For Balanced Meals:

Menu Ideas

Child Athletes plus {Halloween Meal Plan}

After exposing your kids to a variety of sports and physical activity, they eventually find what they love, right? In the last few years, this transition has absolutely taken place in our home. When they were young, we always signed them up for the sport of the season. Each kid had one activity, mostly to keep them active, but also, so they could decide what things they could do to sta.... read more

10.28.2012 by Amy

Posted in Blog, Menu Ideas | Post Comment | 2

Enjoying an Active Life So Your Kids Will Too

Being a healthy role model for your kids is more than letting them see you eating a bowlful of veggies for dinner. It's about your attitude towards eating those veggies! You can eat healthy food, but do your kids see you enjoying them? One thing I've always been excited about is exercise. I thoroughly enjoy being active! I would rather go on a run in the m.... read more

10.21.2012 by Amy

Posted in Blog, Healthy Kids, Kid Fitness, Menu Ideas | Post Comment | 6

ABC Pasta with Veggies and New Meal Plan

When I think of fun food, alphabet noodles is at the top of my list! How can you not love the idea of making little tiny letters out of pasta! It's easy to find Alphabet Soup packed with sodium and other things, (or even alphabet cereal full of sugar) but it's just as easy to boil your own alphabet noodles and turn it into a veggie filled pasta dish! You can find plain, dry alphabet noodles .... read more

10.14.2012 by Amy

Posted in Blog, Carrots, Celery, Cucumbers, Lunch, Menu Ideas, Onions, Peppers | Post Comment

Sweet Carribean Rice and New Meal Plan

Sometimes we have to get creative with leftover rice. We are actually pretty good about eating leftovers, but when it comes to leftover rice, no one seems to partake. So our quick recipe of the day is one way that turns leftover rice from dry and stale to amazing! It's as easy as adding a little pineapple juice, coconut, and peppers! Super fast, and super delicious for lunch. Ingredients .... read more

10.06.2012 by Amy

Posted in Blog, Coconut, Menu Ideas, Peppers, Pineapple, Side Dishes | Post Comment

Meal Plans and Halloween Roundup

Tomorrow is October and we are thinking about Halloween already. My 11 year old, just crawled under the house and got the box of costumes out. Now, the entire living room is a disaster. You know how it goes. I do not like the Halloween box. But I do like food, so I rounded up our favorite posts for Healthy Halloween food! We've also got more over on our Pinterest Hal.... read more

09.30.2012 by Amy

Posted in Blog, Menu Ideas | Post Comment | 5

10 Ways to Make Family Dinner FUN {Plus New Meal Plan}

It's almost here! Monday night, September 24th is the official celebration of Family Day - A Day to Eat Dinner with Your ChildrenTM! It's wonderful that so many of you already eat dinner together, and this day is a day to talk with your kids about the reasons you do! But some of you find it more challenging that rewarding! I completely get it. The challenge changes from toddle.... read more

09.23.2012 by Amy

Posted in Blog, Menu Ideas | Post Comment | 1

Fall Hikes and a New Meal Plan

We found a new strategy to get our stubborn one to head out on a hike without complaining. We made her a photographer! (It was a better approach than the time we paid her not to complain). But, how can you resist these fall colors? Exposing kids to the outdoors, is a great for their health, even if you don't hike or exercise in the outdoors. Simply being outdoors r.... read more

09.16.2012 by Amy

Posted in Kid Fitness, Menu Ideas | Post Comment | 7

Quick Cooking Tip and a New Meal Plan

My quick cooking tip of the day is to stock up on squeeze bottles!! We love these for everything from Salad dressing Olive Oil syrup homemade strawberry jam Pancake batter (to make shapes with) honey (if you buy that in bulk). And my olive oil to make my yummy roasted broccoli. *You can usually find them at a general store with the cooking utensils! Now, on for our meal ideas for th.... read more

09.09.2012 by Amy

Posted in Blog, Menu Ideas | Post Comment | 3

Girls Race Day plus a New Meal Plan

Erica and I ran a race together this morning. It was called Utah Runner Girls! So fun! There was a half marathon, 5k, and a 1 mile princess run. I ran the half and Erica (my 11 year old) ran the one mile princess run and came in first place! She was thrilled. I mean, really really thrilled. Her pre-race meal was a green smoothie and cantaloupe. Mine, a ba.... read more

