I love cooking, but these days especially I’ve been hampered by lack of time and inspiration. So when local “meal kit” service Just Add Cooking asked whether I’d like to test their service for editorial consideration, I was -- to say the least -- enthusiastic! And I've been really happy with the service for a number of reasons -- so much so that I booked and enjoyed another delivery last week! Allow me to enumerate the reasons (12 of them).

Quick note to start: roughly speaking, Just Add Cooking serves the 495 belt inwards; pop your zip code into their service area finder to check if they deliver to your town! Now, on to why I think you should give it a try -- and if you'd like, use code REFGVJE to get $20 off your first order.

1. Pricing. The price is very competitive with -- and in some cases less expensive than -- other meal kit services. Pricing for 3 meals for a family of 4 = $109 (4 meals = $129, 5 meals = $139). You can also opt for 2 servings per meal.

2. Flexible commitment. I will admit, I'm a commitment phobe about some things. I don’t like getting locked in to contracts! I like that you can opt in or out of meals each week. You need to decide and select meals by Wednesday to get the Sunday delivery; if you don’t want service that week, just select to skip.

3. Ordering. The layout of the site makes it easy to look at recipes, see how much time each meal requires for prep, make selections, or skip a week altogether. Yay for easy web interface!

4. Shipment arrival. Just Add Cooking texts you when your package has been dropped; which was handy when we got our first shipment since we were home but just cruising around in our jammies. Who knows when we otherwise would have stepped outside!

5. Packaging. Meal kits include pre-measured ingredients. The shopping and measurement has been done for you; all you need to do (in some cases) is chop and cook.

6. Local love. I love that Just Add Cooking sources local! For example, our shipments have included salmon from Captain Marden’s, Greek yogurt from Green Mountain Creamery in VT, bread from Nashoba Brook Bakery in Concord, cream from Mapleline Farms in Hadley, MA, and steak from Creekstone Farms.

7. Clear instructions. Recipe instructions are clear and in your welcome letter, they provide a recommended cooking order for your dishes.

8. Taste. Overall, the dishes have been tasty! The salmon toast with horseradish and slaw was excellent and easy and the chicken gruyere was delicious and decidedly fancy feeling. The beef stir fry was more of a B+ in my book, but that may be because I’m used to stronger Asian flavors (being Asian and all…). This week we enjoyed the tarragon crusted salmon and Shepard's pie and I'll make the last meal this evening when I return from D.C.

9. Leftovers. All of our meals have rendered leftovers. Thumbs up for leftovers!

10. Rut busting capacity. It has been SO AWESOME to bust out of our food rut with this service. Not only in the immediate sense, of having the meal prepped for us, but also in the longer term sense of being reminded to use different ingredients and preparation methods.

11. Engages little helpers. I’ll have to see if this effect lasts, but there is something about the neatly packaged box with all of the adorably packaged items that makes Violet want to help prepare meals. Longtime readers know that I’m a huge fan of getting kids in the kitchen!

12. More time for fun. One clear benefit of paying for a meal kit service is that it frees up TIME. So precious, right? I love spending less time attempting to meal plan and shop and more time playing with my family.

I think my only critical recommendation would be to select your meals with balance in mind. So, for example, the first week, 2 of our 3 meals came with cabbage as a side. Cabbage and potatoes seem to be a common side (makes sense, given that they are sturdy vegetables) but we tend to want more green vegetables so I need to keep an eye out for that.

In short, this is an awesome solution! We’re thinking we’ll use it 1-2 times a month, depending on our schedules and bandwidth (or lack thereof!). If you’re interested in trying Just Add Cooking and want to get $20 off your first order, you can use my referral code REFGVJE when you sign up. Happy cooking!

Disclosure: Just Add Cooking provided me with 3 complimentary meals to try out; all opinions expressed here are, of course, my own. And I loved the service so much I laid down my credit card and ordered a box last week and can't wait to order another!

Image credits: logo by Just Add Cooking; photos by Christine Koh

Money is a source of stress for so many people; not just how to earn it, but what to do with it. And the topic becomes more complex when you have kids and need to budget for their needs and teach them about money. I'm subsequently thrilled to welcome Sandra Gilpatrick as a new contributor! Sandra not only is a Beacon Hill expert and devoted mom; she also works to help women become financially confident and competent. SO AWESOME. Welcome to Sandra's first financial literacy post on teaching kids how to budget:

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From Sandra:

My inspiration to write a series on financial literacy came to me when I realized my son was the only 4-year-old I knew who was already saving for a house. I did the obligatory Google search and had a difficult time finding any articles written by financial advisors who were mothers themselves, writing about actual lessons they were teaching their children. Through my work as a financial planning professional, I’m passionate about helping women find their confidence with finances; through this new series on Boston Mamas I’ll share doable tips on how to become -- and teach your kids to become -- financially savvy. Today I want to share 5 tips to teach kids to budget:

1. Make financial “fitness” a part of your regular routine. Having a basic handle on how much money comes in, knowing what is spent, and understanding your required debt payments is a basic financial exercise. Like most important parts of life, the first few steps always seem the most daunting. As you are reading this, you may be listing one or two reasons why this has caused hesitation. Here is a sample budget worksheet and a cash flow worksheet to help you get started. Becoming financially “fit” will help equip you with the skills to pass along to your kids.

2. Choose a budget threshold. Kids aren’t born with a sense of money and value; you’ll need to give them context. I chose $5 as the budget threshold to acclimate my son about value. For example, if he saw something for $10, he would think it was expensive given that $10 was twice his $5 threshold.

3. Teach financial value through chores. One simple way to teach kids about financial value is through chores. For example, my son wanted a $20 toy desperately, which was well over his $5 budget. He did extra chores around the house to earn the money. The most I gave him was $1 for a major effort; smaller tasks ranged from 5 to 25 cents. Eventually he saved up $20 and he still wanted the same toy. It can be easy as a parent to spend $10 here and $25 there at the whims of your pleading child. Before you realize it, you can cumulatively spend hundreds and be outside of your own budget.

4. Have your kid become a savvy consumer. When my son likes something in a store I have him read the price tag. He will know if it is within his budget or decide if it is something worth saving for. More than once, he has dealt with the disappointment of a newly purchased toy not living up to his expectations, or experiencing hopeless buyer’s remorse when the toy breaks instantly. Over time, he has learned to evaluate items and he often discusses their worth with me. Our conversations also have led to discussing -- and viewing documentary clips of -- toy factories in other parts of the world that permit deplorable work conditions. I gave him a lesson in labor economics! Not only is he used to working in a budget, but he is also becoming a savvy consumer.

5. Keep at it! Instilling sound financial habits early in children increases the likelihood that they will retain these habits into and throughout adulthood. Be consistent with the above, simple practices and you’ll be on your way. And don’t be hampered by feeling behind if finances have scared you; it’s never too late to get started!

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Are there specific financial topics you’d love to see Sandra address? Drop me a line at christine@bostonmamas.com to let me know!

To learn more about Sandra, visit SandraGilpatrick.com. Third party posts on this profile do not reflect the views of LPL Financial and have not been reviewed by LPL Financial as to accuracy or completeness. Securities offered through LPL Financial, Member FINRA/SIPC.

Image credit: piggy bank via FreeDigitalPhotos.net; large graphic by Christine Koh

I love pie. There's something so homey and happy about homemade pie and I always lobby to contribute pies for Thanksgiving potluck. However, pie is awesome all year round and tomorrow (January 23) is National Pie Day. I don't need a holiday to eat pie, but hey, I'll take the inspiration! Here are 10 pies to try, tomorrow or any day. I think my 2015 resolution will be to make all 10 of these pies by the year's end.

Click through the links below for full recipes, additional images, and further culinary inspiration from these amazing pie-loving bloggers!

1. Laurel recently introduced me to brownie pie (a true stroke of baking brilliance) and this brownie pie recipe looks similar in composition.

2. I adore coconut and this coconut cream pie looks simpler than a recipe I've used in the past. I can't wait to try it!

3. This French coconut pie (yes, I meant it when I said I adore coconut) looks like a macaroon in pie format. Sign. me. up.

4. Don't feel like firing up the oven? Try this no-bake peanut butter pie. Mmm...peanut butter.

5. S'mores. Great on a stick, even easier to eat as s’mores pie.

6. Got lactose issues? Not a problem with this chocolate tofu pie. I was surprised by how good it was...I was a little skeptical at first, despite being pro tofu!

7. This lemon meringue pie is a major favorite in our house; Laurel mastered it for Thanksgiving! The photo below is of her final product -- impressive, no?

8. Two words. Crack pie.

9. Enjoy two fruity servings with less guilt (that math totally works, right?) with this strawberry pie.

10. Quick and easy caramel pie. I think I'm going to surprise Laurel with this soon. She will FREAK OUT.

Image credits: all images via linked sources above

Last week I attended the Boston Auto Show via a partnership with Chevrolet and SheBuysCars and it was a truly fascinating experience. I’m by no means a car freak, but I do use a car daily and think about design and usability daily. I learned so much about design research and urban mobility (Chevrolet designer Wade Bryant had me hinged to his every thoughtful word!), and a Women in Automotive panel especially struck a chord with me.

