Save Money & Time With These Dinner Tips

I’ll be honest, y’all: the price of groceries currently has me shaken. For years, I’ve routinely spent about $75 a week at our usual grocery store, with 3 Hungryroot deliveries a month, a Costco trip every 6 weeks, and a few supplementary stops when needed. I don’t think we’ve ever spent more than $500 in a month on groceries. However, those $75 trips have become $100+ trips and our every-6-weeks Costco stock up that used to be $120 or so is now $200-300. We are routinely hitting $600+ on groceries every month and we’ve definitely scaled back.

It’s an incredibly stressful time for families. The rising cost of foods, especially specialty foods, means that lots of people are making difficult choices. Add in consistent supply chain issues and shortages (like the formula shortage) and families are continuing to shoulder an incredible burden, both financially and mentally each month.

This is a time where we can all help each other. Everyone probably has thought they’ve tried everything regarding food costs and cutting back—but there might be something they’re overlooking. There might be something I’m overlooking or something that you’re overlooking. Like I said: we all can help each other. If you have a great tip for cutting costs, drop me a line on Instagram @michellelocke6! I’d love to compile some of these tips into a post or IG story.

I have a few ways I’ve cut costs recently and I wanted to share. I like to think these tips can also be time-saving: i know for many families like mine, you’re working on a tighter budget, but without as much time to get the things you need. That means you don’t have time to run to a ton of different grocery stores or you might be trying to limit the amount of time you carry around, say, a newborn baby who is vulnerable to all the viral mess going around right now.

1. Use Ibotta.

Ibotta is basically a coupon app that gives you cash back when you shop at certain stores. In October alone, I earned almost $100 and since then have earned about $225 total. It’s not nothing. They pair especially with Walmart and Target, so I use the app mostly at those stores. There are often cash back offers on the same things every week (like my favorite brand of kombucha and tuna packets, two things I buy nearly weekly), but there are also often new offers, as well as bonus incentives. It’s a small way to get a little extra money back when you’re doing your weekly grocery shopping.

2. Find a grocery service you like.

The cost of grocery stores can be incredibly variable from city to city, town to town. For example, I think overall, stores like Albertson’s and Safeway tend to be more expensive, especially in smaller towns. The Safeway closest to me definitely charges a lot more for certain things than anywhere else. I used to exclusively shop at Safeway, because it was the most accessible store for me (specifically pre-pandemic). For a while, I switched to Fred Meyer, which has some fairly decent deals on certain things, but not on others—however, they offered grocery pick up during the pandemic, which wasn’t available at other stores.

However, I’ve recently switched to Walmart delivery for my groceries. My weekly shop at Fred Meyer had started to climb into the $150 a week territory—which I just couldn’t fit into our budget. Walmart is averaging about $100 a week for the same things (give or take on brands). Plus, I signed up for the Walmart+ service which offers free delivery, as well as additional cash back offers. I got a deal on it—it’s usually about $100 for a year of Walmart+, but I got it for $50 in October. Walmart is not my favorite grocery store and my local Walmart (in a small town) tends to have pretty limited stock—but it’s the most affordable store by far right now.

3. If you need a specialty diet, find an online service you like.

This is again very dependent on your budget and what you’re willing to pay. If you have a specialty diet, online delivery services like Hungryroot can be a great addition to your budget. One small box a month is $65 and gives you 33 credits to use: that can get you stocked up on lunch supplies, some produce, and a few extras. I find Hungryroot works best as a supplement to my additional groceries. If you’re curious about what I pick up, I do weekly Hungryroot hauls on my Instagram story!

If you’d like to try Hungryroot, you can still use my code PAUSES2021 for an additional amount off your first box. Definitely a great deal right now, even if you just want to try it once or twice!

4. Don’t hesitate to visit a food pantry.

You get what you give. Food pantries are designed to help everyone in need—and if you need just a little extra to stretch you to the next week for grocery shopping or the next paycheck, then food pantries are 100% something you shouldn’t be ashamed to use. They often have shelf stable products—like pastas, jarred sauces, and canned goods—that you can use to make some simple meals to get you through the week. They also often have breads and peanut butter, perfect for kid lunches or snacks.

There is no shame in using resources like these, especially when times are hard. And when things improve or when you have a little extra money, you can always give back to food pantries and help others in need—it’s a win-win situation.

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Want some additional resources? I’ve got you:

• Meal Plan on a Budget

• Kids Lunch Ideas

• Learn More about Hungryroot

• Got a picky toddler? Here are some ideas

• Simple meals for baby-led weaning

How to Meal Plan on a Budget

Welcome to my new series, Meal Planning March! I’m excited to share all the tips and tricks I have for meal planning. It’s one of those things that most people know will help them eat better, eat cheaper, or just have less stress—but can feel overwhelming to get started! In this series, we’ll talk budgeting, creating meal templates to reduce decision fatigue, and more!

