Congrats to our winners!
Cheryl D.
Jennifer B.
Michelle C.!
I am so excited to FINALLY be sharing our brand new website design with you! Believe it or not, my husband and I started this process over a year and a half ago. For reasons you really don’t want me to get into (basically one problem after another), it has taken forever and a day for this much-needed facelift to finally come to fruition. It has honestly taken so long that we’ve already drafted another redesign in our heads so expect to see more tweaks to this new layout as time goes on! In the meantime though we’d love to get your thoughts on how it looks and all the new functionality (see below for details) so please be sure to drop us a line to let us know!
To celebrate this momentous occasion I’m going to give away 3 signed (and personalized) copies of my #1 New York Times Best Selling Cookbook today! So don’t forget to enter at the bottom after you read about all the cool new features you’ll find on the new blog! :)
First, just to recap, here is the dramatic before and after!
New School Lunch Idea Gallery
Aside from the aesthetics, we’re hoping you guys are going to dig some of the new features including our brand new School Lunch Idea Gallery where you can sort by dietary needs such as Dairy Free, Egg Free, Gluten Free, Peanut/Tree Nut Free and Vegetarian AND flag and print your favorites. Holler! :) This is an easy way to make and print a school lunch meal plan for the week. You could even get your little ones involved to help make the selections.
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New Recipe Gallery
For a more visual experience, we have a new colorful Recipe Gallery that uses the same cool dietary needs and photo flagging features as the school lunch list!
Here’s what you can do:
- Search by category – Think dinner, salad, slow cooker recipes, etc.
- Search by dietary restriction – Want to see only egg-free or dairy-free recipes?
- Perform a text search – Want to know what you can do with that spinach or kale you bought at the farmers market?
- Combine all of these search methods – Looking for egg-free dinners containing kale?
- Batch print your favorite recipes – Flag your favorites as you browse.
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The Old Recipe Index Lives!
We actually briefly removed our old text Recipe Index when we added the new one above, but (based on your comments) quickly realized how many people use and like our old school recipe index, so it is back and here to stay! It has recipes listed by name in alphabetical order so it is easy and fast to use on a smartphone without having to wait for pictures to load. Note it is only updated through 1/30/15 right now, but that will be fixed very soon.
All the New Site Features
Here’s a full list of all the fun new features – please don’t forget to give us your feedback on everything and also enter my cookbook giveaway below!
- As you can see, the site now has a new clean look with a much smaller, consolidated menu bar.
- The site is also now mobile friendly, which includes an easy to use pop-out mobile menu (for smartphones and portrait orientation on tablets).
- There is a new featured image slider on the home page to highlight articles or announcements.
- The new Recipe Gallery allows you to search with photos and gives you the ability to filter by categories, dietary restrictions, and text (in case you’re looking for recipes containing a specific ingredient).
- The new School Lunch Idea Gallery has similar search options to the Recipe Search.
- There is now the ability to flag your favorite recipes or school lunches so you can view or print them – a great way to make your weekly meal plan! Note these favorites may or may not be saved for you next session depending on your browser settings.
- There is a new searchable shopping guide. We’ll be adding more products soon, including food.
- We’ve also added some help pages in case you need them including Recipe Search Help, School Lunch Idea Gallery Help, and Shopping Guide Help.
We’d absolutely love your feedback on all these changes and also what more you’d like to see in the future – please take a moment to share your candid thoughts with us!
I also want to quickly give a big warm shoutout to my husband Jason (and his tech help including Andrew, Chris K., and the guys at Tuna Traffic, plus Cori and Stacey on admin, and Chris M. and Jennae on design) for working tirelessly on getting this thing up and running!
Giveaway to Celebrate: 3 Signed Copies of my Cookbook!
To help celebrate I am going to give away 3 signed (and personalized) copies of my #1 New York Times Best Selling Cookbook today! Since we want to be able to read through your comments about the site redesign please only enter this giveaway using the Rafflecopter form below. I repeat, comments will not count as an entry this time!
This Contest is Now Closed
Easy Kale, Sausage and White Bean Soup
Amanda Snodgrass
March 12, 2015 at 11:14 pmloved the site before, and the new design looks even better!
Christine Ruppel
March 12, 2015 at 11:16 pmGreat re design!!!
Sarah Jo
March 12, 2015 at 11:23 pmLove your content and new site! Love your Lunch Gallery. I head up the Health & Wellness Committee at our school and we’re always looking for easy, nutritious and fun lunch ideas such as yours. I’ll be sure and pin some to our Board: https://www.pinterest.com/BurtonHWC/easy-healthy-lunch-ideas/
One suggestion: I’d also love to see your individual lunch ideas socially shareable (i.e. share on your favorite social site). Might get you more traction :)
Sms
March 12, 2015 at 11:26 pmSo excited that it’s mobile friendly. Love the new site.
