Healthy Archives - Busy Moms Helper

Spiralized Zucchini with Roasted Tomatoes

July 1, 2019 by Stephanie Kirkos 6 Comments

Just because a weeknight dinner needs to be quick and simple doesn’t mean it can’t be healthy or packed with flavor. This Spiralized Zucchini with Roasted Tomatoes is ready in under a half hour and more wholesome and healthy than traditional spaghetti and meatballs. Don’t worry, you can still twirl the noodles on your fork!

Hello, everyone! This is Stephanie from Steph in Thyme, and I’m so excited to be here sharing approachable gluten-free recipes with you as a member of the 2015 Busy Mom’s Helper Team!

Given this is my first guest post, I feel compelled to share something very personal. I’m slightly obsessed with my Spiralizer. I received a Spiralizer a year ago as a birthday gift, and it changed the way I eat vegetables. This easy-to-use kitchen tool transforms vegetables – such as zucchini, sweet potatoes, carrots, and beets – into beautiful noodles of various sizes. My vegetable intake has certainly increased thanks to this handy gadget. One of my favorite uses is fresh zucchini noodles in place of pasta, although the possibilities are endless (including hearty casseroles and sandwich wrap filling).

There’s a time for simmering homemade sauce – or gravy, depending on where you stand in the terminology debate. Like, Sunday afternoons…not busy weeknights. This short-cut recipe is one of my favorites, and frankly, I prefer it over the traditional sauce I grew up with (oh boy, hope my mom isn’t reading this). On a large rimmed baking sheet, toss grape tomatoes, thinly sliced shallots, and whole garlic cloves, then generously season with salt and pepper. After 20 minutes in the oven, the tomatoes have blistered and softened, the flavor and sweetness more concentrated.

Then, the fun part. With a fork, smash everything on the baking sheet until it forms a lovely, saucy mess. After the smashing fun, stir everything together until it forms a robust sauce. The final result evokes the essence of summer, when tomatoes are sun ripened and so sweet you could eat them raw and unseasoned. This sauce, with the sweetness of the roasted tomatoes and shallots balanced by the roasted garlic, is one I can eat straight with a fork. I sometimes do, then remember the zucchini noodles (zoodles?).

The zucchini noodles only take 3-5 minutes to cook in a skillet. Faster than pasta! All you really want to do is get the zucchini noodles hot, rather than cooking through, otherwise the noodles turn wet and a bit mushy. I’ve cooked them too long way too many times, which also results in a lot of excess liquid in the pan and on the plate. We cannot have our sauce diluted! The noodles are best al dente style, softened slightly, but still with bite and texture.

Feel free to top the bowl off with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese. If it’s not Meatless Monday, it will pair nicely with grilled chicken or shrimp. Hope you enjoy!

Spiralized Zucchini with a Simple Roasted Tomato Sauce l Gluten-Free and Vegetarian l by Steph in Thyme for Busy Mom's Helper

Print Recipe

Spiralized Zucchini with Roasted Tomatoes

Prep Time5 mins

Cook Time25 mins

Total Time30 mins

Ingredients

2 pints grape tomatoes rinsed and patted dry
2 large zucchini spiralized
1 large shallot sliced thin
3 cloves garlic peeled and left whole
1 tbsp + 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil divided
Salt and pepper to taste
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes optional

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F. Place the grape tomatoes, shallot slices, and whole garlic cloves on a large rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle 1 tbsp olive oil over top, then season generously with salt and pepper. Toss to coat.
Roast the tomatoes, shallots, and garlic cloves for 20 minutes, until the tomatoes blister and start to burst open.
Remove baking sheet from oven. With a fork, smash the ingredients together, including the garlic cloves, on the baking sheet. Stir together and season with 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes, if desired.
Heat remaining 1 tsp olive oil in a medium sized skillet over medium high heat. Add the spiralized zucchini noodles and cook for 3-5 minutes, until noodles are heated through but still have bite and texture (think al dente).
Divide the zucchini into four bowls, and top with the sauce. Garnish with cheese, if desired. Serve immediately.

