11 Magic Potions for Halloween That Kids Will Love

by Nikki WalshAugust 9, 2023

From witches brew to fairy potions, grab those wands and pick one of these magic potions for Halloween that you can make at home

Part classic science experiment, part Harry Potter, the following concoctions are safe for kids and totally fun to mix up. From fizzing and foaming to bubbling and bewitching, these magic potions for kids can be whipped up in no time. Looking for even more spooky fun? Try your hand at some Halloween crafts, tell kid-friendly ghost stories, and read these witch books that are only a little bit wicked!

Fizzy Fairy Potion

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This fairy potion can be made with any color, glitter (if you dare), and the tall glass in the middle will have kids bubbling with excitement.

Magic Pumpkin Potion

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Perfect for the spooky season, we love the cute mini pumpkins! Easy to set up and, if you keep it contained, a breeze to clean up, this potion for kids is magical.

Love Potion Lava Lamp

lava lamp love potion for kids — Agnes Hsu via Hello, Wonderful

Part love potion, part lava lamp, we're crushing on this concoction from Agnes at Hello, Wonderful. Using simple ingredients you probably have in your pantry, you can whip up your version in no time.

Mad Scientist Potion for Kids

This simple outdoor session is just lots of good (not so) clean fun. Find out what you need to set it all up over at Mama.Papa.Bubba

Witches Brew

a dry ice potions for kids — Upstate Ramblings

White clouds of witches' brew make these colorful drinks other-worldly. Dry ice is the key to this cool effect (with parent supervision, of course); hot water and soap can thicken the spell. Bubble over to Upstate Ramblings for the tutorial.

DIY Lava Lamp

A little more effervescent than the lava lamp of the '60s, this potion made from oil, water, and Alka-Seltzer will get your kiddos all bubbly. These elixirs are easy-to-do and exciting to watch. Jamie from Hand On As We Grow has the instructions.

Rainbow Potion

this rainbow sugar water density tower can be used as a fun potion and magic spell for kids — Little Bins for Little Hands

Sweet and colorful, this sugary brew makes the gradient with sugar, water, food coloring, jars, and a dropper. Your little wizard will be amazed at these layers, so pop over to Little Bins for Little Hands for directions.

Glow-in-the-Dark Potion

Just glow with it. Potion-masters-in-training will need a little help from parents on this one, but the effort is worth the glow-in-the-dark effect. Ana Dziengel at Babble Dabble Do mixes corn syrup, baby oil, and water with a few "magic" ingredients for a luminous potion that doubles as a science experiment.

Glittering Galaxies Potion

this nebular jar is a fun potion for kids — Trisha Hass via MomDot

Easy to make with minimal mess, little mix-masters can craft their own swirling nebulas with a mason jar, cotton, water, glitter, and paint. You can thank Trisha over at MomDot for this mystical potion that just might get your little magician calm for her afternoon nap.

Have a Potion Party

Potion-making is as easy as mix, whisk, color, and create! Have your little wizards gather half-bottles of household items like shaving cream, and shampoo, then add spice and dabble-e-doo! You’ve got a magic potion party. This fanciful fest was the inspiration of Bar Rucci over at ArtBar.

Garden Soup

Is there anything more natural than kids whipping up a little garden-centric potion on a warm, sunny day? Probably not, which is why we love the setup from Jackie over at Happy Hooligans. With just a few ingredients, your kids can get their dose of outdoor play in a cool setting.

Do You Have Cottage Cheese in Your Fridge?

by Anne HatfieldJune 22, 2023

Tinybeans mom, Anne Hatfield, and her family are here to share why they trust this item on the grocery list. Nutritionists and Betty Draper approve of it, too. Over to you, Anne.

As a mom of two kids under five, I’m always on the search for the best healthy-yet-not-boring snacks to feature in our family fridge. This new smooth cottage cheese blended with real fruit by Kemps® is the first product we’ve tested as a family. Read on to find out why cottage cheese is making a comeback and fueling our family’s full days of play.

Family Tested, “Full Day of Play” Approved: Kemps’ Smooth Cottage Cheese

At the end of the school year, our children grow tired of their lunch box staples. With the change in season and routine from school to camp, there’s an expectation that the fridge will see a refresh, too. Think: goodbye apples, hello watermelon. But this summer, we’re happy to also say “cheerio” to yogurt, and “good day” to Kemp’s new smooth cottage cheese that features real blended fruit, probiotics and no high fructose corn syrup.

