Double Blueberry Greek Yogurt Waffles

These fluffy & protein-packed Double Blueberry Greek Yogurt Waffles are a tasty & filling way to start your day...

This dairy packed recipe was created in partnership with the ADA Mideast. As always, all thoughts & opinions expressed below are 100% my own.

Back to school is just around the corner, & I am sure that most of you all are in full-on prep for the new school year. I know that we are. 

We have been picking up school supplies at the store, doing a little clothes shopping, & making sure all the paperwork is in order for my daughter to start second grade. We have been checking off our back to school to-do list & then checking it twice. 

But did you know that one of the single most important things that we, as parents, can do to make sure our kiddos are ready for school each morning is to ensure that they are eating a healthy, filling breakfast? And one of the best (& easiest!) ways to do that is to make sure to include dairy in their daily breakfast.

In fact, dairy foods happen to be one of the most budget friendly ways to add more protein to your kiddo's breakfast. And more protein means your child will stay feeling fuller longer, which in turn improves their concentration during class. 

Just one serving of milk, yogurt, or cheese includes 8 grams of high quality protein & 9 essential nutrients.

One of my daughter's favorite breakfast foods happens to waffles. This girl would eat waffles every single morning if she could. 

So, I decided to take her most requested breakfast dish & give it a dairy & protein boost by using Greek yogurt instead of oil in the waffle batter. The results? Perfectly fluffy waffles bursting with fresh blueberry flavor! (And also a very happy & full second grader... )

10 Dorm Room Must-Haves

From organization to comfort to space saving, these are the 10 must-haves for every college dorm room...

This post may contain affiliate links. Purchasing through them helps support this website.

Okay, okay... I will admit it. I may be freaking out just a little over the fact that my son, my oldest "baby" is moving into his dorm & getting ready to start his college career this coming weekend. 

While I know I will most definitely worry about him & the house will for sure feel a little emptier, I am also excited for him. 

Excited for him to test out the waters of being on his own for the first time. Excited for him to start discovering who he really is as his own person. And excited for the path he is pursuing with the start of his college education in computer science.

We have been pretty busy over the past few weeks gathering together all of the essentials he will need for the dorm room he will be sharing with a roommate. These essentials will not only help his dorm room become his home away from home, but will also provide him with a little of his own space within his less than spacious accommodations for the next year. ;) 

From organization to comfort to space saving, this is our list of 10 Dorm Room Must-Haves...

Easy Chicken Puttanesca Penne

You only need 30 minutes & 5 simple ingredients to whip up this family-pleasing Easy Chicken Puttanesca Sauce on a busy weeknight...

This recipe was created in partnership with Barilla, Walmart, & No Kid Hungry. All opinions & thoughts expressed below are 100% my own.

Is anyone else's head spinning from the fact that back to school is just a few short weeks away? And for some of you all, the first day of school has already come and gone! (<<My mind is still blown over that one.) 

While I am definitely looking forward to reclaiming my 6 hours of kid-free time on the weekdays, I am also a little sad that summer break is almost over. We had all these grand plans for this summer, but a few things (like that promised weekend camping trip in a tent) didn't get crossed off the family checklist this time around. That seems to happen just about every summer, right?

But now I am getting ready to switch gears from a summer break bucket list to all of those checklists that come with the beginning of a new school year. The school supply list, checking off all that required paperwork that has been signed in and turned in for kindergarten registration, shopping for the necessary back to school clothes, dorm room essentials, and last but certainly not least- weeknight meal planning. 

Establishing a Preschool Bedtime Routine in 3 Easy Steps

Make sure your little one gets plenty of rest for a full day of fun & learning with these 3 Easy Steps for Establishing a Preschool Bedtime Routine...

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of ORAJEL. The opinions and text are all mine.

I will be honest with you all- when it comes to my 4 1/2 daughter, I have been pretty lax with her bedtime routine. We have let her follow her natural sleep patterns, falling asleep & waking up when she needed to. When my son was younger, I had an established, well oiled bedtime routine that went off most nights without a hitch. If someone would ask me why such the huge difference between how I have handled bedtime between my two kiddos, I would say it is being a work-at-home mother now versus being a full-time working single mom then. Staying at home and working from home has given me the luxury of not having to establish a strict bedtime routine with my youngest... up until recently. ;)

My daughter has officially started her first year of Pre-K at a public school. That means she has to be up at a certain time so she can be on time for school, which in turn means she needs to get to asleep at a certain time each night to ensure she gets up early and gets plenty of rest for a full day of fun & learning. The easiest way to make sure this happens each and every school night is to establish an easy and simple bedtime routine...

