Veggies & Virtue (Ashley Smith, RD, LD [Picky Eating Expert])

On today's episode, I go over a topic that has come up a lot lately over on social. And that is -    Do we let our kids choose?   This could be choosing what's for breakfast, when they have another snack, or if they eat any of their dinner.   Each of those items is, in fact, a choice. And with that, if our child isn't the one choosing the answer/outcome, then we as the parents likely already have or will.   That's why, I thought this was a helpful segment to reshare from a former group coaching call.   Because I know for many of you, you are likely amidst what I call, role reversal.   Your child is the one deciding what, when, and where they eat. And you, loving parent, are deciding if/whether and how much they eat.   The challenge is this is backwards. And as I will talk through on today's episode, it is assuming too much choice from our kids in areas they aren't equipped to handle. Further, it is often perpetuating a lot of the nutritional problems and power struggles we see in feeding our kids because the role and boundaries are, well, backwards.   So, let's talk through how much choice is healthy to give our kids.   I am confident that after listening or reading through this, you will have a new sense of how to partner with your child (instead of experience the ever so common pushback of parenting or other feeding pitfalls).  

Whether you get any flowers, nice gifts, or little to no acknowledgement at all this Mother's Day, I want you to know - I see you.   I see the effort you are putting into feeding your family, stocking the fridge, cutting the grapes, and wiping the sticky hands. I know the spills you endure, the seemingly fruitless attempts you take to offer a new food, and the hopes and dreams you have for your child to not face the same struggles with weight, body image, or eating that maybe you did.   I see you.   And as hard as the mealtimes, messes, moments, and ministry of motherhood can be, I take this episode to remind you that 1) You are doing a great job, and 2) keep going, friend. The generational chains you are breaking are going to bring a breakthrough!   SHOWNOTES:

• Sign up to work with me 1:1 here.
• Leave me a voice message to be answered on the podcast here.
• Find out more about Mealtimes Made Easy Method here.
• Join my email community here.

 

In this four-part series, I am going to spell out four of the most common mistakes I see with snacking and its ties to picky eating.

We so often know these issues are happening but can't identify exactly what can be done about them to improve our child's picky eating and add variety to their diet.

That's why, I am going to go over 1) what is happening AND 2) what you can do about it so that your child's snacks no longer perpetuate picky eating starting with part 1. We will talk about how consistency in the type of love it food offered creates a sense of comfort that, when left too long, can create problems. Thankfully, there are five simple swaps you can make to your child's preferred snack foods to add variety, expand their list of accepted snacks, and add variety to the foods they enjoy.

 

SHOWNOTES:

• Check out the YouTube video of this episode here.
• Head here for a FREE cheatsheet to 72 of my favorite healthy kids snack foods.
• Order your set of my digital downloads or physical decks of Combination Cards here.
• Ready to take the next step in improving your family's meals and snacks? Schedule a free 30-minute strategy session with me here.

As moms, we want easy AND healthy meal ideas, but so often we feel like we have to pick it is one or the other. It can feel like the tradeoff for spending less time on a meal is buying more expensive pre-made products (so not to sacrifice quality) or sacrificing some of the nutritional quality to buy ready-made items that are at a lower cost.

That’s why, in this episode, we are going to chat about 4 ways you can cut the time and energy you put into meal planning and prep by half...without compromising the nutritional quality!

I walk you through four simple mindset shifts that will make you wonder why you haven’t already been approaching meals this way sooner. So, get ready, as you are about to save yourself SO much time and energy!

Also, because I know meal prep isn’t for everyone, be sure you are signed up for my upcoming workshop! In it, I am going to give you a simple roadmap so you can reduce mealtime overwhelm … EVEN WITHOUT MEAL PREPPING. Sign up here.

 

SHOWNOTES:

Have a question? Leave me a voice memo.

Want to join my upcoming workshop? Register here (it's free)

 

Want to branch out and add some variety to your child's list of love it foods? Of course, you do! We ALL do!

We are all looking for easy wins, and yet, I know firsthand how intimidating it can be to offer our kids new foods. That's why our monthly series featuring one fruit or one vegetable (listen to episode 103) is going to give you the know how you need.

In this episode, we are going to:

• Highlight kiwis as the fruit of the month for February
• Talk about how to pick out a good kiwi at the store and why you would even want to
• Go over low-effort yet very-effective ideas for how to offer it to your kids
• Walk through the learning to like it process with a fury yet fun new food, like kiwi
• Encourage and equip YOU, mama, that you can do this...one fruit at a time, one month at a time, one mindset shift at a time.

 

SHOWNOTES:

• Check out my favorite book of smoothie recipes here.
• Order my friend Dani's awesome book with 101 Descriptive Words for Foods here.
• Stock up on some kids safe knives here.
• Sign up to work with me 1:1 here.
• Leave me a voice message to be answered on the podcast here.
• Find out more about Mealtimes Made Easy Method here.

Join my email community here.

Are you looking for a fun way to switch up the menu this week? Then, look no further than this episode.

Because while we have been talking all about eggs this week, in this episode, we go over:

• How to do a Muffin Tin Meal Easter-style, using egg cartons and plastic eggs
• Supplies you need
• Foods that work well for easy, healthy kids lunch or snack options
• Friendly reminders to be cautious about choking hazards
• Leaving one egg empty, for fellow Christian families who want to incorporate their faith into this fun and festive lunch idea

SHOWNOTES:

• Sign up to work with me 1:1 here.
• Leave me a voice message to be answered on the podcast here.
• Find out more about Mealtimes Made Easy Method here.
• Join my email community here.

Ashley's strategy for meal planning has changed again, and again, and again over the years. What worked for her as a dietitian mom of one, two, and later three kids has continued to evolve and adapt to the areas of highest importance in her life. And while yes, the nutrition of this meal plan is important and part of the reason she meal plans to begin with, Ashley knows the need for a sustainable system to getting easy dinner ideas executed night after night.

 

So join Ashley in an episode where she introduces the five pillars for meal planning. Even amidst all of the systems she has used and shared over the years, they all come back to these five pillars. Applying these to your life, you will find how to come up with a practical plan that fits your unique family. Ashley also gives a little dose of dietitian mom advice for how to pivot when life happens and plans change. Hint: it doesn't have to derail all of your dinner ideas!

It is hard to believe that we are gearing up for back to school already! And besides the fact that I would like each of you to be able to take advantage of the sales while items are still in stock, this episode is your friendly PSA to get anything you need for packing lunches ordered and in your hands ASAP!

More specifically, I want you to get these items in your child's hands. Because bento boxes, snack packages, water bottles, etc. can offer both opportunity AND excuses for why our kids do or don't eat well when they go back to school. They are great tools for fueling our kids during the school day, but that begins with them being able to open them and use them to their potential.

So whether this is your child's first time to preschool, they're starting kindergarten and have all the normal nerves, or are returning to class with a fresh lunch set up, tune in to this episode for five things you can do to help them get tactically and practically ready for school.

You can find all my favorite lunch packing products, as mentioned in this episode, here.

Your kids backpacks have been bought. Their new pencils have been sharpened. Their new shoes have likely been tied once or twice. And their lunchbox may have already been packed, sent, rinsed, and repeated.

 

But have you circled back since sending your child(ren) off to school to look not only at what they will need while there, but what you and your family need at home to be set up for the school year?

 

In today’s episode, we go over 5 simple action steps to reset your pantry for back to school. This is going to take that area of the house that likely didn’t get a first day of school photo and turn it into an area that works like a well-oiled machine as the school weeks go on.

This episode is quick and easy to implement. Your first step is to simply listen in! Then, once you do (or have), take 10 minutes to do the steps discussed. Tag me on social @veggiesandvirtue when you have worked through these five steps to a pantry reset so I can tell you, Great Job, Mama!

And if you want even more accountability and support, sign up for a free Back to School Reset strategy call with me. Here we will elevate the action steps you took to create a pantry and kitchen that truly streamlines your mental and physical clutter in a way that multiplies your efforts each and every day, Monday through Sunday.

 

SHOWNOTES:

• Find my favorite lunch packing supplies here.
• Sign up for a free, 30-minute family feeding strategy call here.
• Leave me a voice message to be answered on the podcast here.
• Find out more about Mealtimes Made Easy Method here.
• Get my weekly newsletter here.

Summer is starting and it took me all of one morning with my kids home to realize: I need a plan to hit the ground running with each day!

Whether you find yourself still heading out to work but with kids now heading to childcare or you are at home and busy coordinating summer sports, camps, and such, how we start our days matter! Even when it comes to the new and "not normal" routine of summer.

That's why in this episode, I am sharing my current menu for fast and easy breakfast ideas. I am telling you the exact dietitian-mom approved menu we are working off of each week so that you can take it and copy it for your own use, or so that you can hear what I am doing as some inspiration to get you started with when coming up with your own weekly rotation of breakfast ideas.

So reheat that cup of coffee and make sure that you come up with a menu for your morning rotation as summer gets started. You can swap in and out new ideas at any point as you see tweaks are needed, ingredients are out, or plans change. The main point here is to start your day with one less thing to think about, since summer brings enough added coordination of kiddos already!

Do you struggle with how to resume normalcy around what, when, and where you and your kids eat after returning home from a summer vacation?

Depending on your own relationship with food, maybe you find it hard to face the two extremes of being in "vacay mode" with endless trips to the ice cream store and your kids' diet being void of a vegetable to coming back home and trying to regain some semblance of structure and balance in the foods being offered.

Kids will often favor the former but as parents, we know - life isn't an endless vacation. The laundry must get done, the groceries must be shopped for, and the meals must be made.

So how do we tactically and practically reset as we return from vacation without perpetuating a perspective that we "cheated" while away or need to "be good" upon getting home?

How do we set up our home feeding environment so that they can bounce back without anything even really needing to be said to resume normalcy?

How do we handle our roles and responsibilities with feeding from the fun, careless feeling of being away to the responsible, routine nature of the day to day at home?

This episode will walk you through the 4 food-related things to do after your vacation is over. Save the episode for reference with future summer travel!