When you think of meal planning, what comes to mind?

Do you think of those complicated printables you see on Pinterest? Or do you think of those cutesy templates that are almost too simplified?

Or, are you like me and do you immediately want to go lie down?

I make so many decisions every single day: how to respond to comments for my work, how to respond to emails, how to do this, things I need to research, to do lists that I need to prioritize… it can be hard to add one more decision to my day, like deciding what to make for dinner or, worse, deciding what to make for 7 days worth of dinners.

So how do I make meal planning easier? And how do I not spend thousands of dollars every single week considering every possible meal option?

Let’s start with the second question: budget.

Setting Your Weekly Grocery Budget

For my family, we typically spend about $50-75 on groceries every week. Then, every 6 weeks or so, we do a big Costco shop that is between $100-200 (it depends on if we need dog food and toiletries, like paper towels, at the same time).

On this note, we also buy meat through co-op systems, like splitting a cow or pig from a local farmer with other people. That saves us a ton of money and we usually don’t buy meat week-to-week—the only exception is turkey or chicken, if we’re using those that week.

This is all to say: setting your weekly budget is hugely personal and one of the most challenging parts of meal planning. If you’re like me and a little obsessed with saving money, it can also be a huge headache when you end up spending a ton on groceries that you end up not using.

Here are a few factors to consider when creating your weekly budget:

• Be realistic about how much food you need to buy.

• Be realistic about what you will eat. I usually stick to buying 2-3 fruits to have for snacks every week—not a selection of every fruit I like. If it’s in season, even better. The same goes for vegetables; rather than buying a few of all the veggies I like, I pick my few rockstar veggies that I like in everything, typically broccoli, carrots, and spinach.

• Do you need all those snacks? I know lots of people buy lots of snack foods every week. And while some weeks I definitely go hogwild in the snack aisle, I don’t think it’s necessary. We usually keep pretzels, granola bars, and fruit snacks stocked and that’s pretty much it, as we try to snack on whole foods otherwise. If a significant portion of your grocery bill is going towards a ton of snacks, it might be time to re-assess, as they can’t be used in meal preparation.

Another huge part to consider: how much can you afford to spend each week? For us, we could probably spend a bit more on groceries (and/or I could spend less time shopping sales and looking for coupons), but we have found that our budget gets us what we need, and isn’t too time consuming for me to shop at this point.

Creating a Meal Plan with Budget in Mind

There are a few foods that are cheaper to make. Things like bean and rice bowls are highly affordable. Conversely, anything with a meat-based protein (or plant-based protein that is highly specialized, like Beyond Burger) is going to be more expensive. Pastas, rice, and most grains can be bought in bulk and make meal planning a lot easier.

Here’s what I do:

• Each week, I sit down with a cookbook and PInterest and start searching for things that look good. I keep in mind what I have on hand—typically, a lot of beef, some freezer items, and salmon that I buy from a local fishery—and pick meals based on those things.

• I also pick recipes that include more fresh ingredients, rather than canned.* While canned foods are cheaper, I don’t typically like them—but that’s just me!

• Recipes with less ingredients tend to draw me in more than time-consuming or multi-step recipes, probably because they’ll end up costing more overall.

My favorite cookbook right now for meal planning is Danielle Kartes’ Rustic Joyful Food: Meant to Share. These recipes are all big, meaning they make a lot (and are therefore easy to freeze extra or simply cut in half). She also tends to create recipes that don’t contain very expensive ingredients and that’s one thing she notes in her book as well.

Once I have a list of things I want to make, I start writing out what I don’t have for those recipes. If the list starts getting too long, I will re-assess what I’ve picked to make and swap things around to save for later.

My Best Money Saving Tips

• Buy in bulk if you can and if you have the storage. It’s more cost up front, but if you break it down, it lasts longer for less. However, that being said: the up front cost can be off-putting and the storage aspect can make it tough.

• Shop the sales. If there is a big sale on chicken or turkey, buy a few and plan meals around those for the month. I get weekly emails from my grocery store to better help me see what’s going to be on sale when it’s time to go shopping.

• Repurpose leftovers. Here’s an example: after I make tacos, I always have extra meat, rice, and beans. I usually will turn those into a layered taco casserole the next day just to change things up. If you make a roast on Sunday, you can work those leftovers into your meals for at least one or two extra days—think roast beef sandwiches, chili, beef stew, or shepherd’s pie. Super simple!

Have tips you want to share? I’m all ears! Leave your thoughts in the comments below!

3 Fun Things to Prep for Autumn

I will probably write something equivalent in every blog post I write for the next month, but: this is a really challenging time for everyone, especially here on the West Coast. Things have been challenging and difficult for months now, but it feels like things are compacting, right? Getting tighter. More restrictive. In the words of my mother-in-law, “I’m sick of this shit.”