I was both a bit dubious and very excited when I heard about Kemp’s new smooth cottage cheese that was being positioned as an alternative to yogurt for kids. The first thing that came to my mind was “An alternative to yogurt, yet still a dairy product? What’s the point?”.

The excitement then came from remembering as a child how much I enjoyed cottage cheese with fresh berries—but only in small doses, as the texture gave me pause (sorry curd lovers, but I’m a smooth versus chunky kind of gal, except when it comes to peanut butter).

Also, does anyone else hear cottage cheese and immediately think about Betty Draper? In Mad Men, Betty’s last meal pre-labor was toast, cottage cheese and pineapple, and cottage cheese is now forever cemented in my mind as a sensible meal choice.

So, our family welcomed the opportunity to test this new product. And we’re happy to report Kemp’s Smooth Cottage Cheese blended with real fruit gives all of the taste and none of the pause from our 2.5-year-old son, Ernie, and 4.5-year-old daughter, Milly.

Kemp’s smooth cottage cheese comes in a four-pack with three flavors to choose from, each featuring a different co-brand of our kids’ most well-loved characters: Transformers Mixed Berry, PJ Masks Strawberry and Peppa Pig Strawberry Banana.

Ernie enjoyed the Transformers Mixed Berry so much that it caused my husband, Jonny, to open the fridge and pull out the Peppa Pig Strawberry Banana to share with Milly. My husband is a Brit and while he was happy to have other UK representation in the house with Peppa Pig in the fridge, he too questioned the product.

*Jonny and Milly testing out the Peppa Pig Strawberry Banana.*

Then, my curiosity was officially piqued, and I went from food tester to investigative journalist.

Why Cottage Cheese is the Nutritious Choice for Summer

The reason cottage cheese is well-loved by nutritionists is that it’s filled with protein—and lots of it—which helps you stay fuller longer (that’s at least what we learned in this video from Doctor Eric Berg).

In the summer, my kids transition from the classroom to full days of play at the lake and happily getting lost in the woods. But, as all adventure-loving moms know, there’s nothing worse than being halfway through a hike when one of the kids complains they’re hungry…even though they ate just before you left the house 30 minutes ago.

So, it got me thinking that Kemp’s may have created a clever new mom hack. A smooth cottage cheese that keeps our kids happy (cheers, PJ Masks), and fuller longer? And still is chock full of probiotics a.k.a. the good bacteria that supports our digestion and immune systems? Game on. Maybe there’s a way to get through our hikes with less complaints and more smiles after all!

Also, if anyone else’s husband or friends question why cottage cheese is a good alternative to yogurt this summer, here’s a quick hit of history for you to share with your mom pals.

During World War I, there was a national food shortage and the Federal Drug Administration called in cottage cheese to save the day. According to the Food Historian, “Cottage cheese was touted as a meat substitute to kill two birds with one stone—it ate up some of the dairy surplus while also allowing people to eat less meat.” Cottage Cheese then proceeded to take off as a health food in the 1950s as people realized the benefits of staying fuller longer with this protein-packed alternative to meat.

*“Eat More Cottage Cheese” poster by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, c. 1918. Hoover Institute Library and Archives.*

So, there you have it. Cottage cheese is trusted in wartime, by Betty and nutritionists, and now by my kids, too. We’re happy to report that Kemp’s Smooth Cottage Cheese has earned its place in our family’s fridge this summer.

*Watch out, kids. Your dad may be stealing your snacks this summer.*

33 Foods That ’80s Kids Will Recognize

by Allison SutcliffeJanuary 12, 2023

The synthesized pop music. The colorful neon clothes. The totally tubular language adults needed a key to—like—decipher. We love everything about the ’80s, especially ’80s food and candy. Take a trip down memory lane with some of our gastronomical favorites from the most rad decade you ever lived through.

Hostess Pudding Pie

Flaky crust, creaming pudding filling, tons of corn syrup, and shortening? What didn't we love about this now-discontinued '80s food?

Slice Soda

Introduced by Pepsi Co. in 1984, and replaced by Sierra Mist in most markets by 2000, Slice was THE fruit-flavored soda to drink in the '80s.

Smurf-Berry Crunch Cereal

The only thing better than watching the Smurfiest show around on Saturday mornings was sitting down to do it with a bowl of Smurf-Berry Crunch in your lap. Total kid bliss.

TCBY Yogurt

Your kids enjoy theirs with every topping under the sun. But when FroYo debuted on the scene the flavors were the main (and only) feature, and TCBY was where you went to get it.