SHOWNOTES:

• Get your FREE Level Up Snack Guide here.
• Join the upcoming Summer Snacking Workshop here.
• Sign up for a FREE 30-minute Snacking Strategy Session here.
• Get on the waitlist for the next round of Mealtimes Made Easy Method here.

 

 

In today's episode, we take a deep dive into discussing some of the more personal aspects of feeding and:

• How filling in the blank is holding you back, "I have my own stuff, but for my kid I just want _______________."
• The unaddressed insecurities you may face in your own relationship with food (and how they may be impacting your child)
• The anxieties about feeding you feel, your child experiences, and the ineffective interplay you may be experiencing when worry and anxiety impact appetite
• What you can do to move forward (without getting ahead of yourself)

This isn't the easiest episode to listen to nor apply, but tuning in with your head and your heart can be one of the biggest impetus to change if you're ready to go there with Ashley in this episode.

While there is a lot of fun that is being had in the summer, I know that bathing suit season can also expose our kids to some things we wish we could just put extra sunscreen on to protect our kids from, like fat-shaming and diet-culture.

That's why in this episode, we talk about how to handle things like negative body image and/or inappropriate comments that are made in front of our toddlers and children. While kids are still forming their views on body image and their own relationships with food, we know how they can be impacted by some of the things that people around them say or do.

So let's highlight two things every parent can do to respond when situations like these that play out - with extended family, in laws, or as we get back into the school year and kids hear things from others. We can't always avoid our children hearing these things being said, but we can control how we respond to such situations.

Whether you have already had spring break (like us here in Texas) or are getting packed up and ready to go, this episode is a must listen!   You will hear about the top SIX things to consider when it comes to safe, easy, and healthy snacking for kids on vacation, plus how to plan healthy travel snacks that align with:

• Your Child's Safety (and where snacks are offered)
• Your Structure/Daily Routines While on Vacation (and when snacks are offered)
• Non-Perishable and Perishable Go-To Snack Ideas (and what snacks to offer)
• Your Feeding Strategy (including who else is offering snacks when other friends or family is travelling with you and may have a different approach to snacking than you and your family)
• Having a Limited Snack Supply (and the difference between letting your child decide if/whether and how much to eat when there are only so many snacks packed)
• Food Allergies & Sensitivities (your own child's and those of children around you)

Consistent with the feeding roles I talk about each week, you will walk away from listening with a clear understanding of how each of these considerations impacts the next and how together, these play a big part in helping your family have a well-fueled and fun-filled trip… wherever you might be off to!

Are you operating out of a season of survival?

If you heard episode 88, you first heard from Deidre in a group coaching call from my Mealtimes Made Easy Method. In the segment, she shared her struggle with trying to meal plan when energy is limited, kids (and/or parents) are sick, and you just need to get back to the basics.

Well, Deidre is coming back on the show today as a member of my Mealtimes Made Easy Method to share with us what her experience has been so far in the program.

With 20% of the program complete, Deidre shares how she is already getting the accountability and tools she needed to go from feeling unprepared and overwhelmed every day to make more healthy foods accessible and the mental load of meal planning more manageable.

She also honestly shares about the initial “sticker shock” from this kind of investment to the intentional conversation and ultimately decision her and her husband made to invest in mealtimes being a more pleasant experience for everyone.

SHOWNOTES:

Find out more about Mealtimes Made Easy Method.

Leave me a question for an upcoming episode.

Join my email newsletters for weekly updates and helpful links.

This week, we are talking through - How do you handle adding variety when your child has a small “Love it (foods)" list?   Particularly at dinner, this can be challenging to know how to navigate our child's nutritional needs (and/or our perception of them) with what as a family we have on the menu.   We want to make one meal that everyone enjoys, and yet, as a mom alludes to on today's episode, that can feel particularly difficult when our child is really specific about the foods they like.

• How do we meal plan when our child has such few preferred (love it) foods?
• If we change from red apples to another kind, does it still work as a love it food?
• Does milk count as a love it food?

We tackle these questions and more in today's episode.   SHOWNOTES:

• Sign up for my free weekly meal plan.
• Work through my five-step process for meal planning with my Meal Planning Playbook.
• Looking for added support to your family's unique situation? Sign up for a free, 30-minute strategy session with Ashley to get started.

It is that time of year when moms everywhere begin wondering (or worrying!) about how to handle the upcoming season of endless candy and added sugar.

It can feel like a real nightmare, and yet, it doesn't have to be. Because as we discuss in this episode, you might feel like you have no vision or plan for how a "healthy" Halloween season should look.

Is it an oxymoron we can't get around?

An area of our life where we do a funny dance trying to dodge a sugar-filled land mind here or there?

Or is there a way we can approach the innocence of childhood with the opportunity of all this season holds for small yet developing bodies and habits?

I believe so! And as a registered dietitian and mom of three navigating the upcoming few weeks alongside you, I am going to be sharing with you evidenced-based advice that will work amidst real-life.

Stay tuned to each of the upcoming episodes in October for your complete roadmap for handling Halloween candy with kids.

 

SHOWLINKS:

Schedule a session to chat one-on-one with Ashley: www.veggiesandvirtue.com/schedule

Check out Mealtimes Made Easy: www.mealtimesmadeeasy.com

Leave Ashley a voicemail: www.veggiesandvirtue.com/ask

 

When we think back to Halloween as kids, hopefully each of us have some really fond memories and funny costumes that come to mind.

But for a lot of us, whether it started in childhood, came about in adolescence or early adulthood, or presented more once becoming a mom, we may have less-than-fond memories that are triggered this time of year by ghosts from our pasts.

Memories where we made ourselves sick on candy. Felt out of control around all the holiday treats. Experienced shame, guilt, or regret because of an unhealthy relationship with all the sweets and treats.

Or we grew up being so micromanaged around Halloween candy that we still don't feel the freedom to trust ourselves around it. And in that, we haven't learned how to trust our kids with it either.

Through these memories and the messages that have been engrained in us, we have learned that sugar is a less-than-friendly foe. It is the guest no one wants around and yet everyone invites, especially this time of year. It is the party crasher every parent resents and thus, often restricts. And it taunts us - especially at Halloween time.

But it is time to confront the very things we believe about sugar. Starting with,

Is sugar your friend or your foe?

No matter your past, present, or future relationship with food, I want you to walk away from this episode knowing that you hold the power; not candy. That you have the potential to rewrite the script around sugar in your family and for the next generation of trick or treaters. You have the ability to make impact - on healing old hurts and helping form healthy new habits.

And it starts now.

Wondering how Ashley feeds her kids when her family goes out to a restaurant?

 

Tune in to this episode for real-life dietitian mom advice and encouragement on:

• How to handle ordering out for our kids (or letting them choose!)
• Important considerations that you as the parent can control (even if/when your child doesn’t eat what they ordered)
• Keeping a big picture perspective of navigating nutrition during an occasional meal away from home or when on an extended vacation

 

For all of your families who need a night off from cooking or are packing for spring break, this is an episode you will definitely want to make sure to tuck in the diaper bag to take with you!

Are you feeling anxious about your kids being home all summer?

Does the idea of their endless snacking stress you out?

Have you been wanting to offer easy, healthy snacks all school year long but always find yourself in the same rut with a rushed routine?

If so, today's episode is for you!

We are talking about 5 ways you can repurpose the common tray to make impressive and satisfying kids snacks feel truly effortless.

SHOWNOTES:

Looking for easy yet healthy snacks for your kids? Get your FREE Level Up Snack Guide here.

Missed your Lunch Packing Printable over the school year? Download it for free here.

Need help setting your home up for success this summer? Let me help! Book a free 30-min strategy session here.

In today's episode, I share a real + raw recap of why I have chosen to pause the Veggies & Virtue podcast.

To all of those who have supported this show, thank you. It has been a joy connecting with you in this way. I look forward to continuing to support you on:

• my social @veggiesandvirtue
• my site Veggies & Virtue
• and through my one-on-one services

A few years ago, I saw the idea shared to leave simple love notes on each of my kid's bedroom door on the days leading up to Valentine's. Little did I know that this would become one of my kid's most favorite traditions - and something that "sticks" year round (literally - they leave the little notes up as long as they can!). So, grab your scissors, a writing instrument of choice, and get cutting. You can easily invest the 20 minutes it takes to tune into this episode to cut up 14 hearts (for each kid)

The idea is that for these first two weeks of February, you will use these hearts as a simple way to share 14 reasons why you love and adore your little one. Using whatever "hearts" you have or create, add words of encouragement that resonate with you and your child. Then, each evening, after tucking your child in, add another heart to their door. They will wake up feeling SO loved for the day!

 

50 Words of Encouragement for Kids:

1. I love watching you learn new things
2. I love how determined you are
3. I love how you set goals and reach them!
4. I love seeing you use your imagination
5. I love how much effort you put into things that matter to you
6. I love your willingness to try new things
7. I love how helpful you are
8. I love what a kind friend/sister/brother you are
9. I love watching you be patient with yourself and others
10. I love how you put others first
11. I love how much you care about people
12. I love your desire to do good in this world
13. I love that you ask me for help when you need it
14. I love that you never give up
15. I love that you are a problem solver
16. I love watching you learn
17. I love spending time with you
18. I love how you consider the needs of others
19. I love who you are and who you are becoming
20. I see you working really hard, and I am proud of you
21. I know you will do amazing things
22. Your giggle brightens my day
23. Your smile always makes me smile
24. Your jokes are so fun
25. Your hugs make me feel so loved
26. Your kindness makes a difference
27. Your prayers encourage me
28. Your laughs is one of the best things about you
29. You have great ideas
30. You are a great leader
31. You are loved
32. You make me smile
33. You are gifted
34. You are so talented
35. You are courageous
36. You are beautiful inside and out
37. You make others feel special
38. You make people feel so loved
39. You make everyone feel included
40. You make others feel important
41. God has created you to do great things
42. God has created you to make a difference
43. God has given you the gift of ________________
44. I am so blessed to be your mom
45. I have never known a joy like you veg
46. I delight in you as my son/daughter
47. Starting my day with you is my favorite thing
48. Spending my day with you is my favorite thing
49. Ending my day with you is my favorite thing
50. Snuggling with you is my favorite thing 

SHOWNOTES:

Join my email community here.