Picnic Perfect Pasta Salad

April 15, 2019 by Stephanie Kirkos Leave a Comment

Happy Wednesday! This is Stephanie from Steph in Thyme.
Today, I’m sharing a simple, yet crazy delicious pasta salad that’s perfect for a summer picnic.
So perfect, I have no other choice but to call it Picnic Perfect Pasta Salad.

After the long weekend, I still have picnics on the brain. All I want to eat is food fresh from the grill along with an array of diverse sides running along the length of an outdoor table. That’s not too much to ask, right?

I love summer not for the warm days or trips to the beach, but for the large potluck gatherings and picnics. I love exploring recipes I wouldn’t ordinarily make at home for CJ (the husband) and myself. Cooking and baking for a crowd is so much more fun.

All picnics need a pasta salad, a scoop of carby goodness on the side of the plate (or, my entire plate) to energize the lawn games and activity until the sun sets. Creamy mayo-based pasta salads, glorious as they are, can feel so heavy. It’s also tricky to keep them chilled outdoors, especially on a warm day.

A tangy peanut dressing lightly coats the pasta, giving it that “must have more” essence – but without the guilt. This dressing isn’t loaded with lots of peanut butter or even added oil. It consists of creamy peanut butter (only three tablespoons for the entire pasta salad), gluten-free soy sauce, lime juice, unseasoned rice vinegar, water, and red pepper flakes. Blended until smooth, it’s a flavorful and mayo-less way to mix things up at your next picnic.

If you’re attending a picnic with gluten-free guests, this pasta salad is an excellent addition to the buffet table because everyone can eat it. And those who aren’t gluten-free won’t notice a difference.

I prefer to use Fusilli pasta for this salad because I find it easier to eat. In addition to holding the sauce better, preventing it from pooling at the bottom of the bowl, the spirals and ridges make it easier to piece the Fusilli with your fork. And the pasta stays on the fork, too! Penne, with its smooth surface, tends to slide or fall off the fork, especially with sauce coating it. Elbows and smaller pasta will work, as long as you have spoons on hand.

I mentioned that gluten-free soy sauce is used in the peanut dressing. Soy sauce actually contains wheat and is one of those hidden dangers for those following a gluten-free diet. Now, if you’re going to a picnic where gluten isn’t an issue for any of the guests, you can certainly use regular soy sauce as well as regular pasta.

The peanut sauce adds tang, but the medley of fresh veggies bring color and texture. Red bell pepper and cucumber, thinly sliced scallions, shredded carrots, cubed avocado, and shelled edamame.

I love the contrast between the crunchy vegetables and the creamy soft avocado, especially when it’s perfectly ripe. The edamame give this salad a boost of protein, so if all you want to eat at the picnic is this pasta salad, it’s at least a well rounded meal.

I would love to hear from you! What’s your favorite picnic dish? Are you known for any particular potluck recipe?

Print Recipe

Picnic Perfect Pasta Salad

Ingredients

For the salad:

12 oz gluten-free or regular Fusilli pasta cooked and rinsed
1 red bell pepper seeded and diced
1 cucumber seeded and diced
2 scallions both white and green parts, thinly sliced
1 cup shredded carrots
1 cup shelled edamame
1 avocado seeded and cut into 1/2 " cubes

For the peanut dressing:

3 tbsp creamy peanut butter
2 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp gluten-free or regular soy sauce
1 tbsp unseasoned rice vinegar
1/4 cup water
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the bell pepper, cucumber, scallions, carrots, edamame, and avocado. Set aside.
Add the peanut dressing ingredients to a blender, blending until smooth.
Add the rinsed and drained pasta to the bowl with the vegetables. Pour the peanut dressing over top. Toss to combine, adding additional salt and pepper, if needed.
Serve immediately, or store in the fridge for a few hours prior to serving.