Dawn Kearns
March 12, 2015 at 11:45 pmI’ve always loved your website but the face lift looks great. Thanks for the great info:)
SF Mom
March 12, 2015 at 11:55 pmYour website looks amazing and your food is changing the way my family eats. I was diabetic and am so grateful to have found recipes that will keep me healthy and help set a wonderful example for my kids. Thank you so much, you have no idea how much I appreciate this.
Amber Elizabeth
March 13, 2015 at 12:04 amLove the new look but mostly just appreciate your kind tone and level-headed approach to healthy eating! Would love your book!
Marysue
March 13, 2015 at 12:15 amI’ve only just “met” you and your wonderful site this last month….but what I see is lovely! Bright, crisp, orderly! Congratulations on your new look!
Mitch
March 13, 2015 at 12:34 amNice design! Very easy to use and I love the lunch gallery. So pretty and inspiring!
alyssa
March 13, 2015 at 12:36 amI am so excited about the specific dietary concerns component of the search! We have a little man with an extreme intolerance to milk (diarrhea/vomiting for 72 hours after small exposure) and it gets tedious to find Dairy Free recipes that don’t sub in all kinds of crazy chemical/GMO laden stuff. Thank you!
Bridget
March 13, 2015 at 1:14 amLove the new site design. We had your yummy crock-pot potato soup from the recipe in your book tonight. My kids thought it was the best they ever tasted.
Thanks!
Kari
March 13, 2015 at 1:18 amI really love the new design. It is seamless. Thank you, thank you for keeping the old school recipe index. The school gallery will be used heavily by me as I plan my month of meals, including school lunches. Great work and great message. My life is changed.
Paula
March 13, 2015 at 1:25 amI totally love your site and your new design. (Thanks for putting back the “old school index) Your healthy living guidelines and all the help you give, has helped my family and I tremendously. You have made it possible to make the healthy changes in our lives. I love the personal feel of your sight including tidbits on your family as well as your journey to healthy living. Your site is my “go-to” when I meal plan. I have never been disappointed with your recipes and suggestions. Thank you so much!!!
Dana Law
March 13, 2015 at 2:06 amLooks great! Hope to win :)
Lynn Moos
March 13, 2015 at 2:32 amHard to believe you could make it ANY easier for us. You put my organizational skills to shame, and I’m extremely organized and efficient. Thanks for saving my sanity when I was told to give up just about everything I eat. Your meal plans, shopping lists, tips, and easy to access and navigate website have been a lifesaver. I appreciate your knowledge, abilities, and personality.
Sarah G
March 13, 2015 at 5:27 amI love the site’s design! Then again I liked the old one :) But I LOVE how clean it looks on my phone. Really inspiring!
Susan
March 13, 2015 at 6:38 amI like the new design. I try to use your ideas in my Family Childcare. Susan
missy
March 13, 2015 at 6:43 amhi I recently joined however, I am allergic to wheat, buckwheat, flaxseed, barley, couscous, sunflower seeds and oil, milk products, eggs , mushrooms, corn of any kind , nuts, and some fish too do you have recipes for food intolerant ppl? I am finding it very very difficult as I eat smoothies with spinach, chia seeds, amaranth, ginger, cinnamon, whatever else I can put in ,,, and brown rice that is about it! I desperately need help. I have been making carob cookies with acorn squash and rice flour and water and baking soda. same with pumpkin and applesauce I made homemade with out the sugar. please help! warm regards !
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
March 13, 2015 at 11:05 amHi there. You can now search recipes by dietary restriction which is a new feature. It is not going to cover every sensitivity but it is a great start. :)
Ashley
March 13, 2015 at 6:52 amI love the efficiency and style of the site, especially the search features for recipes by dietary needs!
Jackie
March 13, 2015 at 7:15 amLOVE the new galleries! I share your website with people all the time. Great content and the recipes are delicious! Huge fan of your cookbook also.
Sarah
March 13, 2015 at 8:17 amThis is awesome! I love the cleaner design & being able to use the tabs at the top to quickly get to the info I am most interested it. The deals/coupons all in one place with the details – perfect! The text & visual recipes and the dedicated school lunch section are all super helpful! Very user friendly – love this!
Shannon
March 13, 2015 at 8:39 amLove the new look! I really like all the new search options!!
Katrina V
March 13, 2015 at 9:00 amLove the new layout for the site! Just need to remember to turn ad blocker off on the search recipes page for it to load.
Lynn Holmes
March 13, 2015 at 9:18 amI love the new design. It is so much cleaner. Is not as hard to negotiate. I think it will be so much easier to find what you are looking for.
Julia
March 13, 2015 at 9:49 amI do love the new layout, congrats! The mobile version, however is slicing off the right edge of the page. May need some tweaking for a mobile friendly version. High five, y’all!
Susan C.
March 13, 2015 at 10:07 amLove the school lunch photos – makes it really easy to skim through. Congrats! I know how much work it is to get a new site up and running.
Darci
March 13, 2015 at 10:54 amLove the new, fresh design. Much easier to navigate; less cluttered.