Leave me a voice message to be answered on the podcast here.

Find out more about Mealtimes Made Easy Method here.

Work with me 1:1 here.

 

There is no better time than Easter to introduce EGGS away from just at the breakfast table and outside of the Easter basket!

Hear how to cook the most PERFECT hard-boiled egg with Ashley's 5-5-5 method. It will quickly become your new go-to, meat-free, no-fuss, prep-ahead protein to add in at lunches...and as a bonus, it is easy enough for even a toddler to peel. This way, you and your family can start enjoying hard-boiled eggs straight out of a bento box or with your favorite snacky lunch.

So whether your child refuses most animal products (and complete proteins for that matter) or is on a saying "no" to sandwiches streak, this episode has you covered.

With a kid-friendly form of protein that is easy to make and even easier for them to peel independently, this method is going to be a game changer for you and your family this Easter season (and in all those that follow).

 

In this episode, Ashley defines what a "balanced diet" even is (for those who are confused about it!) and frees you from the pressures of planning a perfectly balanced diet each and every day. Instead, she shares an illustration for keeping a big picture view of your child's diet,  how to build a balanced plate, and how to leverage those ideas to ensure all areas of their diet is covered.

You know the last thing on most people’s mind at the end of the year? Sustainability.

Not in the environmental sense, but rather in how we eat, move, and nourish our bodies. The weight loss industry is expecting millions of people to failed at sustaining their goals from 2022, so you know what they will do? Try to sell you again.

That’s why, in this episode, we chat about:

1. What are sustainable habits for feeding your family
2. How do both achieve them and continue them
3. How to decide on which healthy habits you should adopt in 2023

 

We are halfway through Muffin Club and have already seen what a microcosm it is for using simple meal and snack ideas, setting up healthy systems, and operating in a sustainable way. Let this be the impetus to finding how you can start small yet make BIG strides in the upcoming year.

Hey, moms! Welcome to "Episode 169: Nurturing Nutrition & Kids' Tastes in the New Year." I'm Ashley Smith, MPH, RD, LD and your family's Christian Dietitian.

I am here to accompany you on the journey of creating meals that not only fuel your child's health but also cater to their unique taste preferences. This episode is a treasure trove of actionable strategies specifically designed for proactive moms like you, keen on turning mealtime struggles into moments of joy and nourishment.

We'll delve into the art of understanding your child's changing palate—a powerful tool in crafting meals that not only nourish but also bring delight. Join me as we explore a tried-and-true template to meal planning for picky eaters. This will help you to start seamlessly incorporating nutritious options into your kid's favorites all while cultivate positive eating habits.

Together, let's transform family meals into a delightful experience where nutritious choices bring smiles to your kid's faces and support their growing bodies.

 

Get your free Love it, Like it, Learning it Parent Printable here.

Sign up for a free 30-minute 2024 Strategy session with Ashley here.

 

 

Do you ever wonder what some of the best staples are to have in a kid-friendly kitchen?   With the ease of getting just about anything delivered on our doorstep in a matter of two days, it can be hard to really discern what we need from what we want. Outside of patience and maybe item #6, I don't think there is anything you must have in order to make your kitchen more kid-friendly.   But, if helping your children get hands on with more foods to add variety and improve picky eating is something you are being intentional about, this episode will give you six of my favorite cooking tools that can grow with your kids.   I try to touch on cost and the space considerations for each, as well, so that you can find something that fits your budget and living space.

 

As a pediatric dietitian and mom, these are ones I am thankful to have invested in early on and would quickly encourage anyone else to also!

 

SHOWNOTES: 

• Sign up for Muffin Club (it’s free!)
• Shop my Amazon favorites here

Do you feel like you quickly fall in a rut with what meals or snacks to make your family?

I get it! As a busy, Christian mom with three kids myself, I don't always (or often!) have the mental energy or physical capacity to come up with new, nutritious ideas day after day.

That's why, in this episode, we take 20-minutes to power through a meal planning exercise that will transform the way you look at your day, week, and month.

We talk about:

• How to identify the time blocks you have for making healthy breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks actually happen as a busy family
• How to come up with your "Core Four" family-friendly meal ideas each week
• How to add variety without added overwhelm
• How to use those time blocks to adjust your menu ideas so you feel like your meal plan supports you (rather than it making you feel even more stretched thin!)

SHOWNOTES:

• Score 36% off using code "BIRTHDAY" on Combination Cards in April. Shop here.
• For more meal planning episodes, check out those from March, February, and January.
• Leave me a voice message to be answered on the podcast here.
• Find out more about Mealtimes Made Easy Method here.

 

Are your heart-strings being tugged on a bit extra with all of this Back to School prep?

I get it!

Because whether it is adjusting to the new norms of a school year or sending your children off to school (maybe for the first time!), this is a big transition for everyone.

So let's talk about not just what to pack in that brand new bento for a first day of school photo, but instead how we can tuck in a little note of encouragement...with little to no extra effort on your part!

As a dietitian mom who's been packing lunches for 8+ years now, I have these ideals that I will 1) have the capacity to come up with something sweet to say everyday and 2) remember to actually send said note in their lunches. But the reality is, I need something that is sustainable and affordable.

That's why, on today's episode, I share 5 effortless ways to send lunchbox notes to school with your littles.

We recently purchased the first four, and number five is a free bonus that is so fun -- especially if you want something for proof of concept before you buy anything else.

Here are the lunchbox notes referenced in today's episode:

1. 101 Tear-off Lunchbox Notes, Laugh out Loud
2. Indescribable Tear-Off Lunchbox Cards
3. Lunch Box Notes for Brave Boys
4. Lunch Box Notes for Courageous Girls
5. FREE Printable Lunchbox Notes by Watercolor Wednesday

 

SHOWNOTES:

• Find items mentioned on my Amazon storefront here.
• Sign up to work with me 1:1 here.
• Leave me a voice message to be answered on the podcast here.

Whether your kids have been out of school for almost a month, or you are just starting your summer, Tuesday is officially to the first day of summer. And with that, I want to make sure that you are thinking of how you can create some easy wins when it comes to meals and specifically dinners this summer.

Because with our schedule, and I know with so many other family schedules, there are a million moving pieces in the summer. No matter how hard we try and establish a routine, things just don't feel as streamlined as they do during the school year. But with this, there's this flexibility and freedom in the summer. The sun is up later and whether your dinner time is the same time every day or gets pushed a little bit later, or you're eating outside, or the kids are playing in the yard while you're preparing dinner, there's this element that we want to enjoy dinner a little bit.

But that doesn't take away the fact that dinner is still work. It's still a job to come up with the menu, to make sure we have the groceries, and to actually prepare the food. That's all in hopes someone will even eat it!

So in this episode, I want to walk you through some really easy weeknight dinner ideas, using ingredients that you already have on hand using a seasonal menu.

You can get my seasonal meal plan here for one that's been done for you. Or tune into this episode for my tips on how to come up with your own rotating meal plan that helps lessen mental fatigue, capitalize on crowd favorites for dinner, and expand on for added variety to ensure easy summer evenings all season long!

Are you running out of ideas for what snacks to take to the pool?

Well, whether your summer is still in full swing or you are wrapping up to get ready for back to school, you will see how this episode offers you five simple strategies to healthy kids snacks.

Because whether you want something that will satisfy your kids requests for snacks all afternoon at the pool or you are hoping to find some healthy snack ideas to send with your child to school, the ideas offered in this episode are going to give you transferrable ideas you can use at the pool and later for school!

SHOWNOTES:

• Get my free Level Up Snack Guide here.
• Order your own Combination Cards in print or PDF.
• Find items mentioned on my Amazon storefront here.
• Sign up to work with me 1:1 here.
• Leave me a voice message to be answered on the podcast here.
• Find out more about Mealtimes Made Easy Method here.

Feeding our kids is A LOT like teaching them to swim.

And as much as we might wish a sink or swim approach would work when introducing them to new foods, the frustration many parents face each day reiterates that forcing them to take a bite isn't a sustainable nor stress-free approach.

Instead, much like taking our kids to the pool, there are some steps we need to go through in order for it to be a fun experience for everyone. These are SIMPLE and something that we often do without thinking when it comes to packing the pool bag and applying sunscreen before teaching our kids to swim. But too often, we speed past these steps and disregard their importance when it comes to teaching our kids to eat.

So if you like analogies, this episode is going to translate all of the professional feeding jargon you need to know to help your picky eater find breakthrough. Using the "Steps to Eating" as the evidenced-based approach, Ashley gives you clear advice that is as obvious as the sunscreen that hasn't been rubbed in on your child's cheeks. This is an episode you want to dive into!

The concept of "more" or allowing seconds can be tricky to navigate, particularly when your child hasn't eaten at least a little of everything they were offered. As a mom, I understand not wanting my own picky eaters to fill up on bread or fruit when there are many other nutrient-dense options available. But as a dietitian, I know that allowing my child to decide if/whether and how much they eat (from the foods offered) is imperative to establishing a healthy relationship with food.

That's why in this episode, we will dive into three clues that the parent is more of the problem than the child's actual request for more at mealtimes. These are common responses and often feel counter-intuitive to not do in situations like your child asking, "Can I have seconds?"

So come hear me out for part I of III on the subject of allowing more at family mealtimes.

Do you have a picky eater who isn't willing to touch or taste anything new?   Do you feel sad seeing how many fun eating opportunities your child misses out on because they refuse to explore the foods being offered?   Do you teeter between requiring no thank you bites and surrendering in utter defeat at another dinner that went to waste?   If you answered yes to any of these, today's episode is going to give you an easy-to-follow analogy that you can apply to your family's feeding environment right away.  

Just as I know between raising three kids to know how to swim, their timelines of how quickly they catch on can vary widely. However, my approaches to supporting water safety, or in this case, a healthy relationship with foods, doesn't have to.

So come take a swim. You will walk away from this episode feeling refresh with a renewed perspective on common questions like, should you force your child to take a bite or try something new? Or how many times will it take for them to learn to like a new food?

