Food & Recipes – Joyful Messes

Clean Eating

Meal Planning Made Simple and Bonus Printable

Do you love the idea of meal planning but find it overwhelming? Look no further! In this post, I offer a handful of tried-and-true tips to simplify your meal planning. What is meal planning? First, it’s important to understand that meal planning has a broad definition. It looks different for everyone, and that is exactly the point. Meal planning is a method of preparing food for you and your family that simplifies the process, alleviates stress and worry about what to make for dinner, and even keeps you on budget. Meal planning can be applied to any preferred method of cooking including the crockpot, Instapot, or lunches only. Why are you meal planning? Once you understand what meal planning is and what that may look like for you and your family, decide your purpose for it. Is it to save money? Eat healthier? Save time? Being able to identify your…

Breastfeeding

Tasty Lactation Shakes You Can’t Resist

Let’s picture a perfect world where you can snap your fingers and have someone bring you a tasty lactation shake to help you build your milk supply and nourish your body whenever you need one. As incredibly nice as that would be, the reality is we all need to be our own advocates for creating a fabulous diet of healthy eats, drinks, and tasty treats. If you are handy with a blender and can handle choosing a few fruits, liquid of choice, and some other helpful ingredients to taste, you are well on your way to making your tummy super happy while improving your daily milk production supply. Find the 8 BEST lactation protein shakes for pumping up your milk supply while losing the baby weight here! The Magic is in the Right Ingredients Here are some highly nutritious ingredients to use in creating your own delicious and healthy lactation…

Clean Eating

How to Use Your Instant Pot to Help With Weight Loss

With the fattening holiday season just over, I’m sure a lot of you are wondering how to shed those extra pounds. Well, your personal kitchen assistant, a.k.a. Instant Pot, is the best way to help you lose weight and stay slimmer. Besides being healthier, the food also retains most nutrients and flavor – so is more flavorful. You could even experience the happiness of seeing your kids eat their veggies without a moan! So, let’s get started on how you can use the Instant Pot to help you lose weight. How the Instant Pot Helps The instant pot saves you time, energy, and nutrients. Even the medium to tough cuts of beef can be ready to eat in hardly any time. For example, check out this Instant Pot London Broil recipe from Corrie Cooks. Made from the top round cut, the cooking time is just 20 minutes. That’s less than…

DIY

Christmas Cookie Roundup – Festive & Fun Christmas Cookies

These fun and festive Christmas cookies are a delicious way to get everyone in the holiday spirit this year. These cookies are cute, easy to make, and super tasty. These holiday cookies are also a fun way to get the kids and the family involved with holiday baking. As everyone gathers in the kitchen to create and decorate their favorite Christmas cookies, just think of how many memories will be made! These cute Christmas cookies are perfect for holiday parties, family gatherings, or just to enjoy as a sweet treat throughout the day during the holidays and festivities. Don’t forget to leave some out for Santa! 1. Christmas Wreath Cookies These Christmas wreath cookies are shaped and decorated like a beautiful red and green Christmas wreath. 2. Sour Cream Sugar Cookies Simple and delicious, these easy to make sugar cookies are cut out into holiday shapes and decorated with a…

Breastfeeding Diet Plan

Breastfeeding Soups For Healing, Milk Supply + Weight Loss

Soup season is here, and soups are an amazing meal for breastfeeding mamas because they offer a lot of nutrients. Soup is also so simple to make and throw together, as well as being cozy and comforting on those long, tired days with a newborn. I had all my babies in the fall or winter, and lived in the Seattle area during that time. I LOVED soups in the fall and winter because of the comforting, delicious meal that makes the whole house smell good. I also eat most of my soups out of a mug, so it was an easy, one-handed option while breastfeeding. If you make your soup with bone broth, the healing benefits after birth are AMAZING! I equate my quick weight loss while breastfeeding to the protein shakes I drank and all the soup I drank! I LOVE both, and both are amazing for nourishing postpartum…

