I'm Kristin. I'm here to help you simplify real food and natural living.

Because nourishing yourself and your family shouldn't be complicated. My Story

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sourdough banana bread muffins

Sourdough Banana Bread Muffins (with honey or maple syrup)

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Live Simply, The Podcast 059: How Two Moms Approach School Lunch (Routines, Ideas, & More)

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You all know that I’m a huge fan of keeping meal

You all know that I’m a huge fan of keeping meal planning simple by rotating favorite meals each week. During the summer, one of my go-to rotational meals is burgers. They’re easy to toss on the grill, don’t require any prep work, can be made in a variety of ways to keep things fun and interesting, and when made with real ingredients (real cheese, grass-fed beef, and some veg) they’re a super nourishing meal the whole family loves.

Homemade burgers can be as plain or as exciting as you want them to be. I’m all for a classic burger, but I also love to spice things up to keep our weekly burger meal fresh and exciting. (That’s the key to avoiding boredom when rotating the same meal ideas over and over again.)

With burgers, one of my favorite ways to spice things up is to add a bold, flavorful cheese to the ground beef, as well as on top of the cooked burgers.

@Cypressgrovers Humboldt Fog Chipotle Cacao Remix is one of those bold flavorful cheeses that makes a burger come alive with fresh and exciting flavor. This cheese is a limited edition remix of Cypress Grove’s famous Humboldt Fog (available this summer). It’s spicy and smokey with chipotle peppers and a ribbon of cacao from Dick Taylor Chocolate.

Crumble a couple of slices of cheese (leaving the rind behind) with ground beef and add some sliced green onions. Once the cheese, green onions, and ground beef have been mixed, form the beef into patties, make an indent in the center of the patties with your thumb (a pro tip to help the burgers cook evenly and remain flat) and then grill the burgers for about 8 minutes total.

During the last couple of minutes, add a thin slice of Humboldt Fog Chipotle Cacao Remix (leave the rind on). Once melted, remove the burgers and serve on buns or lettuce with all the toppings (tomato, kimchi, pickles, onions--whatever you love). At this point, you can also easily remove the cheese rind if desired (though it does add a nice texture contrast!).

#sponsored ##ChipotleCacaoRemix #HumboldtFog #cypressgrove

5 days until the Simplified School Lunch program/c

5 days until the Simplified School Lunch program/community reopens! So naturally I had to pull this gem of a blooper reel out of the archives. I promise, you’ll learn a ton: how to meal plan, prepare and store food in advance, reduce the amount of time you spend in the kitchen, eliminate meal and lunch decision fatigue, find healthy store-bought food (because we can’t do it all or make it all), and simplify how you approach healthy lunches (and all meals this school year). But the making of this program wasn’t without its silliness 🤪. Toby is our dog who kept needing to go outside while filming. We had to turn off the ac while recording which meant the house was mega HOT (recorded in summer and the Florida heat). And the nose situation...no words 🤣.

Next week, we’re going to start getting ready fo

August is on the horizon and I’ve honestly never

August is on the horizon and I’ve honestly never been more excited about this month. This isn’t how I usually feel about August, the month that ends summer vacation for the kids, but after months of lacking any sort of routine and normalcy, I’m excited to get back into some sort of consistent schedule. I know this routine and schedule may look different over the next few months, especially as many of us navigate what the school year will look like, but one thing is for sure: school (whether this is homeschool or virtual school or a classroom setting) requires routines and consistency with a schedule. <<—something I’ve struggled with over the past few months and crave right now. One of the routines that works for us, particularly during the school year, is food prep. Prepping just a few foods for the week to come gives us options for breakfast and lunch and means we spend less time in the kitchen throughout the week. If you’ve been around here for a while, you know that I promote simplicity—so this means approaching food prep in a simplified way. For me, this means focusing on food components (versus meal prep) that can be mixed and matched to build meals (shredded whole chicken, cut veg, hardboiled eggs, muffins, etc). One of my favorite foods to prep is muffins. They’re quick and easy to make (pictured here is the sourdough banana bread muffin recipe on the blog) and can be paired with many different breakfast options to keep things “spicy” throughout the week (eggs, smoothies, yogurt and fruit...) and they also work as a snack and in the lunchbox. And they freeze wonderfully so I can “cook once, eat multiple times.” Anyway, I’m not sure if this post is about muffins or routines or August or back to school, but nonetheless, I think you get it 😘.

Do you make homemade popsicles? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

A cheeseboard is my summer love language. And I’

A cheeseboard is my summer love language. And I’m convinced it should be yours, too. Here’s why...

1. A cheeseboard offers a much needed break from cooking. Right now, after spending the last few months cooking EVERY single meal at home, I’ll take all the cooking breaks I can get. A cheeseboard is just that: a break from cooking but without compromising a satisfying and nourishing meal.  
2. Everyone is happy. There’s always something to enjoy on a cheeseboard, even for the pickiest eater. This serving style encourages exploration in children (and adults) because they’re in charge of what they choose and the beautiful presentation scores some mega points. Remember, we eat with our eyes first! 
3. The kids can totally take charge of this. With the kids home right now, encourage them to help in the kitchen. Ask them to wash summer fruit for the platter, assemble the platter, and even pick out some veg at the market for a weekly cheeseboard dinner (or lunch or snack).  
With a wedge or disk of cheese and a few random pantry and/or fridge items, a quick and nourishing meal or snack can be assembled in just minutes.

Of course the star of the show is the cheese. A favorite in our home is the plain and simple Ms. Natural goat cheese from @cypressgrovers. A cheese that’s tangy and tart and crafted from the highest quality goat’s milk. It’s a versatile cheese as it pairs well with many different summer flavors, from fresh herbs to summer berries.

We love to spread Ms. Natural on crackers or toasted baguette and enjoy as-is or top with summer berries mixed with fresh mint. Easy and simple.

What’s your favorite way to make a summer cheeseboard?

#CypressGrove #MsNatural #sponsored #cheeseboardsfordinner

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