Strawberry Lemonade Doughnuts

June 4, 2016 by Danielle

This is a sponsored project by Kendal King Group/The Women Bloggers, LLC. All opinions are mine alone. #CookingWithGerber

After a lifetime of never daring to make a doughnut recipe, I’ve now made TWO in the same week! I couldn’t resist, since they’re super easy to make and the flavor combinations are pretty much limitless. These Strawberry Lemonade Doughnuts are a great start to the day – or enjoy them for a snack or dessert later!

I wanted to switch things up a bit from the Multigrain Chocolate Doughnuts I shared before, and decided that summer called for something ‘bright and fresh’. What’s one flavor that goes perfectly with that? Strawberry lemonade, of course – so I decided to give it a try. The result was not only fresh in flavor, but a wonderful pick-me-up type taste. So delicious – and still as easy to make as ever using Nestle Gerber Lil’ Bits Oatmeal Banana Strawberry Cereal from Walmart.

Ingredients

1 1/3 cup All-purpose Flour
1 cup Nestle Gerber Lil’ Bits Oatmeal Banana Strawberry Cereal
1 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/4 tsp. Baking Soda
3/4 tsp. Salt
3/4 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Butter, melted
1/4 cup Vegetable Oil
3 tsp. Vanilla Extract
2 Large Eggs
1 cup Milk
2 tbsp. Lemon Juice

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F. Spray two doughnut pans, set aside.
Mix all the ingredients together until well-combined. Pour into the prepared doughnut pan.
Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Strawberry Lemonade Glaze

1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
1 tbsp. Butter, melted
1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
Dash Salt
1/2-2 tbsp. Milk
1 tbsp. Lemon Juice
1-2 drops Red Food Coloring, if desired

Whisk all ingredients until smooth and creamy – drizzle over doughnuts.

I still can’t believe how much strawberry flavor comes in that Gerber Cereal – it makes these doughnuts PERFECT! The texture is soft and moist, and once the drizzle sets it’s like a perfect balance. I think I do prefer the Multigrain Chocolate Doughnuts best – but it’s chocolate so OF COURSE! These strawberry lemonade doughnuts are a very close second, though, and go just great with a nice summer morning.

Also See…

Multigrain Chocolate Doughnuts

June 4, 2016 by Danielle

This is a sponsored project by Kendal King Group/The Women Bloggers, LLC. All opinions are mine alone. #CookingWithGerber

Okay, so I had a REALLY hard time deciding what the proper spelling was – chocolate DOUGHNUT or chocolate DONUT. I finally decided to just go with the classic, because it looks a bit more ‘fancy’. No matter how you spell it, though, these Multigrain Chocolate Doughnuts are delicious, easy to make (baked donuts, not fried) and are great for breakfast, snack or dessert anytime!

If you recall earlier this week when I shared the Homemade Fruit & Yogurt Popsicles using Leftover Baby Food, I mentioned that I’d soon be sharing a fabulous doughnut recipe – well, here it is! I’ve honestly never made doughnuts before, because it was kind of intimidating – then I realized I could do a BAKED recipe instead of dealing with the frying part. Woot woot! And I even made two – so don’t miss my Strawberry Lemonade Doughnuts, as well!

I love how cake-like and moist these babies are – with a lick-your-fingers good frosting drizzled for a nice finish. I may have eaten one too many – okay, a FEW too many – but it was so worth it! AND since it’s made with Nestle Gerber Multigrain Cereal from Walmart, it’s more on the healthy side. That’s a win to me!

Ingredients

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp. All-purpose Flour
1/2 cup Nestle Gerber Multigrain Cereal
3 tbsp. Cocoa Powder
1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/4 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 cup Light Brown Sugar
1/4 tsp. Salt
1 Large Egg
3 tbsp. Butter, melted
1/2 cup Milk
1 tbsp. Vinegar
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1/4 cup + 1/8 cup Chocolate Chips, melted

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F. Spray a couple doughnut pans well, set aside.
Mix all of the ingredients together until well-combined. Pour into the prepared doughnut pans.
Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Chocolate Frosting

1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
1/8 cup Cocoa Powder
1/4 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1-3 tbsp. Milk

Whip all ingredients until smooth and creamy – the consistency should be thick but pourable. Drizzle over the doughnuts, then let set.