08.25.2012 by Amy

Posted in Blog, Kid Fitness, Menu Ideas | Post Comment | 3

Stop Food Waste Quick Tip {Plus New Meal Plan}

With good intentions, we buy loads of healthy food so our family will eat better- but what happens when they don't eat it? 1.3 billion tons of food waste per year is what happens! So, I asked Facebook fans what their best tips were for wasting less food. There were a great list of replies here. To keep your life (and mine) simple, I want to share one quick tip each Sunday with something I d.... read more

08.19.2012 by Amy

Posted in Blog, Menu Ideas, Spinach | Post Comment | 2

Be a Family Day Star! {and New Meal Plan}

Another Family Day - A Day to Eat Dinner with Your ChildrenTM is coming up to honor, remember, and celebrate the impact having meals together will have on your children. Studies show over and over that the simple tradition of eating a meal together reduces the likelihood your child will engage in risky behavior like drug and alcohol abuse. We are taking the pledge to be a Family Day ST.... read more

08.05.2012 by Amy

Posted in Blog, Menu Ideas | Post Comment | 3

Carrot Origami and a New Meal Plan

Opening your home to a foreign exchange student can be a blast. Each summer we break out the origami paper, brush up on our Japanese recipes, and take a refresher on our phrases like "You are welcome to stay awake, but we are going to bed now!" Every year we love our girls more and more and I love to learn all about Japanese food culture!. Our last student told us: Japanese fami.... read more

07.15.2012 by Amy

Posted in Menu Ideas | Post Comment

Family Bonds Fostered By Food

Parents! You have a big impact on your kids. Children spend 52,500 waking hours at home by the time they are 12 years old. They only spend 3200 hours in school. How are you spending your hours together? Are you taking advantage of your influence by teaching them healthy habits and building relationships with them? One powerful way to build relationships with your kids is the simple ha.... read more

07.08.2012 by Amy

Posted in Blog, Menu Ideas, Sponsored | Post Comment | 1

101 Healthy Shortcuts plus New Healthy Meal Plan

Have you signed up for our newsletter yet? We try to send some helpful tips once a week, with updates of blog posts and a helpful tip or recipe! Upon signing up, you get an auto welcome email with 101 Healthy Shortcuts. One reader asked if we could post the 101 list here so she can print them! So, here you go! (I uploaded a pdf of them here) Healthy eating doesn't have to .... read more

07.01.2012 by Amy

Posted in Blog, Food Bites, Menu Ideas | Post Comment | 3

5 Tips for 5 A Day + Free Fruit and Veggie Printable

"5 A Day" has always been my favorite campaign. Although, it has now moved on to "Fruits and Vegetables, More Matters", I simply can not move on. 5 a day is easy to remember. It's simple for kids to understand, and it's truly a great goal! Yeah, more is better, but 5 is pretty fab! So, here are my 5 tips for getting your kids to eat Five a day! Track it! Because this is my favor.... read more

06.23.2012 by Amy

Posted in Fruits and Vegetables, Menu Ideas | Post Comment | 1

Outdoors with Kids and Healthy Meals

There is a waterfall in Alpine, Utah that you can literally slide down like a waterslide. This new favorite outdoor spot has just made it to the top of a new list I'm making called, "Cool things God makes to help your kids enjoy the outdoors!" The benefits to kids who connect with the outdoors while they are young go beyond good physical health. They have also found the kids who get outside .... read more

06.17.2012 by Amy

Posted in Kid Fitness, Menu Ideas | Post Comment | 7

Spinach Quick Tip and Menu Ideas

During a conversation with my sister in law about smoothies the other day, she said to me, "You probably already do this, but we freeze our spinach so it doesn't get spoiled, and toss the frozen spinach in our smoothies!" I actually never thought about freezing fresh spinach! The simplest ideas are usually genius, wouldn't you say! So, before this fresh bag of spinach gets spoiled, we.... read more

