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Packing Lunches with Udi’s Gluten-Free Foods

With a dash of imagination, a pinch of culinary skill, and a heap of flavor, Green Giant Seasoned Steamers™ are giving you a new reason to enjoy eating your vegetables. Shake up your vegetable routine with these flavorful, chef-inspired options that are seasoned to perfection, without a drop of sauce. Now, more than ever, you can leave your family craving more vegetables with every meal and break through meal monotony with a new palate-pleasing vegetable option for everyone! With new Green Giant® Seasoned Steamers™, eating vegetables just got easier and more delicious! I absolutely love Green Giant corn.

• Available in six different varieties, Green Giant Seasoned Steamers™ are one of the first sauce-free seasoned vegetables to bring unique chef-inspired seasonings and premium cut vegetable blends to your dining room table
• These tasty Seasoned Steamers are bound to spice up any meal with six varieties including: Mediterranean Blend, Tuscan Seasoned Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts with Sea Salt and Cracked Pepper, Honey Roasted Sweet Corn, Honey Dijon Carrots and Backyard Grilled Potatoes

Right now you can save $1.00 off the purchase of one package of Green Giant Seasoned Steamers. Be sure to share this coupon with your family, friends so they too can take advantage of the savings and try Green Giant Seasoned Steamers™ too! AND, as if that wasn’t enough, during the month of October, there will be a “Love it, or your Money Back” offer available at GreenGiant.com!

I have to share one of my secrets to cooking with the steamers. After they are done cooking, I put them in a bowl with a few teaspoons of Nakano Seasoned Rice Wine Vinegars (any flavor works) and it adds the most amazing taste to them! Give it a try!

ENTER ON THE RAFFLECOPTER BELOW TO WIN  A FABULOUS GREEN GIANT PRIZE PACK! It will include the following items:

• (1) VIP coupon for one free package of Green Giant Seasoned Steamers™
• Apron
• Green Giant Serving Spoon
• Mixing Bowl
• Bag of Green Giant Seasoned Steamers™

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Meijer and Produce for Kids are teaming up to host the second annual Healthy Schools, Healthy Minds campaign. Through September 29^th, Meijer shoppers can contribute to this wonderful cause and support their local schools! How? Simple! By adding produce to their Meijer shopping lists! Participating fresh fruit and vegetable suppliers will make a donation to DonorsChoose.org based on how much of their fresh you eat! DonorsChoose.org supports local classroom projects.

Keep your eyes peeled for the Produce for Kids display which features your kids favorite Sprout show characters! One of my favorites, LazyTown™ and Noodle and Doodle. You can find these displays in the produce section at your local Meijer store. The more items shoppers add to their shopping lists, the more local classrooms will benefit!

Meijers is also featuring the Ideal Meals™ program from Produce for Kids in the produce department. Ideal Meals cards provide 12 quick, easy, and healthy chef-created/dietitian-approved complete meal solutions for breakfast, lunch, dinner and desserts. I have included some  of the new delicious and nutritious fall inspired Ideal Meals recipes from Produce for Kids below.

Slow Cooker Veggie Lasagna

Lentil & Veggie Soup

Apple Pear Crumble

Love Pinterest? Don’t we all! What could be better than Pinterest? How about a Pinterest Giveaway? You could Win a $250 Cookware set, a gift basket or a $50 Grocery Gift Card!

I used to live so close to IHOP that we would walk there. Since I have moved, it’s still very close but it’s a “load up the Jeep” distance now. I could probably walk there but after eating, I would have to be rolled back! We don’t eat out as much as we used to because there just doesn’t seem to be enough time anymore. With baseball, twice the homework due to having 2 in school this year and just being busy.

Eating out can be quite costly as well and IHOP knows this!  IHOP has been inspiring American breakfast for over 50 years, and is now introducing amazing values to delight breakfast lovers everywhere. Now you can get all of your IHOP breakfast favorites in a combo for only $4.99! Yes, I did say just $4.99! Their new weekday classic offers  2 of IHOP’s famous fluffy buttermilk pancakes served with 2 eggs, your choice of 2 bacon strips or 2 pork sausage links and a side of golden hash browns. I am a ham kind of a girl so I get mine with extra. This great deal is avaliable Monday through Friday all day and night! Our IHOP is open 24 hours too!

