Inside: Get a fun, easy recipe for cottage cheese fudge bites. Cold and creamy, with 2 grams of protein each. Cottage cheese is having a moment. It’s rich in protein and calcium. And like cauliflower, it’s a Wonder Twin of ingredients–able to take the form and shape of all kinds of unexpected things. As a former extremely picky eater, I have trouble with the texture of plain cottage cheese. So blending it is key. I use cottage cheese in my Protein Pancakes or Protein Waffles, which I’ve eaten pretty much every morning for months now. So when I saw videos for 2-Ingredient Cottage Cheese Fudge ..read more

Inside: Feeding hungry teens? Here are some of the best foods to include in their meals and snacks. One moment, your baby is sitting in a highchair, gleefully scarfing down diced avocado and spoonfuls of pureed peas. Then you blink and they’re a teenager, strolling into the house with a bag of Taco Bell in one hand and a Mountain Dew in the other. Teens have independence, their own money, and growth spurt-fueled appetite surges. We want them to make the most nutritious choices. But often, they make the easiest ones. That usually means more packaged, ultra-processed, and nutrient-poor foods. W ..read more

Inside: What are the best foods to eat after wisdom teeth removal? Here’s a day-by-day list of what to eat (and what to avoid), so you’re prepared. Very soft fruit, applesauce, and canned fruit are easy on a sensitive mouth When my son got all four wisdom teeth removed recently, I had an embarrassing flashback to when he had braces put on years earlier. What both had in common: I knew for months it was coming but was somehow caught flat-footed. As he was sleeping off the general anesthesia on the couch, I was ringing the oral surgeon’s office with questions, dashing to the store to fetch vari ..read more

Inside: Get been-there advice on how to survive a kitchen remodel–and feed your family during the process. Nearly 20 years ago, we fell in love with a small, 100-year-old house on a pretty, tree-lined street. Mostly, we fell in love with the bones of the house. The kitchen, not as much. The counters were blue, the stove was black, the refrigerator was off-white. It was functional but outdated. Clean but cramped. We bought the house figuring we’d have the kitchen remodeled. Because how hard could that be? Yeah, right! The company we hired took the kitchen down to the studs, pushed the ceiling ..read more

Inside: Make these easy and refreshing homemade fruit popsicles for your kids this summer–using just two ingredients. Post updated May 23, 2024 Eating popsicles is a core hot summer day memory for many of us as kids. And I’m pretty sure it will be for my kids too. There’s nothing wrong with store-bought ice pops, but when you make your own popsicles, you can control what goes in them–including how much added sugar (if any) they contain.  These healthy homemade popsicles are made with whole fruits and a little bit of honey (or not!) and are a great way to: Avoid food waste by using up ex ..read more

Inside: Do you love wood-fired pizza? Have I got a hack for you! Here’s how to turn your grill into a pizza oven and take pizza night to the next level. Create a pizza oven on your gas grill and elevate pizza night! If you’re like me, you have opinions about pizza and don’t subscribe to the “even when it’s bad, it’s good” school of pizza thought. I love a floppy, foldable slice of NYC-style and will happily dig into a wedge of deep dish Chicago with a knife and fork. But my favorite pie is wood fired. It cooks quickly in a super-hot oven, giving it lovely charred edges and a smoky flavor. I’v ..read more

Inside: It’s easier than you think to make your own soft, chewy bagels with just four simple ingredients. Here’s a step-by-step easy bagel recipe for you! Post updated April 24, 2024 For a few years in my 20s, I lived in New York City and ate my weight in bagels. I loved stopping at the bagel shops on my way to work to buy a warm, chewy bagel slathered with cream cheese. Not surprisingly, after moving to Ohio, it became frustratingly hard to find a good bagel. Grocery store bagels always disappointed. Bakery ones were hit or miss. Then I got a recipe from a friend, made a few tweaks, and was ..read more

Inside: Use this easy step-by-step process to create a vacation meal plan so you can enjoy your trip more and stress less! Planning now can help you stress less once you’re there! The point of vacation is to get away from the grind of alarm clocks, vacuuming, and work meetings that should’ve been emails. So meal planning for vacation may feel sort of wrong. But a bit of advance planning now can mean being able to relax more once you’re at your destination. Because having a plan means you can focus on making memories, instead of spending precious vacation time figuring out what’s for dinner. E ..read more

Inside: Looking for a relaxing vacation in a gorgeous locale? We spent spring break in Grand Cayman on the East End with our teen. Here’s our day-to-day itinerary. Overlooking the beach bar where we had lunch every day. Years ago, my husband and I vowed to take a family vacation every year to build memories with our kids. After a couple of trips that were fun but more adventurous than relaxing (read Our Spring Break in San Francisco and One Amazing Week in Costa Rica With Teens), I was ready to press the easy button. I didn’t know much about the Cayman Islands (I had to look on a map to figur ..read more

Inside: Wondering whether you should buy organic fruits and vegetables for your family? Here are the facts, so you can feel good about your choices. Key Takeaways The most important thing to do is feed your family lots of fruits and vegetables, whether they’re organic or not. There’s not a big difference between organic and conventional produce when it comes to nutrition. The science behind the Dirty Dozen list deserves some scrutiny. Ever stood in the aisle of the grocery store looking back and forth between the organic apples and the conventional ones? You wonder whether you should spend ..read more