Bagel Bites

Pizza in the morning, pizza in the evening ... you remember it. While Bagel Bites were largely popular well into the '90s, they had their birth in the good ole '80s, and we're darn proud of that. There was nothing quite rushing home, popping some Bagel Bites in the oven, and subsequently burning the roof of your mouth with piping hot cheese.

Available at target.com

Ecto Cooler

There was no shortage of sugary drinks in the '80s, but none so exciting as Hi-C's repackage of their Citrus Cooler into Ecto Cooler. You could watch your fave episodes of The Real Ghostbusters and sip the drink in all its glory.

Quisp Cereal

You could never quite figure out what this guy was and why he wasn’t the star of one of your favorite video games. These are just a few of many deep kid thoughts you had over bowl after bowl of this crunchy corn cereal.

Push Pop Candy

The original packing for this popular '80s candy looked like it walked right off the set of Saved by the Bell. But you liked it because the cool checkerboard wrapping matched your Vans.

Available at amazon.com

Lean Cuisine

You probably passed by this one when you were rummaging through the freezer on the hunt for popsicles. But this diet food fad of the ’80s wasn’t lost on moms.

Available at amazon.com

Fruit Wrinkles

They may not have looked like much, but Fruit Wrinkles were a pretty tasty snack for the '80s. A sister product to the famed Fruit Roll-Up, the bite-sized bits were supposed to look like wrinkly fruit.

Pac-Man Cereal

A true cross-marketing colossus, Pac-Man cereal fed '80s kids’ Pac-Man fever—literally. Between the cereal, the song and the game, kids could eat, sleep and breathe Pac-Man… for a few years anyway.

Jello-O Pudding Pops

As if pudding wasn’t awesome enough already, the marketing gurus over at Jell-O made it into a popsicle in the ’80s. Rich, creamy and touted as healthy, these were a go-to fave any time of year.

Squeezeits

Squeezeits made lunch and snack time worth it. The plastic, juice-filled bottles came in tons of flavors and were guaranteed to stain your mouth, all while giving you a sugar high.

Cool Ranch Doritos

Everyone's favorite salad dressing that became a drench-everything-in-it dip became a tortilla chip. Ad spokesman Jay Leno encouraged our obsession with the tagline: "Crunch all you want, we'll make more."

Crystal Light

You'll be hard-pressed to find a 1980s kid who doesn't know the peppy jingle set to pop music: "I believe in Crystal Light, cause I believe in me."

Fruit Roll-Ups

A lunchbox staple and must-have, we folded, twisted and tucked the sticky, chewy fruit roll-ups into the right size to stick it to the roof of our mouth for hours after lunch ended. It really did make fruit fun.

Dr. Pepper Gum

No soda machine? No problem! One bite into a Dr. Pepper piece of bubble gum sent a burst of the spicy cola out of the gum's liquid center to quench your thirst.

Cheez Balls

So what if they turned your fingers bright orange and left a cheesy residue all over your hands––Planters Cheez Balls were an easy, airy snack and they came in giant canisters which meant no fighting with your siblings over who got to eat the most.

Toaster Strudel

Your unassuming toaster oven became an instant bakery when you popped in a frozen Toaster Strudel and out came a flaky pastry filled with warm fruit goodness that you got to top with sugary icing. Breakfast was served indeed.

Mr. T Cereal

You pitied the fool who didn't get to start the day with a big bowl of Mr. T cereal. Let's face it—we all just wanted the stickers inside the box.

Big League Chew

Move over candy cigarettes, kids of the '80s got more than a mouthful pretending Big League Chew was tobacco. How many of you actually packed an entire bag of the shredded gum into your lower lip?

Gobstoppers

Anyone else in awe that the sweet shell of an ingenious Gobstopper changed colors multiple times before arriving at its sour center? Entertainment for hours.

Capri Sun

If kids today only knew how hard it was to get the straw into the original packaging of a Capri Sun. But the Wild Cherry juice in the metallic pouch really added some punch to school lunches and snack time.

Lunchables

In retrospect, Lunchables were like the PlanetBox of the '80s. Circular disks of bologna, squares of neon orange cheese, crackers to stack 'em on and a dessert and drink all tucked perfectly secure into their own compartments.

Handi-Snacks

Ahhh, Handi-Snacks. We all pretended to be master chefs spreading that hard blob of cheese ever so gently across a buttery cracker without breaking it. In an effort to be eco-friendly, the red stick is no longer included, but a petition is trying to bring it back.