That’s all there is to it – super easy, and amazingly delicious doughnuts! Now I may need to go sneak another one – or two 😉

Other Breakfast Recipes

Fruit & Yogurt Homemade Popsicles using Leftover Baby Food

May 29, 2016 by Danielle

This is a sponsored project by Kendal King Group/The Women Bloggers, LLC. All opinions are mine alone. #CookingWithGerber

Did you know that my twins are just shy of 18 months older than my youngest? That means I had three in diapers at the same time, one learning to sleep through the night while the others learned to run and climb, one drinking a bottle and the others learning to eat more solid foods. It was a CRAZY time! One thing we did with that many young ones was stock up heavily on baby cereal and baby foods – which was great until they started to outgrow them and we had a bunch left. There’s so many recipes we learned to use them in, like these yummy and easy Fruit & Yogurt Homemade Popsicles using Leftover Baby Food! Oh, and don’t miss our $50 Gift Card giveaway at the bottom 🙂

It’s getting hot out there, so these are the perfect summer snack. Plus, you can just quickly make them and store them in the freezer, then they’re ready when you are! For these, you’ll need some Nestle Gerber Yogurt Blends and Gerber 2nd Foods Baby Food from Walmart (we’re sharing another AMAZING recipe later this week – doughnuts! – using Gerber Oatmeal Cereals, so grab those while you’re there, too).

Why would I use baby food and cereal in my recipes, you may ask? They’re all-natural without added sugars, making them a much healthier choice than what I could grab at the store. Plus, being this simple to make and having control over what goes into my kids’ food is a definite bonus!

Now I did two different recipes, but you can mix it up based on the flavors you have or want. My kids were split between which was the favorite – the Peach Lemonade or the Mixed Fruit!

Homemade Popsicles

Ingredients – Peach Lemonade

Gerber Yogurt Blends Peach flavor (4 individual containers)
Gerber 2nd Foods Baby Food Peach flavor (2 individual containers)
1/2 can Sparkling Lemon-flavored drink

Ingredients – Mixed Fruit

Gerber Yogurt Blends Strawberry Banana flavor (4 individual containers)
Gerber 2nd Foods Baby Food Apple flavor (2 individual containers)
Gerber 2nd Foods Baby Food Apple Strawberry Banana flavor (2 individual containers)
1/2 – 1 can Sparkling drink

The directions are the same for both

Directions

Mix all of the ingredients together.
Carefully pour (or use a funnel) into your popsicle molds.
Freeze then enjoy!

See – super easy! You could even let your kids get in on the fun and let them try mixing different flavor varieties to make their own popsicle recipe.

Don’t forget to grab some Gerber Cereal while you’re at Walmart for our delicious doughnut recipes coming later this week! There’s four varieties: Gerber Oatmeal Single-Grain Cereal, Lil’ Bits Oatmeal Banana Strawberry, Oatmeal Banana Cereal or Multigrain Cereal.

Healthier Lemon Rosemary Dressing

March 25, 2016 by Danielle

Has anyone else eaten a pan of brownies in a week – for two weeks in a row? Ya, that’s been me lately! I don’t know if it’s stress, or just a really off body, or what but I’ve been bad about my sweets intake lately. This week I’m trying extra hard to find BALANCE in my eating, by including plenty of healthy meals in our menu. This Healthier Lemon Rosemary Dressing has been great for my lunches!

Oh, and I also downed a tall bottle filled with M&Ms in a day. Ya….really needing to work on my food balance!

Thankfully I’ve been doing better, planning ahead so I can have meals that I’ll actually WANT to eat, but are on the healthier side. It’s all about balance anyway, right? So as long as I eat healthy overall, it’s perfectly fine for me to still have some treats every now and then 🙂

Head over to Carrie Elle for our Healthier Lemon Rosemary Dressing recipe!

Other recipes you may enjoy…

Sugar Free Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Chips

March 15, 2016 by Chellie Schmitz

Feeling bored with the same old-same old snacks? Try this refreshing sugar free fruit salsa! You won’t be disappointed!