 

SHOWNOTES:

• Find items mentioned on my Amazon storefront here.
• Score community-only discounts from some of my favorite small businesses here.
• Sign up to work with me 1:1 here.
• Leave me a voice message to be answered on the podcast here.
• Find out more about Mealtimes Made Easy Method here.
• Join my email community here.

On Mondays, us mamas are going to gather and pray + meal plan for the week!

That's right, whether you need a drink so that you can fill your cup or an easy meal idea to insert into your family menu, these Monday episodes are going to give you the encouragement you and your family need in the upcoming week.

I believe -

When we plan…we feel a sense of peace.

When we feel a sense of peace….meals become more positive.

When mealtimes become more positive…our efforts to raise healthy eaters become more productive.

And when we see the proof of our efforts…we find a newfound confidence and capacity to keep encouraging our family for more planned, peaceful, positive, and productive mealtimes.

 

So, let's get ready for the week!

Join me by downloading my free meal planning printable!

Whether you find yourself going into spring break or just asking a question that I first covered this time last year, today's episode is going to help you know how to raise a healthy eater amidst eating out at restaurants as well as when routines are "off" during seasons like spring break.

You will walk away knowing both my advice and experiences as a dietitian mom of three, so that you can rest assured that time away travelling doesn't have to ruin your child's diet. Instead, tune in as we cover tips for how to feed your family easier and healthier, even when at a restaurant or on a vacation.

 

SHOWNOTES:

• Sign up to work with me 1:1 here.
• Leave me a voice message to be answered on the podcast here.
• Find out more about Mealtimes Made Easy Method here.
• Join my email community here.

Easter is over and whether you decided to be more practical with your basket-fillers or load them up with candy, chances are you are in that post-holiday hard spot when it comes to the added sweets and treats that are around. So whether it is only a few pastel candies left to consume or a bunch of candy from the big egg hunt being asked for all day, this episode takes you through how to remove shame, emphasize safety, and ultimately neutralize foods, like candy, to be something your family is open and honest about enjoying as a part of life.

This episode comes after a conversation I had with a fellow mom, following a presentation I gave to her MOPs group. Since it was a situation like one I had faced in my own home; I knew many families must be wondering – what do we do when our children hide food, specifically candy? Particularly when we, as parents, think we are being proactive about promoting food neutrality, this can feel like an embarrassing discovery and awkward situation address.

So, let’s get this conversation out in the open! These are the four things I have done as a dietitian mom and encourage other moms to do too when they find sneakiness around food.

On this episode, we are going to talk about a voice message that I got from another mom. She asked if and how she and her husband can eat snacks in the presence of their kids (that they don't want or didn't plan to also offer to their kids). So, whether it is a sweet, a treat, or any food that parents keep in their "secret stash," this episode highlights four mistakes that parents often make when keeping certain snacks a secret, and how to handle them so that we are maintaining a neutrality around food in our home, promoting a routine with our kids and ourselves, allowing a reasonable amount of sugar so that both our kids and our sweet tooth feels the freedom to be satisfied, and to role model an intuitive eating approach that fosters healthy relationships with food for each member of our family.

I always enjoy hearing from you and appreciate when you ask me questions via voice memos. You can go here anytime you have a question you want to ask!

Don't come at me for borderline cussing with the title here.

Instead, tune in literally and figuratively to an analogy that perfectly illustrates what it can often feel like when navigating the landmines of unpredictable yet endless candy in October.

I know for many moms, this isn't something we feel confident nor natural doing.

How are we to raise kids with healthy relationships to food when we, as moms, haven't healed our own?

Yikes.

A heavy question and yet one that I am continuing to see at the core of family's feeding concerns, challenges, worries, and struggles.

So sit tight and tune in, because this episode is going to help you posture yourself in the driver seat.

 

SHOWNOTES:

• How to Handle Halloween Candy with Kids
• Allergen-friendly, candy-free ideas for Halloween
• Learn how to support kids with food allergies through The Teal Pumpkin Project
• Ask me anything!
• Need help navigating all of this? Sign up for a free 30-min call.

It is time for a bit of a New Year's Truth Bomb.

Why? Because not only do I see areas in my own life that I live paralyzed by fear, but I know many of you do too.

Especially as I open enrollment for Mealtimes Made Easy on January 19th, there is a sense of false security that comes from operating out of self-preservation and self-protection. We can't fail at what we don't ever try.

But there is no freedom in that. And, as many of us know, it becomes nearly impossible to move the needle forward in our goals when we live in this kind of inaction.

That's why, in this episode, we talk about excuses we make from a place of fear versus the discernment we gain from a place of wise decision making. I also share some examples from my own life where I have seen the fruit of moving past my old excuses and taking action to become more disciplined.

Also, as I talk about in this episode, there are many reasons as moms that validate the need to say "no." But also, there are so many reasons why January's ambitions don't continue on to be a journey year after year after year.

If you want an easy, FREE impetus to stop making excuses, make sure you sign up for my upcoming workshop here.

 

SHOWNOTES:

Have a question? Leave me a voice memo.

Want to join my upcoming workshop? Register here (it's free)

Wondering about my current morning routine? Check out my highlights here.

 

This time of year, it is easy to get sucked into saving all of these aspirational lunch box ideas (even if we know half of them our child wouldn't ever eat). We start the year strong and with good intent, but too often, our kids end up burnt out on the same PB&J every day before we even make it to Christmas break.

That's why, in this episode, I want to give you my three-step plan to take BEFORE that burnout hits so that the variety you want and the foods your kids crave can coexist well into the school year. These tasks don't take a lot of time now, if you work through what I outline in this episode as you listen! Instead, take these five minutes being proactive before the lunch-packing season is in full swing to save your sanity and your child's stomach before back to school.

When we don't have the time to cook and offer an early dinner nor do our kids have time to eat simply more snacks, we have to get extra smart with optimizing each bite! By layering the nutrition of bananas, nut butter, and added fats (like hemp hearts or a few chocolate chips for fun!), these peanut butter banana nachos are a great way to take your snack up a notch.

 

Quick, easy, and economical to make for as many people as you need, this is a simple way to fill your kiddos up afterschool. Plus, with some many kids peanut-free at school, this is a great way to get in the nutrition of nuts in the safety of your own home.

Welcome to the launch week for Muffin Club!

Knowing that some of you have done this every year with me since 2018 and others of you might be new to it and wondering what all the hype is about and having a little bit of FOMO about this random thing called Muffin Club, I am going to do a quick rundown on what Muffin Club for Moms even is.

In this episode, we chat about:

• How it started
• Why I think it stuck as the #1 offer I have ever done
• What you can expect (it's fun & free!)
• How to get signed up

If you want to review some of the FAQs from the past few years of running this free club, you can check those out here.

One of the best times to begin neutralizing sweets and treats in our homes is following Halloween. While our kids already have candy top of mind, take the opportunity to role model an intuitive eating approach through regular opportunities to enjoy candy, including having it as dessert with dinner. By reinforcing food freedom over arbitrary food rules, we learn to better trust our children’s ability to self-regulate and in doing so, encourage them to do the same.

In this episode, we chat about:

1. Why, as parents, we assume dessert should be served after dinner
2. Why research shows offering dessert with dinner can be a more effective approach for raising kids who have healthy relationships with all foods
3. How to begin offering dessert with dinner (and how to counter your own rigid food rules as you practice normalizing this new routine)

 

SHOWNOTES:

• Sign up for Muffin Club here.
• Get one-on-one support talking through topics like those that came up on this episode. Schedule a session here.
• Work through your family's relationship with food using the Mealtimes Made Easy Method. Learn more here.

 

Oh hey there, mom who loathes meal prepping on the weekend and doesn't want to feel guilty about spending nap time on Sunday doing something else. Boy, does Ashley have a dietitian mom hack for you here.

 

In this episode, Ashley shares her go-to solution for moms who don't plan on nor want to do a bunch of meal prep on the weekend, but who do need easy dinner ideas that are doable day after day. This system works without requiring a bunch of extra ingredients or energy (because who wants to make a last minute run to the store for something they forgot...NO MOM DOES!). Instead, this episode walks you through how to go about gathering all the goods so that when you are ready to cook (or assemble) dinner, you have everything ready in one simple, straight-forward swoop.

 

Learn how you too can decrease food waste, use up random ingredients you otherwise might not know what to do with, and make your family's dinner meal ideas that much more straight-forward and simple come 6:00 pm (or whenever you do dinner).

Need quick, easy dinner ideas that are nutritious for your whole family?

Look no further!

On today's episode, Ashley is sharing her dietitian mom take for a week's worth of effortless dinner ideas. Use the healthy dinner themes to make your evenings stress-free and full of delicious, nutritious goodness.

Here is what is on the menu this week:

DAY 1: SLOW COOKER THEME VEGETABLE SOUP & GRILLED CHEESE

DAY 2: TACO THEME STREET TACOS w/ AVOCADO & BLACK BEANS

DAY 3: SEAFOOD THEME ASIAN SALMON w/ JASMINE RICE & GREEN BEANS AMANDINE

DAY 4: BBQ THEME BBQ BAKED CHICKEN w/ BAKED POTATOES & BAGGED CHOP SALAD

 

SHOWNOTES:

• Want this family-friendly meal plan delivered to your inbox each Friday? Sign up here.
• Need help restructuring your family's routine so that you feel better supported with healthy mealtimes? Sign up for a free 30-minute 2024 Strategy session with Ashley here.

 

 

 

My most popular blog post of 2022 was one titled, 15 easy dinner ideas from Costco. And despite this being an old post that I majorly need to update, do you know why I believe this post gets more traffic than any other YEAR AFTER YEAR?

Because as moms, we need easy. We crave assemble and eat ideas. And, whether you work inside the home with littles always at your ankles or outside the home and are rushing home to make dinner for hangry kids, one of the number one trends I see us all secretly searching for is: convenience.

That's why, in this episode, we talk about how to meal plan the month ahead with simple strategies and a straight-forward system that fits YOUR schedule!

 

SHOWNOTES:

Register for my free, online workshop here.

Leave me a voice message to be answered on the podcast here.

Find out more about Mealtimes Made Easy Method here.

Work with me 1:1 here.