06.10.2012 by Amy

Posted in Freezer Friendly, Menu Ideas | Post Comment | 4

Joey Lawrence and Food {Plus Healthy Menu Ideas}

Sarah, a writer for AFullCup.com recently had the opportunity to interview Joey Lawrence, star of ABC Family show Melissa & Joey in which he plays a "manny". Cooking is a regular part of his 'on screen job', so Sarah asked him about healthy cooking. Following is part of her interview with him. Sarah Eve : In just about every episode you are cooking a good meal in the kitchen. Do you think i.... read more

06.03.2012 by Amy

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Coyote Gulch and New Meal Plan

When hiking with kids, it's important to be flexible! We had grand plans of backpacking into coyote gulch, with all our gear and camping. It still may have been fine, but we backed out at the last minute, nervous it was too much for the kids. Instead, we dropped our tent and sleeping bags at Calf Creek Campground, and then drove to Coyote Gulch for the hike. Despite hiking the kids over 18 miles.... read more

05.27.2012 by Amy

Posted in Kid Fitness, Menu Ideas | Post Comment | 3

Beans and Benefits Plus New Meal Plan

It has been recommended for optimal health, to eat 1/2 cup of beans or legumes per day. ( This is easy to do by including beans in soups or salads, or pureed to be a dip. Beans are: A great source of protein at a very low cost! Beans are a great source of naturally occurring folate. Folic acid, the synthetic version of this b-vitamin may not have the protective benefits that natur.... read more

05.20.2012 by Amy

Posted in Food Bites, Menu Ideas | Post Comment | 6

New Meal Plan and Racing Season

The racing season has begun. While I love to run a few races each summer, we always at least sign the kids up for one of them. This race was sponsored by Nate's middle school as a fundraiser. Have I mentioned how I love fundraisers that encourage activity! I'm pretty tired of buying cookie dough and would much rather support a 5K! The kids all started out prett.... read more

05.13.2012 by Amy

Posted in Kid Fitness, Menu Ideas | Post Comment | 2

No-Prep Snacks! 5 Ideas

Some of my kids favorite snacks, are also some of the easiest ones! These snacks literally require no recipe, and very little prep. These are some of our faves: Carrot Sticks and Laughing Cow Cheese Apples and Peanut Butter Carrots and Celery With Hummus Rye Crackers with String Cheese Bananas and Pretzels Do your kids have a favorite snack? Here is a new meal plan idea for th.... read more

05.06.2012 by Natalie

Posted in Menu Ideas, Snacks | Post Comment | 5

Micro-Greens and Meal Plans

I first heard of the term, Micro-Greens two weeks ago, while visiting a farmers market in the rain. We met Glenda at the farmers market selling sprouting supplies, and I was excited to try micro-greens after she told me about them. (below is Erica with Glenda looking at her sprouting stash - She also sells her sprouting supplies online at sproutshop.net) As soon as my sprouts are ready to h.... read more

04.29.2012 by Amy

Posted in Herbs, Menu Ideas | Post Comment | 5

Earth Friendly Meal Plan and Green Cooking

HAPPY EARTH DAY! A major part of having Super Healthy Kids is providing a healthy environment for their future. This doesn't need to be overwhelming, and you don't have to start walking the 3 miles to school to have an impact. I have two cookbooks that focus on planet friendly, green living, low-carbon cooking. One of them is called The Big Green Cookbook, The other is called, The Earth Bound .... read more

04.22.2012 by Amy

Posted in Gardening, Menu Ideas | Post Comment | 2

{Giveaway} 201 Smoothies and Juices for Kids! Plus New Meal Plan

*Closed: Congrats to our 5 winners: Natalie, Natalie, Andrea, Shelley, and Keitha They are finally here! I got them in the mail on Wednesday! For those who don't know, last fall I wrote a book titled 201 Healthy Smoothies and Juices for Kids, which is set to be released May 16th. So, I was pretty excited when I received some advance copies in the mail on Wednesday. So exci.... read more

04.15.2012 by Amy

Posted in Blog, Book Reviews, Menu Ideas | Post Comment | 267

Easter Eggs and Meal Plans

Happy Easter! Although I try to get out of coloring eggs every year, thinking my kids have grown out of it, they literally won't let it happen. They love the tradition, and they love eating eggs! Hard boiled eggs are one of my kids go-to after school snack! In fact, if we probably boil half of our egg supply each week for that purpose. They can peel the eggs themselves, and I love that they are.... read more

