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I am always looking for snacks that are quick, easy, and that my kids like and while we have our stash of store-bought snacks for kids always at the ready, I love mixing in some homemade options. This berry Smoothie Bowl has been such a hit with my two little kids (who are 2 and 5 as I’m writing this), especially since they love to add the toppings themselves. A smoothie bowl can be a little more interactive than a traditional toddler smoothie, with fun toppings to add....

Looking for more backyard barbecue sides to round out your menu? Be sure to try our Lemon Tarragon Pasta Salad, Creamy Pea Salad with Bacon, and Deviled Egg Potato Salad! Best Baked Beans Recipe Summer cookouts are the best, aren’t they? Some of my best memories of summer revolve around celebrations with family and friends where everybody loads up a paper plate with their favorite potluck salads and sides, then grabs a spot in the shade to eat and chat....

Best Toddler Swings There are few childhood joys as pure as soaring through the air on a swing. And while it may take a while for your kiddo to learn to pump by himself, all the laughs and giggles are proof that many older babies and toddlers love being pushed on an indoor or outdoor swing. But why limit it to the playground? There are tons of great options that will work in your backyard, whether you want to attach them to an existing swing set or use a sturdy tree branch to your advantage....

These creamy, dreamy Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Pops are a fun frozen dessert that is perfect for a summer day! It’s less than 20 minutes of work until you can stick these in the freezer. The graham cracker crumbs really give them that cheesecake quality. When it’s summer and the temperatures soar, we are all about no-bake desserts. Some of our other favorites are Easy No-Bake Blueberry Delight, Layered Rhubarb Pudding Dessert, and No-Bake Sour Cream Lemon Pie....

I make this super easy meal with marinated chicken, rice and then I load it up with all my favorite toppings. Just perfectly marinated chicken with rice and the fixings of your choice, and you have a hearty and nutritious one-bowl meal. There is creamy avocado, sweet corn, Pico de Gallo and black beans. All this makes it a pretty hearty and well rounded meal for my whole family. This burrito bowl is super customizable, so you can easily make it your own....

Meet Larb Gai, a Thai chicken salad that’s packed with flavor. Imagine ground chicken mixed with fresh herbs like mint and cilantro. Here I add a bit of fish sauce and lime juice for that tangy, umami flavor, and throw in some Thai chili flakes to give it a slight kick. The special touch? I sprinkle in toasted rice powder that brings a unique, nutty crunch and an unforgettable texture to the dish....

There are few desserts as iconic and comforting a slice of apple pie served a la mode. It’s every bit as delicious on the 4th of July as it is after Thanksgiving dinner and any day in between. A‌ ‌delicious‌ ‌homemade‌ ‌apple‌ ‌pie‌ ‌recipe from scratch ‌doesn’t‌ ‌need‌ ‌to‌ ‌be‌ ‌intimidating.‌ ‌While‌ ‌a‌ ‌traditional‌ ‌apple‌ ‌pie‌ ‌filling‌ ‌may‌ ‌involve‌ ‌a‌ ‌saucepan,‌ ‌cornstarch,‌ ‌and‌ ‌other‌ ‌involved‌ ‌steps,‌ ‌this‌ ‌easy‌ ‌apple‌ ‌pie‌ ‌recipe‌ ‌just‌ ‌used sliced‌ ‌apples‌ tossed ‌with‌ ‌lemon juice, flour, sugar‌ ‌and‌ ‌spices‌ ‌before‌ ‌placing‌ ‌the homemade filling into a‌ ‌prepared‌ ‌pie‌ ‌crust....

These Potato Latkes are traditional in eastern European Jewish households. Light, delicate and well seasoned, they are beautifully textured, as the grated potatoes and onions fry up with lacy, golden brown, crisp edges that fan outwards. Yet when you bite into one, you feel the soft interior. That, my friends, is pure latke perfection! My new found love for latkes is real, so we have moved them from December and Hanukkah time to the “anytime of the year” rotation....

There is nothing as satisfying as making food from produce from your own garden or picked up from your local farmer’s market. Some of our other garden-fresh favorites are Fried Yellow Squash, Easy Southern Tomato Pie, and Fresh Green Bean Casserole. If you have never had creamed peas and potatoes, you are in for a treat! I’m celebrating my mid-west roots with this recipe that was one of my childhood favorites and I still love today....

