I've always loved coffee, but it took becoming a mother to truly appreciate the wonder that is take-out coffee. Yes, the coffee is more expensive than if I made it myself, but my daily latte is an indulgence I allow myself for a few minu…
We are so excited to welcome Stacie of One Hungry Mama to the Cool Mom Picks team! We've admired her common sense, approachable, clever posts about food and cooking for ages now. This is the first of her weekly niblets of food-related co…
If you're anything like me, your diet consists of the meal you've made for yourself and then all the leftovers you nibble off your kids' plates while you clean up the dishes. So if your New Year's resolution is to eat healthier and be a …
We're continuing our series on help for the biggest New Year's Resolutions with one that we're seeing a lot of from our readers this year: Cutting back on the booze. Whether you're trimming the budget , slimming down, or maybe even poppi…
If you are not familiar with HoneyBells, you are not familiar with the sweetest, most delectable, lipsmackingly awesome nectar of the gods. Or as my kids call it, good orange juice. (Silly kids.) Each year, my dad has sent us a shipment …
I have a hardcore crush on Nutella. Although I must admit, I think their ads that tell you to serve it to your kid as a breakfast food are a little hard to swallow--like my kids need more help eating waffles ? Even so, the combo of choco…
As much as I like to tap into my inner Martha Stewart during the holiday season, this year there just isn't enough time to crochet snowflake ornaments, whip up petit fours wrapped in fondant, and glue-gun wreaths made of pinecones and mi…
Okay, so we sometimes make fun of mugs as gifts around here. But only because when most people think of mug gifts, they think of some awful " world's greatest____ " thing in comic sans that was nabbed off the bargain shelf at the last mi…
Baby's first anything can be difficult to shop for and baby's first Hanukkah doubly so. So if you are looking for something different and special for the little bundle I suggest you check out Judaica pioneer Emily Rosenfeld. I have perso…
My kids are grazers; they'd sooner eat a whole bunch of little things than one giant sandwich. Bento systems have always been a smart option for us, as you can imagine. Now there's a smart new one courtesy of Skip*Hop, the little mom-run…
This is the time of year I start keeping some gourmet goodies in the pantry for unexpected holiday guests, or impromptu cocktail parties that spring from Wii tournaments on snowy Sundays. And ooh, I have a new favorite. I discovered a sa…
I was so glad to learn last year from all of you that I'm not alone in my obsession with Biscoff cookies. You know, the ones you secretly hoard from the plane. So when I heard that they've now got a spread that's made from the cookies, h…
I'm back in town from a delicious jaunt to the Rogue Valley in southern Oregon, and I've got all the dirt on one of my favorite holiday gift companies, Harry & David . (You know, the pear people. With all the catalogs?) So here's my conf…
What do you get when you combine a kindhearted elephant, some hard-working mice, and the Caldecott Medal-winning illustrator of Click Clack Moo? A sweet little treat that's fun to eat... I mean, read . The Little Bitty Bakery by Leslie M…
Forget the plastic--we've found a shiny little metal school bus that's ready to rock the five food groups-- and keep them separated, too. The Din Din Smart Stainless Steel Bus Platter is non-toxic, lead-free, and it's heavy-duty, too; we…
I'm sure most kids would agree--wouldn't life be more fun if you were sitting on an elephant? I'll go with yes. That's why we're going ape for this adorable Children's Menagerie table and chair set from our friends at Paloma's Nest . The…
I started a new job right about the time my little guys went back to preschool. The rush to get everyone where they need to be has made our mornings a little, uh, more hectic than we're used to. And while I do manage to give the kids a g…
I love pancakes. They are soft, sweet, and super fun. Oh, and my kids love them too. So I love that Jim Belosic has captured pancake pride so beautifully with a new book, all about pancakes, that could turn you into the favorite parent o…
My Foodzie tasting box arrived this month, as always, but this one was mayyyybe the best one ever. Thanks in part to some of the best cookies I've ever devoured. Salted Rosemary Shortbread may not sound like three words that go together,…
You know those great little squeezable fruit and veggie purees that are such perfect, healthy, on-the-go snacks for kids of all ages? Now imagine how much better they'd be if there weren't any garbage to throw away once the yummy stuff h…
In light of our recent peanut butter alternatives post, I've been really thinking about other ways to get protein into my kids at lunchtime, whether it's school mandated or not. They're hot-and-cold on hard-boiled eggs, but I'm wondering…
I really do consider myself lucky that my kids don't have a peanut allergy. And I consider myself more lucky that so far, kids in their classes haven't had any that would require banning it from the classroom. Still, I know we won't alwa…
As a long time fan of blogger and cookbook author Ree Drummond (and a contributor to her homeschooling blog), I've had the date marked on my calendar to catch her new Food Network show, The Pioneer Woman . So this past Saturday, my kids …
When I was a kid, we drank Purple Drink and Red Drink, and then we licked the walls and hung upside down from the ceiling fan gibbering like monkeys, because that stuff was 100% sugar. Nowadays, I feel like even 100% orange juice has eno…