Your kids come home from trick-or-treating, they have a mound of candy, and your mom-brain instantly starts to try to dissect what to do. You want them to have a healthy relationship with all foods - Halloween candy included. But the indecision of how much candy they can have on Halloween, in the days after, and how to taper their candy intake so they don't have an ongoing sugar high has historically caused both you and them stress.

In this episode, we chat about:

• Your action plan for once you and your kids get home with all of the Halloween candy
• How to help your child self-regulate after trick-or-treating
• A simple approach to step in as a safety inspector instead of a food cop
• The three-part framework to lead your kids through when deciding what candy to keep (and giveaway)

 

SHOWLINKS:

Join Mealtimes Made Easy: www.mealtimesmadeeasy.com

Schedule a session to chat one-on-one with Ashley: www.veggiesandvirtue.com/schedule

Leave Ashley a voicemail: www.veggiesandvirtue.com/ask

 

On this Meals Made Easy Monday episode, we are diving right into one of my all-time favorite tools for easy lunches that are super impactful.

That is, the muffin tin! It can be so tempting to just eat the scraps off of our kids plate for whatever they didn't eat at lunch. But take a quick minute and think about not only what that does for you and your own mental and physical health, but also what teachable moments may be missed here.

You are likely eating excess of their love it foods or more than likely, their learning it foods. What if you had a way to eat from and enjoy these foods alongside them in an effortless way AND you could use up the random ingredients you have on hand in the process?

You can, and this episode will walk you through the details of when, how, and why!

In this week's special Mother’s Day episode, I interviewed my daughters, Claire and Brooke. Maybe next year I will include Owen too (who is 3) but for now, I felt like his attention span may not be up for the chat! So, while he watched an episode of Paw Patrol, the girls and I chatted it up afterschool to answer the questions you asked about, what life is like with a dietitian mom?   You get to hear their honest input on my cooking, my job, and many things related to food and feeding in our family. Unscripted and unfiltered, this was a fun chance to hear things from their point of view with plenty of laughs along the way.   So whether you are a new mom, seasoned mom, struggling mom, or super mom, we wish all of the biological moms, adoptive moms, stepmoms, grandmothers, aunts, sister friends, and each of those who rise up to help us raise the next generation – a Happy Mother’s Day.

I was so fortunate to get to go on an incredible girl's getaway with my girlfriend, Allison, last weekend. And while we were away in Utah exploring Zion National Park and Bryce National Park, I shared some of the amazing pictures and videos from our girl's trip on Instagram.

With many of you asking for the details from our trip, I thought I would give you a 20-minute recap of why we planned this, where we went, how we got there, what we did while away from our families for five days (and four nights), and the things that I thought were the highlights. This way, for any of your looking to plan your next girl's or couple's getaway, you have my advice on an INCREDIBLE option complete with a drag and drop itinerary to make your own.

I am a sucker for combing through every review on everything I book before a trip. So, seeing how it was my girlfriend's year to plan this trip and she blew me away with all the Best of's in Utah, I wanted to share my personal review to save you some time on future planning. I give this girls getaway five stars (but think it would be an amazing couple's getaway as well!).

 

SHOWNOTES:

Here are some of the local companies near Zion referenced in the episode:

• UnderCanvas - Zion National Park
• Cliffrose Resort - Zion/Springdale
• Amazing Adventures - Jared is the owner and was our guide
• I saved my Zion stories to highlights as well over on Instagram @veggiesandvirtue

 

I think it was at least five years into motherhood that I ate a raspberry, and that wasn't because I hadn't been buying them. Rather, knowing that a $3 pint barely satisfied a single child, it seemed like something I better "save" for my kids to enjoy.

However, as fresh berries come into season and become a bit more accessible for families to enjoy, I am sharing three tips to stretch your food budget so the whole family can enjoy more of the coveted foods in your cart, like berries. You will find how you can incorporate fresh berries in more affordable ways so that there are enough for everyone!

For the months with five Mondays in them (like May), many of you had requested that I do a bonus episode on healthy desserts. So, although you can expect easy breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack ideas every month, I am excited to also share a special red, white, and blue episode here too!

To help get us ready for the summer months, celebrating things like Memorial Day, and the 4th of July, this episode will give you EASY ideas you can involve your kids in whether you want to make it fun and festive or are searching for ideas that are food-dye free for families.

I am always looking for an excuse to have a little extra fun with food. Particularly with the given nature of doing more patriotic things and incorporating red, white, and blue foods, summer can be a fun time to start experimenting with food, practicing having more fun with your food, incorporating your kids in the kitchen, and getting them a little more hands-on with what items you might be offering.

So whether you're hosting some sort of a festive holiday gathering or bringing something to a potluck or a party, this episode will give you healthy dessert ideas the whole family will enjoy. Each are fun, festive, and food dye free!

If you listened to episode 40, you know why I advise a bedtime snack being appropriate. If your family has decided to do a bedtime snack, you might still be wondering WHAT is a healthy bedtime snack for kids? Many parents want to know if offering this is creating a bad habit or how it can be something healthfully included in your family's routine, and my answer to that focuses on these two things. Tune in for what criteria you need to consider coming up with consistently fueling bedtime snacks (so everyone gets sleep...AND stays asleep!).

Are you one of the many moms asking me, "Is there such a thing as a healthy hotdog?"

Because whether you just found yourself standing in front of the summer sausages at the store stocking up for 4th of July barbecues or are looking for guidance on how to approach processed meats, like hot dogs, within your home (and elsewhere!), this episode is going to give you the advice you have been asking for.

Although hot dogs are among the foods that I exercise more caution around offering - both as a choking hazard and from a health perspective, my hope is that you will walk away knowing which ones the best ones are to buy, how often is "okay" to offer them, and what to do if your child is obsessed with them as an easy protein option.

 

SHOWNOTES:

• Find items mentioned on my Amazon storefront here.
• Score community-only discounts from some of my favorite small businesses here.
• Sign up to work with me 1:1 here.
• Leave me a voice message to be answered on the podcast here.
• Find out more about Mealtimes Made Easy Method here.
• Join my email community here.

In this episode, we talk about how do we prepare for seasons that we may be expecting?

I don't just mean literally with expecting a child, but it might just be that we're expecting change, or we're expecting our plans to pivot, or that our responsibilities will shift, that people will come and go, or that life will just be a little different than we know it now.

As we welcome fall (literally, last week), I want to ask this question because this is something I address within the bonus blueprint of the Mealtimes Made Easy Method. I want families to see that no matter what season of life you're in, you can still make healthy habits happen.

BUT...this is a big but...you need them to be ones that function for your family and where you.

Because our greatest action steps are not the lofty aspirations that get us what we think we ought to do or have, but they are those that help us get closer to becoming and to raising the children and the families that we have imagined in terms of fostering a healthy understanding of how to fuel and nourish our bodies.

So in this episode, we are going to go over four steps I suggest you take if you're in a season of looking ahead. Maybe you can see that there might be some potential change or challenges on the horizon and you want to do what you can now in anticipation of those events so that you can be as set up for success as possible as a family when that next season comes. Or, maybe like me, it is more just being intentional about the discipline of "preparing" so that if and when life throws you a curve ball, you will already have the habits in place to support you AND sustain you in it.

 

SHOWLINKS:

Join Mealtimes Made Easy: www.mealtimesmadeeasy.com

Schedule a session to chat one-on-one with Ashley: www.veggiesandvirtue.com/schedule

Leave Ashley a voicemail: www.veggiesandvirtue.com/ask

 

Recently, a mom asked me to share some “competitive” dairy free snack options that Owen likes. She shared how her daughter was newly dairy-free, and how the family was struggling to find snacks the little girl loves that also stand up to her friend's snacks at play dates etc.

While I will do another episode on how to handle this in a school setting, in this episode I teased out some of my family's favorite dairy-free snack ideas. These are options that are fun for anyone, including the child with food allergies or intolerances as well as siblings, friends, or the mama who often plans to share their snack (like me!). And while my goal is always to provide you with nutritious options, I also touch on how finding options such as these are important to more than just the child's physical health but also that of her social and emotional well-being in adjusting to life after being diagnosed with a food intolerance.

So beyond the basics of goldfish crackers or a string cheese, this episode highlights some easy dairy-free snack ideas for playdates. Each of these items are shown on my Combination Cards too (if you would like visual reference for the items mentioned). You can get the snack deck for 20% off right now, or the breakfast, lunch, and snack deck bundle for 30% off now through the end of August.

 

 

Do you ever feel like your kid just doddles or is distracted at the table? Or, in attempts to get some added one on one time with you, they take way too long to wrap up a meal? Or, maybe you are tired of telling your child to hurry up and eat and the tone that sets at the table.

There are so many reasons kids can take a long time to eat. Thankfully, there are also a lot of productive strategies parents can implement. That's why, in this episode, we will talk about:

• How long is too long for a meal to go on?
• Factors that may be contributing to extra-long mealtimes
• The verbal and visual cues that do and don't help a child "eat faster"

 

SHOWNOTES:

• Does your child barely stay seated long enough to eat? Listen to this past episode here.
• Need a visual cue for the table, like a sand timer? You can check out some of my favorites here.
• Sign up to work with me 1:1 here.
• Leave me a voice message to be answered on the podcast here.
• Find out more about Mealtimes Made Easy Method here.

 

Are you looking for non-candy Easter basket filler ideas? Whether you need some alternatives to candy to put in those colorful eggs or you are trying to think beyond the chocolate bunny for what to put in your little one's basket, this episode has it all!

Ashley spells out safe and easy ideas to fill eggs with that don't lack fun, plus festive ideas that fall into one of Ashley's core four categories for filling an Easter basket. These are tried and true by this dietitian mom and are sure to add some egg-citing additions to your family's upcoming festivities.

So pop in your airpods on the way to Target and take note of a few things you may want to pick up while there!

School supplies lists are being mailed out, and most families are seeing sale after sale pop up on the things that you may "need" for the upcoming school year.

So, on today's episode, I share with you the 5 best things to buy for lunch packing specifically.

Sure, there are a lot of novelty items out there (these are my favorites!), but you don't need those.

