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

• 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?

• 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.

Fueling your family just got simpler!

In this week's episode, we've got a no-nonsense meal plan packed with easy-to-make, wholesome dishes – from veggie-loaded spaghetti to salmon fillets. Join us as we break down practical tips for busy moms to ace family nutrition without the fuss. Simple, tasty, and doable – because every meal should be a win!

Still need to sign up for the free meal plan in print? Get it here.

Do you have a hard time thinking of gift ideas for YOU?! I know, as moms we can often go through the entire list of getting gifts for others and yet, when someone asks us what we want, we are stumped, feel guilty, or don’t want to ask for what we really want or need. That’s why in this episode, I am going to tell you 10 of my favorite gift ideas. Many of these will be on sale over the holiday season, so whether you are gifted money to buy something you enjoy or have someone else shopping on your behalf, these are 10 ideas to consider adding to your list!

In this episode, we chat about 10 of the best gifts I have ever received:

1. Vitamix
2. Air Fryer
3. Vacuum
4. Ruggable
5. Three months of one-on-one coaching and accountability calls with me to kick off 2023
6. The watch I wear (and love!)
7. Horacio Planner + favorite pens
8. Cooking classes (super fun date night)
9. Personal coffee mugs with pictures  and coffee gift card (permission to get it)
10. New running shoes, workout clothes, balega socks (stocking stuff must have) 

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.

1. Looking for gift ideas that combine fun with function? You are in the right place! I am a very practical mom, at times to a fault. But when it comes to Christmas time, I leverage this to come up with gift ideas that are fun fillers for stockings and functional items around our home and in our lives that the kids also light up to unwrap and get to enjoy. Use the upcoming holiday sales to shop some of my favorites and my kid's top picks from over the years.

   In this episode, we chat about:

   • 10 of my favorite food-related stocking stuffer ideas
   • 10 of my favorite food- or cooking-related gift ideas
   • 10 of my kids' favorite general gifts from over the years (that I would recommend to any mom wanting a guaranteed good gift idea at varying price points!)

   For each of the items listed (or to search ones similar), be sure to check out the links below.

    

   SHOWNOTES:

   Please note: I am an Amazon affiliate. While it doesn't cost you any extra to use these links, I may receive a small commission from items purchased with these links. Thank you for supporting the work of Veggies & Virtue through using affiliate links!

   Food-related Stocking Stuffer Ideas for Kids

   1. Kid-safe knives
   2. Food picks (Use code “veggiesandvirtue” for 15% off nutridashe)
   3. Fun cookie cutters (can also use these with playdough)
   4. Crinkle cutter
   5. Constructive Eating Cutlery or these from Dabbldoo
   6. Kitchen timers
   7. Fun straws
   8. Mabels Labels
   9. Gift card or gift certificate
   10. Orange in the toe

    

   Food-related Christmas Gift Ideas for Kids

   1. Kitchen Helper Stool
   2. Cookbooks + cooking class gift certificate
   3. Cookie decorating class tied onto cookbook, apron, or with a fun whisk
   4. Fun Books with Food + a cute accessory like a muffin pan, rolling pin, spatula
   5. Aprons
   6. Smoothie Project Cookbook + Elk & Friends cups
   7. Simple Modern Water bottles
   8. Apple Spiralizer
   9. Bible study books (morning basket on the table)
   10. Learning to cook subscription kit (maybe pair a digital subscription with a tangible gift like personalized dishes from Dylbug!)

    

   The Best Christmas Gifts for Kids (ages 2-10)

   1. Zoo pass
   2. Toniebox with audio books for princesses, paw patrol, national geographic, Disney, and more!
   3. Lakeshore Learning Carry Around Animal Town
   4. Magnatiles
   5. Bandaids
   6. Wikki Stix, iron beads, rainbow loom bracelets
   7. Games like LCR, LCR Wild, Qwirkle, Tenzi, Uno, Chess
   8. Art supplies like coloring books, watercolor paints, gel pens and notebooks, smelly markers, construction paper, a caddy
   9. Lego sets
   10. Suitcase, duffle, or overnight bag

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. 

When routines are off and relatives are around, parents often stress over holiday feeding for their kids. Whether it be because you have a selective eater who may struggle to eat holiday fare or an outspoken family member who speaks their unsolicited opinion about that at the table, I hear from parents each year about how hard it is to handle feeding and family over the holidays.

In this episode, we chat about how you and your family can do a "dress rehearsal" of the actual gathering, family dinner, or holiday meal and how this can set you and your child up for a more enjoyable time - mealtime included!

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.

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.

This can be a busy time of year. Going from Halloween right into the holidays, it seems like there is so much demand for our attention. That’s why, in this episode I am going to tell you one of the most common mistakes I have made as a mom, and how I wish I would’ve avoided it sooner. You can use this as part of your holiday planning, but also, I will share how it applies to annual events throughout the year to minimize my mental clutter, eliminate confusion, and save my future-self hours of planning and can for you too…

In this episode, we chat about:

1. What one thing you need to start doing now
2. When you know you need to start doing it
3. Why you need to start doing it
4. How to start doing it with real life examples and action steps

Shownotes:

Have a question you want answered on the show? Leave me a voicemail.