Just think, you and your sweetie can go have breakfast for $10. That is simply unheard of these days! I just love IHOP’s hash browns. Who am I kidding, I love hash browns period! Check out their delicious menu!

We had a table filled on the morning we went! Yes, we had chicken fingers and mozzarella sticks at 6 am… SHHHHH… I am not a big fan of butter on my pancakes and I always forget to tell them to leave it off. That is why mine look a little yucky in the photo. The butter just melts way to fast and you end up with soggy pancakes… blech!

Because I love you all, I want you to have breakfast with your sweetie(s) too! Whether it is your wife, husband, boyfriend, girlfriend, kids or even a parent! Enter below to win a $50 IHOP Gift Card!

Disclosure: I was compensated in some form for this post. This post is not endorsed, sponsored or has any connection to Twitter, Facebook or any other Social Media network that may be mentioned. It is the sole property of MAK Media, LLC.  All opinions are 100% mine, honest and not persuaded, whether positive or negative, by any compensation. If I don’t like something, I will say so! Please take a moment to read our Policy Disclosure.

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These were so fast and easy to make that Spencer did them! We all loved the perfect balance of chocolate and peanut butter. They were moist and delicious! I can’t wait to try the others.

Make the mix and spoon into the cupcake papers. Sprinkle with the topping and bake. That's it!

Bake and eat!

Disclosure: MAK Media was compensated with product for this post. This post is not endorsed, sponsored or has any connection to Twitter, Facebook or any other Social Media network that may be mentioned. This post is the sole property of MAK Media, LLC.  All opinions are mine whether positive or negative. You can read more about our Policy Disclosure here.

WIN IT!

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When I was younger, it became a tradition to go to Hershey Park each year on my birthday. Sadly that tradition ended about 10 years ago but it was always so much fun!  Hmmm…. yes… most of us can not turn down chocolate so how can you not love a day spend smelling it? I can’t forget tasting it through out the day either. Hershey’s is an amazing company that has so many different products out there. Unless you are a complete chocolate scrooge, you are bound to find something you will love. The Hershey Company is the largest producer of quality chocolate in North America!

Chocolate lovers have a reason to celebrate!  Hershey’s Simple Pleasures Chocolates is a new delicious line of chocolates with 30 percent less fat compared to the average of the leading milk chocolates.  They are individually wrapped for easy portion control, making them the perfect afternoon sweet snack.

This new line is available in 3 varieties which includes, Milk Chocolate with Chocolate Crème, Dark Chocolate with Chocolate Crème and Milk Chocolate with Vanilla Crème.  These are a very smooth and creamy chocolate. I am not a big fan of Dark Chocolate so all I can really say about these is, it’s not the worst I have ever tasted. The boys liked them as their second choice. The Milk Chocolate with the Chocolate center was my favorite. It’s not a rich chocolate where you eat one and can’t tolerate another. I actually found myself going back for more on more than one occasion. The Milk Chocolate with the Vanilla center, none of us liked this one. It seemed to leave a film in our mouths. The center flavor wasn’t very appetizing.

Disclosure: MAK Media was compensated with product for this post. This post is not endorsed, sponsored or has any connection to Twitter, Facebook or any other Social Media network that may be mentioned. This post is the sole property of MAK Media, LLC.  All opinions are mine whether positive or negative. You can read more about our Policy Disclosure here.

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I don’t know any kids that don’t love fruit snacks. We even have a supply of gummy vitamins! That boys love taking those. There are so many different kinds of fruit snacks on the market today, it’s hard to decide which to buy. Aside from the prices, some of them just taste horrible. How would I know you may be thinking? I always steal the orange ones I don’t even really have to steal them anymore, now the boys just automatically say, “Mom! Orange one!” lol

We took a lot of road trips this summer and I always look for “help yourself” snacks to pack. Mott’s® now has a delicious line of fruit snacks available in Assorted Fruit and Berry varieties, Mott’s® Medleys Fruit Flavored Snacks are the ideal blend of great tasting and quality ingredients that will make both kids and moms happy. They are made with real fruit & vegetable juice and natural colors and flavors. They are made with pear, apple and carrot juice concentrate.  They are of course not intended to replace fruit or vegetables in a diet. I also love that they are available with year round Double Box Tops!