Diet Coke

Diet Coke first hit the scene in 1982 and one or both of your parents probably bought it by the case and lived on it as some sort of magical elixir.

Keebler's Magic Middles

The cookie was elevated to an art form in Keebler's Magic Middles which thrilled us all with the chocolatey frosting inside. Two desserts in one.

Jolly Rancher Fire Stix

More like a punishment than a treat, Jolly Rancher Fire Stix sticks set your mouth on fire—and cut your tongue once you sucked on them long enough to turn them into a sharp shard.

Sara Lee All Butter Pound Cake

If you ate all your veggies, you were promised a thick slice of thawed Sara Lee All Butter Pound Cake that every kid of the '80s came to know and love as an after-dinner dessert.

Hot Pockets

Hot Pockets were the ultimate DIY after-school snack. You slid the pizza into that silver sleeve from the space age and watched mind-blowing microwave technology do its thing.

Nerds

You may still have one of these teeny-tiny pebble-like candies stuck in one of your molars today. You got to pour them straight in your mouth––and if you were really crazy, you slid open BOTH sides of the box to get a mix of each flavor at once.

Microwave Popcorn

The decade started with a real bang in 1981 when General Mills got the first patent for a microwave popcorn bag. Sure, it wasn't the perfect pop every time, but the convenience factor outweighed the frustration of unpopped kernels.

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Recipe: Bourbon Bacon Pecan Pie

by Marianella OrlandoDecember 10, 2022

Sorry, kiddos, this special pie is for moms and dads only. With an impressive combination of flavors that are delicately sweet, buttery and salty, this tasty Bourbon bacon pecan pie is sure to wow your dinner guests—and your tastebuds.

Check out the recipe from Smithfield® below to get started.

Total Time	Skill Level	Servings
42 mins	Beginner	8

Ingredients

Smithfield Premium Maple Thick Cut Bacon	1/3 cup
Light Brown Sugar	2 Tbsp.
Single layer pie crust	1
Unsalted butter, melted	4 Tbsp.
Whole eggs	3
Dark brown sugar	1 cup
Light corn syrup	3/4 cup
Bourbon	2 Tbsp.
Whole pecan halves	3 cups
Whipped cream	as desired

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Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Whisk together the butter, eggs, brown sugar, corn syrup and bourbon.
Chop two cups of the pecans.
With a fork, prick the crust in several places.
Place the chopped pecans in the pie shell and lightly press so that they don’t float up too much after adding the batter.
Cover the chopped pecans with the batter, then arrange the remaining whole pecan halves in concentric circles around the pie, working from the outer edge toward the middle.
Bake the pie for about 40 minutes, or until the filling is just set but still slightly jiggly in the center.
If the pecans or crust are starting to get too brown before the pie is done, cover loosely with foil.
Remove the pie from the oven, sprinkle the candied bacon on top and allow to cool completely at room temperature.
Serve when cooled, top with whipped cream if desired

Tips to Stretch Your Dollar

If you have any leftover bacon, be sure to store it in a container for breakfast the next day! Whether you add the bacon to an omelet or serve the simple-yet-classic bacon and eggs, your kids are sure to love the rich flavor of Smithfield’s maple bacon.

In need of more inspiration for your next family meal? Smithfield Foods’ large portfolio of products, including Smithfield® Bacon, Nathan’s Famous® Beef Franks and Eckrich® Smoked Sausage, can meet your household’s needs for breakfast, lunch, dinner and even snack time.

Allergy-Friendly Candy You Can Feel Good about This Valentine’s Day

by Taylor CliftonJanuary 24, 2022

Valentine’s Day is almost here, and parents who have allergies in the home know that the balance between finding safe products and enjoying sweet treats is (almost) as challenging as getting the kids to stay in bed after the lights go off. It can be hard to track down candies and chocolates that fit into your family’s needs, so we compiled this list of allergy-friendly items to help you out. Keep scrolling to see the different, yummy options!

Buttermints

$12 BUY NOW

These yummy handmade Buttermint candies are made with essential oils and pure cane sugars.

Enjoy Life Mini Chocolate Candy

$29 BUY NOW

Free from 14 different allergens, these sweet Enjoy Life Chocolates are also vegan, gluten-free and non-GMO.

UNREAL Chocolate Gems

$25 BUY NOW

Made with non-GMO, gluten and soy-free ingredients, these UNREAL Chocolate Gems live up to their name.

Scrummy Gummy Bears

$39 BUY NOW

These Scrummy Gummy Bears are keto-friendly and made with non-GMO and organic ingredients, making them a delicious option for Valentine's Day.

