This banana bread recipe is simple and has no dairy or refined sugar! I of course had to add a scoop of vanilla ice cream to mine when it came out of the oven given how hot the central Texas summer heat is right now, but the banana bread is delicious and moist without it as well. Ingredients: 3 ripe bananas 1 cup unsweetened no sugar added applesauce 1 cup maple syrup or honey 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon cinnamon 2 cups all purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking pow

Alright so we have already discussed a few ways that you can start to put money aside for your child’s education through a 529 plan and how your working aged children can start to put money aside for their retirement, but what about everyday saving? Although it is definitely fun to provide your kiddo with their first little piggy bank that they can proudly display in their bedroom, you want your child’s money to work for them as much as possible while they are young so that b

Although there is a lot of incredible free information available for parents online about investing and finance, I have been finding that these articles and social media reels are lacking several key fundamental basics. A parent that is new to investing may not know the difference between a mutual fund, a stock and an ETF, let alone how to pick which ones they should invest their child’s IRA savings in. In this post, I'll provide definitions of the most commonly used terminol

As an adult, thinking about saving for our eventual retirement is daunting, but necessary. We open 401K or other pension plans through our employers and contribute a percentage of our income to them each year in hopes that they will continue to grow for us until we need it later on in life. Many of us do not even open one of these accounts until we have reached adulthood; however, what most people do not know is that if your child has any kind of earned active income, you can

Saving for our children’s futures is an intimidating topic. The cost of everything continues to rise year after year and if you are like me, you are constantly thinking of ways to put away more dollars into savings or investments. Fortunately for many of us, we are blessed to have family members that are willing to help us on our financial journeys. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and other extended friends and family are often sending gifts for birthdays or Christmas t

Once I had my daughter, I quickly realized how challenging it would be for the foreseeable future to find free time for myself. At the end of my work day, I usually had time to go to the gym, cook a decent dinner and read a book or watch a TV show before going to bed. When I went back to work full-time at the end of my maternity leave, it was difficult to squeeze in time for myself. After a long work day, all I wanted to do was soak up the brief time I had with her before bed

For those of us that live in Central Texas, the peak summer months can be brutal. With temperatures in the afternoon reaching the 90's nearly every day in the summer, indoor play spaces are essential for ensuring your kids can run around and get their energy out before bed time. That's why we love Catch Air in North Austin! We recently visited Catch Air on a Saturday morning with our 1.5 year old and were pleasantly surprised with the variety of slides, games, and obstacle co

Do you pay for child care or other qualifying dependent care so that you (and your spouse, if married) can work or look for work? If so, then a flexible spending account for dependent care could be a great option for your family to use pre-tax dollars to pay for your child care expenses. Many employers will offer a flexible spending account benefit to employees as a way to deduct pre-tax dollars directly from your pay check that can be used for qualifying dependent care costs

What I love about this recipe is how easy and versatile it is! My daughter and husband devour these muffins for breakfast, snack time and dessert. Ingredients: 2 cups all purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 eggs 1 stick of butter 1/2 cup maple syrup or honey 1 cup greek yogurt Steps: Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the yogurt, vanilla extract, eggs, but

If you are a parent, saving for college is likely a hot topic amongst your family and friends. With the cost of higher education rising each year, many parents feel overwhelmed about the idea of having enough savings for their children to attend the university or trade school program of their choice. Let’s face it, this can be a really scary topic and cause anxiety for so many of us as we juggle full time jobs, raising our kids and covering the ever rising costs of our everyd

This recipe was taken from "Croatian Savoury Baking" by Andrea Pisac. This cookbook really has some amazing traditional Croatian recipes and I highly recommend it to anyone looking to dive into the world of balkan pastries, breads and snacks! https://croatiahonestly.com/products/savory-baking-cookbook Ingredients: 2 cups all purpose flour 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp black pepper 1/2 tsp red paprika powder 1/2 tsp baking powder 2/3 cups unsalted butter, cold, and cubed 2 egg yolks 1 cu