A decade of Kaitlyn! I’m feeling a little emotional about both my kids being members of the double digit club, but mostly I’m just really enjoying being with them in this stage. The gift of having big kids (sigh, ok, tweens) is the gift of perspective in how fast it goes and patience is a byproduct. To celebrate Kaitlyn turning 10, we planned a trip to Universal Studios to fully immerse ourselves in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Ever since reading all the books aloud together, they’ve been a constant presence in our lives. We started listening to the books several months back, serving ..read more

If you’ve followed my meal plans for more than a minute, it is obvious to you that GREEK night is as much of a staple in our home as a taco or pasta nights. I like to give credit to my Greek roots, but the truth is no matter your ancestry, you won’t be able to deny the delicious combination of ground lamb and authentic spices, dressed up with Greek staples like feta and kalamata olives. I love this recipe so much, I wanted to shine up this post to give more details on how to cook them and top them. These are my family’s favorite lamb burger recipe. However, while the recipe calls for ground l ..read more

Happppppyyyy Friday! It’s May 10th, how are you doing? I’m hanging in there. I’ve been knocking the specific demands of each day and crashing hard into bed at night, with not much bandwidth leftover for anything other than the necessities. Mindset and energy is good though; I’m feeling a little stretched, but joyful. Let’s chat! 15 years of marriage David and I celebrated 15 years of wedded bliss on May 2 with a family dinner at the local Mexican spot. While I pined a bit for a romantic getaway just the two of us, for this year there really was not a better option than guacamole, laughing with ..read more

If there’s one area of our personal expenses that deserves our time and attention it’s our food budgets. Groceries are often overlooked as an expense that you cover with the money left over in our budgets, but it’s often worth the effort to create a food budget and stick to it. Without a food budget and a plan when we head to the grocery store, expenses can add up quickly. We also can end up buying too much, resulting in food waste and thus money waste. Or we could buy too little and end up eating out, which is going to increase our cost to feed our families by a lot! Grocery stores are incre ..read more

Meal prepping has to be one of my favorite tricks for getting healthy, easy meals on the table when I’m battling a busy schedule. Preparing ingredients, and moving through cooking steps in advance saves me so much time when it comes to actually cooking dinner or throwing together lunch. I just pick a day that I have a little more time to prepare my meals and ingredients, and then I know I have healthy meals ready to eat later that week! For many people it’s a Sunday afternoon, but it doesn’t have to be; pick the day that works best for you and most sets you up for success. I always try to inc ..read more

House projects and family time are five words that can sum up a lot of life around here lately. I don’t know if it’s the elation I’m feeling about the spring weather (now that I’ve been taking allergy shots for a year and can actually get outside and enjoy it), or the anticipation of fun things to come in May (Hammock Beach and Harry Potter World, here we come), or the peace I’ve found through better balance/regulation of phone time for myself I’ve struck recently, but I’m feeling good. That was quite a run-on sentence, but in short- I’m currently experiencing a sweet spot of contentment and ..read more

Hello and happy Friday! Today is going to be 80 degrees and sunny, just another sign that the season is changing. Spring fever has hit us and we are in the process of finishing up our year. We are transitioning into review mode, to then be followed by SUMMER mode. Our end of year test is on the books for early May. We do the Woodcock Johnson and Elizabeth, the woman that proctors the exam, is a wealth of information so I always look forward to picking her brain for resources and recommendations after the test. Review mode for us looks like tying up loose ends of projects/papers the girls have ..read more

Beginning when my kids were little, we talked about food: how it tastes, how it makes us feel, etc. Read more here on why I don’t label foods good or bad. As they have gotten older I’ve started to teach them about the components, like macronutrients. We talk about how carbohydrates give us energy, fat helps protect our cellular function, and protein helps us build and maintain muscle. Simplified? Certainly. But I like that they understand they need all three. Today I want to dig into protein, since it can be the one that takes a little more effort. Protein is an essential nutrient — especiall ..read more

I knew was that from early on, back when Hailey was newly a toddler, that I wanted her to be driven by an internal force. I wanted her to have thirst for problem solving and a sense of personal responsibility. I wasn’t quite sure how to verbalize why I didn’t want to offer rewards for potty training or sticker charts for good behavior. In fact, it took me years to realize the correct terminology of what it was I was so wanted to instill in my children. Now I learned the correct terminology for my parenting goals- I wanted my children to be intrinsically motivated. Intrinsic motivation refers ..read more

We eat a lot of rice around here. It’s affordable, nutritious, and makes a great base to soak up the flavors of so many types of cuisine. Rice is an amazingly versatile food that’s been a staple in a variety of cultures around the world for centuries. In fact, rice is the staple food for more than half the world’s population! Part of this popularity comes from its suitability for growth in parts of the world like Africa and Asia. It’s also a great source of carbohydrates, fiber, and even some plant-based protein. Another reason rice is so widely eaten is that it stores very well and has an ex ..read more