Mott’s® Medleys Fruit Flavored Snacks are great on-the-go, so whether your family is lounging by the pool, playing in the park, or hanging on the beach this summer, Mott’s® has snack time covered!

Want to try them? You can download a printable coupon for $0.60 off  (1) Mott’s Medleys Fruit Flavored Snacks!

Disclosure: MAK Media was compensated with product for this post. This post is not endorsed, sponsored or has any connection to Twitter, Facebook or any other Social Media network that may be mentioned. This post is the sole property of MAK Media, LLC.  All opinions are mine whether positive or negative. You can read more about our Policy Disclosure here.

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The ways that children differ in the way they eat these days is insane. I often go to school and have lunch with my sons and it’s very hard not to notice what other kids are pulling out of their lunch boxes. I’ve seen everything from carrots to candy bars. To each their own but there is no way I would send my sons to school with a candy bar in his lunch box. On occasion I will sneak a little something in there as a surprise. Maybe a “Kiss” or something as a treat. My son’s are not extremely picky eaters as a whole, but, they just are not big on vegetables. It’s not for my lack of trying.

As a kid I remember my parents forcing us to eat our vegetables. I think the purpose of that in the long run failed because today, I still don’t like most vegetables or seafood. I decided long before I even had kids that I wasn’t going to force them to eat things they didn’t like. However, I would make them try everything, and I do. You can’t force someone to like something no matter how many times you make them eat it.

Once a week I let the boys pick anywhere they want to go for dinner. They have a few favorite places which include a pizza buffet and a Chinese buffet. Now do I think a pizza buffet is good for them 7 days a week? Of course not but a few times a month is okay. I don’t let them eat until they are sick. They know how much they are allowed to have and even when they hit the dessert end, they know they are each only allowed to have one item. I also take weeks where we will go over what will be cooked for the week. I have found that giving them some input rather than telling them this is it, eat it or like it, has gone a long way.

The best example I have of the fact that my boys can make good choices without me is, we were at a well know Italian restaurant in our area, (that may or may nor have something to do with olives) and the boys both ordered broccoli as their side. Now of course they didn’t lie it after 2 bites but I was proud of them for choosing on their owns to try it.

I think one of the downfalls with children these days not WHAT they are eating but the amount they are permitted to eat. Ironically, my 4 year old just told me about 5 minutes ago how he had 3 granola bars as a snack while he was away from home. Most people would agree that is ridiculous for any 4 year old. I don’t permit the kids to eat chips, I almost never even buy them unless it’s for a gathering of some sort. I do bake a lot but the boys are only allowed to eat it once a day. If they eat something else somewhere else, that’s it, they had their “junk” for the day. Speaking of snacking. This is a excerpt from the book Food Fights that I recommend every parent should read. I am about half way through it.

One of the biggest problems with snacks is, quite simply, that they typically consist of high-calorie, unhealthy foods rather than nutrient-dense, healthy foods. With fresh fruit all too frequently replaced by juice and other sugary drinks, more candy, less milk, and the prize for the largest increase in snack foods over the past 30 years going to chips and crackers, what’s clearly not lacking in snacking is salt, sugar, and fat.

So now that you know what not to serve for snacks, we wanted to make sure to impress on you the fact that snacking can and still should play an important role in your child’s daily diet. Simply put, the right approach to snacking can help keep kids from getting hungry and cranky while also giving them added energy and (if you plan it right) added nutrients. By following simple, smart snacking advice like the tips below, you can ultimately help your child grow better, think better, and stay active throughout the day and throughout childhood.