You want these baked sweet potatoes b’cause Can you really bake sweet potato fries crispy? The real honest answer is NO, they will never be as crispy as deep fried regular potatoes. You can try all the techniques out there, from soaking them in water to coating them in cornstarch to sprinkling the salt later after cooking. All of them help a little, but they will never be crispy crisp, though they will crisp up a little outside around the edges....

My kids are on a “plain” chicken kick, which means they prefer it without breading (right now anyway). And these Chicken Bites have become one of my favorite fast and easy chicken recipes for kids. They are mild yet also flavorful enough for my grown up tastebuds. They cook in minutes, work well as leftovers, and are perfect for dunking into your dip of choice. We like them as a protein to pair with Hidden Veggie Mac and Cheese or a quick salad with Caesar Dressing, though you can really add them to almost any meal....

Crock Pot Sweet Potatoes I love having mashed sweet potatoes on hand to use as sweet potato baby food (when needed!) and as a simple side dish for family meals. This sweet and creamy version is made with such a simple method in the slow cooker and makes the best mashed sweet potatoes every single time. I honestly don’t bake sweet potatoes much anymore now that I know how foolproof the crock pot method is....

Easy Dinner Recipes for Family I’m always looking for easy weeknight family dinners, especially when I want to keep my spending in check on takeout food, and having a list to refer to is such a help. This list includes my easiest recipes with minimal prep and cooking that are meant to be shared with the entire family. You can always just make these for the kids, but my goal is that you can eat them, too!...

Easy Halloween Breakfast This is my ultimate go-to easy Halloween breakfast. It’s super versatile, really easy, and so fun to make. Plus, you can make them even if you have zero food styling skills. You don’t need any fancy ingredients either, just some basics that you likely already have on hand in the house. Fun for the holiday and easy? Sign me up! (You may also like Halloween Breakfast Ideas, healthy Halloween treats, Monster Cookies—add candy eyes for more fun—Pumpkin Quesadillas, and Halloween lunch ideas....

Homemade Granola Bars These bars are seriously delicious—and versatile. They’re a great way to save money on groceries (since a batch is much less than buying a similar amount of store-bought bars) and you can vary the flavors by adding fruit or veggie puree. Plus, they’re loaded with nutritious ingredients and minimal sweeteners, so they’re a satisfying healthy snack for kids. The texture is a nice balance of crisp edges, but a softer texture....

Peanut butter bars have been a favorite for decades, cherished for their creamy peanut butter base and rich chocolate topping, reminiscent of Reese’s peanut butter cups! This no-bake version is especially popular because it combines the best parts of traditional baking with the convenience of quick preparation! If you love buckeyes during the holidays then you will definitely appreciate these simple bars that require a lot less effort. No Bake Peanut Butter Bars are the perfect combination of sweet and salty, with a little crunch from the graham cracker crumbs....

A good Oreo milkshake is one of my favorite treats of all time. But the problem is that too many places don’t make a good Oreo milkshake! I mean, how hard is it to blend up ice cream, Oreo cookies, and milk into a delicious treat? The answer: not hard. Alas, too often I’m left disappointed that the shakes I order from a burger place or restaurant only taste like vanilla without the iconic Oreo flavor and just a few sad Oreo crumbs sparsely scattered throughout....

This is one of those dinners that is simple enough for weeknights but good enough for company or family dinner on a lazy Sunday. My sausage rigatoni pasta is something you might expect to order at a rustic-elegant Italian restaurant. We’re talking BIG flavors and a really wonderful toothsome bite to the rigatoni pasta that is sturdy enough to hold up to the robust meaty sauce. My family was requesting that I make this again before I even had a chance to take my first bite....

I’ll let you in on a little secret: you can use frozen puff pastry to make the easiest, quickest appetizers ever that everybody will rave about. Fill it with a creamy, savory feta & spinach filling that takes less than 10 minutes to throw together and you’ll end up with one of our go-to finger foods. The buttery, flaky layers of puff pastry balance out the creamy, cheesy filling in the most delightful way....

Taco Salad probably is the biggest culinary mash-up of the century. It’s perfect for those days when you’re feeling indecisive. Why choose between a taco and a salad when you can have both? Our Taco Salad is a fiesta in a bowl! To start the new year we wanted some lighter options, which is hard when you are in the food business trying to lure people to your recipes. We sure have some hearty salad meals like Antipasto Salad, Greek Steak Salad, and Gado Gado....