My air conditioning doesn't work well. To keep the house cool, I run fans early in the morning, keep the blinds closed during the day and I avoid using the oven. Now that we have two days of 70 degree weather, I can keep the blinds open during the day use the oven again without a (literal) sweat. I can also start serving my favorite easy dinner: chili! The other wonderful thing about September is the availability of fresh peaches, pears and grapes! My family eats a lot of fresh fruit this time of year because it is affordable. In the winter months we mostly eat canned fruit and oranges. Eating food that is in season saves you money and tastes better. Here's my menu plan for the week! Monday: My favorite chili recipe with cornbread and avacados. Fresh cut peaches on the side. photo from eatingwell.com Tuesday: baked eggs with swiss chard from my garden. Bread from my freezer (I buy day old bread and freeze it to save money) and fresh cut peaches on the side. Photo from budgetbytes.com Wednesday: Panfried eggplant with fresh tomatoes and cheese on top + green salad and fresh cut pears on the side. Photo from allrecipes.com Thursday: Peanut noodles with swiss chard from the garden and frozen peas. I will be posting this recipe on my site soon! Fresh grapes from the garden. Friday: Easy enchiladas with garden salad and fresh cut peaches on the side. photo from tasteofhome.com Have a great week and enjoy these couple of days of cool weather!

My kids started school this week (yay!). It's been tooooo long since they've been gone and I was excited for them to go. I like them to have a favorite dinner to look forward to the first week of school, so I had them plan the menu. Luckily their comfort foods are pretty simple. Monday: sourdough bread (I buy it at my local smith's for 1$ in the discount bin) topped with pesto, garden tomatoes and fresh mozzarella. I grow a lot of basil, it's one of the easiest things to grow here in Utah! Pan fried eggplant. Grapes and green salad from the garden on the side. Tuesday: Enchiladas using this EASY recipe from Taste of Home (a great place for simple recipes) with watermelon (only 4$ at walmart this week!). Wednesday: My daughter wanted hamburgers, but hamburger was way too expensive, so I'm making black bean burgers using this recipe from epicurious. Watermelon and potato salad on the side. I always use whole wheat buns to make it healthier. Thursday: store bought pita bread, naan, hummus, tabouleh and tzatziki Friday: Homemade pizza topped with pesto, peppers, olives, spinach and cheese. Green salad from the garden + canned pineapple. Saturday: tortilla soup with tortilla chips, sour cream and avacado Sunday: eat any leftovers in the fridge and probably ramen noodles cooked with some veggies.

It's the last week of summer break at my house. We're feeling really excited about starting up school again! Because we are packing in a lot of fun this week, the meals are going to be really simple. Here's what we are eating this week! MONDAY breakfast: oatmeal with frozen blueberries lunch: cottage cheese with crackers, fresh tomatoes and fresh peaches dinner: whole wheat spaghetti with jarred tomato sauce, green beans from the garden, green salad with garden vegetables, bread with butter, fresh cut peaches need tips on how to get your kids to eat salad? Check this out this post by my fellow dietitian at Real Mom Nutrition: https://www.realmomnutrition.com/starter-salads-teaching-my-kids-to-love-greens/ TUESDAY breakfast: peanut butter oatmeal lunch: leftover spaghetti, bread with garden pesto and fresh tomatoes dinner: crock pot lasagne (I will use cottage cheese instead of ricotta and no meat to make is less expensive) green salad, fresh grapes from our garden WEDNESDAY breakfast: oatmeal pancakes with fresh peaches on top lunch: green smoothies, crackers and cheese dinner: little cesears pizza (we will be headed out on a trip and won't have time to make or clean up dinner) THURSDAY-SUNDAY Grandparents are in charge while I go camping for 4 days. Kids will be eating whatever grandma and grandpa eat. I'll be eating simple food like crackers, salami, cheese, hummus, fresh fruits and vegetables and granola bars.

Having a meal plan for the week is the best way to make sure your kids eat well. It minimizes shopping trips and saves you the headache of trying to figure out what to cook when kids are HANGRY (Hungry + Angry). August, September and October meals will focus on fresh vegetables from my garden. I love greek food, so we eat tabbouleh and tzatiki a lot! If you don't have a garden, shopping at a farmers market is the BEST way to shop for vegetables in the summer and fall. With the double up program, you can double your food dollars at farmers markets, check out the details here https://www.uah.org/get-help/snap-farmers-market MONDAY BREAKFAST: healthy apple muffins LUNCH: Hot Ham + cheese on bagles with fresh carrots and garden tomatoes DINNER: Steak + zuchinni stir fry, brown rice, canned pineapple TUESDAY BREAKFAST: peanut butter oatmeal LUNCH: Cottage cheese, triscuits, peaches, garden cucumbers DINNER: rice + black beans with fresh garden salsa WEDNESDAY BREAKFAST: blueberry oatmeal LUNCH: Leftover rice and beans with salsa DINNER: tzatziki, tabbouleh (check out the link! there are videos on how to cut tomatoes and parsley!), hummus, tortillas THURSDAY BREAKFAST: blueberry oatmeal LUNCH: tzatziki, tabbouleh, hummus, homemade tortillas DINNER: Green salad with grilled chicken (just marinade in italian dressing and cook on grill until 165 degrees), fresh peaches, fresh croutons (sourdough bread torn up) FRIDAY BREAKFAST: blueberry oatmeal LUNCH: leftover salad DINNER: pizza using winco whole wheat dough, topped with fresh mozzerella, garden tomatoes and basil SATURDAY BREAKFAST: cottage cheese pancakes LUNCH: lftover pizza DINNER: Chana masala with store bought naan bread

I'm delighted that you are here. My name is Nicole: I'm a mom and Registered Dietitian. One of my favorite things to do is cook a big meal and sit down to enjoy it with my family. If you are a DDI VANTAGE family, I hope you can be inspired to find joy in feeding your kids while you are here. If you are a Family Advocate, I hope you can find all the info you need to inspire families to eat well. On this site you will find tips and tricks for feeding kids age 0-3. There's also a few family favorite recipes and nutrition tips for daycare teachers. Happy Eating and Feeding! Nicole