This month in the Eat Well, Spend Less series we’re looking back on what’s changed over the past two years in the purposeful way we feed our family. This month marks two years of the Eat Well, Spend Less series. Last year for the one-year anniversary I covered a lot of the ongoing changes we were making as a family and a bit of the reasoning for them. As I was considering how our food habits have changed since last year I feel a bit like a broken record playing the same 3-second loop... more

Time for a little spring cleaning of the kitchen pantry. What to keep, what to throw, and how long do those shelf stable items really last? Outside my window I can see the water drip, dripping from glistening icicles off the roof. Spring is coming, and winter is moving silently through the backdoor like an uninvited guest, slinking into the shadows. Soon the snow will melt, revealing a brown lawn and gardens full of sad, brown plants and empty dirt, but as spring emerges, small bits of green will... more

This month in the Eat Well, Spend Less series I look at how the group introduces new foods to their children, whether they eat the same food, and whether they think any of that is important at all. Lights glare from the bubbles above the dining room table, sending yellowish streams through the room. Typical in the winter, when the sun sinks below the horizon before the food has a chance to be set out and the family called around the table. Banter across the warm oak includes sarcasm and teasing... more

This month in the Eat Well, Spend Less series we are focusing on getting back to the basics of feeding your family. Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start. Dinnertime is ever evolving in our house. This year we embarked on the path of swim club family, dragging the eldest to and from the pool a mere five nights a week for two-hour-long swim sessions. Combined with basketball, swim lessons for the younger crowd, catechism, homework for four, and time to wind down and... more

Ideas for edible homemade gifts for the holidays from baking mixes to cupcakes to ingredients for everyone on your list. There are certain times of the year where I start to feel as though we are bleeding money. The beginning of the school year is a great time for this feeling, with new backpacks, school clothes and shoes, supplies, fall sports payments, field trip forms, and everything else that comes along with having four kids. Then right after we’ve recovered from that, Christmas hits.... more

Looking for inspiration on what to pack in your kids’ lunchboxes as they head back to school? Here are a few fun lunchbox ideas to get you through the year (or at least the first half of it) in this month’s Eat Well, Spend Less series. I pull the white cotton sheet over my head and pretend the world does not exist. Being woken up to the sound of my husband’s alarm blaring at 5:45 a.m. after having just crawled into bed at 2:17 a.m. is a painful reality. If I can just keep my eyes... more

This month in the Eat Well, Spend Less series we’re focusing on summer fun, or, in my case, a crazy and insane summer schedule. Can you still eat well when your days are crammed full of activities and work and plenty of swimming? Of course! I’m not going to lie. This summer is going to be a difficult one. Between book promotion, the kids’ activities, summer camps, and Kiera’s schedule (OH MY GOODNESS, managing her schedule is a full-time job now that she’s headed to... more