04.08.2012 by Amy

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The Anti-Inflammation Meal Plan

Inflammation might be responsible for more health problems in our country than we realize! Research is showing cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, Alzheimer's, asthma, eczema, (and of course anything ending with the term -itis) and much much more all have one, underlying cause: Inflammation! Inflammation itself isn't a bad thing. It's our.... read more

03.31.2012 by Amy

Posted in Menu Ideas | Post Comment | 5

We Have Chickens and Healthy Meal Plans

We finally did it! We broke down and bought some chickens. Actually, my 11 year old bought them (for $3 a piece). but I'm actually the one who is excited! Each chicken when they are older can lay 7-8 eggs per week. With three chickens, we'll have two dozen eggs a week, which is about how many we eat! I hear, but don't know personally, that fresh eggs taste so much better than commercial eggs..... read more

03.25.2012 by Amy

Posted in Menu Ideas | Post Comment | 5

Spring Cleaning Your Spice Cabinet and New Meal Plan

I'm really good at making super bland dishes. My husband often notices too. Last night however when I used a good mix of thyme, paprika, and pepper for this un-fried chicken, he definitely noticed. In fact, he said it was the best chicken he had had in a long time! (I guess since the last time I made that dish). So, I thought it would be a great spring cleaning activity to ge.... read more

03.18.2012 by Amy

Posted in Herbs, Menu Ideas | Post Comment | 4

Wexy Bags and Meal Plans

I wanted to share a cool new product, Wexy Lunch and Munch Snack Bags, for two reasons! One, they are made by moms who saw something they wanted for their kids, and made it happen. And two, the product is a snack bag that is also good for the environment. Made with biodegradable materials, these snack bags aren't going to sit in our landfills for the next thousand years. Plus a b.... read more

03.11.2012 by Amy

Posted in Menu Ideas | Post Comment | 1

Building a Fort and a New Meal Plan

My husband has built a snow fort with my kids for as many years as I can remember. The funny thing is I think my husband likes it better than my kids! They spend hours of hard labor, and they love to show all their friends when they are finished. We let it stay up for a few days, and then knock it down before it collapses on unknowing children. This is last year's fort: Yeste.... read more

03.04.2012 by Amy

Posted in Kid Fitness, Menu Ideas | Post Comment | 1

Outdoor Camp and Meal Plan

I just spent two days with my 5th grader up at an outdoor camp owned by our school district. We had so much fun, despite the fact that Erica told me she was there to hang out with her friends, and NOT me! The best part was the hikes in the snow we took. One of the teachers was able to get really good quality snow shoes for the kids to try snow shoeing. Most of them, it was their first time. We w.... read more

02.26.2012 by Amy

Posted in Menu Ideas | Post Comment | 4

Family Fun Magazine and Meal Plans

Today was exciting for me as I noticed the March issue of Family Fun at Target! I had heard they featured my plates on page 37, I turned straight there, and there it was! Thank you Family Fun! This is the best day ever! For those that are new to Super Healthy Kids, here is a little background: I started this blog in 2007 to sell some kids plates I had designed. My intention in.... read more

02.19.2012 by Amy

Posted in Blog, Menu Ideas, SHK news | Post Comment | 10

Valentines Lunch and Menu Plan

So, if the goal, is half fruits and vegetables, why would we put sandwich in the big part of the lunch box? Not today! Veggies can be fun too. Send a little dip with your raw vegetables, and they just might get eaten up! This lunch box doesn't even have a sandwich. We decided on homemade pita crisps and cheese, much like la "Lunchable" would pack. Doesn't that just make you want to go eat lu.... read more

02.12.2012 by Amy

Posted in Holiday, Lunch, Menu Ideas, Valentine's Day | Post Comment | 4

New Meal Plan Plus Childhood Obesity

I gave a presentation at the local college on Friday about the problem, cause, and solutions to childhood obesity. Some of the things we discussed were: The problem: 16.9% of children ages 2-19 are obese. Obesity costs 150 Billion dollars per year to treat! Obesity kills more than 100,000 people per year 24-90% of adolescents who are obese become obese adults. Possible solutions: Focus .... read more

