiber
Protein is often the talk of the town but today we are going to talk about fiber. Fiber is an important part of health but most of us don’t eat enough of it. Let’s look at the sources and benefits of fiber.
Food Safety at Day Camp
During the summer my daughter goes to day camp during the weekdays. She has to take her lunch each day. Food safety is top of mind for me as we pack her lunch each morning. Here is what has worked for us.
No-Cook Meals: Hummus to the Rescue
Last week Christine shared on the blog that she likes to use cottage cheese in her meals when she doesn’t feel like cooking. Today I’m going to share with you another idea for turning a snack food into a meal. Hummus is a hit in our house. Hummus is made from garbanzo beans, also known as chickpeas. Garbanzo beans are a good source of fiber and protein, two important nutrients to include in meals.
What an Egg-cellent Idea!
This month I’m sharing with you a recipe that is a bit unique. It’s our recipe for Hard-Cooked Eggs. Most people call them hard boiled eggs, but when I started working with Spend Smart. Eat Smart. I learned about this recipe and that eggs shouldn’t be hard boiled. To hard-cook eggs, the water comes to a full boil, but then the pan is removed from the heat and the lid kept on. The eggs continue to cook gently in the hot water. This method produces tender eggs. It also reduces cracking and the green color that can form around yolks when eggs are hard boiled.
My Go-To Ways to Stay Active
As the weather warms-up and the days get longer here in Iowa, I am looking forward to being active outside more. Over the past couple of years, one of my favorite ways to be active outdoors is going on bike rides. Last year was my first time riding a day of RAGBRAI. I rode with my colleague and fellow Spend Smart. Eat Smart. blogger, Justine Hoover. If you haven’t heard about RAGBRAI before, it’s a week-long bike ride across Iowa with overnight stops in different towns. Find out more at ragbrai.com. I like that it’s not a race and all ages and abilities participate. We had a lot of fun last year and are planning to ride another day this year. To prepare, I’ll spend some time on my bike on local trails.
What’s in Jody’s Freezer?
Recently I wrote about the benefits of processed food. One type of processed food that can help with meal planning and stretching the food budget is frozen food. For the next four weeks Katy, Christine, Justine and I are going to share with you some of the foods you can find in our freezers and how we include them in our meal planning.
Can Processed Foods be Good for You?
As Heart Health month comes to an end, let’s talk about processed foods. We often hear that processed foods are bad for us. So, are there any benefits to processed foods?
Who Wants Pizza?
My favorite way to spend time in the kitchen is baking. I enjoy making different kinds of bread and muffins. So, this month I want to share with you our Whole Wheat Pizza Crust.
What are Functional Beverages? – Part 1
As we start the new year, many people set goals to change their eating habits. They may want to increase their fiber or protein intake or drink more water. There is no shortage of products on the market claiming to help with all the above. One product that has increased in popularity recently is functional beverages. What are they and what’s in them?
Happy Holidays!
Happy Holidays from the Spend Smart. Eat Smart. team!