I don’t know about you, but I try to limit my kids sugar in-take. But often times, they want something sweet. Oh, who am I kidding? I do too! The sugar makes the kids a little crazy sometimes, and it makes my pants too tight. So this is a perfect sweet treat with no sugar. Fruit, it’s good for you! The kids won’t even know ya left the sugar out. 🙂 Try this sugar free fruit salsa for your next afternoon or after school snack.

Sugar Free Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Chips

This comes together in just three easy steps.

1. Bake the cinnamon chips.

Take flour tortillas and brush them with melted butter and sprinkle them with a little cinnamon.

Bake them at 350 for about 12 minutes until they are golden and crisp.

2. Slice & Dice

Next you’ll chop up the fruit, and put some lemon juice on it. I like the brightness the lemon adds. I used strawberries, kiwi, oranges, mango, blackberries and blueberries. Fruit salsa is really versatile, so use whatever fruit you like. Personally, I think this is fantastic combination. The citrus adds a little something extra. Yum!

That fruit looks so juicy and delicious! I just want to lick the screen! Okay, bad idea.

3. Enjoy!

Lastly, just put it all together and serve it up. I like to garnish it with some chopped fresh mint leaves. It’s pretty and it tastes fabulous.

This isn’t going to last long friends.

Most fruit salsas do contain sugar. It definitely sweetens it up a bit, but personally, I think this fruit is sweet enough just how it it. If we put sugar in our fruit all the time, we’ll start to not like it without. So do something good for your body! 🙂

You’ll also notice that there is no sugar in the Cinnamon tortilla chips. Again, you can do a blend of cinnamon and sugar, but that blend is usually made with two parts sugar and one part cinnamon (that’s a lot of sugar!) so again, in efforts to scale back on the sugar, I left it out. I think the butter and cinnamon is delicious, and the naturally sweet fruit blends it all perfectly. Have I convinced you to try this yet?

Print Recipe

Sugar Free Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Chips

Ingredients

4 flour tortillas
2 Tbs butter melted
ground cinnamon
1 pint strawberries hulled and diced
1 orange peeled and diced
1 mango peeled and diced
2 kiwis peeled and diced
1 6 oz container black berries quartered
1 6 oz container blueberries
Juice of 1/2 lemon
fresh mint leaves for garnish

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350.
Brush both sides of the tortillas with the melted butter.
Sprinkle both sides of the tortillas with ground cinnamon.
Using a pizza cutter, slice the tortillas into eighths.
Place the 'chips' on a baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes, or until golden and crisp.
Peel, slice and dice all of the fruit and place in a bowl.
Add the juice of half of a lemon and stir to combine.
Garnish with torn fresh mint leaves (optional)

Looking for more fun low-sugar snacks?

Breakfast banana split

Mango Parfait

Breakfast Cookies

Presidents Day Dessert

February 15, 2016 by Chellie Schmitz

This Presidents Day Dessert is easy, healthy, and scrumptious!

Presidents Day Dessert

Celebrate Presidents day with an easy and healthy dessert! What?! Celebrate Presidents day? Who does that? Well, the government does for one. Often, government employees are off, and if you’re kids are as excited about getting the mail as mine, they’ll tell you there’s no mail that day. Technically, it is a National holiday. Many schools are closed that day.

3 Reasons to celebrate

But why celebrate? Whether your kids are home with you, or in school during the day, life is filled with teachable moments. As far as schooling goes, we homeschool, AND we public school. I never thought I’d be doing both, but that’s another topic. When we wrestled with what was best for each child, my heart didn’t want to send them away all day. But, what I realized is just because they’re not with me all day doesn’t mean I’m not involved in their lives. So we make the most of each moment we have. And we love learning! So why not learn about Presidents day?

When my kids were younger, and I was trying to make it through Michigan winters (cold, gray, dreary, mundane, did I mention cold?), I would look for opportunities to celebrate, which would make those dreary days more exciting. For example, we celebrated ground hogs day for a couple of years. My now older children, still ask me “what are we doing for groundhogs day?”