I recently read a tweet, however, that said something like this: it’s possible to feel just as happy drinking your coffee and watering your plants as it is to go on a dream vacation. Joy is joy, and however you’re able to feel it, let yourself take a taste of it and really feel that joy. 

You know what brings me joy?

Wait for it…

Autumn.

I knew you would know, especially if you know me. I love Autumn. I love pumpkins. I love the anticipation of the season, helping Fo pick his costume. I love everything about the season.

That’s probably why this is so hard right now. It’s chillier outside here in Oregon, but only because the smoke is literally blocking the sun and keeping the air colder below it. We can’t go outside—so no apple picking, no pumpkin patch visits, nothing.

But that won’t stop me from finding joy in this season. I can be just as happy buying a pumpkin from the grocery store, decorating my house with what I already have.

So, without further ado, here are 3 fun ways to prep for Autumn. I hope they bring you a little joy!

1. Decorate Your House

I love decorating for Autumn and Halloween. I know it’s not the most popular holiday to decorate for or season to decorate for, but it’s growing in popularity. And, quite frankly, it’s really fun. Nothing makes your house feel cozier.

I have a good stockpile of my favorite decorations and I try not to buy a ton every year. However, I did buy a new, shallow wooden basket for our coffee table and some fake mini pumpkins to fill it. It cost $9 in total—which is a steal, to be honest.

Doing little things to bring you joy is important. Get out the candles, find some little pumpkins, and go wild.

2. Bake Some Cookies

It goes without saying: baking makes your house smell good.

Candles help too. But there is something about the smell of baking cookies.

My favorite recipe right now is the TikTok cookie recipe: 1 cup peanut butter, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 egg, 1 tsp of baking soda, and 1 cup of chocolate chips. It’s just so… easy. We make these a lot for Forrest—he’s always in the mood for a cookie and he’s been holding steady at 31 pounds for a year and a half now, so we need him to bulk up—and they make the house smell good.

But whatever cookie you choose, this is a great way to get in the spirit, forget the world for a little while, and have some fun. Plus, you get cookies at the end of it.

3. Have a Movie Night

I’m working on a list of Autumnal-but-not-spooky/scary/Halloween movies to watch with Forrest… because one of our favorite things to do right now is have a movie night. Make hot cocoa, pop some popcorn, put on a movie, and snuggle up under a blanket. It’s so cozy, so fun, and requires $0 and next to no effort.

If you don’t have a go to list of movies to watch for movie night, let me help you out. Here are a few of our favorites:

• The Nightmare Before Christmas

• Home Alone 2 (I know this is a Christmas movie but Forrest loves it)

• Lego Movie 2

• Coraline

• Fantastic Mr. Fox

• Isle of Dogs

• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

A Complete Guide to Setting Boundaries

This month, we’re going to talk about establishing boundaries: in your business, in your personal relationships, and beyond. Establishing boundaries is so important to everyone and something we don’t talk about enough! I hope you find value and comfort in these blog posts. You can read all posts in this series by clicking here.

This week, I’m finally ready to post my full guide to setting boundaries. This guide will cover everything you need to know about setting boundaries: what that means, how to do it, what to say, and how to keep yourself from letting boundaries lapse.

Boundaries are one of the best things you can do to keep your relationships—from work to home—emotionally healthy, as well as to improve your own mental health. There are tons of benefits to setting boundaries—you can read the pull quote below, but here’s a rundown:

• Setting boundaries reduces your stress, as well as your mental load. If you aren’t having to constantly balance the emotional needs of other people, or be on call to everyone at the same time, then you will experience way less stress.

• If you have children, setting healthy, respectful boundaries teaches them to do the same thing: to set healthy, respectful boundaries, to respect themselves, and to prioritize their mental health.

• Setting boundaries help define the line between your work life and your home life.

I’m glad you’re here and reading my guide to setting boundaries. As I’ve said in previous posts in this series, I’m not a mental health professional—just one person who loves to write and who attends therapy to help set boundaries in my professional and personal life! I hope you find this guide helpful.

How to Set Boundaries

What does it mean to set boundaries?

Good question! Here’s an example to help illustrate what that means.

Let’s say you are a mom of 2. Your children’s ages are 3 and 1. Both are walking, but only one is verbal at this time. They have a bad habit of always following you into the bathroom no matter what. You wish they wouldn’t, but if you close the door, the one-year-old throws a fit and the 3-year-old joins in.

What is a boundary to set in this example?

1. Establishing with the 3-year-old in age appropriate language that you want to be alone in the bathroom. Bathroom time is private time.

2. Remind yourself that you deserve private time. Again, bathroom time is private time and you get to decide if you want your children in the bathroom with you or not.

3. Encourage the 3-year-old to entertain the 1-year-old when you’re in the bathroom. “It upsets [baby] when I go to the bathroom. But bathroom time is private time. If she gets upset, can you comfort her for me? You’re so helpful! When I’m done, we can all bake cookies together.”