A Fresh Start for the School Year With Box Tops For Education & Food Lion®

It seems like every single year after my oldest's holiday break, it is a slight struggle to get him back into school mode. After almost two weeks off from the daily school grind, I get it. I feel the same after we return home from a week at the beach in the summer.  

But the return to school once the New Year has arrived is also an opportunity for a fresh start for the rest of the school year.  Given the right tools and motivation, it is a chance for him to start off the second half of his school year on the right foot and with a better mindset. 

Box Tops for Education® and Food Lion® understand this struggle, and this year they want to help our schools start off on the right (and properly equipped) foot as well this month. That is why between 1/7/15 - 1/13/15 you can get 20 Bonus Box Tops® ($2.00 value to BTFE eligible school) when you buy ANY 5 participating General Mills® products in a single shopping visit using your personal MVP Food Lion® card AND be automatically entered for a chance to win 100,000 Bonus Box Tops ($10,000 value to BTFE eligible school).

And purchasing participating General Mills® products from your local Food Lion® can not only help you earn more Box Tops for Education® for your child's school, but you can also help you get creative with the after school snacks for the kiddos. I gathered up a few of my favorites to share with you all...

Rock the Lunchbox! {& A Giveaway from Annie's Homegrown!}

#spon: I'm required to disclose a relationship between my blog and Annie's Homegrown. This could include Annie's providing me w/ content, product, access or other forms of payment.

School is back in session and is in full swing here at our house.  As a high school sophomore, my son has now fully taken on packing his own lunch for school each night.  And of course, I find myself peeking over his shoulder to make sure he is packing that lunchbox full with some good stuff and not just junk.

Did you know that 51% of parents surveyed in a national survey noted their struggle to come up with new ideas as their #1 challenge to packing school lunches? And that 53% of kids from this same survey reported that their lunches were pretty much the same day in and day out?

If you and your children are lacking lunch packing inspiration, Annie's Homegrown has a challenge for you all- Have your kids draw their dream lunch to take to school, and then you make it healthy! 

Are you all up for it?? ;)

My son and I took the RockTheLunchbox.com challenge, and here is what he drew as his dream lunch...

How To Easily Get a Teenager to Pack a Healthier School Lunch...

This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Del Monte, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #DelMonteBTS  http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV

Today my oldest baby starts his first full week as a high school sophomore.

Today my oldest baby also turns sixteen.

Sixteen, folks!

Seriously all, where has the time gone??

One day he is my little buddy who spends hours putting together his latest Lego set (and he is shorter than me!), and the next day he is my young man who is into cars and sports (and also very much taller than me now ;) ).

Did I also mention that he is also old enough to now obtain a driver's license?? Faint.

While I am excited for all the new adventures he is embarking on as he grows into such a wonderful young man, I also get a little teary-eyed when I think that we literally just have three years of high school left until he is college bound.

Sometimes one of the hardest things to accept about having a child headed towards adulthood is that you cannot be there for every decision that they need to make, every choice that they are faced with.  You can pray that you have instilled enough of your wisdom and values in them that they will just get what they need to do when the time comes.  

Fingers crossed!

10 Fun & Creative Lunchbox Ideas

Need some fun lunch ideas for back to school? Then you are going to love these school lunches that think out of the lunchbox...

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Food Lion via Burst Media. The opinions and text are all mine.

It is already that time of the year, folks. Back-to-school is here!
And back-to-school always means packing lunches each school night in this house.






Did you know that packing a healthy, fun, and creative lunch for your kiddos could also mean helping out your children's school with obtaining school supplies, equipment, and funding educational and extra-curricular activities?

It can when you are purchasing products with Box Tops® on their packaging for your children's lunchboxes from your local Food Lion®! :)






Now we all know that sometimes the kids school lunches can be a little blah. I mean, you can only send them to school with so many PB&J's each week. Need some fun ideas? You are going to love these school lunches that think out of the lunchbox! ;) Plus, there are a few fun lunchbox free printables included too...

$400 Back to School Cash Giveaway!

Alright, alright. I know just last Friday I was griping about how short this summer seems and how I wish my son were starting back to school in September and not in like two weeks...

But I figured what could make having to go back to school just a little less painful for all of you out there? 

$400 in cold hard cash could certainly help, right?? ;)

Whether you decide to use that for back to school supplies and clothing or possibly for a last hoorah getaway for the family is entirely up to you. 

But I would think that $400 would certainly make it just a tad easier to ease back into the school year for both the parents and the kiddos...