Black Forest Gummy Bears

$11 BUY NOW

These Black Forest Gummies are a tasty treat! They're gluten-free, and some of their products are free of the eight major allergens.

Fruidles

$13 BUY NOW

Check out these Fruidles non-GMO candies with no artificial sweeteners. Find them on Amazon.

Wiley Wallaby Gourmet Licorice

$7 BUY NOW

These delicious Wiley Wallaby Licorice candies are vegan and contain no high-fructose corn syrup.

Dum Dums Pops

$13 BUY NOW

It may surprise you to know that classic and delicious Dum Dums are free of the eight major allergens!

Choco No No's

$11 BUY NOW

Try out these dairy-free, nut-free, soy-free, gluten-free and vegan candies from Choco No No's.

Haribo Be Mine Mix

$1 BUY NOW

These classic Haribo gummies are free from the eight major allergens, and you can find them at Target.

Yum Earth

$8+ BUY NOW

Free from the top eight allergens, dyes and GMOs, these candies from Yum Earth are colorful and delicious.

—Taylor Clifton

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Coolest Ice Cream Shops You Can Visit Now

by Annette BenedettiJuly 27, 2021

This summer, Portland showed us how hot it can get! And while we seem to have made it through the record-breaking temps, our city is certainly staying warm. There’s no better way to stay cool than with a sweet scoop of ice cream. These awesome shops serve up some of the best ice cream, gelato, froyo, and sorbet in the city. You’ll want to try them all before the temps start to drop again.

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Sugarpine Drive-In:There's nothing sweeter than getting your soft serve cone from a retro drive-through after a day on the Sandy River. Located in Troutdale, Sugarpine serves up great lunches, but it's the cones that'll make you beg for more. Go for the Larch Mountain, a chocolate and vanilla swirl topped with crumbled brown butter blondies, blueberry lavender sauce, and homemade pine nut honeycomb crunch. Also, they serve froze (frozen rose) popsicles.

1208 East Historical Columbia River Hwy.
Troutdale, OR
Online: sugarpinedrivein.com

Fifty Licks: Fifty Licks started as a food cart then swiftly moved into the spotlight at their two locations (both currently open for takeout). Quality ingredients mixed into a custard base means flavors like Hood Strawberry or Toasted Milk shine through. The vegan options are coconut-based and will not disappoint anyone, like the turmeric-yellow Golden Milk or the Mango Sticky Rice.

Multiple locations
Online: fifty-licks.com

Salt and Straw: Portland’s ice cream craze basically kicked off with this shop and their curious flavors--you can find their shops flung far in LA, San Francisco, Miami, Seattle, and even Disneyland (yep). Closer to home, it’s still massively popular. The one good thing about 2020 is that you can now skip those heinous lines by ordering online ahead of time for pickup (or delivery!). They keep a list of favorites like strawberry and balsamic, olive oil, and sea salt and caramel, but their monthly rotating flavors are surprisingly unique, but crazy good— like goat cheese marionberry habanero.

Multiple locations
Online: saltandstraw.com

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Pinolo Gelato: Founded by a native Italian, Pinolo Gelato lets ice cream’s European cousin shine. Gelato is mostly made without eggs--because it has less fat and is also served slightly warmer than ice cream, it’s argued to be more flavorful. Take a Roman holiday with classic flavors like chocolate, stracciatella or pistachio, or enjoy the seasonal rotation like almond fig. They also serve Cafe Umbria espresso.

3707 SE Division
Online: pinologelato.com

Ruby Jewel: Delicious ice cream, sandwiched between two thick cookies. It’s the dessert for when you can’t decide if you want ice cream or baked goods, and nobody in Portland does it like Ruby Jewel. Try the Double Chocolate and Peanut Butter, or the Lemon and Honey Lavender, or test out a new flavor! The four store locations are town are open for business this summer, and perfect for your warm-weather breaks.

Multiple locations
Online: rubyjewel.com

Cloud City Ice Cream: This gem in the Woodstock neighborhood of Southeast Portland has been impressing kids of all ages since 2011, using natural and local ingredients to serve up a prolific menu of dairy and non-dairy scoops, sundaes, and shakes. They’ve simplified their menu to the classics (like Golddigger with chocolate ice cream and peanut butter ripple, or the honey lavender), and are offering scoops and pints to go. As it says on their door, everything is made with equal parts love and magic.