02.05.2012 by Amy

Posted in Childhood Obesity, Menu Ideas | Post Comment | 2

Fruit Salsa and Meal Plan

Mmmmmm, check out our fruit salsa we had for a snack today! It's got: Kiwi Strawberries Green peppers Yellow Peppers Red Peppers Pineapple and cinnamon tortilla strips that we baked! Even my kids who don't care for peppers, enjoyed this "dip". This week's meal plan will definitely include this fruit salsa! Anyway- On to a new meal plan. Speaking of meal plans, I .... read more

01.28.2012 by Amy

Posted in Kiwi, Menu Ideas, Peppers, Pineapple, Snacks, Strawberries | Post Comment | 4

{GIVEAWAY!} Meal Plans for Kids

(*Closed! Congrats to Kristin, comment #80! you've been contacted!) If you've been on the fence about joining our meal planning site, now would be the perfect time to dive in. We just posted our Valentines week meal plan! This was so fun to make, and to eat of course! Here is a little background on how we prepare the meal plans: Natalie (the RD) writes a meal plan, uploads rec.... read more

01.23.2012 by Amy

Posted in Blog, Menu Ideas, SHK news | Post Comment | 199

New Meal Plan with Carrot Hearts

I do believe I have about 13 sizes of heart shaped cookie cutters! I love the metal ones with the sharp edges, so I can cut out vegetables with them as well! Is it more fun to have a bag of baby carrots, or a bowl of heart carrots? My kids like hearts. Don't toss the scraps though, you can always use the scraps in soups, salads, casseroles, or even smoothies! This week's.... read more

01.22.2012 by Amy

Posted in Carrots, Holiday, Menu Ideas, Valentine's Day | Post Comment | 2

Menu Planning Tip plus Weekly Meal Plan

I just read this great tip in Dieting for Dummies: Plan your menus when you're hungry (They'll be more interesting); shop when you're not (you'll have more control)! So, I am planning a sample menu, and I AM hungry! Specifically, I'm hungry for something crunchy. So my snacks this week, are all crunchy yumminess, like these crackers and cheese! MMMMM.. These are just meal ideas of co.... read more

01.14.2012 by Amy

Posted in Menu Ideas | Post Comment | 1

Meal Planning Weekend Update

Where did the weekend go? I literally can't believe it's over. Tomorrow, bright and early, I'm babysitting my niece and nephew (6 yrs old and 2 yrs old) for three days! While I may not get much house cleaned, I'm excited to have two new mouths to feed. Which reminds me, I need to get some sleep before the tornadoes visit! So, I'm getting this meal plan up quickly, and getting to bed! .... read more

01.08.2012 by Amy

Posted in Menu Ideas | Post Comment | 3

New Years Resolutions, 2012!

Happy New Year! Idea of the day: This isn't really health related, but it is something I think is a fun idea. Each year on New Years, I try to take a short 1-3 minute video of each of my kids. I have them tell me about the previous year. So they'll speak into the video camera and talk about 2011. Who their teacher was, who their friends are, what they like to do for fun, any activities they are p.... read more

01.01.2012 by Amy

Posted in Menu Ideas | Post Comment | 1

Ultimate Meal Plan! Simple and Fresh

It's finally here! Our Ultimate Meal Plan is now available. This plan is perfect if you are: Looking for a meal plan that is Easy to Use Wanting to get organized! Looking for a plan written by nutrition experts! Looking for a full image plan with pictures for all the meals Looking for a meal plan that has recipes for all the meals, including breakfast, lunch, snack A.... read more

12.31.2011 by Amy

Posted in Menu Ideas, SHK news | Post Comment | 2

Happy Holidays! New Meal Plan

Well, we're stuffed with good food, we've been to church, we've visited family, and now we are relaxing to watch some fun Christmas movies. I got some cozy new sweats that I want to wear forever, a warm blanket to wrap up on the couch with, and a new movie to watch.... so, I'll be back tomorrow with some healthy veggies to recover from our lazy and wonderful day. Breakfa.... read more