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.

Well, if the summer phrase is, “when life throws you lemons, make lemonade,” I am going to go ahead and make up my version for fall.

When life throws you pumpkins, make pumpkin pie!

On the day of this recording, I had two of my three kids home from school sick. Recovering but still needing to make sure she didn't spread any unwanted illness, my oldest came down into the office while my youngest napped.

Together, we decided we would go ahead and take the content I had planned to record for this episode day (sans kids at home) and create it together!

And you know what? I think the episode is SO much better this way.

Because instead of you just hearing my take on how we handle Halloween in my home, you get to hear it from my oldest daughter.

She is eight years old and since a very young age, she has been my child who has the biggest sweet tooth in the family. As I mentioned in a former episode how uncomfortable and insecure this used to make me as a first time mom, it was fun for me to hear her take on how we handle sugar in our home - particularly because this is something that year after year, Halloween after Halloween, we have tried to neutralize and normalize as a family.

So, hear how my daughter talks about:

• Reframing “how much is too much” with “how much is enough”
• How this shifts between people, on different days, and as a normal part of life
• What you can do to help reinforce intuitive eating in your kids and family this holiday season

Tune in for this honest, open-book episode with my 8-year-old!

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

For this week's "take 10," a mom submitted this question for our weekly group coaching call. She asked,

"Packing a school lunch for my kindergartener has become stressful. I worry about him getting a nutritious lunch that is fulfilling to get him through the rest of the day, but he always comes home with most of his lunch untouched and his love it foods gone. I’ve found myself only giving him things I know he’ll eat. Of course, these aren’t very nutritious. Even things he loves to eat at home he sometimes won’t touch at school. Any tips for school lunches?"

Find out the top 5 takeaways I shared for families experiencing this feeding challenge.

Want one-on-one help with picky eaters? Sign up for a free 30-minute strategy session here.

So, your child has dumped out their Halloween candy and begun to sort their stash. They have found all of their favorites, maybe traded a sibling, parent, or friend for more, and now, they have the Halloween candy they plan to keep.

What do you do with all that's left?

In this episode, we chat about:

• Places you can donate candy in your community (and how to transition to a spirit of Thanksgiving in doing so)
• Ways to repurpose unwanted candy (so that mom can save money on candy come Christmas)
• Swapping the unwanted candy for other fun rewards (using the Switch Witch)

Before you decide how your family wants to approach all of the excess Halloween candy, be sure you know how to share the joy (instead of stealing it...via your child's 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

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 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

Are you stressed out, annoyed, or simply just unsure how to handle it every time your child asks for another piece of Halloween candy?

If you have listened to the other episodes in this series on Halloween, you know that discerning how much is "too much" with how much is "enough," isn't always a black and white answer.

However, HOW we approach this is rather straight-forward. Rather than feeling the need to excessively control and restrict or uncontrollably let our kids have at their candy (in a way that disrupts their appetite for other foods and eating opportunities), this episode will walk you through how to add structure and predictably to a request that can otherwise escalate into an issue.

This how-to will help you to work together with your child to come up with a plan for how much and how often candy is enjoyed. This will lessen any stress, annoyance, and uncertainty on both sides of the feeding relationship.

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

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

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

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.

Welcome to October! When the leaves are changing, weather starts cooling off, and 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 landmind 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 month alongside you, this month is going to begin to show you how to have a healthy approach to the upcoming month(s). 

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

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

Too often, we can get overwhelmed with all of our aspirations for healthy meal plans, easy weeknight meals, and a weekend with robust meal prep that we miss what we can do RIGHT NOW.

That's why, as we welcome the fall season, I want to help you see the small yet significant opportunities right in front of you. These start with what you're already doing. Find out how this one simple mindset shift will set your future self up for success! It is one of the best times of year to begin doing this one thing so that you can effortlessly habit stack more health goals as we get closer to the new year.

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

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).

Welcome to a snippet from day three of my Back to School Bootcamp!

In this episode, I share part of a discussion we had on day three of three about deciding what your priorities are amidst the season you are in.

For some of us, meal prep is essential. For others, leaning more on pre-packaged meals and snacks is what makes our world operate with a little less chaos. There is no judgement for what you choose to do, but there is some insight, advice, and encouragement tucked into today's episode so that you can consider, What is your capacity currently? and which action steps will help you best accomplish your goals in the season you are in.

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!

If you joined in for my Back to School Bootcamp, you know this story already.

But for you that don't, it seemed like it should have a permanent place on the podcast.

Because outside of wanting to empathize with the woes of sending school lunches our kids don't eat, I wanted you to have a bit deeper perspective on how I came up with Love it, Like it, Learning it®, how it shaped what I send to school then vs now, and the way I know this approach can empower you in coming up with what a "healthy" lunchbox looks like for your child.

So tune in for a short clip from day one of my Back to School Bootcamp. I touch on the homework we did to work through creating lists of foods that were school- AND child-approved! The best part is, so many moms have since shared what a helpful exercise this was to work through. You can begin the work too starting with THIS clip from my Back to School Bootcamp.