4525 SE Woodstock Blvd.
Portland
Online: cloudcityicecream.com

Eb and Bean: The froyo from Eb and Bean has taken the city by storm the last few years. The swirling cones of goodness come in fantastic flavors (dairy or non-dairy, without artificial sweeteners, flavors, preservatives, or corn syrup). It’s then topped with seasonal, all-natural goodies, many from local Oregon companies. They have three locations around town, making it the perfect spot for families wherever they may live.

Multiple locations
Online: ebandbean.com

15 Creative Popcorn Recipes to Make This Summer

by Emily MyersJuly 7, 2021

There’s no better way to embrace a movie night than with popcorn. Whether it’s popped in the microwave or on the stove-top, this budget-friendly pantry staple can be dressed up to suit any occasion. Check out our favorite recipes below; you’ll find everything from the best popcorn seasoning to classic caramel popcorn and more.

White Cheddar Popcorn

Always a favorite with kids, this easy white cheddar recipe from The Suburban Soapbox will be a hit. With only three ingredients, even your tween can whip this up! Get the recipe here.

Homemade Microwave Popcorn & Mixes

If you love the convenience of microwave popcorn but don't love all the artificial stuff that comes along with it, this recipe for homemade microwave popcorn from One Lovely Life is right up your alley! It still only takes three minutes, and there are a few great snack mix ideas like candy and seasonings you can try as well. Get the recipe here.

Cracker Jacks

This classic baseball snack can be re-created at home in a snap with this recipe from Boulder Locavore. With peanuts, corn syrup and a lot of love, you can easily make a batch for your next movie night. Get the recipe here.

Churros Popcorn

You no longer have to wait for a visit to the State Fair for a taste of churros. This popcorn has all the flavor of churro but none of the deep-fried guilt. It combines caramel, cinnamon, and sugar to make a delicious treat you’ll make again and again. Head to Everyday Reading for the how-to, plus top tips on popping the perfect corn.

Circus Animal Melody

Create a popcorn animal medley for your own little monkeys! This rainbow sprinkled popcorn, combines white chocolate and animal cookies for a recipe that will get the kids howling with excitement. The recipe comes from The Melrose Family via House of Yumm and is easy to make, looks magical and tastes delicious. Win, win!

Pretty Popcorn Cake

Press pause on the remote, this popcorn cake is a showstopper! Dry cake mix and marshmallows are the key ingredients for this festive number. The recipe is open to variation depending on the cake mix you buy, head over to Taste and Tell for the how-to, plus tips on getting the perfect color to get this seasonal red velvet look.

Cookies and Cream

Popped kettle corn and crushed Oreos with melted white chocolate? Yes, please! This cookies 'n' cream popcorn snack comes from Erica, the baking-obsessed dentist behind the blog, Erica's Sweet Tooth. The recipe couldn't be easier and has inspired some other popcorn varieties on her site, including funfetti, apple spice, and pink strawberry shortcake versions! Check out her blog for more.

Taco-Spiced Corn

If you want to cut down on sugar, popcorn makes the perfect savory snack. This taco version, from Well Plated, couldn't be easier. Just drizzle your freshly popped corn with melted butter and sprinkle with a spice mixture you can customize for little taste buds. A zest of lime brings this snack to life, and nutritional yeast or parmesan completes the cheesy taco seasoning.

Pizza Popcorn

This surprising recipe involves making a fruit-leather style tomato base that's ground up to make the pizza blend. Get the recipe at the Food Network plus tips on how to cook this up with the kids. The adorable presentation of this pizza popcorn suggests it could make the perfect neighborly holiday gift.

Popcorn Trail Mix

For a sweet and savory snack mix that can be customized with whatever you have on hand, try this combo mixing pretzel sticks, popcorn, and M&Ms. Colored candy melts are the key to the green sheen but pick whatever color you like for a party mix that suits your crowd. Get the recipe at Endlessly Inspired.

Easy Everything Popcorn

If you're a fan of the everything bagel, it's an easy leap to make this everything popcorn! With just a few pantry staples, like poppy seeds and toasted sesame seeds, freshly popped corn can be turned into a healthy savory snack—it even works as a crunchy topping for your dinner! Check out more tips and get the recipe at Flour Arrangements.

Chocoholic Dream Popcorn

Nutella popcorn ... need we say more? The kids won't forget this indulgent combo that's the perfect snack for a crowd. Head to Remodelaholic for the how-to and some tweaks to the recipe depending on whether you like your popcorn gooey and chewy or with some pop and crunch.

