12 creative, unexpected ways to use extra mint from your garden this summer
If you've ever planted mint in a backyard garden, you know it can grow like crazy. Got a surplus of mint like me? Then you're probably wondering what to do with it all. I mean, there's only so many mint leaves you can add to a glass of iced tea, right? So, here are 15...
How to make our 4 favorite easy pasta salads: Italian, Mexican, Greek and Asian. Plus tons of add-ins to make it your own!
One of my favorite go-to recipes on a busy day when I really don't feel like cooking is a good pasta salad. I can easily whip up one of these easy pasta salad dressing recipes to suit for whatever we're serving, from Mexican to Asian flavors, and then add in whatever...
6 creative ways to use seasonal summer berries beyond just eating them out of the basket
It's berry season, and we're overloading on them, to say the least. Whether it's the great prices at Costco or the buckets you're getting at the strawberry picking farms, local farm stands, or greenmarkets, we've got some more berry recipe ideas if you want to go...
Weekly Meal Plan: 5 meals my family requested this week
The hardest part of meal planning right now is that I am doing A LOT of it. With no camps, no sports, and cancelled vacations, it feels like I am running a small Bed and Breakfast. And to be perfectly honest, it is easy to get burned out trying to plan meals that will...
10 easy backyard camping recipes, from breakfast to dessert, that give you a taste of the great outdoors in your own yard.
It's a bummer for those of us who love camping in the warmer months, but it looks like we'll need to be camping in our backyards this year and thus, making use of some backyard camping recipes to keep things fun. For a little background, National Parks are fully...
Frozen Margarita Pie! Strawberry Bourbon Shortcake! Indulge in these 12 boozy desserts for Father’s Day.
Raise a toast to all the great dads this Father's Day! And if you're close enough to be able to (safely!) clink glasses filled with his favorite libation, I'd like to suggest you also consider one of these 12 boozy desserts for Father's Day. They're all decadent,...
Weekly meal plan: 5 easy and delicious meals for the week ahead
Another weekend is here, which means it's the time we're starting thinking about what to feed our families next week. So as we do every Friday, we're sharing some delicious meals that will make your dinnertime easy and your family happy. Grab your pen and make your...
15 delicious Father’s Day food gifts supporting black-owned businesses
The team at Cool Mom Picks has always dedicated ourselves to amplifying small businesses of all kinds, and to showcase diversity in the brands, books, advice, and even recipes we feature. But we know that over the past few months, there's been two great changes we're...
Weekly Meal Plan: 6 amazing meals from Black food bloggers you should totally be following
Editor's Note: To say that this past week has been an especially hard one is an understatement -- particularly for our Black friends, family, neighbors, and readers. We have always done our best on this site to be inclusive in different ways: by amplifying diverse...
Weekly meal plan: 5 no-cook dinners for the week ahead. It doesn’t get easier than these.
It's time to think about planning dinners for next week, and if you're as tired of cooking (and meal planning) as I am, then I think you'll love this entirely no-cook weekly meal plan. No, this isn't transitioning you to a 100% raw diet. But we're looking for...
Necco Wafer fans rejoice! At least one thing is going your way this week.
At a time we're all looking for just tiny glimmers of joy and good news in our days, here comes some. At least if your'e a fan of Necco Wafers. It seems...Necco Wafers are back! For real. After two long years away. They're basically the same as you remember them from...
70+ of our favorite summer grilling recipes, from burgers to veggies to dessert
Why yes, it is time to start bookmarking all the best summer grilling recipes out there. And here we are to help! After two long months of cooking soooo many meals, I'm pretty excited that Memorial Day gives me an excuse to make more use out of that grill, and our...
Trending right now. As in this second.
Tips and Tricks we live for!
8 spectacular Halloween dinner theme ideas for a fun, safe night at home
With lots of families looking for trick-or-treating alternatives this year, one of Liz's suggestions was to host a fun Halloween themed dinner with the kids. Which, by the way, is a great idea for teens who may have outgrown trick-or-treating too, or a fun option...
DIY haunted gingerbread houses for Halloween: Our favorite tips to make yours extra fun
I've always wanted to make a DIY haunted gingerbread house for Halloween, and this seems like the year I finally do it. Let's be honest, Halloween isn't going to be the same this year. In lots of ways. And that kind of sucks. But on the other hand, sometimes the...
5 simple kitchen experiments for kids that count as homeschool science class. You already have the ingredients!
Lately, my homeschooled children been having fun with these simple kitchen experiments for kids that absolutely count as science class time. And as we get into our second month of school, I really need this in my back pocket! Honestly, some days, my kids complete...
6 snack tray ideas for kids to munch on independently all day. Say no to snack servitude!
Just as I was resigning myself to a lifetime of snack servitude for my son during at-home learning, I saw Kate post a gorgeous snack tray idea for kids on the @CoolMomEats Instagram feed that she spotted from Prashana Vidanapathirana. Is it possible? Would a little...
The best way to clean your kids’ lunch boxes in the age of Covid: It’s easier than you think.
In the past, we've written about how to clean our kids lunch boxes safely, say if a banana gets left in there over the weekend or a container of spaghetti somehow gets tossed back in without a lid. But this year, we have the fun (i.e. not at all fun) added layer of...
Recipes
8 spectacular Halloween dinner theme ideas for a fun, safe night at home
With lots of families looking for trick-or-treating alternatives this year, one of Liz's suggestions was to host a fun Halloween themed dinner with the kids. Which, by the way, is a great idea for teens who may have outgrown trick-or-treating too, or a fun option...
5 recipes for a week full of food hugs | Weekly Meal Plan 227
I believe that good food is like a warm hug from the inside out. And we can all use more hugs right now, since we are not all getting as many of the actual physical hugs. Leading up to Halloween and election day (VOTE VOTE VOTE) I have designed next week's meal...
Upgrading 6 kids’ menu favorites for the whole family. In case they’re missing their favorite restaurant.
So many of us miss eating out our favorite local restaurants these days, unless they've got heat lamps outside these days and a good social distancing table plan. As for our kids, well, they mostly miss eating out so they can make us spend good cash on the most...
DIY haunted gingerbread houses for Halloween: Our favorite tips to make yours extra fun
I've always wanted to make a DIY haunted gingerbread house for Halloween, and this seems like the year I finally do it. Let's be honest, Halloween isn't going to be the same this year. In lots of ways. And that kind of sucks. But on the other hand, sometimes the...
5 fall-inspired family dinners for the week ahead | Weekly Meal Plan 226
For next week, I am planning some of my family's favorite fall-inspired dinners that are easy to make, prep and clean up. Because Fall seems to be full of all kinds of busy even though we are doing all of the things from home. And honestly, fall cooking is my...
