Skip the potato chips, fruit snacks, graham crackers, and candy. If you’re in a rut here are some quick, great real food any-time or after-school snack ideas for inspiration that kids will love (and adults, too!). Sticking with simple ingredients keeps snack time easy and fun. Keep these tips in mind: Combine some of the …
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9 Organic Meals from Costco for under $100
So when Lisa asked me to pull together a similar list using Costco's organic products, I gladly agreed! While our family doesn't personally eat 100% organically, I do squeeze as many organic ingredients into my grocery cart as my budget allows.
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What I buy at Trader Joe’s
Readers have been asking more and more what real food products to buy at Trader Joe’s, so I thought I’d just turn the discussion into a blog post! First of all, I don’t do all my shopping at Trader Joe’s (I get produce, dairy, and other items at Earth Fare and the farmers’ market), but I …
Easy Homemade Ketchup in the Slow Cooker + DIY in the Kitchen
By making your own homemade ketchup in the slow cooker you can control how much salt to add and skip the processed sugar altogether by using honey as the sweetener. This is a guest post by Melanie Zook, MA, RD, LDN.
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From Your Freezer to Your Slow Cooker
A couple months ago I shared a fellow blogger's From Your Freezer To Your Family: Slow Cooker Freezer Recipes eCookbook and I am not going to lie...many of you went a little crazy over this book! In reality, the concept behind this e-cookbook really is a great idea. You spend one afternoon chopping, assembling and freezing "meal packs," and then on any given day…
Why I Don’t Juice
Now before anyone starts jumping to conclusions about juicing or thinks “Geez, there is something wrong with everything” (I hate that feeling) - I want to make one thing clear: There is certainly nothing wrong with drinking vegetable juices. But there are a few reasons why I haven’t personally jumped on the juicing bandwagon myself - even after borrowing a friend's juicer and actually…
5 Home Cooked Meals Cheaper than McDonald’s
Mark Bittman said he researched it and found that it is actually cheaper for families to cook at home than it is for them to buy dinner at McDonald's. I decided to put his theory to the test, and I have findings below to support his theory.
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Real Food Tips: What to Make vs. Buy
Providing real food meals is totally worth the extra preparation time, but that doesn't mean every. single. item. has to be completely 100% homemade (thank goodness)! There are some decent store bought options out there, many of which only have one ingredient, and there are also plenty of food-like substances I'd recommend steering away from no matter what. So here's a little guide to…
Real Food FAQs: You Asked, We Answered (Part II)
As promised, here is Part II of the FAQs from when I recently asked our Facebook followers, “If you are new to cutting out processed food what are you most confused about at the moment?” If you missed Part I be sure to check it out for the details and also the first 9 questions/answers. Back to our FAQ list …
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Real Food at Walmart? What to Buy!
I was pleasantly surprised with all the real food at Walmart, including organic options, that I found during a recent visit. Save money with my favorites!
How to Feed Busy Families Real Food
I very strongly value the notion of feeding my kids well and not resorting to fast food places simply because I "have to." I've found the following ideas help me feed my busy family real food without having to compromise.
Lunches for Kids with Momables (including recipes!)
Just yesterday we were talking about how the end of the school year doesn't necessarily mean the end of packing lunches! Summer brings so many opportunities to tote along a "real food" picnic, and today I have the perfect resource to help you with just that. In case you haven't heard there is a site called MOMables that specializes in kid lunch meal plans.…
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Real Food Tips: 8 Meal Planning Pointers
A couple of weeks ago we discussed the fact that meal planning is an important part of sticking to a budget. Not only does meal-planning help you stay on track financially, but I personally think it helps keep things interesting as well. If I actually dedicate a little time to planning out our dinners for …
Real Food Tips: 12 Easy Ways to “Go Green” at the Grocery Store
People are waking up to a collective feeling of responsibility for being good stewards of this beautiful planet on which we live. We are starting to see that our consumption choices matter and that mindless consumption hurts us all.
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How to Find Real Food at ALDI
Several years ago, a friend of mine kept going on and on and on about ALDI. But frankly, I wasn’t convinced. I liked my regular grocery store and my shopping routine...
My Go-To Whole Foods Shopping List (Part 1)
I don't want you to give away your whole paycheck, as the saying goes, so I created a list of some do's and don'ts and some of my personal faves in this Whole Foods shopping list.