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.

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.

It can be such a challenge to come up with meal and snack ideas the whole family enjoys, especially if you have picky eaters at home. That's why, I love sharing this tip with families so that kids can get involved in an age-appropriate way, offering their suggestions and reducing overwhelm for moms.

Eliminating mental fatigue of what to plan and prep each week is a must during the busyness of back to school, so don't miss my secret to doing so as a busy mom of three myself!

Feeling in a rut and in need of new ideas for school lunches?

Whether it is your first-time packing school lunches or you are a few weeks in and already feeling stuck, this episodes offers a simple mindset shift EVERY parent needs (myself included!). It is an easy concept to forget but also, one of the easiest shifts you can make to save your sanity, extend your food budget a bit further, and reverse picky eating tendencies that can easily occur.

Listen in to how this ONE THING can perpetuate so many solutions to other common feeding issues with kids.

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.

It's easy to say what it will be like as a parent...when you aren't yet a parent.

But now, four years into being a mom of three kids, I am taking a quick minute to reflect on four key things I have realized as we move into our "oldest youngest's" 4th birthday. As we celebrate Owen this week, I open up about how our season as a family is finally changing, how my capacity feels like it is finally expanding again for things like letting my kids back in the kitchen again, and how the systems we have set up since Owen was born have legit saved my sanity and helped me to be more consistent in meeting our family's feeding goals.

Come join me for some real-life mom talk, including real-life interruptions.

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.

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.

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.

Anyone else remember when their child first learned about “needs” vs “wants?” I vividly remember it as one of the things my oldest took the most interest in during a parent-led instruction on the topic her kindergarten year.

And even though our needs versus wants as adults are a bit more significant than the yearning for more art supplies or a new backpack in little kids, we too have to discern our needs versus wants - especially when it comes to back to school shopping. That’s why in episode 50, I shared the top 5 things I would invest in when it comes to lunch packing supplies for school.

These are the items I find essential to packing lunches for our family, or rather, the items we NEED the most.

In this episode, we are going to highlight Our 9 Favorite Novelty Items for lunchboxes - including all those fun, cute, and added items for the days you are feeling a little “extra.” You don’t need these items, but these are those that I am most often asked about when families want something to spice up a bento or bring a little added joy to their child’s lunchbox.

As always, you can access these items and more Kids School Lunch Packing Favorites in my amazon shop: bit.ly/veggiesandvirtue.

With everyone stocking up on back-to-school supplies, I wanted to share our five favorites for the upcoming school year. These are the ones you will see me share on social media throughout the coming year and ones that I have already found to be tried and true favorites after over five years of packing lunches for my family of five. Plus, I talk about the longevity of such items so you hear my perspective on cost per use and how investing up front in a solid lunch packing system can save you money and prevent food waste year after year.

In this episode, I share the numbers of what I spent so you can get a sense of what kind of investment to expect, what I like about each of the recommended options, plus the links and coupon codes you want to grab these items yourself (should they be a good fit for you and your family budget). As always, you can see all of my favorites on Amazon here.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

Recently, I posted on Instagram asking what questions you all had and would like answered on an upcoming episode. There was a staggering number of you asking how "bad" hot dogs, kielbasa, and summer sausages are for their families, what brands of hot dogs are best to buy, and if and how often you should be offering them if at all (amidst the endless grilling opportunities of summer).

Like episode 16 on soda, this is a bit of a hot button topic. As a mom, I can relate to hot dogs (and the like) being an easy, affordable, fan favorite - especially during the summer months. But as a registered dietitian, there are a few foods I exercise more caution around offering. That's because, some foods have more evidence-based reasoning to avoid rather than to include in our diets. Hot dogs and other processed meats are among such foods.

So join me for this episode where I dive into the research and official recommendations to help you translate if, how many, and what type of hot dogs to feed your family (plus a tip on what I do with mine).

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!

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!

In today's episode, I cover a mom's question that came in here talking about how we set up a firm foundation for handling things like popsicles, ice cream, and all those really fun sweets and treats that come with summer (as well as throughout the year). Sharing that her daughter is, "still a bit young," she asked how I recommend handling this AND how I handle this personally within my own family?

Without creating a dynamic where our children grow up to be hyper-focused about sweets, I share what I would focus on at each of the first three ages and stages of development to help your family build a healthy foundation to including all foods - including sweets and treats.

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!).

Bedtime snacks are a particularly confusing time to feed our children. Because as parents, we all want our kids to just sleep through the night and not wake up complaining of hunger at any ungodly hour of night. However, when we put the time and energy into fixing a balanced dinner, and our kids don't eat it, it can feel so counter-productive to then offer a snack after what was otherwise "the final meal of the day."

Listen in to this episode where I answer a mom's voice memo asking me about just this. How should you handle it? Is it on a case-by-case basis or as a consistent part of your meal plan? How do you get in this habit WITHOUT creating new, bad habits as a result of a bedtime snack?

We cover all this and more about kids, bedtime snacks, and establishing a clear, consistent approach to feeding your family on this episode.