During the panel, moderator Scotty Reiss asked Betsy Flegg (Chevrolet), Michell Lander (General Motors), and Tina Mahoney (Best Chevrolet in Hingham) about their best car shopping advice for women. As these ladies shared their advice, it struck me that their tips extended way beyond car shopping and into the domains of work, parenting, and relationships. Here were the key takeaways I thought you might find helpful.

1. Do your research. A car is a big investment (obviously) -- one worth researching! The panelists recommended using resources such as Consumer Reports, Edmunds.com, and SheBuysCars for comparative research. They also recommended Google’ing dealer reviews (brilliant...never thought of that!), crowdsourcing friends and family, and also asking complete strangers you see driving a car you're interested in (e.g., at a coffee shop, parking lot), given that they'll likely be candid since they have no relationship with you. Similarly, research is so key with many parenting/life choices, though I do advise against driving yourself crazy via the quest for the one perfect solution -- it usually doesn’t exist (totally speaking from experience here)!

2. Know what your needs are. As with many work and personal situations, it's important to outline and make explicit your needs/priorities when car shopping. I'm a big fan of writing down your priorities so you don't lose sight of them in the face of other incoming information and options. Tina Mahoney (who totally awesomely rose the ranks from cashier to sales manager at Best Chevrolet) made the smart recommendation of bringing key things you usually travel with (e.g., stroller, luggage) to make sure your car fits your needs. Super smart.

3. Take a test drive. Related to #2, it’s important to take a test drive to figure out if a vehicle is right for you, or whether there are options that may be right that weren’t even on your radar (here's where the needs/priority list comes in handy...a car dealer could help you learn about other options depending on your needs). It made me think how enormously helpful it was for me to “test drive” careers when I was in college via internships and mentoring programs; the processes of which helped me rule out law, child psychology, and politics! I’ve also heard -- particularly from women exploring new careers after leaving the workforce to raise kids -- how helpful it is to go into a new employment situation with a 3-6 month test drive period.

4. Be confident. Like many things in life, confidence goes a long way. If you're armed with the knowledge, experience, and reflection from tips #1, #2, and #3 above, you will be in a good position! However, if you're really nervous about a situation (car shopping or otherwise), I recommend practicing your opening line/asks out loud. Having a loose script -- so you're not fumbling for words -- helps a lot!

5. Know what your deal breaker is. I loved Michell Lander’s advice to know what your deal breaker is when shopping for a car. And I find this to be 150% relevant to work negotiations! In fact, whenever I'm negotiating a new client project I always explicitly map out the expectations, deliverables, and ideal compensation...and internally make note of my deal breaker line so I'm ready to negotiate if there is push back on my proposal.

It was so interesting to be on the floor at the auto show and to engage with the Chevrolet and SheBuysCars teams in depth. In addition to clearly putting a lot of thought and resources into their work, I love that Chevrolet also commits to social responsibility, and it's wonderful that SheBuysCars is working to help women gain the confidence and experience in a consumer domain that is often male dominated!

Image credits: Christine Koh

Disclosure: I attended the Boston Auto Show as a compensated ambassador of Chevrolet and SheBuysCars. All expressed opinions are, of course, my own.

It's apparently Bake Cookies Day. For real. Get on it! Now, about the title of this post. During the holidays, for me cookie perfection isn't about fanciness or uniformity; instead, I want to make cookies that: 1) are delicious; 2) are easy to make; 3) yield generous batches (i.e., work well for gifting); 4) can be made in small bite-sized portions (i.e., make for happy sampling); and 5) freeze well (so you or your recipients can save leftovers for a less cookie-saturated time). Here are 10 cookies that fit that definition of perfection for me.

Click through the links for recipes, additional photos, and lots more culinary inspiration from these fine bloggers!

1. These gingerbread chocolate chunk cookies are my new favorite. I'm actually going to start making them year round they are so awesome! We actually have a stash in our freezer right now and it's like a little gift every time I take out a cookie and enjoy it post-defrost.

2. These melt-in-your-mouth Italian wedding cookies are so pretty and snowball-like; perfect for holiday gifting.

3. I love peanut butter cookies. I especially love when it only takes 3 ingredients to make them.

4. I'm intrigued by these ricotta cookies, especially given that they make a big batch (perfect for gifting). I'm planning on making these this weekend; I know Laurel and Violet will love adding the sprinkles!

5. I love a classic sugar cookie and this recipe doesn't require chilling!

6. The flip side of #6 are these dark chocolate sugar cookies. I love how dramatic they are!

7. I always gravitate towards chocolate crinkle cookies at a holiday spread but for some reason have never made them. I'm changing that this year!