Firstly, the boundary is defined: you want to go to the bathroom alone and you have that right, even from your children.

Secondly, the boundary is communicated: from now on, you’ll be going to the bathroom alone and closing the door. There will be consequences if they open it.

Thirdly, acknowledge their emotions. “I know it’s upsetting with Mama goes to the bathroom alone. I love that you want to spend time with me. But bathroom time is private time.”

Lastly, you keep the boundary. When you go to the bathroom, you close the door and you don’t let your children sit at your feet.

That’s just one example of setting a boundary! But here’s a rough outline of those steps again:

1. Define the boundary and why it is important to you.

2. Communicate the boundary.

3. Acknowledge the needs of others.

4. Keep the boundary established (even when it’s challenging).

The last steps is admittedly the hardest one. How can you stick to your boundaries when you have a child crying outside the bathroom door? Or when a client calls you over and over on a Saturday afternoon? Or when your boss asks you to please respond to emails after 7pm? Where do you draw the line? Let’s talk about sticking with our boundaries—that will make up the majority of this guide!

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How to Stick to Your Boundaries

Enforcing Boundaries with Love and Kindness

First things first, let’s remember why we’re setting boundaries in the first place.

In the example I provided, we aren’t setting a boundary with our children to be alone int he bathroom because we don’t like our kids. We want and deserve a few minutes alone; and we want to make sure our children understand that bathroom time is private time.

Boundaries are created out of love and a desire to be better--not a desire to hurt other people.

Setting boundaries doesn’t mean we don’t love the people around us, that we don’t like them, or that we don’t respect them. You can set boundaries and show love and kindness while doing so!

All that being said: sometimes, our boundaries aren’t respected. This doesn’t happen out of unkindness, usually. It just means that perhaps they don’t understand the boundary, they don’t understand why it’s important, or they don’t realize that what they’re doing is crossing the boundary. However, sometimes people do it, plain and simple, because they don’t feel like respecting your boundaries—which means they don’t really care about respecting you. In this case, the only advice I have is this: it’s not your job to make it easier for them to do this!

Enforcing boundaries with love and kindness will look different for everyone. However, here are a few example phrases I keep in my arsenal:

• “Do you remember when we talked about appropriate times to text me? It was a few weeks ago, so I just want to circle back to that and remind you that my working hours are…”

• "Last time we spoke, I mentioned that I do try to get to emails within 24-48 hours. A few days ago, you emailed me 3 times in 2 hours. I get that sometimes things happen, but due to the volume of my inbox, I have to ask you to please not do that. I appreciate you as a client and this project is so fun, but that does get overwhelming for me.”

• “I’m so excited to bake cookies with you later. But for now, I need to work. I’ve put the red light sign on my door. Do you remember what that means?”

Keep gently reinforcing boundaries! You don’t have to be rude (or feel rude!) when you do it.

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Communicating Boundaries Respectfully

When we set boundaries, we want to make sure that not only are we communicating our boundaries, but also acknowledging the feelings of others as we do so. This might mean:

• Reminding our children that we love them and respect them and that, when we’re doing with xyz, we’ll do something fun together.

• Reminding our clients how much we appreciate their work.

• Reminding our friends and family that we appreciate them and love them.

Communicating boundaries respectfully also means acknowledging the boundaries and feelings over others. This might mean having longer discussions about our boundaries, how we communicate best, and how we don’t want to be spoken to. This is great for extremely close relationships, like your partner, siblings, parents, or others.

However, for clients, this is definitely more complicated.

Sometimes as freelance workers, we can feel not like we are a boss, but rather like we have multiple bosses. With all my clients, I try to reiterate one small fact: I am a freelancer, not an employee; as such, I am not beholden to rules of an employer like an employee would be. I set my working hours; I set my response times; and it is up to me set those expectations from the beginning. Those expectations are ultimately boundaries and if a client repeatedly pushes on them, the boundary needs to be established even more—and reinforced, as we’ve discussed. That being said, this is a relationship that is often much more fraught, because it is almost entirely without emotion.

Our work boundaries are often more challenging to communicate than our personal life boundaries—and that’s ok. Here are a few great things to say:

• “Hi there! I’m sorry if you expected a reply to this when you sent it. For the sake of my mental health and to allow myself to be the best employee, I do not respond to work emails or questions after 6pm. I try to get to these emails and texts first thing when I start my work day though.”

• “I noticed that you have been texting me after 6pm a lot recently. Here is how I prioritize my work. Would that help you better understand why I’m not getting to things at a certain time?”

• “Would it be helpful to schedule a weekly check in time so that we can handle all of these concerns at once? Maybe that will reduce both of our inboxes!”

This is definitely challenging work, but it is valuable. The more you communicate your boundaries, and reinforce them, the easier it will get.

