What are healthy drinks for kids–and which ones should you limit or avoid? Here are some guidelines. Thanks to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for sponsoring this post. All opinions are my own. There’s a lot of focus on what kids eat (or won’t eat!). But drinks deserve attention too– especially right now, because they’ve...

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There’s a lot of confusion and rumor surrounding natural flavors. Here are the facts so you can be more informed about this common ingredient. I wrote a shorter version of this post that appears on WebMD’s Food & Fitness Blog. Natural flavors are found in a lot of place: in your can of lime sparkling...

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Needing protein ideas for lunch boxes that aren’t meat? I’ve got 50 of them that your kids will love! One of the questions I’m asked most about lunch packing: What can I pack that has protein in it? Meat and poultry is a no-brainer source. But some kids don’t like meat or are vegetarian or...

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Need easy, kid-friendly ideas for lunch boxes? Check out these simple, nourishing recipes your kids will love having in their lunch. You’ll never catch me dissing a simple sandwich (read: In Praise of Boring Packed Lunches). But if you’re looking for something a little different, consider these lunchbox-ready recipes. You can make one or two...

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To celebrate the back-to-school season, I’m hosting a giveaway with some of my favorite lunch box gear and snacks! Here’s what one lucky Real Mom Nutrition reader will get: 1. One set of four EasyLunchboxes. These are our go-to lunch boxes because they’re durable, dishwasher-safe, and come in a set of four so there’s always a...

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Planning a national parks road trip to Utah and Arizona? Here’s our day-to-day itinerary with hotels, restaurants, and activities.  This summer our family visited seven parks in Utah and Arizona–in just six days. And we had a fantastic time!  We took this trip with my high school French exchange student and her family (yes, we’ve...

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No more wasted food and soggy sandwiches! Here are five common lunch box mistakes and how to fix them. Thank you to Produce For Kids for sponsoring this post. I’m honored to be their new official registered dietitian! If I’ve learned anything after packing approximately 2,300 lunch boxes, it’s that we all make mistakes. I’ve...

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A girl’s body image can really suffer during puberty. Here’s how you can help your daughter. This is a guest post by Maryann Jacobsen, MS, RD. Maryann is an author and family nutrition expert who empowers families to create a healthy relationship with food. She recently published My Body’s Superpower: The Girls’ Guide to Growing...

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The Snack Board is an easy, nutritious, and crowd-pleasing solution for summer! Here’s how to make an affordable one with ALDI. Thank you to ALDI for sponsoring this post! Summertime: when life gets a bit more laid-back, schedules get a little looser, and meals get a whole lot simpler. Nobody wants to be spending time...

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Your kids will love baking (and eating!) these soft, chewy Chocolate Granola Bars, from the cookbook Super Simple Baking For Kids. Are boxed granola bars in heavy rotation at your house? Wish you could replace some of those with a simple, homemade version–and even better, with a recipe your kids could make themselves? Charity Matthews...

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A chest freezer can easily turn into a black hole of cold food. Here’s how to organize a chest freezer cheaply and simply! If I go missing, I may have fallen into the chest freezer. That’s how it used to feel every time I dug though the contents to find the elusive package of bacon...

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This moist, sweet banana bread with chocolate chips is made using whole wheat pastry flour. It’s perfect for breakfast, lunch boxes, and snacks. Everything is better with chocolate chips. That seems to be a family motto of sorts around here. When there are overripe bananas lingering in the fruit bowl, they’re either frozen for smoothies...

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Forget packaged frozen pizza bites! These Homemade Pepperoni Rolls are a fun dinner, satisfying snack, or easy lunch box item and are made with just five ingredients. Last week I waxed poetic about the peanut butter bars I grew up eating in the Midwest (read: Peanut Butter Quinoa Bars). Now it’s time for another regional...

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These No Bake Peanut Butter Quinoa Bars are a more wholesome twist on the classic Midwestern Peanut Butter Bars and make a healthy snack or dessert. If you grew up in the Midwest or live there now, you know about Peanut Butter Bars. They typically consist of a mixture of peanut butter, powdered sugar, and...

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Yes, ALDI has wine! Here’s everything you need to know about buying wine at ALDI plus how to create a build-your-own mimosa bar that’s fun and affordable. Thank you to ALDI for sponsoring this post! Even ALDI super fans have what my friend calls “ALDI A-Ha Moments”. Discovering they carry affordable organic milk and eggs?...

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Some finicky behaviors are a normal part of development–but could you be making your kid’s picky eating worse? Here are 5 things to avoid! Picky eating can take even the most unflappable parent to the brink. Yes, some finicky tendencies are a normal part of development. But truth is, some of what we’re doing as...

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Chickpeas are a great source of sustainable protein for your family. Here are 29 different ways to serve chickpeas to your kids. (This post is NOT sponsored, but I did receive samples of Biena snacks, which inspired this post because we loved them!) Welcome to my new series, “Let’s Try!” I’ll be featuring different healthy...

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This Creamy Greek Yogurt Poppyseed Dressing mixes up in minutes and has a tangy-sweet flavor that’s perfect your favorite leafy greens. When it comes to salad dressings, are you Team Creamy or Team Vinaigrette?  I was Team Vinaigrette all the way, eating my near-daily bowl of leafy greens with a dressing I boldly dubbed the...

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Want to repurpose your food scraps and create a no-cost, environmentally-friendly fertilizer? Here’s how to compost at home. When I was growing up, I thought everyone had a milk carton under their sink filled with food scraps. My dad, an avid gardener, collected fruit and vegetable scraps for his compost pile–and when the compost was...

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These Kid-Friendly Tofu Buddha Bowls are full of plant-based protein and the veggies your kids like best. Let everyone build their own! If your kids don’t eat tofu, have they met crispy tofu tossed with peanut sauce–in a meal they get to assemble themselves? I’d tried tofu in the past without much luck when I...

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Something interesting has happened since I became a dietitian nearly 15 years ago: Weight has become a very touchy subject. Back when I got my degree, emerging research about obesity was a red-hot topic. I wrote a lot of magazine articles about weight loss, and my master’s thesis was a survey of people who had...

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Wondering if MSG is safe and whether you should avoid it? Get the facts on how MSG got a bad reputation–and where things stand now. It’s a frustrating fact that certain foods, ingredients, and nutrients seem to fall in and out of favor among health experts, depending on what the latest science says. So what...

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