8. Reese's cookies = another cookie that I always dive for at the cookie plate. Can't wait to make a batch of these!

9. I love the unexpectedness of offering lemon sugar cookies at Christmas. So cheerful!

10. I also love these coconut lime snowball cookies, which I made last weekend for a cookie party. The butter cookie dough can be used as a base for countless other cookie options.

Image credits: all images via sourced links above

I love cookies. Truly love them. And from the reaction I received on Instagram and Facebook when I posted this picture, clearly y'all love cookies too. On Thursday I'll share more cookie inspiration, but first, here are two amazing cookies I brought to a cookie party on Sunday. They're classically holiday (in the buttery goodness sense) and worked well as small bites for the sampling party. Many people asked for the recipes/sources, so here they are:

1. CHEWY CHOCOLATE GINGERBREAD COOKIES

These chewy chocolate gingerbread cookies via Martha Stewart are simply perfect. There's fresh grated ginger in them but it's not overpowering and I love the marrying of flavors. My only deviation from the recipe is that I rolled the balls to 1-inch (smaller than in the recipe) so they would be bite sized.

2. COCONUT-LIME SNOWBALL COOKIES

This was my first time making these coconut-lime snowball cookies and they were AWESOME. This recipe comes from Baking Illustrated, with annotations below.

Cookie ingredients:

• 2.5 cups flour
• 3/4 cup superfine sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon grated lime zest
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, softed but still cool, cut into 16 pieces
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons cream cheese, room temperature

Glaze ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon cream cheese, room temperature
• 3 tablespoons lime juice
• 1.5 cups (6 oz) confectioners' sugar
• 1.5 cups sweetened shredded coconut, pulsed in food processor until finely chopped, about 15 1-second pulses

1. Mix flour, sugar, salt, and lime zest in an electric mixer to combine. With the mixer running on low, add butter, 1 piece at a time, until the mixture looks crumbly, about 1 minute longer. Add vanilla and cream cheese and mix on low until clumps begin to form.
2. Turn dough into a bowl and knead/press together until dough sticks together. Don't panic if there are some crumbly bits...just stick it all together. Split dough into two balls, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
3. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Roll dough into 1-inch balls. Place on parchment or Silpat lined cookie sheets about 1.5 inches apart and bake about 12 minutes, until bottom edges very lightly browned. Cool completely.
4. To make glaze, whisk cream cheese, lime juice, and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Dip cookie tops in glaze and scrape away excess then dip in coconut. Let stand until glaze dries, about 20 minutes.

In both cases, it works great to prep these cookies ahead of time. Our cookie party was after the Girls on the Run 5K so I knew I didn't have time to do everything in one day. I made both doughs and rolled out the balls on Saturday (the dough balls need to be refrigerated anyway so it works perfectly). I baked the cookies Sunday morning and then after we got back from the run, I did the final icing/coconut step for coconut-lime snowball cookies.

If you have any left, these cookies also freeze well!

Image credits: Christine Koh

I'm all about food delegation, especially around the holidays, and I'm always looking for new inspiration. I asked a few of my favorite food blogger friends to share their go-to (culinary freak out inducing) holiday recipes, whether they're bringing a dish for potluck, making something for an open house, or want to serve a family favorite at home. I also included a couple of personal favorites. Happy cooking!

1. I love spinache artichoke dip. I love stuffed mushrooms. These spinach and artichoke dip stuffed mushrooms are my new everything.

2. I am a huge fan of appetizer spreads, especially ones with items that are easy little bitefuls like these smoked salmon pinwheels.

3. I can totally see myself cozied up with this cheesy ham and hashbrown breakfast casserole on Christmas morning.

4. One of my favorite things about the holidays is being able to take your time at breakfast. I love making pancakes from scratch (it's not hard!) and these apple pancakes offer a lovely way to add fruit to the carbs.

5. I cannot count the number of times I've made this magic Mexican casserole; it's a hit every single time and amenable to your favorite substitutions.

6. Carrie is totally right: baked lasagna with bechamel sauce is a completely different -- and sublime -- beast.

7. I made this slow cooker vegetarian chili a few weeks ago for a last minute dinner party and it was a huge hit. I was attracted to the recipe because hey, crockpots are sexy, and also because of the unusual inclusion of black bean soup and baked beans. I also offered a bowl of cooked ground beef for those who wanted to add meat to their chili.

