The Naptime Chef

(Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Mirum Shopper but all opinions are my own. I am proud to work with Mirum shopper to bring attention to the Feeding American program.)

This month my kids are starting school. I took a little time off at the end of August to get my house together and prepared for the back-to-school routine and all that comes with it. That meant gathering school supplies, labeling lunch boxes and folders, shopping for bulk snacks, and buying the ingredients for many of our much-loved weeknight dinners I haven’t made since last spring. Getting everything organized is hectic, but I am grateful I can do it. I know how lucky we are that we can buy loaves of bread for lunches and offer a wide variety of snacks to my kids to choose from each day. Feeding my family without worry is a luxury and it is not something everyone can afford to do.

Today I am working with Ahold stores and Unilever to bring awareness to their Feeding America campaign. I am not including a “read more” jump in this post because I am not looking for clicks or “likes” or popularity points here. I want people to read and learn, to take a moment to think of the hungry in their own community – especially the children – and think about how they can help this fall.

This month Feeding America has partnered with Ahold Stores (Stop & Shop, Giant, Martin’s, and Giant Carlisle) and Unilever to help alleviate hunger in their communities. Making your own contribution is SO simple:

If you purchase $15 in Unilever products, you’ll save $5 on your purchase, and part of it will be donated to the Feeding America program. Each transaction provides 11 meals to people in need.

Here is a video that further illustrates how the program works. To help out even more, spread the word of this program by sharing this video using the hashtag #BuySaveFeed – each share is worth an additional donation.

It is not about donating money, or buying something you don’t want or need. It is simply about selecting some of your favorite Unilever products and letting them do the rest.

So, if you have the time this weekend I hope you’ll buy some Unilever products and help out this campaign. It will make such a huge difference in the lives of many. Together we can work to alleviate hunger in our communities and I am grateful that this partnership is taking place in mine.

Hi! I am gearing up for the start to the school year and will be of the blog until next week. There is so much to do with getting ready for school and getting the house back together after a wonderfully busy summer. I’m so grateful for all the fun I’ve had. To get you in the mood to get back to school and excited for freshly sharpened pencils and all that comes with it here are a few of my favorites for this time of year:

A great reminder for those of you looking for back-to-school meal ideas.

We had another great summer in Cooperstown. I hope you all will come visit next year!

This website is such an awesome resource!

I can’t help but get excited for apple and pumpkin season which is just around the corner…

I am dreaming and scheming about my upcoming birthday cake.

Forever and always, Tamra and Mike D make breakfast and lunch for their boys.

It’s the season of many, many fresh berries. While we endeavor to eat them all up before the get too soft, that doesn’t always happen. My solution? Bake. These one-bowl any berry muffins are the perfect treats to make with kids when you have that last handful of berries that you don’t want to freeze, but need to be eaten. You know they are so fresh that it would be a shame for them to go to waste!

Earlier this summer we took a lovely vacation to Boothbay Harbor, Maine. Though I went to college in Maine I never spent much time exploring the coast and I was so glad to finally have the chance. Boothbay is about one hour north of Portland and is in a world all its own. The town is quaint and laid back, and the lobster shacks are bountiful. Here are a few things we loved about our visit:

My mother made this amazing cucumber soup last week. It was perfect timing since we were in the midst of a terrible heatwave and only wanted light, cooling foods. She merged a few recipes to make her own and it was nothing short of delicious. I ate it as is for lunch, pouring it into a cup straight from the fridge. For dinner I paired it with some cheese and crackers to make it a little more substantial, but still very easy. Wherever you are I hope you aren’t too hot. And if you are, make this soup!

We are back from vacation and I have to share one of my favorite new summer pasta dishes right away. It is a riff on this one from The New York Times and tastes like a lemony summer dream. It is also perfect for right now when backyard zucchini production is peaking. There is suddenly no limit to the amount of fresh zucchini available and I try to incorporate into everything from savory to sweet. This dish comes together in a jiffy and will please the whole family.

I am on vacation this week and wanted to leave you with a few favorites of mine from around the web. These are things I’ve enjoyed recently and think you will, too. I’ll be back in early August with some fresh summer recipes and stories from our family trip. It is sure to be a good one!

In a French Kitchen is out in paperback this month. Hooray! I read it and On Rue Tatin this spring and adored them both. Highly recommend.

These gorgeous soaps are almost too pretty to use. I hope to buy a few bars when we are in Maine this year.

Yes way rosé! And this is still my favorite.

I have a stripes problem and Chance feeds my addiction.

The thought of adding oil to my skin used to give me the heebie-jeebies, but now I am addicted to this.

Everyone must watch this mini-series. Then follow it up with a binge watch of this television show.

Mimi’s 2017 workshops! It is on my bucket list to attend one. (I have to save my pennies!)

I did a little Amazon pre-ordering this week in preparation for all the amazing volumes coming out from my favorite authors this fall. I bought this, this, this, this, and this!

What a dream project! I keep thinking about our renovation and what we hope to do someday soon.