S'Mores Corn

Pair a bowl of s'mores popcorn with a summer blockbuster from your Netflix wishlist and it'll be like winter never arrived! This delicious combo will take you back to long mid-summer evenings by the firepit. Just raid the pantry for candy melts and graham crackers and finish off with a sprinkling of mini marshmallows. Find the recipe at Endlessly Inspired.

Lunchbox Treats

This recipe turns popcorn into a snack that works in front of a movie as well as in Monday's school lunchbox! These popcorn balls aren't loaded with sugar. Instead, they are made with high protein nut butter and brown rice syrup making them both nutritional and delicious. Head to Weelicious for the recipe.

Vegan Caramel Corn

Naturally sweetened caramel popcorn made with maple syrup and almond butter! This popcorn from Cookie and Kate promises to produce a snack that's healthy, vegan, and easy to make. The recipe uses almond butter, but any nut butter will work—like peanut or cashew —and produces a chunky and delicious snack.

3 Simple, Doctor-Approved Rules for Healthy Grocery Shopping Runs

By Missy Woodruff

Tinybeans Voices Contributor

September 14, 2020

Photo: PxHere

Recently a patient asked me for some very basic advice about food shopping. A recent widower with no experience cooking for himself, his diet centered around eating one meal a day at a local diner, with cereal or canned spaghetti representing a special effort at home.

Listen Doc, I’m not looking for a cooking class, but just tell me real quick, what’s the healthiest way to eat? I mean, what do I get at the grocery store?

Knowing his limited culinary ambitions, and his genuine interest in having me cut to the chase, I offered three simple rules for healthy grocery shopping, pared down to the most minimalistic and efficient guiding principles I could think of:

#1. Keep to the outside perimeter.

In the typical store layout, all the refined, processed, packaged, chemical-laden, corporate-engineered food and snacks are stacked in the middle aisles. That’s because in the center aisles, shelf life is long and therefore nutrients are scarce. Along the outside aisles he could range free among the greens, fruits, lean meats and dairy, and avoid yellow #5 in the process!

#2. Load up on plants.

The beautiful thing about rediscovering fruit and vegetables as food is that these can be eaten with minimal preparation, have been engineered naturally by selection over millions of years to be nutritious, and constitute the foundation of healthy eating. Cut up a red pepper and dip into hummus. Spread peanut butter on an organic gala apple. Learn to sauté garlic with greens and a pinch of salt.

#3. Eat as your great-grandparents would eat.

Surging obesity, diabetes, and even cancer rates can at least partially be attributed to a carbohydrate-heavy, over-processed food supply rife with high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated fats, and mystery chemicals. Read the ingredients, and if they weren’t eating it in 1899 then maybe we shouldn’t either.

FYI: Eating Healthy Isn’t Cheap or Easy—But It’s Worth It

The bill might be more expensive to shop this way, especially since low quality coupon foods, frozen franken-dinners, and corn dogs of all shapes and sizes will not make it into this man’s shopping cart… but I think it is better for him to pay on the front end and enjoy the pleasant feeling of a body sustained with real foods, than to see me and all my doctoring friends, with a host of medical problems born of the modern grocery store.

Back in the day we had a tribe to show us how to pick edible mushrooms in the forest, and how to catch fish. Now we have logos and boxes featuring cartoon characters. Most of us have little time or interest in learning about nutrition, and conflicting rules about how to eat healthy.

So these were three simple rules I tried to pass off as good advice, in between my own pressured, manic bites of home-cooked leftovers as my lunch for the day… perhaps better and certainly faster than the local Mc-trough.

Missy Woodruff

Tinybeans Voices Contributor

I'm Missy, a mother of three and a middle school drama teacher at a private school. I'm obsessed with my Vizsla (dog), traveling, and the musical Hamilton. I also enjoy writing and sharing fun parenting stories, which is what brought me here.

Target Introduces Good & Gather––A New Grocery Label That Will Change How You Shop

by Shahrzad WarkentinAugust 22, 2019

Making healthy choices on a budget and when you’re strapped for time isn’t always easy, but Target wants to help families do exactly that with a new grocery brand, Good & Gather.

The new line will feature 650 products from meal-prep packs to dairy and produce, all without artificial flavors, synthetic colors, artificial sweeteners and high fructose corn syrup. The idea behind it all is to make it easier for families to eat healthy.

Offerings will include items like an avocado toast salad kit, beet hummus and heat-and-serve roasted poblano mac and cheese.