The five items I go over in today's episode are what I would consider the essential, however. You can find out more of the pros and cons specific to item one here and here.

So, tune in, then take a look at this link for more info, sales, and examples of my favorite lunch packing items for kids!

 

SHOWNOTES:

• Get my FREE Lunch Packing Printable here.
• Find items mentioned on my Amazon storefront here.
• Score community-only discounts from some of my favorite small businesses here.
• Sign up to work with me 1:1 here.
• Leave me a voice message to be answered on the podcast here.

 

Summer travels are always fun, but often we can come home with little routine and a whole lotta laundry. That's why in this Mealtimes Made Easy episode, I share with you a real-life take on our return home from Tennessee - featuring a little something we brought back with us and are going to be enjoying at breakfast this week. My kids haven't eaten, slept, or operated like "normal" for over a week, so I want to find seamless ways to shift back into our realities while also reinforcing the healthy habits we live by. Tune in for an adaptable, yet actionable idea as to how!

A friend recently sent me a message about an epiphany she had when listening to episode 5, "What is a BALANCED diet? This is why having the same “healthy” foods every day isn’t healthy and what you can do to begin covering your kiddo’s nutritional bases better."

This is a friend I know well, and I know both her deeply rooted desire to feed her children healthfully and yet the rut we can still find ourselves in when we find something that just works! Easy wins are a saving grace in motherhood, but how can we also make sure that the ease they offer doesn't end up creating bigger issues like picky eating? This episode addresses just that!

With advice for the parent who may offer the same kind of noodles multiple times a week, consider what simple swaps you can make to add variety but with zero extra effort. These will gradually help add variety to your child's diet without compromising what your kid loves about go-to's like buttered noodles.

I hear from a lot of you that you want to start a garden at home, but you are intimidated to even start. Even if your kids are easy to please and just want time outside as the weather cools off, you are likely wondering about where to have an at-home garden, what cold-weather crops will grow the best, and how much added time and energy an at-home garden is going to require from you.

This episode is going to outline the simple steps needed to get started with your own at home garden for this fall, including:

• When to get cold-weather veggies planted by for a fall garden
• Where to put a pot or planter box to tend to as a family
• What fool-proof cold weather crops to begin with

SHOWNOTES: 

• Sign up for Muffin Club (it’s free!)
• Gardening Planning Calendar by zip code
• Gardening with Kids: June 2018 edition
• Gardening with Kids: July 2018 edition
• Gardening with Kids: August 2018 edition
• Gardening with Kids: September 2018 edition

I would love to be the dietitian whose kids ate anything and everything at a summer barbecue. From marinated meats to grilled veggies to an assortment of mixed pasta salads and fresh green salads, there are so many foods I love about summer...that my kids won't touch.

I recognize that I am not alone in this, especially considering how many times I have seen parents carefully make a plate with the 1-2 foods their child *may* eat.

Besides the distractions of other kids making it hard to sit still and the foods that are likely prepared differently than what's offered at homes, kids -- especially picky eaters -- can really struggle with what to eat when at summer gatherings.

Our kids struggle is our stress, so let's lay down some ground rules for your next summer potluck. With a clear understanding of your role in the feeding relationship and how this applies to social scenarios outside the home (like backyard barbecues or picnics), your family can head to these gathering with a plan and peace of mind that isn't dependent on if and what your picky eater eats.

Wondering what you can expect here? Take a peek at the Veggies & Virtue podcast teaser where you can learn more about who this podcast is for, what the heartbeat is behind each conversation here, and how Ashley plans to serve you through all the short episodes to come.

Today, a colleague and friend of mine, Heather K. Burge from the Called to Lead Podcast, is on the show talking about her experiences within my Mealtimes Made Easy Method.

Heather is a wife, mom of two, and hard-working, high-achieving network marketer. And although she was one of the earliest listeners and supporters of the Veggies & Virtue podcast, she was also one of my go-to resources in the creation of my flagship course, Mealtimes Made Easy Method.

Often bouncing ideas off of Heather from both a professional and personal perspective, I was honored when she invested as an early adopter in my course. Now, she comes to today's interview not only knowing the blood, sweat, and tears that went into the course creation but also the evidenced-based and grace-laced feeding advice that is integrated throughout to help families feed their families better.

 

SHOWNOTES:

Ready to join Mealtimes Made Easy Method? Join TODAY!

Are you a social seller? Check Heather out online or on her top-rated podcast, Called to Lead. She offers amazing resources for those looking to replicate their results, grow their team, and find renewed joy through their network marketing businesses (without using social media). 

 

 

If you listened to part I in this three-part series, you might be thinking I have lost my mind.

Not limiting our kids from having more seems so counter-intuitive at times, especially when they aren’t even touching the other things being offered.

As a mom, I understand this and have felt your frustration first hand more times than I can count. But as a dietitian, I also know the impact of having a positive and pressure-free feeding environment on raising kids who truly are amazing eaters…in their due time.

So in this episode, we are going to review when it is okay to say no to seconds. There are three main reasons you might find yourself needing to limit extra helpings, and I want to review each of these so you feel empowered and equipped when the answer really does need to be, “no.”

However, with each of these situations, I compare and contrast how the message you are reinforcing isn’t one of pressure or restriction, but rather of values like learning manners, money-management, and mindfulness with their body’s response to food.

This is a must-listen episode for any parent who struggles with how to respond when their child asks, “Can I have seconds of ABC?” (even when they haven’t eaten any of XYZ).

A friend and fellow mom of three recently told me about a takeaway that she had as a major aha from the book, Memory Making Moms. And although I still haven't read the book myself, I appreciate that this was an easy trick I could quickly and easily implement in attempts to be more intentional with my time as a busy mom.

And because some of the non-feeding stuff of motherhood seems to really resonate with you, like the Valentine's love notes featured in episode 100, I wanted to take a minute to stop and share this idea with you...as I am so thankful my girlfriend did with me!

SHOWNOTES:

• Sign up to work with me 1:1 here.
• Leave me a voice message to be answered on the podcast here.
• Find out more about Mealtimes Made Easy Method here.
• Join my email community here.

So many parents confuse their role in the feeding relationship when their kids come home starving, head to get a snack, and then an hour later, want another...and another...and another.

Instead of honing in on WHY this is happening and what we can do about it as the parents, we begin to try to limit or restrict them from how much they can eat of these given foods. That's why, in this episode, I teach parents about the concept of volume versus density and how you can begin to "level up" your kids meals and snacks so they stop grazing and are able to actually work within the meal and snack structure that helps them eat better at meals and fill up less on snacky foods.

This episode comes as a clip from day two of my Back to School Bootcamp. For more on this resource, go to www.mealtimesmadeeasy.com for all-access to this amazing resource and others like it!

Is it okay to sneak healthy things into our kid's food?

Whether it be in healthy muffins or a meatball, I know firsthand how tempting it is. We feel like our best option is often to sneak healthy foods in the foods our kids do willingly eat, all in the name of "getting" our kids to eat the foods that they otherwise won't.

But is this best practice? Or does this backfire?

Fellow moms may feel it is innocent enough and the benefits of sneaking healthy foods outweigh the cons of getting caught.

That's why in this episode, I shed some light on what I advise as a feeding expert. I don't share this from a soapbox but rather from the trenches of feeding fussy eaters myself -- three for three, I understand this predicament firsthand with my own!

However, if we are going to raise up the next generation to value health and fuel their bodies accordingly, it is important for us to really look at the short-term impact of "getting" our kids to eat healthy foods versus the long-term implications of fostering intrinsic motivation towards eating healthy foods.

 

Want more support on how to build trust in the feeding relationship?   Whether it be your child sneaking “forbidden foods” from you, or you are feeling the need to save a secret stash of “forbidden foods” until after bedtime (so your kids don't see), these posts can shed some light on how to handle such secrecy:

• Did you catch your kid with candy wrappers? How to handle hard situation (advice from a dietitian mom)
• Should you hide unhealthy snacks from your kids (like candy)?
• Sign up to work with me 1-on-1.

A mom in my FREE Facebook group asked, "What are some easy breakfast ideas that aren't eggs, yogurt, or smoothies?" Another mom then chimed in to ask, "What are healthy breakfast ideas that are quick and easy on those mornings your child doesn't have time to eat before they head out the door?"

This week's Meals Made Easy Monday episode shares just that! With five fast and easy hacks to add more protein at breakfast (without relying on eggs, yogurt, or smoothies), you will walk away from this episode with new ideas in your AM arsenal.

There is something to be said for the laid back, laissez faire attitude of eating an easy afternoon poolside. That's why in this episode, I outline the five tips every mom should think through when filling their pool bag with healthy snacks for kids. These are tried and true as a mom of three and have my stamp of approval as a dietitian. When used together, these tips will ensure your family has the fuel they need for a fun day at the pool!

In today's episode, we are featuring a message from a sweet mom, Sarah, who chimed in to ask a question about how to handle soda with her kids.

Ashley loves getting listener-submitted questions, like this, so thank you Sarah for submitting this message. You can send Ashley a voice memo here.

In this episode, Ashley walks families through how to make decisions around what your family's approach is to things like soft drinks and other sugar-sweetened beverages. Ashley challenges you as the parent and nutritional gatekeeper to identify what your family may be doing or need to begin doing with their beverage choices from the perspective of building healthy habits. Lastly, Ashley shares sample dialogue on how you might want to approach talking about things like soft drinks and other sugar-sweetened beverages with you kids. This gets to the bottom of Sarah's question: How do we talk about these with our kids in a way that doesn't give them emotional value or label them good, bad, unhealthy, healthy, but instead equips our kids to handle sugar-sweetened beverages.

Have you been following me (or nutrition accounts like mine) for years, and yet you still find yourself feeling stuck with all things feeding?

This is not that uncommon. Because while social media can be a great place to connect, it also can give us a false sense of security that we are "doing something" to help address the parenting issues in front of us...all while actually doing nothing.

That's why, I am to thankful to have longtime listener, Ellen, on the show today. She joined my Mealtimes Made Easy Method this past fall while she was still in the early days of postpartum. However, instead of making excuses that life was too crazy, she was too sleep-deprived, or was on maternity leave (and the financial hit that can insinuate for some families), she didn't.

