Lunch Packing Tips
Meal Prep for Teenagers
Top Five Tips for Making Sandwiches More Fun
How to Pack Sandwiches ahead of time
Easy ways to Pack a Fun Lunch
Easy Pizza Lunch Ideas
Five Tips for easy school lunch packing
How to Make Lunch ahead of time
School Lunch Grocery List
Quick & Easy After-School Snack Ideas
More than 2 Dozen Gluten Free & Grain Free School Lunch Ideas

Realistic food for a busy family.

That’s what this website and blog are all about.

You’ve found the place for all of my fresh family meals, easy recipes, cooking tips, meal planning, school lunch packing, and loads more. I’m best known for my school lunches, but I’ve got lots more too. We are a busy family of six so simple + healthy meals are what I’m all about.

This isn’t your typical food site - this is more of a personal blog with a lot of helpful stuff mixed in.

Yes, I do have some recipes that I hope you’ll like. And I have shared thousands of packed lunches over the years. But you’ll also find a lot of useful tips for a busy family, meal planning tips, kitchen shortcuts and hacks, and thoughts about life and parenting in general.

If you want to try out some of my favorite things, I’ve got a custom Amazon shopping page where you can find all of my top recommendations.

Featured
Easy homemade enchilada sauce recipe from whatlisacooks.com
Easy Chicken Enchilada

A super easy method for tasty chicken enchilada that the whole family will love.

Mild Enchilada Sauce Recipe
Mild Enchilada Sauce Recipe

An easy mild enchilada sauce recipe that the whole family will love.

Pizza Rolls
Pizza Rolls

Recipe for easy homemade pizza rolls. A homemade spin on a kid food favorite that the whole family will love. Easy and fast to make.

Family Favorite scone recipe
Family Favorite scone recipe

Light and flakey fresh baked scones can’t be beat. This recipe is versatile and works with lots of flavor combinations.

One-Pot Macaroni and Cheese
One-Pot Macaroni and Cheese

Easy homemade mac and cheese recipe that cooks in one pot in 15 minutes from start to finish.

No drain pasta - One pot Pasta!
No drain pasta - One pot Pasta!

The quick and easy way to cook pasta - one pot, no draining, ready in about 10 minutes.

Pressure Cooker "Boiled" Eggs
Pressure Cooker "Boiled" Eggs

The easiest way to make boiled eggs is to not boil them at all.

Meatballs for the family
Meatballs for the family

My basic recipe for meatballs for your weeknight spaghetti and meatballs dinner.

Posole Rojo: a traditional recipe, and a shortcut
Posole Rojo: a traditional recipe, and a shortcut

Easy Posole Rojo Recipe. A shortcut recipe for a traditional posole rojo.

Dutch Baby (German Pancake)
Dutch Baby (German Pancake)

Dutch Baby / German Pancake Recipe

5 minute whole wheat drop biscuits
5 minute whole wheat drop biscuits

With simple ingredients and the use of a handy kitchen appliance, you can have fresh biscuits out of your oven in a half hour from start to finish - and in the oven in just 5 minutes from when you start. These are my current go-to when I am making a big pot of soup or stew and we want a little something to go with it.  They are absolutely perfect for soaking up gravy and broth, and they are amazing just piping hot with a little butter. They are also perfect for my couple of picky kids, because even if they don't eat the soup or stew that I'm serving for dinner, they are at least getting something made with whole grain and the protein of yogurt, milk, and egg. 

Homemade Honey Lemonade Recipe. And a Cocktail - Because You Earned It.
Homemade Honey Lemonade Recipe. And a Cocktail - Because You Earned It.

Easy recipe for homemade lemonade - fresh squeezed and sweetened with sugar. Plus a bonus recipe for an adult lemonade cocktail.

This website exists because of your support!

There are many ways you can help me continue to do the work I do. You can click through the pages on this site which allows me to earn ad revenue, you can buy my printables, shop my Amazon store where I earn affiliate income, or you can support me directly through Buy Me A Coffee.

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What you won’t find here is staged food or recipe photos.

I’ve got four kids. I don’t have time to make food just to take pictures of it. The food you see here is something I have cooked for my family, it’s the real deal. The school lunch pictures are all actual lunches I have packed for my kids. The recipes I post include pictures from actual meals we are eating.

I hope you spend some time browsing around the site. You can use the main navigation at the top to find your way around, or use these quick links to get you on your way, or keep scrolling for more content.