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Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Muffins

Muffins for Fiber

Last week on the blog Jody gave us a great intro into why we need fiber and what foods have fiber in them. For the rest of the month, we are each going to share some practical ways we try to get fiber. My family loves muffins, in fact, I think muffins might be my husband’s favorite food. We eat them for any meal, for snacks, and when we need a sweet treat. Since they are a regular part of our menu plan, I try to choose muffins that will get us some fiber.

woman measures out oatmeal, fruit, and nuts in the kitchen

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.

watermelon fruit slush in a glass cup

A Refreshing Summer Treat!

This summer our house has turned into playdate central! Most weekdays we have an extra kiddo (or several) at our house. I never realized how much 7-year-olds could eat in a two-hour time span until this summer! With all these planned and unexpected playdates, I try to keep plenty of snacks and drinks on hand so no one leaves our house hungry.

Sweet Pork Stir Fry

A 20 Minute Stir Fry and 25 More Main Dishes to Love

Our Healthy and Homemade Main Dishes cookbook is available today! The book contains 26 recipes including our July recipe of the month, Sweet Pork Stir Fry. Recipes include nutrition analysis, easy to read directions and tips for success. The cookbook is ideal for new and experienced cooks. It features some helpful tools to make cooking simple, including:

hummus in a bowl with pita chips

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.

Hard-Cooked Eggs

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.

Banana Ice Cream

We All Scream for Ice Cream!

Have you ever played a game where you can only choose one food to eat for the rest of your life? If you asked my oldest daughter what that favorite food would be, I could guarantee that her answer would be ice cream! Each week when I put together a grocery list, ice cream is one of the first (and only!) items my daughter will add.

bags of frozen fruits and vegetables in a freezer

What’s in Justine’s Freezer?

Welcome to our final week of sharing what we keep on hand in our freezers. If you were to take a peek into my freezer, you would find a mix of foods you would expect, leftovers, and random surprises.

woman cooking dinner in her kitchen

A Freezer Full of Possibility: Cooking for One Without the Waste

Last week we took a peek into Katy’s freezer and learned how she makes day-to-day meals and snacks easier for her family of four using frozen foods. This week I get to share how I use my freezer as a household of one. In some ways cooking for one is simpler because I have only myself to please and I know what I like. However, cooking for one or two requires some careful planning to minimize waste and make the most of your effort.

PUMPKIN MUFFINS

Pumpkin Muffins

This past fall we had two fantastic interns who helped us with testing some new and some old recipes. For our March recipe of the month, I would like to share with you the first of those recipes – Pumpkin Muffins. This is a new recipe to the Spend Smart. Eat Smart. website and it makes a great breakfast or snack.

frozen foods in the freezer drawer

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.

A woman looking at canned food on the grocery store shelf

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?