“Our guests are incredibly busy and want great-tasting food they can feel good about feeding their families,” says Stephanie Lundquist, executive vice president, Food & Beverage, Target. “We saw this as a huge opportunity for Target to help. So our team got to work on our most ambitious food undertaking yet, reimagining our owned food brands to serve up convenient, affordable options that do not cut corners on quality or taste. Good & Gather is our way of helping even the most time-strapped families discover the everyday joy of food.”

As Good & Gather rolls out on store shelves and becomes the “flagship” brand, Target will be phasing out other brands including Archer Farms and Simply Balanced, as well as stream-lining the Market Pantry line. Good & Gather will launch in phases with items hitting stores beginning Sep. 15 and continuing to launch through late next year.

—Shahrzad Warkentin

All photos: Courtesy of Target

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Favorite After-School Activities at Home

by Tinybeans TeamSeptember 18, 2016

This post is shared from one of our favorite moms, Heather Reese, from Its A Lovely Life. You can read it on her blog here.

It’s back to school time!

Summer flew by and I have school and after school fun on my mind. After the girls are done with their school work, it feels like the day is just starting to me. That can be a really good thing and also an exhausting thought all at once.

Right now, more than half of our after school time during the week is spent driving to and from different activities, and on the other days, we try to keep things fun and mellow at home.

My thinking is that the days spent at home after school are just as important as the days we are rushing between activities… maybe even more, so I make sure to make that time count.

One thing I’ve learned when I make these plans for the kids is to go easy on the actual planning. My goal is to keep them moving after sitting during the day doing school work. Beyond that, I keep the activities loose. I present a handful of things for them to do, and then I let them pick and choose which things to do.

I used to keep notecards with ideas, but these days I just rattle off ideas based on the weather. Being in Southern California, we can get away with outdoor activities for almost the whole year, give or take any rainy days. However, even sprinkles for us means moving everything back indoors. For the most part, we really are weather wimps!

One of our current favorite after-school activities is hiking in our grove. We are so in love with our property and all the exploring we can do on it. We have some hiking trails down our hill that are perfect for imaginative play and looking for wildlife. With a plethora of squirrels, bunnies, roadrunners, snakes, coyotes, raccoons, and more… there is always something to see or at least animal tracks to hunt down.

We also love to grow our own food. I’m not talking enough to feed us completely, more like a hobby garden, but we try to grow something year round. Right now we have a good size grape harvest happening and soon our pumpkin plants will be ready to pick. In the winter, it is lettuce time. I love that there are little indoor greenhouses that can help those with colder climates grow year round too! There is something so satisfying and relaxing about tending to a garden and I love that my girls can benefit from the time they spend with their gardens after school.

Speaking of snacks, food played a big part in the energy level I had as a kid after school and it still does for my own kids. A great after-school snack to keep my kids fueled up are Jif® Power Ups™ chewy granola bars and Jif® Power Ups™ creamy clusters!

Both delicious products have absolutely no corn syrup, and 5g of protein, 2g of fiber, good fats and most importantly, peanuts are #1 ingredient. WE LOVE PEANUTS so I know my girls will be asking for these at the end of every school day!

Finally, I can’t forget the old school after school activities.

The girls love biking, riding their scooters, playing on the swing set, swimming and tossing a ball around too. Sometimes less is more, especially when it comes to after-school time. I remember my favorite thing to do was to just hang out with the neighborhood kids. I want that kind of fun for my kids too. We would grab a snack right after school and then have no idea what we were going to do for the afternoon, yet we always ended up back home for dinner totally exhausted from all the activities. I remember one time we even tried to dig a moat that connected all the neighboring homes.

Whether we’re driving the girls around to their different after-school activities, staying at home exploring our own backyard, or heading out for a bike ride, it seems like we are always on the go! It’s easy to forget that these after school hours are memory makers just like summertime and vacation can be. What’s your favorite way to make memories after the school day is done?

Heather Delaney Reese is a Lifestyle and Family Travel Writer currently on the road with her family 150 days a year, sharing exceptional family memory making moments and life’s everyday fun times. Read more of Heather’s stories at Itsalovelylife.com.

From witches brew to fairy potions, grab those wands and pick one of these magic potions for Halloween that you can make at home

Fizzy Fairy Potion

Magic Pumpkin Potion

Love Potion Lava Lamp

Mad Scientist Potion for Kids

Witches Brew

DIY Lava Lamp

Rainbow Potion

Glow-in-the-Dark Potion

Glittering Galaxies Potion

Have a Potion Party

Garden Soup

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