How to Respond to Gaslighting

Setting boundaries is where we are all most likely to experience gaslighting, unfortunately. In this case, I want to the Mindgeek on Instagram, who has tons of resources to responding to gaslighting behavior.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Sarah Crosby (@themindgeek) on Aug 21, 2020 at 11:27am PDT

Here are a few examples of gaslighting in response to setting boundaries:

• “I don’t remember you saying that” or “that’s not what you said!” when you remind them of your boundaries.

• “It’s not that bad”

• “You’re just being dramatic.”

If you experience these things, the only thing I can offer is sympathy; know that I understand, your boundaries are valuable and important; and that you know your truth more than anyone else. The Mindgeek’s tips are good ones.

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How to Move Forward

Where do I go from here?

You set the boundary; you communicated it; you’ve been working on enforcing it… what happens now?

The thing about setting boundaries is this isn’t one-and-done work. It requires constant checking in and re-establishing. It can feel overwhelming to think of this work as being one that never ends. But instead of thinking of it as endless (“oh my god, I have to keep reminding my kids to do xyz everyday—this is the worst”), think of it as an opportunity: “each time I remind my kids of xyz, I get another opportunity to teach them to prioritize their mental health and relationships.”

Working on ourselves and our mental health isn’t ever going to be a one-and-done process. Don’t I wish it was! That being said, looking at things as opportunities to grow and change, to experience something new, to work on being our best selves is much, much better than thinking of it merely as endless, slogging work.

I hope you found this guide to setting boundaries helpful. Thanks for reading, as always!

3 Journal Prompts for Setting Boundaries

This month, we’re going to talk about establishing boundaries: in your business, in your personal relationships, and beyond. Establishing boundaries is so important to everyone and something we don’t talk about enough! I hope you find value and comfort in these blog posts. You can read all posts in this series by clicking here.

Today’s post will be pretty short & simple. I wanted to share a few journaling prompts to help you explore your need for boundaries, what boundaries you want to set, and how you can set those boundaries.

As I’ve shared in previous posts, this past year has been a huge one for setting boundaries. Before I was laid off in July 2019, I worked constantly. Sometimes, I would drop everything I was doing when I got a Slack message. I have always worried about being viewed as lazy, needy, or inconsistent, so I made sure to be available 100% of the time. After I the layoff and as I started freelancing, I realized that this simply wasn’t a sustainable option for me. Especially as COVID-19 hit and we were quarantined, I realized that sometimes I just needed to say, “No I can’t do that” to just about everyone in my life. Dropping everything to go do a work task or dropping work tasks to go help Forrest were both unsustainable options.

Establishing boundaries around my work life and my home life were important especially because I work from home. I used these journaling prompts myself to help clear my mind, get all my thoughts out on paper, and created a plan for boundaries.

I hope you find these helpful!

Thanks for reading!

5 Easy Kids Lunches (That Aren't Fast Food)

Now, here’s the thing: I love a fast food lunch. Drive-thru dinner. Easy peasy, everyone is happy, we all live in harmony. But that being said: fast food can add up fast and become a habit even faster. And while there is nothing inherently wrong with fast food, it can strain your budget and make you feel not-so-great after a while.

If you’re feeling stuck in a rut with your kids’ lunches, I feel you: I feel like all I’ve done since March is make breakfast, lunch, dinner, and 2 snacks without stopping. Have I actually worked? Participated in my hobby? Or is my life only cooking now? I love spending time making something time intensive for Forrest… but I also like being able to just slap something on the table that I don’t feel horrible about and calling it good.

I wrote a post a few weeks ago about getting kids to eat healthier snacks (for those times when you feel like you’ve been throwing a box of Cheez-Its into the living room and running). But today, I want to share some ideas for lunches that are: easy; not the worst for you; and don’t require that much energy. These are for the low days, the days you just can’t anymore, or when you need just 10 more minutes to get that one task done.

Let’s start with my big tip: not every meal needs to be homemade, nor does every single meal need to be 4-5 courses. I promise you, none of us grew up eating perfectly prepared, handmade dishes… and we’re all totally fine. Another hot take: a few years ago, one of my friends said to me, “you know dinner can be a sandwich and that’s fine.”

Dinner or lunch can be a sandwich and that’s fine. How freeing is that idea? You don’t even have to cook!

That being said, here are my 5 easiest, not-that-bad-for-you, kid-friendly lunches.

1. The Classic Sandwich

Honestly, this one goes without saying: if your kids with eat sandwiches, then just throw anything in a sandwich. Cream cheese and fruit? Boom. Peanut butter and jelly. Turkey and cheese. There are so many options. You can also cut sandwiches into fun shapes, into dipping sticks.

Arrange in a bento box with some fruit and a handful of something else (pretzel bites, chips, crackers, veggies, whatever) and you’ve basically got an ideal lunch anyway.

In this photo, we have Forrest’s favorite sandwich: ham with cheese, plus peaches and peanut butter pretzel bites. Nothing spectacular, but I know he’ll quietly eat this for 20 minutes.

