Recipes: Whole foods Italian, 3 ways

There’s something so comforting about Italian food — and I’m not even Italian. Must be the noodles. Or the warm, savory sauces. Or the fresh basil and parsley. Or the cheese — oh, the cheese! I’m just not ready to go vegan yet because I can’t say goodbye to the cheese.

But I digress. Whether you prefer your Italian food the traditional, full-fat way or you’re trying to go more whole-foods, plant-based, there’s bound to be a recipe you and your family will love. Here are three we just can’t get enough of. And as always, check the Healthy Little Changes Recipes page for more mealtime inspiration.

The urge to purge … your home, that is

I just got back from an 8-day family vacation to California. As with any trip with small children, it had its less-than-ideal moments (like when my poor baby girl threw up all over herself — and my husband, and the restaurant — after dinner on our last day at Disneyland). But overall, it was a wonderful trip and I loved getting away with my family.

The thing about vacations is, it takes a LOT of work to prepare for them, plus a lot of work getting life back in order again once you get home. This is especially true if you have little ones; it seems like you have to pack everything but the kitchen sink — and it sure felt that way beforehand, as I ran errand after errand making sure we had everything we needed before we took off.

My work paid off and nothing was forgotten. In fact, we not only had everything we needed, we had ONLY the things we needed. No extras taking up space; just the basics that took care of all our needs. And you know, it was really nice. For once I didn’t have to sift through an overflowing closet and wrack my brain trying to figure out what to wear each morning, and I didn’t have to clean up piles and piles of toys that the kids had gotten out during the day or dig through drawers of makeup trying to find the perfect shade of eyeshadow. I had exactly what I needed — no more, no less.

And then we came home to a house that’s overflowing with stuff.

7 reasons you should make ready-to-eat snack bags

When you’ve got little kids, snack time is a way of life. It seems like someone is always hungry or begging for a snack, which can mean countless trips for mom to the pantry or fridge each week. One of my favorite ways to streamline my life in the kitchen is to make ready-to-eat snack bags, all prepped and easily accessible for little hands.

Having snack bags is like meal planning for snacks. You don’t necessarily need to make a strict plan, but you do need to think ahead to have treats on hand. After that, it’s easy as pie.