We received a complimentary meal to facilitate this review.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The new year is upon us, and like so many we are trying to make some changes to our eating habits.  In my family of five, we have two meat-eaters and three vegetarians.  You’d think that having vegetarian kids might mean that they willingly eat healthy.  Vegetables are a struggle, and the list of foods that make the kid-approved list is terribly narrow.  Add in that the kids all inherited my sweet tooth, and there’s a lot of room for improvement.

Souplantation Winter Delite Menu

So part of our 2019 plan is focusing on presenting better options, both in nutritional value and also just varied offerings.   When we were invited to visit our local Souplantation to sample the Winter Delights menu, I jumped at the chance.

My kids love Souplantation, and visiting as we dived down the path towards better choices was so perfect.

Souplanation is a salad bar and buffet, filled with farm-fresh, made-from-scratch recipes, that’s perfect for families.  Matt and I made ourselves custom salads; the kids skipped traditional salads and instead filled their plates with assorted foods like broccoli florets, raisins, and rotini rainbow pasta.

Being able to select their own food, mainly the quantity on their plate, makes my picky eaters a little more brazen in their choices. Plus, Souplantation offers vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-friendly foods to suit our diverse dietary restrictions.

My kids tried some new foods and cheered that there were also some of their favorites available, too.  Hello, pizza, garlic bread, and mac and cheese.  My kids adore you.  Want to know what’s best about those traditional kid favs? The sizes!

As we try to do better, reminding the kids that having their favorites is okay.  Have the pizza, but make it a small slice.  Eat the muffins, but make them mini muffins.

Sweet Orange & Cranberry Muffin Recipe

We filled up without feeling bogged down at Souplantation thanks filling up our salad plates and sampling other yummy foods.  To keep the good food vibes we were enjoying going, I decided to make a Souplantation seasonal recipe at home.  These Sweet Orange & Cranberry muffins are a sweet way to celebrate the freshest flavors.  I opted to make mini muffins, just like at Souplantation.

Trying new flavors in sizes that make sense is part of the reason we adore Souplantation.  Nibbling on our yummy Sweet Orange & Cranberry Muffins at home  makes me so excited to go back to try more from the seasonal menu!

Save the recipe for later

Ready to sample the fresh flavors of Souplantation with your family?  Find your nearest location here. 

This post may contain affiliate links.  Please see my Disclosure Policy for more information.

We basically started watching Christmas movies when the kids were still wearing their Halloween costumes.  Thankfully the explosion of popularity in cheesy Christmas movies kept us entertained most of November.  When December hits, it’s time to pull out the classics and other family favorites.

Elf is hands-down my favorite Christmas movie.   Will Ferrell is genius as the adopted elf growing up in the North Pole who goes on a journey to find his birth father, who just so happens to be on Santa’s naughty list.  It’s filled with holiday spirit and so many quotable moments.

Best Elf Quotes

• Buddy the Elf, what’s your favorite color?
• You sit on a throne of lies.
• SON OF A NUTCRACKER!
• You smell like beef and cheese.
• Deb, you have such a pretty face.  You should be on a Christmas card.
• I like to whisper too.
• I’m in a store, and I’m singing!
• I’m a cotton-headed ninny-muggins.

Buddy’s got a thing for sweets, and when asked what he loves to eat for breakfast he shares another classic quote: We elves try to stick to the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns, and syrup.

Inspired by Buddy the Elf’s favorite breakfast meal, these cupcakes are the perfect treat to share for an Elf movie night.

Buddy the Elf Inspired Cupcakes

With the busy holiday season, it can be a huge time savings to use a cake mix as the base for your cupcakes.  These are made with French Vanilla cake mix, and then topped with some of Buddy the Elf’s favorite breakfast foods: “spaghetti”, M&M’s, sprinkles, and marshmallows.

It’s not advised that you actually eat these for breakfast, but who am I to judge?

Any Elf fan will adore these sugar-filled treats.  We think they’re prefect for a family movie night or holiday Christmas party!

Looking for more Elf party ideas?

Want to make an Elf-themed movie night even more fun?

Try these Elf-inspired activities

• Make paper snowflakes to transform every room into a winter wonderland.
• Spread Christmas cheer by singing loud for all to hear.
• Dodge taxis.  Watch out for the yellow ones; they don’t stop.
• Read holiday stories.
• Play telephone since everyone likes to whisper!
• Throw snowballs.  If you live in a warm climate, like I do, you can use cotton balls and throw them in buckets.

I adore Elf and all its holiday cheer.  Do you have a favorite Christmas movie?  Share it in the comments!

This post may contain affiliate links.  Please read my Disclosure Policy for more information.

Did I only children so I could share my love of all things Harry Potter with others? No, but it is such an amazing part of being a mom!  I tell my girls about waiting at midnight for books to be released and then calling in sick the next day because I had to stay home and read.  Thankfully, my girls have all fallen in love with the series so now it’s a full family affair.

For her birthday last year, we headed to Universal Studios Hollywood so that she could experience all of the magic of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  It totally lived up to the hype for us!  Every detail is so perfect.  And, they had butterbeer ice cream!

 

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A post shared by Melanie Walsh (@clementinecounty) on Jul 5, 2018 at 2:12pm PDT

It was so dreamy, especially on a hot SoCal day.  If you’re looking for more SoCal family fun, make sure to follow me on Instagram.

Maple Butterscotch Cookies

With completion of each book for my 9-year-old muggle, we try to make something special.  Like being a Potterhead is a secret club and after each book she’s further indoctrinated.  These Maple Butterbeer Cookies are a sweet way to celebrate any occasion.

Play a great game of Quidditch? Have a cookie!

Found your lost invisibility cloak? Have a cookie!

Harry Potter fans know that butterbeer is the beverage of choice for many-a wizard.  We have made a DIY version of the beverage using cream soda and vanilla ice cream, with butterscotch mixed in for good measure.  These cookies are a serious upgrade to that flavor with a few butter-rific flavors mixed in.

If you have used vanilla extract in your baking, the two extracts for this recipe are similar.  You’ll use butterscotch extract (similar to this) and butter extract (similar to this).  With maple syrup mixed into the batter and drizzled on top, it’s a seriously yummy way to transport your taste buds to Hogsmeade.

If you’re more subtle in your love for HP, these cookies would also make a great fall-themed treat.  Now all you have to do is say, “Accio Cookie!” and follow the recipe below.