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2. Freezer Section Frenzy

Let me tell you: if you aren’t utilizing quick foods from the freezer section, then run, don’t walk, to the nearest Trader Joe’s (safely, of course, please wear your mask) and invest. The Trader Joe’s turkey corn dogs are honestly really, really good, very kid friendly, and done in 60 seconds. They have lots of options like this: chicken nuggets, pizzas, mac and cheese. Add a side of fruit and some dipping sauce, and you’ve made lunch in maybe 5 minutes.

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3. Breakfast for Lunch

When I make breakfast foods, I tend to make enough to last few several breakfasts or, honestly, several lunches. One thing Forrest will always eat is a waffle, pancake, or French toast. We’ve started making breakfast kabobs that he has fun assembling (I don’t even have to do the work!). Cut whatever breakfast item into 4ths and then cut your favorite fruit (strawberries, grapes, peaches, apples) and put onto skewers. Add a little dish of syrup for dipping and again, voila! Easy peasy, it took 5 minutes tops.

Big tip: Like I said, make a big batch of breakfast food to have in the freezer or fridge to reheat quickly when you need it.

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4. Leftover Grab Bag

We always have leftovers in our house because I am terrible at cooking for 3 people. 4, totally doable. 2, fine. When it comes to estimating amounts for 3 people, you think it’d be easy, but it’s not.

Thus, leftovers. I think sometimes we hesitate to feed our kids leftovers because we want to save them for our own lunches (especially if you have a member of your family still working outside the home). However, if it’s stuff your kid will eat, then why not portion it into their bento box for lunch!?

In this photo, we have the Hungryroot chicken & spinach sausage (leftover), some corn and bean salad (leftover), a crisped up cauliflower pizza crust (also leftover), and some caesar salad (which I’d made for myself for lunch—just wanted to see if Fo would eat it). Forrest will always (and I mean always) eat this chicken and spinach sausage—it’s one of his favorites. If you want to try Hungryroot, you can get free black bean brownie batter (another kid-friendly favorite) by using PAUSESBROWNIE. Let me know what you think.

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5. Homemade Lunchable

Kids love Lunchables and they’re a frequent purchase in my house. But they are very expensive, so that adds up fast. As it turns out, they’re very easy to make at home. A few slices of deli turkey or ham, a slice or two of your kid’s favorite cheese, and some crackers—boom, you’ve done it. I always add a fruit and something sweet (in this case, a Partake Birthday Cake cookie, which I highly recommend).

If your kiddos prefer pizza Lunchables, you can use small tortillas (these ones are the perfect size), a dollop of spaghetti sauce, and some cheese and pepperoni (all of which are great fridge staples) to recreate them.

The best thing about Lunchables has always been that they are fun and easy for kids to eat—they make food interactive. It’s pretty easy to replicate that at home with little effort (and much less money).

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There you go—5 easy lunch ideas you can apply to your life, preferences, and more. Let me know what you’re favorite easy lunches are for your kids!

My 4 Tricks for Getting Kids to Eat Healthier Snacks

Snacking is a shockingly controversial topic in the parenting world.

Some parents are vehemently anti-snack. And some parents let their kids go hogwild.

The truth is: no matter what your approach is, as long as you’re approaching it from a mindset of wanting the best for your kids, that’s great. Do what works for you!

But I know for me, I’ve always stressed a little bit about what Forrest eats in a day. Like most 4-year-olds, he can be really picky. Kids don’t have a lot of control over their day-to-day lives so food is often the one thing they can control. Plus, they like routine and all the things being pretty similar day-to-day. Almost all kids (except the few outliers, you lucky ducks!) have a few (or quite a few) foods they simply won’t touch (Forrest’s are broccoli and potatoes).

Snacks are a great way to teach kids good habits—not just to pick foods that help them meet their nutritional goals, but also to have fun with food and to let their body’s needs guide their choices. However, making sure kids have access to a good mix of snacks—both the fun stuff and the good-for-you stuff—can be really challenging.

Here are my 4 tips for helping kids pick healthier snacks every day. (As a note, these are just a few things to try! Different things, as always, will work for different families. Experiment, find what works, and don’t stress too much about it!)

1. Focus on what your kids already like.

I am a picky eater and I can remember what it was like for me when my mother tried to force me to try new foods or eat new foods. It was stressful and it created a lot of anxiety in me. Especially with snacks, I always wanted to eat the same things over and over: chips and salsa; Cheerios; and maybe an apple with peanut butter.

Forrest is definitely not as picky as I was, but he definitely has different tastes. Whereas I would have happily lived on mashed potatoes (and only mashed potatoes) as a child, he hates potatoes in all forms: fries, roasted, mashed, whatever, he doesn’t like potatoes. However, he does love fruit and yogurt; he will eat fruit and yogurt pretty much always.