While reading this book, it was nice to see that I was already doing many of the things that they suggested. For me, it is sometimes difficult since the boy spend their time between two homes. I don’t have a very good relationship with my ex-husband so it is difficult at times to be sure who is eating what at who’s house. Children are of course not going to turn down any yummy treats they get to eat no matter where it is.

Snacks should not be the exception to the rule that food, in general, should have nutritional value. Make sure you commit to applying the same noble goals in choosing your snacks as you (hopefully) do for your child’s meals. Keep finger foods on hand. Finding foods that are quick and easy to grab and serve is actually quite easy. Simply cutting up some fresh fruits or veggies is a good place to start.  I try to keep whole grain crackers, pretzels, or ready-to-eat  cereals on hand. Once a month each of the boys are permitted to pick a box of any cereal they want. Don’t be fooled by packaging. Labels on snack foods for kids, along with sugary children’s cereals, seem to be the most commonly misleading when it comes to nutrition. Don’t let creative labeling such as “fruit snacks” or “low-fat” lead you to believe that sugary treats are necessarily healthy.

Figure out some “free foods” that your child can eat at any time. It’s entirely appropriate to agree on some healthy “free foods” (such as fruits, vegetables, yogurt, or hard-boiled eggs) that your child can sit down and eat whenever he’s hungry. Remembering that your ultimate goal is to help your child learn to eat when he’s hungry and  refrain when he’s not, your role is to simply make very sure that the criteria you use for creating this list is based squarely on the food’s nutritional value. I usually have melons, (cantaloupe, watermelon, honeydew) cut up and on hand for the boys to pick at anytime they want because they love it so much. I also keep yogurt and unsalted pretzels on hand.

Keep junk food out of sight and out of mind. This means not only limiting the amount of junk food you buy and allow into your pantry, but also the amount of television your child is allowed to watch. With literally thousands of television ads designed specifically to make your child’s mouth water over unhealthy snacks and cereals, turning off the television—not just when you’re eating but keeping it turned off throughout the day—can go a long way toward preventing unhealthy eating habits. I find more of these commercials appear on the local stations than they do on the ones we watch. All “treat snacks” are kept up high in a completely separate cabinet where the boys would need to grab a chair to get them. This works well for us because if they go to the pantry for something, they wont see the “treats” Sometimes we all even forget they are there.

Enter below to win a copy of this fantastic book!

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Disclosure: MAK Media, LLC was compensated in some form (product, monetarily etc) for this post. The opinions and ideas expressed here are my own. This post is not endorsed, sponsored or has any connection to Twitter, Facebook or any other Social Media network that may be mentioned. This post is the sole property of MAK Media, LLC. All opinions are mine whether positive or negative. You can read more about our Policy Disclosure here.

It is that time of year again where we all stock up on yummy Girl Scout cookies. I ended up with 15 boxes and had to find something to do with them other that grabbing 15 boxes and a gallon of milk The boys and I were making cupcakes and Royal asked if we could put cookies in them. I have had cupcakes with Oreo’s in them so I figured why not! The cookie get a little soft after baking and they were awesome.

Theses are so easy to make. Get the children involved and have a blast!

• Simply make a box of white cake mix as directed and drop some green food coloring in the batter. There is no right amount to add, just keep mixing it until you get the desired color.
• Fill your cupcakes liners about half full
• Drop a Thin Mint on top of each
• Cover the cookie with just enough batter to cover the cookie.
• Bake your cupcakes as directed on the mix box
• Frost and eat!

My boyfriends 9 year old daughter also made these. I have never met a kid who likes to cook and bake so much. She used chocolate cake, chocolate icing and dropped a Tagalong in the middle. She did a great job and they were delicious!

If you have some Thin Mint and want to give these delicious treats a little extra decoration, enter my giveaway below to win some items from McCormick to make them a little more fun! There will be 5 winners!

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Disclosure: MAK Media, LLC was not asked to share this information and was in no way compensated for this post. This post is not endorsed, sponsored or has any connection to Twitter, Facebook or any other mentioned social media network. This post is solely the property of MAK Media, LLC. . All opinions are mine whether positive or negative. You can read more about our Policy Disclosure here.