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How To Cook Just Once a Month
There is no doubt that the key to sticking to a real food diet is planning ahead. I like to call it “making your own convenience food.” Just imagine all those busy weeknights out at a late dance class or nighttime soccer practice and not having to worry about dinner (or resorting to the drive through) because you planned ahead. That’s what it’s all…
Guest Post: How to Afford Real Food on a Budget
So many people have a misguided idea that the only way to eat healthfully is to spend exorbitant amounts of money. If you live in a remote part of the country, this may be the case, but in most areas, you can feed your family natural, unprocessed foods without spending hundreds of dollars each week to do so.
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Chicken and Wild Rice Slow Cooker Soup
Oh, how I love hearty real food slow cooker recipes that don't require any advance cooking! So here's another one to add to your repertoire. And my kids especially loved it when I packed this chicken and wild rice soup in their school lunch, so be sure to freeze the leftovers in individual portions, making it easy for you to do the same. Also,…
Tips for Trips: Real Food While Traveling
As our family gears up to skip town this summer I know we aren’t the only ones with travel plans on the agenda. Packing up an entire family is a lot of work, and since our switch to real food I have yet one more travel detail to “stress” over: food of course. I not …
Real Food On The Road: RV Trip
This post is coming to you from somewhere in California while my husband drives our family from Yosemite National Park to our next RV Trip destination (Big Sur)! A trip out west in an RV with the kids has been on our bucket list for quite some time now, and we are finally carrying out …
3 Real Food Meals Using Ingredients from Target
I know I don't have to give you another reason to head to Target. But since I know you'll already be heading there anyway, I want to give you some good news (and it's not that there's a fantastic sale.)
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Why You Should Make Your Own Wholesome Freezer Meals
I'm excited to share some up-to-date tips and advantages of homemade freezer cooking in today's sponsored post, inspired by our longtime partner (and friend!) Once A Month Meals. They've got great advice on how to pull together a variety of wholesome freezer meals that will be ready in a jiffy on those busy week nights or when you just don't feel like cooking (it…
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Top 10 Things You’ll Get Out of My Cookbook
Trust me when I tell you this book is absolutely packed with useful content. I pretty much unloaded my brain into this one to make living a real food lifestyle as easy as possible. :)
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5 Tricks to Reduce Food Waste (and Save Money!)
I talk to people all the time who are disgusted by the amount of food they throw out each week and feel angst about the money that quickly adds up on each trip to the grocery store. These 5 tricks to reduce food waste will save your family money and help protect the planet.
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A Whole Foods Meal Plan (+ budget tips!)
I created a downloadable, printable 5-day Whole Foods meal plan utilizing recipes that are doable for busy families + 6 ways to save at WFM.
5 Real Food Budget Meals (approximately $15 each)
I hope you'll find the following real food budget meals helpful and easy on the wallet. Each can feed a family of four, and each is $15 or under (with two notes, since we use some of the food twice during the week).
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For convenience: The best store-bought snacks II
Today’s post is a follow-up to a store-bought snack list that I published last year. As dedicated as we are to eating real food and cooking meals from scratch, who doesn’t want a break from the kitchen? So here are several more of the “least-processed” store-bought snacks we could find that are great interspersed with …
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How to Make Your Own Convenience Food (for your freezer!)
Some people call it freezer cooking, some call it batch cooking. I call it making your own convenience food! Avoid the junk by making your own.
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Guest Post: Kombucha + Kraut are Real Food!
If you’re trying to cut processed food out of your diet, two of the most common challenges are drinks and condiments. Fortunately, people have been using fermentation to make delicious drinks, such as kombucha, and much more since before recorded history.
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Real Food Tips: 5 Reasons I Love My Hand Immersion Blender
If you don't already own a hand immersion blender ...you are really missing out!
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Lentil Sloppy Joe Stuffed Sweet Potatoes (+ how to save money while eating well)
This fresh, vegetarian Lentil Sloppy Joe recipe is not only good for you, but it'll cost less to make too. This dish is comforting, filling, and nourishing.
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10 Pot Luck Dishes for Holiday Gatherings!
With appetizers, sides, desserts and a salad, I'm here to share ten ideas of what you can bring to all your holiday pot luck gatherings in the coming weeks.
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20 Real Food Finds at Walmart
When you think of healthy, organic options do you think of Walmart? We want to share with you 20 real food finds. The prices will make you do a double take.
10 Ingredient Swaps to Save You Money
Cut out processed food without breaking the bank! My 10 real food budget substitutions will help you stay on budget without sacrificing delicious recipes.
Mexican Watermelon Salad (+ fun facts about watermelon)
Are there any watermelon fans out there? Anyone, anyone? Yeah, I thought so. My family is 6/6 for giving two thumbs up on this summer fruit, so we had no reservations about partnering with the National Watermelon Promotion Board on today's sponsored post.
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