Lastly, it’s an excuse to eat dessert!! Haha! But you can feel good about this presidents day dessert, because it’s good for you. Greek yogurt, anti-oxidant berries, and no sugar added makes this the perfect treat. So let’s recap:

Celebrate Presidents Day because~

It’s a teachable moment
It makes an ordinary day extraordinary
It’s a good excuse for dessert

Not sure what to say about Presidents Day? Here’s some resources made for kids:

A brief overview on how it started
A little more in depth history
Activity pages
Crafts
Coloring pages and crafts

Parfaits are super easy to make! All you do is choose your ingredients and layer them in a jar or dish of your choice. In the recipe I’ve put approximate measurements to make 1 parfait. You really just want to layer the yogurt and the fruit, so when you’re making this, just do what looks best to you. It could vary depending on the size jar or dish you are using. In our family, the kids love getting their own jar to eat out of. I don’t know why, but they think that is awesome. You can make these up ahead of time and store them in the fridge. This would also make a great breakfast or snack!

Happy Presidents Day! Go make today extraordinary!

Print Recipe

Presidents Day Dessert

Ingredients

1 6 oz container coconut yogurt
2 Tbs fresh blueberries plus more for garnish
1 Tbs fresh raspberries plus more for garnish
1 tsp unsweetened shredded coconut

Instructions

Start with a layer (about a tablespoon or 2) of yogurt on the bottom of a mason jar or other serving container.
Place 1 Tbs blueberries on top.
Layer more yogurt.
Place 1 Tbs raspberries.
Layer more yogurt.
Place 1 tbs blueberries on top.
Finish with a dollop of yogurt, fresh berries and a sprinkle of coconut.
Serve immediately, or store in the refrigerator until ready to eat.

Looking for more easy recipes? Try these:

Mango Parfaits
mango_yogurt_parfait-7

Breakfast Banana Split
healthy_banana_split-3breakfastpin

Triple Berry Smoothie
triple_berry_spinach_smoothiepin-2

Healthy Orange Julius

January 15, 2016 by Chellie Schmitz

Healthy Orange Julius

I have a thing for smoothies. Me and smoothies go together like, Laverne & Shirley. I think I’m dating myself here, anyone remember Laverne & Shirley? I love making smoothies with fresh berries in the summer, fresh apples in the fall, and this time of year? Citrus. This Healthy Orange Julius will knock your socks off! Get you dancing!

A long long time ago, way back before I was married or had kids, I was a hairdresser. And I had this one client that always brought me an Orange Julius. If you’ve never had one or you don’t know what I’m talking about, just make this smoothie and you’ll be caught up. I never really frequented the place where you can buy them. As a matter of fact, this client was the one that introduced me to them. And she was a faithful client. She was in every four weeks for a cut and color. So every four weeks, I got to enjoy an Orange Julius with her. She was a sweetie.

One of the things that I love about Smoothies is it doesn’t take much to be fantastic. Just a few simple ingredients and Ta-da! You have scrumptiousness.

So for my Healthy Orange Julius, you’ll need oranges, orange zest, a banana, vanilla greek yogurt and some almonds. You’ve got it all here folks, protein, vitamin C blah blah blah.

Toss it all in the blender and you’re good to go!

Helpful Hints

If you like a thinner smoothie, add some milk.
Dairy Free? Use a soy yogurt, or other substitute
I always add ice, about 5 or 6 cubes, to keep it nice and cold. The blender motor can warm it a bit.
If you’re using frozen bananas (or other fruit), there’s no need for the ice.

Print Recipe

Healthy Orange Julius

Ingredients

3/4 cup Vanilla Greek Yogurt
Zest from 1 orange
2 oranges peeled and separated
1 banana in large pieces
2 Tbs whole almonds
5-6 ice cubes

Instructions

Place all ingredients in the blender.
Blend on high until smooth.

Looking for more healthy recipes?