Eman
March 13, 2015 at 11:10 amCongratulations . I really appreciate your hard work in order to benefit other in the best way
melissa martinez
March 13, 2015 at 12:05 pmI love the new recipe search!! so easy and love the pics!!
Anne
March 13, 2015 at 12:26 pmI love the nice clean design. It’s very easy on the eyes and to navigate, which makes me more likely to stay and browse.
dana
March 13, 2015 at 1:19 pmLove love love the new lunch menus that can be customized. What a great idea. And I love being able to search the menus based on what kind of meal I”m making. We try to do several meatless meals a week and I try to balance dairy/wheat heavy meals with those that are a little more meat/veggie heavy. Thanks!
Melanie
March 13, 2015 at 1:48 pmLove the new website! Easy to navigate exactly where I need to go. I especially like the beautiful photos that go along with the yummy recipes. That is probably my favorite new feature.
lynn
March 13, 2015 at 4:41 pm❤❤❤ the layout! LOVE navigating through each area!!
Corinne
March 13, 2015 at 6:00 pmI might be the only one, but I do not care for the site resolution/font sizing/whatever the correct term is. Everything is extremely large and it is hard to see much at one time without having to scroll. I provide the feedback in hopes that it is constructive and you might be able to alter, though I seem to be in the minority. I can zoom out though that is cumbersome to do every time I visit the site. This will impact my frequency of visiting the site.
Karen
March 14, 2015 at 9:16 amFor us older folk with the need for increasingly stronger reading glasses, the larger font size is a blessing!! Thanks Lisa for thinking of everyone!
Dacia
March 13, 2015 at 8:56 pmLooks great! Very clean! :)
Sara
March 14, 2015 at 2:28 amLove school lunch idea will help me with my grand daughters lunch planning. Real simple well planed meals for kids
Susanne
March 14, 2015 at 4:04 amGreat new look and recipe gallery. Browsing by ingredients and type of diet is very helpful.
Muriah
March 14, 2015 at 11:22 amThere’s a lot I like about the new layout, but after a couple days visiting, there’s one thing that I am not liking on the new site. I wish I didn’t have to scroll down to see if there’s a new post.
Brandi
March 14, 2015 at 4:12 pmI wish that there was a button on the main page, under the recent post section that would bring you to chronological groupings of older posts. I realize that if you click on one of the recent posts, there is a link at the bottom that brings you to the previous post, but it’s extremely tedious to have to go through one page at a time.
Megan
March 14, 2015 at 10:47 pmA lot of the links up top are really redundant. For instance, under the recipe tab, free meal plans and meal resources are also under free resources. Your cookbook is listed in two tabs as well. I understand the need for self-promotion, but I was really excited for more new content for a second. :( Also the free resources tab seems like a mix of left over 100 days of real food challenges and actual resources. The FAQ link back through these as well. So user flow seems to be redirected all over the place. Positive: I love the new image gallery and the fact old was kept too. The social media links up top are wonderful. And the overall look is a lot cleaner.
Kim
March 14, 2015 at 11:20 pmI like the new design, especially the popular posts and lunches. Easy to read, love the pics. I have to tell you — your lunch e-book made a big difference in the battle of eating healthy v. junk; thank you.
Debbie Shank
March 15, 2015 at 7:29 pmLove the new design
Jennifer Pascarella
March 15, 2015 at 10:11 pmJust started following your blog and checked your book out from the library. Would love my own copy as our family is just starting our journey to good clean eating health.
Robin A.
March 15, 2015 at 10:20 pmLove your recipes and very excited for the school lunch ideas. My kids aren’t in school yet but always looking for new lunch ideas. Checked out your book from the library and would love to have my own copy!
Ana
March 17, 2015 at 9:01 amCongratulations on getting your website redesign finalized. I really like the searchability of the new site and the new galleries. The school lunch gallery is just great and inspirational. I have to admit that I loved the banner you had at the top previously, but I do agree having more prominent new tabs at the top makes for easier navigation of the site. Finally, about your profile picture, I really like the soft tone of your clothing rather than dark. I hope this is useful. Thank you for all you do. I love your site!
Martha Cranford
March 18, 2015 at 2:57 pmI am in the middle of a website redesign now for Cranford Dental thus appreciate the thought and work you put in to this. It looks great. Hopefully the end is in site for us. It will be great to have a web responsive site. Thanks.
Ger
March 20, 2015 at 7:23 pmAesthetically pleasing and user friendly! Love it!!
Sherri Martinez
April 14, 2015 at 11:34 amLove the new site design!
Barbara Baker
April 19, 2015 at 3:57 pmI’m new at reviewing blogs and your’s is so informative, I wish I could have started from the beginning. I am changing my eating habits 360 degrees and found your site after free information wS Vailable. I will further research your site, and of course hope for free info, books, advice. Thank you, you sound very informative. Hope to use your site for future diet changes. Barbara Baker