8. My dear friend Paige says that people regularly go bonkers over this potato gratin with rosemary crust. Sign me up.

9. This simply artichoke casserole looks divine on its own, as a side, or as part of an appetizer sread. YUM.

10. I've been consuming lots of sweet potato these days; I'm excited to give this sweet potato souffle a whirl!

11. These gorgeous pickled grapes (who knew?) would be awesome in an appetizer spread or would make for a fantastic food gift.

12. Though I love making pie crust from scratch, I am that person who usually just scrapes and eats the filling and leaves the crust behind. So I'm especially excited to try this crustless Swedish apple pie recipe.

Image credits: all images per linked sources above, with the exception of #8, per Paige Lewin.

One item on my minimalist holiday manifesto was about creating opportunities for together time projects. The girls and I had such an awesome time working on clutter-free kid-crafted gifts last weekend that I'm fired up for more this weekend! Following an earlier post on 10 easy DIY food gifts, I wanted to share 15 more easy DIY food gifts, spanning sweet to savory. Click through the links for recipes, more photos, and further creative inspiration!

1. All your gift recipient needs to know how to do is turn on their oven and they're on their way to fresh-out-of-the-oven cookies thanks to these adorable cookie dough gift packs.

2. I always feel more virtuous when I opt to snack on nuts (vs. truffles) during the holidays. Even if they are, uh, covered with sugar. I love that you only need four ingredients (one of them being water) to make these cinnamon sugar almonds.

3. I'm admittedly a little stunned by the (healthy) brilliance of this clementine wreath.

4. Bust out that sexy crockpot for this slow cooker apple butter. Oh how I love the "toss everything in the pot" gift prep!

5. Give the gift of an ice cream sundae pack. The site offers free printable tags but this would be equally adorable and appreciated without coordinated tags!

6. I love the idea of gifting savory with this marinated cheese and olives recipe.

7. These s'mores kits would be a huge hit with the kids. For inexpensive wrapping, package up in treat bags.

8. Homemade granola in cellophane bags will make for a happy holiday breakfast gift.

9. These cranberry pistachio energy bites offer a more healthy gift alternative.

10. Seriously: caramel dipped pears.

11. Another great caramel and pear alternative? This salted caramel pear butter.

12. I want to gift -- and consume -- copious amounts of this bacon salt. BACON SALT!

13. Save your loved ones some cafe bucks with this chai tea latte mix.

14. Roasted pumpkin seed brittle will be worth the extra teeth brushing.

15. A few years ago I shared about my obsession with this trifecta of appetizers. This trio of cheeseballs was AMAZING and the yield was larger than the recipe projected. I'm thinking it would be cute to make these as mini cheese balls to gift special, cheese loving friends.

Image credits: all images sourced via links above.

As I mentioned yesterday, this weekend we got into the holiday spirit by getting our tree and working on some holiday projects. And while I do like making things festive, I also want (and need!) it to be relatively quick and not break the bank! I still love and think about the post my friend Gabrielle Blair shared about creating instant holiday mojo via smell, sound, and light and wanted to share my favorite ideas for easy and affordable holiday decor today.

1. Evaluate (and rearrange) what you have. It's easy to fall into a pattern with how you decorate. And sometimes, all you need to do to freshen up decor is to rearrange your existing holiday decor items. For example, instead of decorating by category (e.g., Nutcrackers, birds), try grouping items by color.

2. Incorporate items from nature. Sometimes the best decor elements are right in your backyard. Send your kids foraging for fallen branches! Branches in a vase cost zero dollars and can look amazing.

3. Incorporate inexpensive grocery store items. Our backyard is tiny and rather bare (so, not much in the way of foraging opportunity per #2)) so over the weekend, I bought a bundle of greenery and berries at Whole Foods for $12 and arranged them in three vases of different heights (see image at bottom of post). Another awesome grocery-store idea? For a lightning fast, affordable centerpiece, toss clementines and pinecones in a bowl and DONE.

4. Keep to a simple color palette. Decorating is way easier -- and more harmonious -- when you limit the color palette. Other than the ornaments on the Christmas tree, I'm keeping things simple with green and white, nature-inspired. I haven't purchased holiday decor in ages, and over the weekend bought gorgeous white LED branches (both garland and standing branches) + white pierced candle holders (that I can use year round) from West Elm. They were on sale and look amazing.

5. Leverage the sense of smell. As Gabby shared, the sense of smell is powerful! In my Eat Seasonal feature on cranberries, I included this cranberry infused simmering stove top potpourri. Add these items to your grocery list (#2 above)!

Our home redesign included a built-in bookcase near the entryway to better define the space in our open concept first floor. I arranged greens and berries in vases, along with the LED standing branches and pierced vases. So easy and pretty!

Image credits: all images via linked sites above, with the exception of the final image by Christine Koh