She saw it as an opportune time to hit reset - as a family.

So, although I think there are seasons of life to say "no" (as I shared in episode 94), I know that some of you might need just this little nudge from Ellen's story to say YES to something better.

 

SHOWNOTES:

Join the workshop - happening January 18th!

Find out more about Mealtimes Made Easy Method.

Leave me a question for an upcoming episode.

Join my email newsletters for weekly updates and helpful links.

 

Do you feel like you are getting stuck with making progress to feed your family?

Is the indecision of how to handle your child's picky eating leading you to be all or nothing - setting unrealistic expectations or floundering in feelings of defeat?

Are you getting overwhelmed because the endless decision of "what to make" each day feels daunting?

 

In this episode, we take a look at three mistakes that you might be making and ONE thing you can do to not fall into those traps.

 

SHOWNOTES:

Read the transcript

Sign up for the 2023 Workshop

Do you have somewhere specific you reach every time your child asks for something to eat?

Chances are, whether you send your kids to get their own snacks or you are there administrating the activity and offering, you and your child know how to operate on autopilot when it comes to snack.

If your autopilot approach to snacking is helping offer more healthy options, then you may have already mastered setting up a snacking system that supports your family's feeding goals.

However, if you are frustrated by your kid only wanting snack foods and struggling to get them to eat more easy, nourishing options, then this episode is going to be a big help.

Because, so often, we assume that simply offering healthy snack options to our kids is the answer. When in reality, this requires a major behavior change.

If you or them reach into the same package in the pantry every time they say they want a snack, it is going to require something new of you to go to the fridge instead for a healthier snack option.

That's why, with so many families struggling to reign in summer snacking, we are going to talk about how you can set up a kid-friendly snack drawer in your fridge. This could also be done to promote variety coming from the pantry, but you will hear through the advice and insights given how this works to reduce your mental energy of coming up with new snack ideas, promote age-appropriate autonomy, and to neutralize the food options between fresh produce, crinkly snack crackers, and a perishable source of protein, like yogurt or boiled eggs.

Be sure to tag @veggiesandvirtue on social using #vvsnackdrawer whenever you create this sanity-saving, health-promoting snack drawer in your own home!

 

SHOWNOTES:

• Find items mentioned on my Amazon storefront here.
• Sign up to work with me 1:1 here.
• Leave me a voice message to be answered on the podcast here.
• Find out more about Mealtimes Made Easy Method here.
• Join my email community here.

Want tried and true tricks to picking  the perfect watermelon?

Get the four key things you ought to look for in this episode! I translate the infographic that gets over a million views a month on my pinterest into audio that you can pop in your ear next time you are at the store and standing in front of a barrel of watermelons.

Because whether you are wanting a refreshing snack amidst the heat of summer or looking to pick the perfect watermelon for your next backyard barbecue, this episode is going to save you time, money, and the frustration of bringing home a waste of a watermelon.

This episode is a must-have in your feeding toolbelt for summer!

 

SHOWNOTES:

• Find items mentioned on my Amazon storefront here.
• Score community-only discounts from some of my favorite small businesses here.
• Sign up to work with me 1:1 here.
• Leave me a voice message to be answered on the podcast here.
• Find out more about Mealtimes Made Easy Method here.
• Join my email community here.

Are you worried about your child not getting enough protein?

If you, like many parents I speak with, feel like your child exists on carbs alone, this episode is going to give you some simple suggestions for ways to boost protein in the meals and snacks you are likely already offering.

I share 8 ideas to boost protein without relying on meat or sandwiches. Instead, I share eight kid-friendly ways to boost protein in meals and snacks, using the examples of protein-rich options in Muffin Club recipes.

Sign up for Muffin Club here.

 

SHOWNOTES:

How Much Protein Does My Preschooler Need?

Healthy, High Protein Snack Ideas for Kids

Snacks that Limit Grazing and Boost Nutritional Variety

Breakfast ideas with protein that aren’t eggs, yogurt, or a smoothie

On today's episode, we delve into the world of toddlerhood and the ever-evolving nature of food preferences.   I share a question that came from Jennifer M., a parent navigating the exciting yet sometimes challenging journey of feeding a 16-month-old.   Jennifer brings forth a common concern: how to address the principles of the Division of Responsibility (DOR) with a child who is just beginning to express their likes and dislikes.   As her little one starts asserting preferences over what is (or isn't) being offered, like requesting crackers and applesauce during dinner, Jennifer seeks guidance on instilling a healthy relationship with food at this crucial developmental stage.   Join us as we explore practical strategies and expert advice on fostering a positive feeding environment for toddlers, where the principles of the Division of Responsibility can lay the foundation for a lifetime of balanced and enjoyable eating habits.   SHOWNOTES:  

• If you 1-on-1 support or want to book a free 30-minute strategy session for the new year, secure a spot on my calendar here.
• If you are not yet signed up for my free weekly meal plans, make sure to do so here!

As New Years resolutions fade and the busyness of springtime is in full swing, we need to be intentional about how we get family meals on the table each night.

That's why, in this episode, we breakdown the objective definition of "easy" when it comes to easy family dinner ideas. Because whether you are a busy mom with several kids in extra-curriculars or you are a postpartum mom with an infant on your hip and toddler at your ankles, we all need easy dinner ideas!

In this episode, I walk you through:

• The act of time-blocking when meal planning
• Assigning a number to what your capacity is to pull off healthy dinner ideas
• How to work backwards from time to idea (instead of the more common opposite approach)
• Why you need to give yourself permission for "off" nights that don't require a lot of energy
• Utilizing your seasonal meal plan amidst any month's schedule or demands

 

SHOWNOTES:

• If you would like access to my one-week of quick & easy dinner ideas, click here.
• Need some one-on-one support? Sign up to work with me here.
• Have a quick question? Leave me a voice message to be answered on the podcast here.
• Searching for a feeding framework that works? Find out more about Mealtimes Made Easy Method here.

 

Ashlee, a mom of a nine year old, submitted this listener question,

“At what age do you stop doing a division of responsibility in feeding?"

Whether you are new to this feeding approach or a veteran now and wondering when your roles in feeding shift to allow your child some age-appropriate independence, this episode will walk you through the basics of a responsive feeding style at each age and feeding stage.

Easter may have passed, but I know a lot of homes are still trying to put up the plastic eggs, Easter baskets, and figure out where to keep all that Easter candy!

As parents, we can feel that it makes sense to hide the candy and put it totally out of reach - for our kids sake and own temptation towards the pastel-colored candies. However, in this episode, we review 3 ways to set boundaries with leftover Easter Candy that promote a healthy relationship with all foods - Easter candy included.

In this episode, we will talk about:

1. Where to keep leftover Easter candy
2. Boundaries around when leftover candy is offered
3. How to promote neutrality in what foods you offer to foster a healthy feeding environment

SHOWNOTES:

• Sign up for a free 30-minute 1:1 session here.
• Listen to episodes from the Halloween series on candy here, here, here, and here.
• Ask me a question here.
• Find out more about Mealtimes Made Easy Method here.
• Join my email community here.

 

We are about to kick off our sixth school year with nothing less than... our sixth bento box!

And while you shouldn't need to get a new bento box each year, I am in the business of testing these out. Both as a dietitian and a mom, I like to test out each and every product I share with my clients and community. So this episode will do just that!

Sharing with you what I like (and what I don't), I dive into the pros and cons of each of the bento boxes we have owned over the years. I also highlight how this has evolved as our number of children has grown, taste preferences have changed, and health goals increased.

So listen in for the clif notes on each of the following brands of bento boxes: Easy Lunchboxes, Yumbox, Bentgo, LunchBots, OmieBox, and PlanetBox.

It seems like everyone has something to say about how other people eat...including at holiday gatherings.

Whether your child eats too much...or too little.

Sits barely at all...or never seems to finish.

Fills out their festive outfit well...or is still fitting into last year's.

Friends and family alike often make comments prematurely about how much our kids eat, the order in which they choose to eat different foods, their behavior in and around mealtimes, and how their bodies appear on the outside.

So, let's make sure you have some appropriate responses ready! You don't have to find yourself anxious about how to handle having a picky eater over the holidays, stressing about if and what to say when someone comments on your child's size, or how to steer clear of conversations centered around body image, diets, etc.

You are allowed to be confident in the hard work you are doing to raise a healthy eater and well-rounded child. Here's a holiday episode to help!

We all want our kids to have healthy diets and strong immune systems. But it can be confusing to know, do the often sugary, sticky gummies really help with this?

Hear how I answer this mom's question from one of our live community calls within Mealtimes Made Easy. Because although the specific nutritional needs of each child are unique to what they eat (or don't), there are some general things you can do as a parent to see if investing in additional supplementation might be merited, and if so, what vitamins even make sense to offer.

 

For more info on the links shared on today's episode:

Sign up for discounts on high-quality supplements here.

Sign up for a one-on-one consultation with Ashley here.

Find out more about Mealtimes Made Easy Method here.

Welcome to the Veggies & Virtue podcast with pediatric dietitian and Christian mom, Ashley Smith.

In this episode, Ashley shares her word for the year in 2022. She also opens up about how God has been moving in her personal and professional life to include launching this podcast and :

1. Recognizing the pace of the present day and current season of parenthood

2. Recovering from perfectionism and reclaiming a place for flexibility, fun, and freedom

3. Living more disciplined than distracted with our time, including on social media

Ashley is excited to use this place and space to serve you better. Come pull up a stool at her kitchen counter!

 

Connect with Ashley

On Instagram: @veggiesandvirtue

Online: www.veggiesandvirtue.com

By email: info@veggiesandvirtue.com

 

Wondering how to order your day so there are clear meals and snacks without the endless grazing, complaints about being hungry, and uncertainty around if and when to feed your child again? Well tune in for this episode as we breakdown the five C's to setting up a meal and snack schedule. These aren't rules to follow but rather a routine that will help your family build trust, minimize food fussiness, boost confidence, and promote healthy habits.