Tropical Green Smoothie

Fig Smoothie

Guilt-Free Gingersnap Steamer

Printable Menu Planner

January 9, 2016 by Keri Houchin

Plan your meals for the week ahead with this cute printable menu planner. It has plenty of space for writing in breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Plus, this cute chalkboard-style design doesn’t use much ink to print.

For many families, the biggest chunk of their budget goes to groceries. It also happens to be one of the areas where people say they have the hardest time getting organized.

It also happens to be a subject that I’m very passionate about! I’ve been planning what my family eats for years and I would say that this is the best way I have found to save money, eat mostly healthy, and avoid scrambling to find something to cook every evening.

When you plan out a week’s worth of meals, you can add everything you need to a shopping list and avoid running to the store for something. We all know what happens then – you add a few extras during that second trip. Before you know it, you’ve spent twice your grocery budget.

(I have lots of experience in this area…)

Mostly, it just takes practice. Trial and error. Even if you don’t stick to a menu plan 100 percent, making one will keep you on the right track.

It doesn’t hurt to have something cute to organize it either, so I made this printable menu planner.

Sometimes simple is best.

This one has the seven days of the week and space to write in breakfast, lunch, and dinner for each one of them.

I’ll confess that I don’t always plan out breakfast and lunch as thoroughly as I do dinner. Sometimes my kids will eat cereal and peanut butter sandwiches for a week.

By writing it all out, I can do a better job of at least throwing in some different fruit each day.

Plus, I can put this up on the refrigerator and the kids won’t spend all day asking me what’s for dinner.

To download your printable menu planner, click HERE.

If you need help getting started, check out these posts:

Freezer inventory printable

15 menu planning resources you have to try

How to avoid eating out

What’s your biggest challenge when it comes to planning meals?

Changing My Life

December 31, 2015 by Nikki Cole

Lose weight, eat healthy, pay off debt, travel, spend more time with family, etc, with the new year these are many resolutions people make but by February (or some of us middle of January) we lose excitement and ambition to do what is needed to accomplish these goals. While I don’t have all the answers I do have some answers for weight loss and eating healthy. This story is my own – about changing my life – on how I lost weight and ended up changing my whole life.

No I was not huge by any means and I was not doing this to become skinny, I did this because yes I did want to lose some weight so I could feel good in my clothes and to feel better in general. I can’t tell you how many times I went on a ‘diet’ because it feels like I have always been trying to lose weight. Now for me going to the gym was not the hard part, I love the gym and sports and basically anything active. Since I became bigger I lost interest in a lot of things and never wanted to do anything. This year was different. 2015 new year’s resolution was as always ‘to become healthier’. While this resolution will never have an end date between that day and now I feel like I have accomplished my goal.

170 pounds was how big I was when I started this journey, no that is not huge but it was very uncomfortable for me. My body mass index which measures my body fat was 27.8 which is considered borderline obese. Here are a few more measurements because the scale is not the only thing that matters because muscle weighs more than fat.

Thighs: 24 inches

Waist: 33 inches

Hips: 38 inches

Bust: 38 inches

% body fat: 35.6 %

BMI (body mass index): 27.8

Pant size: 15

My journey started with being dedicated to recording my food, and yes for about two weeks I measured everything! I over estimated everything I ate and so what I was thinking was just one serving was actually two to three servings which can have a major impact on your goals. So yes, start measuring and recording every little thing you eat. Myfitnesspal is free, simple, and has a lot of information on it, I used this site and loved it but there are several others that you can choose from. By measuring out my food and just having one serving in front of me I started eating less because I didn’t over eat with a huge serving.

Food. Food is a never ending battle especially with me because I LOVE sugar and sweets as you could tell if you’ve seen any of my other posts, so it is really hard. What I found out though was I stopped over eating these amazing treats and started with small portion sizes or skipping them and when I did eat them they were so much more satisfying than I think they have ever been. So think before you eat sugar, fat, or basically any snack, ask yourself ‘am I hungry?’ if yes then eat real food, if no then drink some water.