The solution? Snacks of fruit and yogurt. Freeze yogurt tubes for afternoon snacks on hot days. Keep cut up apples and peaches in the fridge. We always have apples and strawberries on hand, as well as mangos, peaches, and other seasonal fruits. Forrest is probably never going to be a kid who happily accepts carrots as a snack—but he will eat strawberries and peaches, a smoothie, or some yogurt with fruit and granola.

This has been one of the best things for my anxiety around food and making sure the snacks Forrest eats are at least 80% nutritionally sound most of the time: instead of trying to form his tastes into ones that help me tick all those boxes (5 servings of veggies? check!), I just work with what he likes—rather than what he’s still learning to like.

2. Offer variety and choices.

There are actually 2 ways to approach snacks in your house.

1. Presenting a schedule at the beginning of each day that lists what’s for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and what is for morning and afternoon snack. And that’s it.

2. Giving them choices (just 2 choices, not all the choices) throughout the day at each mealtime and snack time.

How you approach this really depends on your child and their personality—as well as how well they’ve handled quarantine. (Isn’t that true for all of us?)

For us, I try to give choices. Here’s an example of what I say:

“This morning for breakfast, you can have oatmeal with apples or peanut butter toast with peach slices and granola. Which one sounds better?” Then, Forrest gets to choose—and he knows he always will be able to help me make breakfast.

At snack time, this is what I might say:

“For snack, you can have some cheese puffs and apple slices or yogurt with strawberries. Which sounds best right now?”

It’s really easy to get stuck in the rut of doing the same thing every day for kids. And some kids definitely thrive under that kind of structure. However, it can easily lead to boredom and kids begging for other snacks that you don’t necessarily want them to have every single day.

3. Make healthy snacks accessible.

One of the best things I ever did was make a little shelf for Forrest in the fridge that he can easily reach; it has his water bottle, juice boxes, and yogurts available 24/7. He also has access to our fruit bowl whenever he wants. We have a very simple rule in our house: if he wants a snack sometime other than our usual snack times, he can always have fruit, a yogurt, water, or a juice box—and he can get it himself. I will often find him happily eating a blueberry yogurt or eating an apple while playing with his Legos. It just makes my life so much easier and lets him know that, if he’s hungry, he is always allowed to access these spots no matter what.

4. Don’t restrict snacks.

Regarding point 3, I know for many parents, they feel they need to limit snacking. Especially if they’re worried their children are snacking more out of boredom than anything else. However, I’m trying to teach Forrest that it’s ok to listen to your body and some days, you just need more food than others! He is a very active child and he needs more food somedays. That’s just the reality of life. And while I definitely want him to make choices that make his body feel good, I never want him to feel like he is being deprived or not allowed to eat.

I have noticed this works with Forrest and lots of other kids; if they’re asking for a snack incessantly, it’s probably because they’re hungry. Even if dinner is 10 minutes from being done, they’re small humans and they only know they are hungry right then. I will usually put together whatever I have ready for dinner then; let’s say I’m making BLTs with cucumbers and watermelon. Well, the cucumber and watermelon are ready, so they can munch on those while I finish putting together the sandwiches. There is nothing wrong with doing that.

If kids are begging for snacks in between meals, or in between snacks, I often ask what sounds good and offer a few alternatives. If they all want popsicles, that’s a fairly easy thing to offer! Plus, popsicles can help with hydration—always a great choice during the summer. You can also offer a variety of snacks, like some cheese puffs, a yogurt, a few strawberries, and a juice box and see what they end up picking. It’s not like you can’t save whatever they don’t eat to go with lunch or for the next snack.

My Top 3 Products for My Dog's Health

My dog, Remus, is an 8-year-old chocolate lab. In many ways, he’s a stereotypical lab: he is high energy (2-3 walks per day, plus at least 30-40 minutes of chasing a ball of stick are necessary), he is highly intelligent, and he can be incredibly sensitive to changes in his diet, routine, or home. He is also a garbage surfer: we’ve rushed him to the vet more times than I can count because he ate something he wasn’t supposed to or was so sick from eating something random.

Last year around this time, he ate exactly 3 nuggets of a food we had tried for him and stored in our garage; when we moved, he found those 3 nuggets, ate them, and proceeded to vomit and have diarrhea for 2 whole days. He was diagnosed with colitis, got a stomach x-ray, and cost us about $700… because of 3 nuggets of food. In the course of his life, he’s eating shoes, razors, tampons (so many tampons), napkins, banana peels, coffee grounds, and so many crayons his poop was rainbow colored for several days at a time. (He learned his lesson with the crayons eventually.)

Yeah, labs. They are such great dogs, but health-wise, they are a really mixed bags. Their high energy is fun when you consistently have time, but if you’re having a busy day, it’s equally as likely that they’ll spend the day lying beside your chair (great!) or knocking over every garbage can in your house and eating every tampon they can find (not great!).