Food & Recipes

Nutritious Spins Of Foods Both Kids + Moms Love

This post is sponsored by BabbleBoxx.com on behalf of Conagra Brands#ad #goodeats Staying healthy can be more difficult as the fall and winter approach, and all the cravings for the best comfort foods start hitting us. Pumpkin spice is already here before September! It is also a busy time of year with school, drop offs and pick ups, after school activities and home work. I am new to the school schedule, after homeschooling, and I thought with the kids gone a few hours I would be in HEAVEN! But, there is a lot to do, with a less time after school. We are still struggling with getting our reading and writing practice in, as well as some computer work, so quick and nutritious dinner or meal options for myself and the kids are a lifesavers! Frozen food options have come a LONG way from TV dinners. I am personally a…

Food & Recipes

Why This High-Protein Pizza Is My Go-To Lunch Staple For Picky Eaters

This post is sponsored by Sweet Earth, but all opinions and thoughts are my own! #ad #SweetEarth #ConsciousbyChoice Back-to-school season is officially here in Florida, which being a Pacific Northwestern, it seems a little crazy to be starting school the beginning of August. This means I have to wake up early, pack food and get everyone dressed in one, quick swoop. In order to accomplish this with all three of my boys, I HAVE to have lunches and snacks packed the night before. My children are also not big eaters and very picky. This makes packing a lunch they will actually eat very challenging. I made the mistake of packing two cookies for dessert, and of course he ATE NOTHING but the cookies. That was a fail on the first day, so I needed to get smarter. My first-grader also won’t eat a tuna or turkey sandwich because it gets…

Breastfeeding

The Best Protein Powder For Breastfeeding Moms

I’ve been discussing protein powder for breastfeeding mamas for years now. I’ve gotten a chance to review many different protein powders over the years, but I always felt like breastfeeding mamas were missing out on what we need: a protein powder that increases milk supply, helps with sugar cravings, nourishes our bodies, and ultimately aids in weight loss. Of course I have a 10% off code for you: LACTATION So, I set out to create, Milk Dust, the best protein powder for breastfeeding mamas. I’ve been advising new, breastfeeding mommies on weight loss while breastfeeding for years, including offering a full program, diet and app that new mommies can use to help them eat the right breastfeeding diet, heal their core and pelvic floor, and get to their pre-baby weight again. In those years, the same struggles were repeated to me by many mamas. The sugar cravings, appetite, and lack…

Food & Recipes

Creating a Kid-Friendly Hot Dog Bar This Summer

This post is sponsored by Tyson Foods, Inc. All comments and opinions are my own. Summer grilling is just around the corner and my kids LOVE hot dogs. We grill outside frequently living in South Florida, and I often set up little bars or tables of snacks and hot dogs that the kids can reach, grab and assemble on their own! I prefer to have a kids table set up because it allows me to keep the kids entertained and fed without a lot of effort on my end. If I don’t have to get plates and drinks for all of the kids and monitor their eating, then I can socialize and enjoy the evening much more! One of my biggest mom tips is shopping at Sam’s Club! It’s a great place to stock up for your family. Since we entertain a lot in the summer, I like going at…

Breastfeeding

How To Lose The Baby Weight Naturally, Without Working Out

After you have a baby, you may think that breastfeeding will cause the baby weight to just fall off naturally. You can eat what you need, and before you know it, you are back to your pre-baby weight with no major effort. Actually, losing the baby weight while breastfeeding can happen naturally, with no workout plans or fitness regimens. I know exactly how to lose weight while breastfeeding, without working out because that is exactly how I lost the baby weight fast after my first two pregnancies. Here’s a quick run down of my experience, what I’ve learned, what didn’t work, and how you can do it too! Eat as CLEAN as possible for every snack and meal (more on what this looks like below) Use protein shakes for fast nutrition Walk as much as possible Don’t eat unless you are hungry (intermittent fasting can work really well!) Use milk…