Eat actual meals. I struggled with this one because I was use to eating basically all day. This is where myfitnesspal helped a lot for me. I started planning my meals ahead, which was basically a day ahead, and I would have three main meals and two small snacks. My breakfasts would change anywhere from a poptart to toast and a banana or a protein shake. I tried to keep my meals about 300 – 400 calories each but it varied a little. Protein shakes were also my big pick me up in the middle of the day because it was very satisfying and kept me full until dinner which would let me have just a morning snack and an evening snack. Yes my snacks were not always way healthy (I said I love sugar) but I would get small servings and make sure the servings were correct so my calories for my snacks would be about 200 each.

Working out is much, much more than exhausting yourself at the gym. I feel so energized after the gym and it helps with my food cravings. Can’t spend an hour? 30 minutes, 20 minutes but DO something, take your kids hiking, walking, biking, anything it doesn’t have to be in the gym or without your kids, do arm lifts with your kids show them how to get strong while you are getting strong. Working out doesn’t have to be in a gym or take all your time but stay active and busy. Here’s a workout plan I started and followed but I would change it up a little every other week by doing a new exercise in place of one of them or doing my max, or just endurance with low weight but lots of reps.

I’m not telling you it will be easy, I’m telling you it will be worth it. The picture above are me in the pants I wore a year ago and even with a belt I couldn’t get these pants to stay up, plus they drown my thighs now. You don’t have to give up anything, I ate a candy bar while I typed this, was it delicious? Yes, do I regret it? no, because 80% of my food a day is healthy and I did a nice workout. I didn’t give up anything I still enjoy the foods I love but in way less quantities which not only saved my waist but also my wallet.

What did I lose? I lost the bigger, depressed, not really fun to be around person I was. I now weigh in at 140 pounds, I can’t wait to go do things or just be out, I have more friends than I’ve ever had, and the best relationship with my husband than I’ve ever had. Losing this weight and inches didn’t just change my physical appearance, it changed my whole outlook on life and opened so many doors to a life that I look forward to living every single day.

Thighs: 21 inches lost 3 inches

Waist: 27 inches lost 6 inches

Hips: 33 inches lost 5 inches

Bust: 34 inches lost 4 inches

% body fat: 27 lost 7.4

BMI: 22.9 lost 5

Pant size: 9 lost 3 sizes

Do I still measure everything? No, but I do still record most days because I don’t want to go back to the way I was, because I am so much happier and healthier than I have ever been. Does this take dedication? Yes, but it doesn’t take all your time, money, or effort, I work a full time job and a part time job, while I don’t have kids I still have plenty of time to spend with my dog and my amazing husband. I now run half marathons, 5k’s, hike, spend a lot of time with my husband and dog, and enjoy my life to the fullest.

Remember, “I’m doing this, no more excuses. No more binging or irrational eating because it only makes me feel bad about myself afterwards. This year will be my year and for once I’m not just saying that. I will make the necessary changes, I’m going to get to my healthy weight. I don’t care if I’m going to have to sweat like a pig or cut back on junk food. No more hating on my body and filling it with all this crap. I’m going to treat myself right and teach myself healthy habits. My weight isn’t going to hold m back anymore. Exercise to be fit, not skinny, eat to nourish your body, and always ignore the haters, doubters and unhealthy examples that were once feeding you. YOU are worth more than you realize”.

Download the Workout Plan Here

15 Tips for a Healthy Active Life

December 29, 2015 by Kathleen Clegg

With the new year comes new goals for a lot of people. Some people call them resolutions, but for me, resolutions are things people stop doing and goals are things people tend to work towards. Each year I set goals for myself for the coming year. Sometimes I make them, sometimes I decide they aren’t really things I want to pursue and sometimes they get carried on to the next year. Being healthy and active is something that has become more and more important to me as I have gotten older. As I am considering my goals for the next year, I thought I would bring you 15 Tips for a Healthy Active Life. Some of my tips might seem really basic to you, but hopefully they will all help someone. I think we all want to live healthy lives and being active is a huge step toward that goal.

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