As labs age, they also come with an incredibly high risk of arthritis. A few months ago, I started noticing signs that Remus was developing early arthritis. Did you know around 80% of dogs over the age of 5 have arthritis?! It’s very common, even for a relatively young dog of 8. I noticed he was bunny hopping occasionally when he ran outside, as well as sometimes limping when he woke up in the morning or got up after a long nap. His energy level has definitely decreased in the last 2 years—which is somewhat a good thing. But we still go on at least one walk every day (usually early in the morning) and then play fetch for a while.

I asked a few of my lab-owning friends about their favorite products to help their dogs deal with arthritis and aging. I got some great recommendations for everything from joint health to their teeth. I thought I’d share our favorites that have worked with Remus’s admittedly very sensitive stomach.

1. Pure Wild Alaskan Salmon Oil for Dogs & Cats, $34.97

This salmon oil is one of our newer purchases—we’ve been using it for 2 months and I can’t tell you the difference it makes! Right now is prime lab shedding time, at least in Oregon, since we don’t get warm weather until June-July. Labs shed their winter coats in the Spring/Summer, then shed their Summer coats in the early Fall. I’ve been brushing Remus consistently everyday to help, but he just has gobs of hair. So much hair!

Salmon oil is good for a lot of things for dogs—but primarily their joint health and their coats. Remus has definitely gotten a lot shinier since we started using salmon oil and his shedding has been a lot better. Since labs have typically oily coats, it’s not recommended to bathe them very frequently; every 4-5 months is honestly enough. Remus does tend to get a little dandruffy if he gets wet too often, probably from his skin being too dry (and during the summer he runs in the sprinklers a lot)—this has helped with that too.

How to use it: Follow the instructions on the bottle! If you go with a brand different from Pure Wild, make sure to read the instructions carefully. To start, we actually only put about a teaspoon on Remus’s food in the morning and evening; with his sensitive stomach, we wanted to make sure we weren’t setting ourselves up for another colitis incident! He handled it well though. If your dog has a sensitive stomach, definitely start slow. These days, Remus gets a full pump of oil on his morning and evening meals. We’ve used about 1/3 the bottle in about 2 months—so for the price, that’s really good!

2. Dechra Phycox Soft Chews, $49.69

These are a more specialized item; because they are an actual supplement to help with joint health, if you have worries about your dog’s arthritis, make sure to talk to a vet first. These were recommended by our friends, the lab group I’m in, and our vet—so I felt comfortable taking the leap.

We started these chews slowly, just like with the oil. The instructions recommend 4-5 chews a day for Remus’s size for the first 4 weeks, then reducing to 2 a day after that. However, we started with 1-2 chews every day for the first week, just to make sure they wouldn’t make him sick. After the first 4 weeks, we bumped him up to 3 chews a day. We’re giving him 6 weeks with 3 chews a day; we’re really close to that point and then we’ll probably reduce to 2 chews per day.

We’ve noticed such a difference since we started using these! He’s definitely been a bit more spry and less likely to bunny hop when he runs. As well, he hasn’t been limping when he wakes up from naps any more—only first thing in the morning when he’s been asleep for a long time and his limp goes away a little faster.

The one downside is these chews smell really bad! Granted, they’re dog treats—they smell like dog treats, but somehow… more like dog treats. They definitely don’t smell good, but Remus seems to like them.

We haven’t made our way through an entire tub yet—even with just over 2 months of use. We definitely went with an augmented plan though, so this might not be a typical experience. These are available on Chewy.com with a discount for auto-shipping.

3. Milkbone Brushing Chews, ~$10.00

We’ve been giving these Milkbone treats to Remus for about 4 years and I can’t say enough about them. I do want to make sure to emphasize that these are the green brushing chews—they are minty and help brush your dog’s teeth. Remus is never going to be a dog that lets us groom him; we know this, we accept this. We have a special kennel that he uses now that files his nails for us overtime, it’s helped a lot; we can brush him, but it is definitely a chore; and we are never going to be able to brush his teeth. Remus is a super even tempered dog, but the closest he has ever come to having a temper has been when we tried to clip his nails and when trying to brush his teeth.

(I’ve since learned this isn’t abnormal for labs! And especially labs developing arthritis are not going to like their nails clipped.)

However, I really worried about his teeth as I noticed if he chewed on a tennis ball for too long, his gums would bleed. We started giving him these treats and they’ve helped with his teeth so much. He’s never going to have great breath—he is a dog, after all!—but his vet is always shocked at how good his teeth look for being a dog who doesn’t like his teeth brushed at all.

Depending on the size of your dog, the cost of a bag of these treats is super variable; however, for Remus’s size, they are just under $10 a bag on Amazon and at Target. (If you buy them at Target, they are fairly frequently on sale in the Cartwheel app and often have a deal to get a gift card if you buy 2 bags at once.) We give Remus one every day after his evening meal; it’s like his evening snack!