12.25.2011 by Amy

Posted in Menu Ideas | Post Comment | 4

Meal Plans and Holidays

While I wish December would slow down a bit, so I could actually clean my house, I also can't complain. I try to remind myself how lucky we are that we have family and friends that actually want us to visit! And to be perfectly honest, I love to make food for parties, I really do. I try to volunteer to be the salad girl- which I actually am making for tonight right now, but my true love is baki.... read more

12.18.2011 by Amy

Posted in Menu Ideas | Post Comment | 1

Healthy Birthday Party and Meal Plans

Last night, Erica had a birthday party. She's almost 11. We had my neighbor do 'glitter toes', a sweet teenage girl down the street curled hair, and the rest of the girls danced to Abba. We gave Erica a new outfit. She has a bunch of cousins that give her loads of hand-me downs, which she actually loves to get, so I had no idea how much she was going to love getting a brand.... read more

12.11.2011 by Amy

Posted in Birthdays, Holiday, Menu Ideas | Post Comment | 4

Menu Ideas and Healthy Meal Planning

I have an old post that I just found with great ideas for creating a menu. My plan when I wrote it was I was going to simplify meal planning by following this pattern: Breakfast Lunch Snack Dinner Monday Smoothies Sandwiches Fruit Mexican Tuesday Oatmeal Green salads Nuts and dried fruit Italian Wednesday Eggs Wraps Vegetables Chinese Thursday Pancakes/ waffles Pasta Grains American .... read more

12.04.2011 by Amy

Posted in Menu Ideas | Post Comment | 2

Weekend Edition of Deep Thoughts

"The face of a child says a lot. Especially the mouth part of the face." ha ha.. I will always think that is funny. Especially since I have a 8 year old who literally can not stop talking! I keep reminding myself to enjoy his banter, because once he's a teenager, I'll be begging him to talk to me. : ) I've been thinking a lot about meal planning lately. The meal plan.... read more

11.26.2011 by Amy

Posted in Menu Ideas | Post Comment | 9

MyPlate Meal Plan November 21-25th plus MyPlate for Mom’s!

A few weeks back, Maryann from Raising Healthy Eaters mentioned a new book called, MyPlate for Mom's! That is when I was introduced (virtually) to the amazing Elizabeth Ward, M.S., R.D. Elizabeth is the author of several nutrition books, and was recently featured on a Dr. Oz episode where she talked all about mushrooms! She is absolutely someone to follow. Elizabeth's latest book.... read more

11.20.2011 by Amy

Posted in Menu Ideas | Post Comment | 34

Healthy Weekly Meal Plan and New Printables

I had so much fun making our Thanksgiving meal last week for these two posts, that I think I'm all cooked out for awhile! If you missed the radio show where I talked with Ellen Briggs about our Thanksgiving dishes, check it out here. I can't wait until we get to talk again! Exciting Printables! If you haven't already printed the healthy grocery list, check it out now! The printable version is awe.... read more

11.12.2011 by Amy

Posted in Menu Ideas | Post Comment | 6

Peanut Butter and November Meal Plan

We have a serious love for peanut butter around here! We just tried some Wild Squirrel peanut butter with chopped pretzels inside! Check it out here! Here is our meal plan for the week! I'll be back in the morning with another recipe.... Breakfast Lunch Snack Dinner Monday Beet Pancakes Cinnamon Peanut butter and jelly on whole wheat bread, with oranges and carrots Apples an.... read more

11.06.2011 by Amy

Posted in Menu Ideas | Post Comment | 2

Meal Plan and Opportunities

Today is Halloween! My 10 year old is so excited she woke me up at 4am saying she couldn't go back to sleep. It's going to be a long day! So, I'm up now- which is good, because I never wrote a meal plan for this week, and I'm grocery shopping first thing this morning. You've got to have your meal plan with you for shopping, or it's impossible to get dinner on the table! So, here .... read more

10.31.2011 by Amy

Posted in Menu Ideas | Post Comment | 1

Oct 23-Weekly Meal Plan

This could be our last weekend with great weather! We got the most out of it that we could. We went apple picking one more time, headed to the mountains for a picnic, and a little football, and then I got to chaperone a Halloween dance at our church. I thought I was in high school all over again! 3 of my friends came to chaperone with me, and we literally danced the whole night! It was so much f.... read more

10.23.2011 by Amy

Posted in Menu Ideas | Post Comment | 1

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