Tips to Master Back-to-School Meals with Melissa Stadler of Modern Honey
Tips to Master Back-to-School Meals with Melissa Stadler of Modern Honey
Getting back into a routine after a leisurely summer can be hard – especially when it comes to making healthy meals and snacks for kids. For our September Pasta Spotlight, busy mom and blogger behind Modern Honey, Melissa Stadler, shared her tips for a healthy back to school season that you can use all year long:
- Prepare ahead of time – I am a busy mom of four kids and between homework and carpools, there isn’t a lot of time where I am sitting in kitchen wondering what to do with my time. I found that preparing ahead of time was key. For our family, we have found that one of the easiest and fastest meals is pasta. I also have a huge stash of all types of pasta in my pantry at all times. Sometimes my kids feel like spaghetti and other times they want something fun and interesting like bowtie pasta. Pasta is so versatile and it cooks up in about 10 minutes which makes it a quick and easy meal. You can make a homemade pasta sauce using canned tomatoes, onions, garlic and spices from your pantry. It is our go-to meal in our house since my kids are always happy with pasta and it gives them the energy they need.
- Keep Healthy Snacks on Hand – I always have bins and bins of snacks on hand. I will usually put out fresh fruits and we always have apples, oranges and bananas available for my kids. Right now, we have a 25 lb. box of fresh nectarines so I love to put some string cheese and a nectarine together as a snack. Hummus is another great snack paired with baby carrots and cucumbers. I love to make fresh fruit smoothies and sneak in some spinach as well. My kids go crazy for a large bowl of pasta salad with all kind of veggies in it as well.
- Make Pasta Part of Your Meals – My kids love all kinds of pasta but their favorite has to be an angel hair pasta with a homemade tomato cream sauce, called Lover’s Pasta, or a new recipe that I just put on Modern Honey called Cheesy Baked Rigatoni.
Looking for even more tips to master the back-to-school rush? Read through all of Pasta Fit’s Back-to-School tips here. For more lunch ideas check out our lunch recipes too!
About Melissa Stadler:
My name is Melissa Stadler. I am a wife of 20+ years and a Mom of 4 kids. We live in sunny Arizona and love it. I have loved to cook and bake since I was a little girl since I grew up in a house with 5 brothers. I started competing in cooking contests and landed in the Pillsbury Bake-Off twice to compete for a million dollars. I also won a Cooking Channel contest for the most perfect cookie and filmed a segment in the Food Network Studios in New York City. I won another contest last year for the best bake sale item and landed on the cover of Food Network Magazine. I have traveled all over the country competing in recipe contests. I started my food blog, Modern Honey, about 20 months ago and it has been one of the most rewarding and challenging projects I have ever embarked on. If I had my dream, I would be baking and cooking all day long and sharing it with my friends and family.