Piggy backing on episode 52, this episode gives you the quick and dirty stats on how the six bento boxes that our family has owned over the last six years rate in terms of: being the most kid-friendly, easy to clean, affordable, versatile, and durable. Having had experience with each and all of them now, I wanted to share a synopsis of how these compare so that you can shop according to what matters most to your family and your feeding priorities.

If you have wondered about any of the following lunchboxes, see how each of these rank in comparison to the other:

Easy Lunchboxes, Yumbox, Bentgo, LunchBots, OmieBox, and PlanetBox.

Looking for Easter basket ideas for kids that aren't candy?

Nothing against a cadbury egg or jelly beans here, but as a Christian, mom, and dietitian, I know that I am often looking for more fun and festive ideas to add to my kids Easter baskets than candy alone.

That's why, in this episode, I share with you easy and healthy Easter basket ideas for kids. These are tried and true Easter basket ideas that I have rotated through over the years with my own three kids. None of these are necessary, of course, but any one of the items mentioned may be a fun additional to your family's Easter celebration.

 

SHOWNOTES:

• My 50 Favorite Non-Candy Easter Basket Ideas

• Candy-Free Easter Egg Filler Ideas

• My Amazon Shop: Easter Baskets

• Find items mentioned on my Amazon storefront here.
• Score community-only discounts from some of my favorite small businesses here.
• Sign up to work with me 1:1 here.
• Leave me a voice message to be answered on the podcast here.
• Find out more about Mealtimes Made Easy Method here.
• Join my email community here.

Worried about how meals and snacks are going to go as your kids get back to school?

Let's lower the stress you have and your child may experience as back to school approaches with these five simple steps.

These are easy-to-implement prep steps that will familiarize you and your child with what challenges might otherwise arise once school is underway. Except, instead of wondering whether or not those BIG back to school emotions are at all related to hanger and having the "right" balance of foods, you can rest assured that you have thought through some of the things that cause the most challenges early on in the year.

Things like your child's likely new meal and snack schedule, and how long they are going between breakfast, lunch, snacks, and getting home (plus when their appetite tends to pique). Or, how to optimize the time they do get to eat so that they're as efficient as little people can be when it comes to eating their lunches. And, how you can work through some real-life role playing so they have a sense of what amount of time they get to eat amidst all the new and exciting distractions of school.

Even if we can't avoid all of the surprises that the start to the school year brings, I know that these five steps will help you and your little one(s) skip some of the hiccups that happen most.

 

SHOWNOTES:

• Get my FREE Lunch Packing Printable here.
• Find items mentioned on my Amazon storefront here.
• Use community-only discounts from some of my favorite small businesses here.
• Sign up to work with me 1:1 here.
• Leave me a voice message to be answered on the podcast here.

If you have a picky eater, you have likely wondered (or worried!) whether or not they are getting enough macro- and micronutrients in their diet.

Because if they are eating "enough (calories)" and their growth is tracking appropriately for their age, you may have been given the advice to just "wait it out."

But even when a person's caloric needs are being met (from things like protein, fat, and carbohydrates, their micronutrient needs may not be. This includes important nutrients for a child's growth and development, like iron.

That's why, on today's episode, I have iron-deficiency expert Angela Dodge joining us to discuss:

• What is iron deficiency?
• What are some of the risk factors? 
• How to evaluate if your child does have iron deficiency, including what specific questions to ask or tests to request from your child's primary care physician

This is part I of our interview on, Is Your Child Getting Enough Iron?

 

SHOWNOTES:

• Connect with Angela online at Nourished Beginnings or on her Instagram @nourished.beginning.kids

Does candy make your kids act crazy?

For most adults, we assume so. We blame the candy, cupcakes, or sugar-coated culprit for being the root of our child's behavioral problems.

But what data do you have to support this? Observationally and anecdotally, most moms I speak to could come up with a laundry list of examples. So does it surprise you that studies looking at the association between sugar intake and hyperactivity are considered "case closed?"

With the exception of a small subset of children who have diagnoses ADHD, the research shows that sugar is NOT to blame for patterns of poor behavior in kids. Conversely, we see that often it is the perception of sugar as the problem that leads parents to defer accountability on what they can control (being what, when, and where a child is offered a variety of meals and snacks, including those that are sugar-sweetened).

To pinpoint the problem AND have a more accurate depiction of what you can do about it, this episode is going to force you to pivot with pointers on how to problem solve the ever-so-common concern of "sugar highs," right before Halloween gets here.

 

SHOWLINKS:

Join Mealtimes Made Easy: www.mealtimesmadeeasy.com

Schedule a session to chat one-on-one with Ashley: www.veggiesandvirtue.com/schedule

Leave Ashley a voicemail: www.veggiesandvirtue.com/ask

 

On today's episode, I had a mom submit a question asking how much candy can her kids have not just on the day of Halloween, but also in the days before and the days following?

On Monday's episode, I addressed the first part of her question with the HOW we approach this. In this episode, we will get into spelling out the structure you may want to schedule into the days surrounding Halloween. With a clear approach to discerning how much candy to allow, you will walk away confident (instead of annoyed) the next time your child asks, "Mom, can I have candy?!"

 

SHOWLINKS:

Join Mealtimes Made Easy: www.mealtimesmadeeasy.com

Schedule a session to chat one-on-one with Ashley: www.veggiesandvirtue.com/schedule

Leave Ashley a voicemail: www.veggiesandvirtue.com/ask

 

Ever heard of or used a capsule wardrobe? Well, just as that can serve really well without a closet, check this out for an easy visual that parallels the systems you need to have set up in your kitchen. You will learn how to streamline your efforts and organize your ideas so that feeding your family healthy meal and snack ideas doesn't feel quite so overwhelming.

 

That's why, in this episode we are chatting about what systems you have set-up in your home to:

• Remove the confusion of coming up with what to offer
• Avoid having a full fridge but the feeling that there is "nothing to eat"
• Turn the physical and mental energy of coming up with countless combinations from complicated into consolidated
• Curate doable meal and snack ideas your child will actually eat
• Help you feel more confident with feeding your kids

With Muffin Club running right now, you might think that I am going to suggest that that is the answer. However, on today's episode, I talk about how Muffin Club is simply a microcosm of a system set-up to function for my family and me and hopefully you and yours too. 

In this episode, I give you two tips that will keep your fruits and veggies from going bad before you eat them. Even if your weekly meal prep is less than 15 minutes, keeping this simple mantra in mind with transform how you prep your produce.

Make it so your kids are no longer turning their noses up to moldy berries, dried out veggies, or groceries that go bad before they're even offered. Instead, tune in for these simple tips and start saving money, enjoying more fresh and healthy foods, and wasting less each and every week.

Do you know what the week ahead has for you?

Sometimes, we have a general idea about our family’s busy schedule, kid’s activities, and late work meetings.

But add to that variable like winter weather, kids getting sick, and a whole host of other unknowns, and it can feel overwhelming as a mom to know how to prepare for real life.

That’s why this week, I take a hot second to pray and meal plan with you. With family-friendly meal ideas that are easy for even the busiest of families, I hope you will walk away with a heart that is lifted and a menu that is filled out!

 

SHOWNOTES:

Download my free grocery list and meal planning worksheet! This gives you instant access to my weekly meal plans as well (sent each Friday morning in advance of the upcoming week's menu release).

Feeding our family can feel really hard, especially when we are in a season when we have less capacity to meal plan or prep, cook or clean. So, although Muffin Club filled that gap for me amidst my third pregnancy and postpartum, what I see to matter most to the thousands of moms signed up is the fact that it simplifies alllllll the ideas.

 

In this episode, we chat about how we can:

• Save ourselves from the countless hours spent scrolling social media
• Translate recipe ideas into healthy habits
• Learn to habit-stack, even in seasons of survival mode

You can still sign up for Muffin Club to get your hands on one, actionable recipe each week. Join us here!

 

Have more questions about Muffin Club? Get them answered here.

 

Does your child need to eat more vegetables? If they are like most typical kids, of course they do!

And while we may know this to be true, I know that many parents are triggered by their child's tantrums - including those that happen at or around the table. So, instead of feeling scared about their food refusal or unsure how to handle it when you do expose a food and your child throws a fit about it, let's approach this common veggie of the month with a totally different vibe.

In this episode, we will discuss:

• How to help your child eat more vegetables, including one's like carrots
• Where to get started to minimize child tantrums and parental triggers
• How to help your child learn to like new foods with a patient approach to cultivating internal motivation to eat and enjoy real foods, like vegetables

SHOWNOTES:

• Get easy to try food play ideas with this free printable.
• Wondering when carrots are safe for kids? Check out this resource to minimize choking risk with raw carrots.
• Sign up to work with me 1:1 here.
• Ask me a question here.
• Register for Mealtimes Made Easy Method here.
• Join my email community here.

There is often a perception that frozen food is not as healthy as fresh. However, whether packed at its peak and frozen by a food manufacturer or in attempts to minimize both food waste and rising grocery costs, frozen foods can be a real asset to a busy family’s overall diet. With plenty of tips and tricks to optimize taste, texture, and a food’s overall nutrition, we are going to go over:

• Misconceptions about frozen foods
• Considerations for what your goals are with freezing more food
• What container types keep frozen food tasting the best and to have the best nutrition
• Some of my favorite foods to freeze

SHOWNOTES:

Join my email community here.

Leave me a voice message to be answered on the podcast here.

Find out more about Mealtimes Made Easy Method here.

Work with me 1:1 here.

Based on the analytics for this podcast, one of my most popular episodes since launching in January was this one talking about non-candy Easter basket ideas.

With that, I made the assumption that many of you might also like to know some non-candy options for Halloween.

I'm going to give you some really fun novelty ways that you can still enjoy the holiday with less sugar offerings. So if you are wanting to minimize the amount of added sugar that's being passed out from your house or given to your kids or you are looking for more allergen-friendly ideas, this episode is going to be right up your alley.

 

SHOWLINKS:

Join Mealtimes Made Easy: www.mealtimesmadeeasy.com

Schedule a session to chat one-on-one with Ashley: www.veggiesandvirtue.com/schedule

Leave Ashley a voicemail: www.veggiesandvirtue.com/ask

The Teal Pumpkin Project: support kids with food allergies