Starr Ranch Growers x Litehouse Foods: 3 Time Saving Recess Snacks

Starr Ranch Growers x Litehouse Foods: 3 Time Saving Recess Snacks

by | Aug 31, 2020 | Harvest Home

This week we’re teaming up with Litehouse Foods on the yummiest time-saving recess snacks and let me tell you – there is no shortage of flavor in these! When we think of easy and simple, we think of fresh, whole ingredients and just a handful of steps (because who has time for more of that these days?!) No matter where you may be this semester, these will surely help sweeten up the week.

We created 3 different recipes that can double up as a daytime snack, breakfast, appetizer or sweet treat after dinner – all versatile and delicious enough even for the pickiest eaters!

If you’re anything like me, when it comes to snacking you may not have time to whip up something fancy, but don’t want to necessarily sacrifice flavor. I love a good parfait whether it’s for breakfast, or something a little sweeter for a mid-day pick-me-up – this Crunchy Caramel Apple Parfait is definitely for those with a sweet tooth (guilty!) If your little ones love snacking on apples and caramel dip – then they will LOVE this too. I love how creamy and decadent this Litehouse Foods Old Fashioned Caramel Dip is, and that you can use it in so many different applications. The mixture of this rich caramel with cool, creamy Greek Yogurt and crunchy Salted Caramel Granola and warm, sautéed Starr Ranch Growers apples is truly a dream team of ingredients and not to mention – easy.

Next, we whipped up this incredibly simple Maple Poached Pear Balsamic Salad with Gorgonzola Crumbles – honestly, need I say more? I personally love this salad for a quick lunch, dinner, or even appetizer dish to impress guests. It’s pretty to display, and has a scrumptious array of fall flavors between the creamy Litehouse Foods Gorgonzola Crumbles (I put these on everything), the crunchy toasted walnuts, sweet and tangy Starr Ranch Growers pears, and drizzle of Litehouse Balsamic Dressing and a hint of honey – DELISH. This is a fan favorite in my household and my go-to for those lazy days where I still want to feel good about what I put in my belly. If you’re a WFH parent, trust me when I say the littles at home will enjoy this recipe to help build an advanced palate of fun flavors – because who said lunchtime had to be basic?

My inner child may have come out when I made these Kids Dark Chocolate Caramel Apple Pops – these are essentially your everyday Caramel Apple but MUCH easier to eat (and portion controlled). These are great because they allow the kiddos to have fun and get creative with their toppings. Feel free to go beyond the toffee pieces and pecans and be BOLD. Next time, we’re adding coconut shreds or even crumbled short bread cookies – yum! Best part is, you can eat the leftover Litehouse Foods Caramel Dip Single Cups and sliced Starr Ranch Growers Granny Smith apples as you go..who’s in?

There you have it – a few of our favorite snacking options to sweeten up the school week. Whether you’re a parent with kids of your own and looking for EASY options on-the-go with just a handful of staple ingredients, want to help incorporate your little ones into your food prep routine, or a teacher or parent looking to simplify your own snacking routine – these are all for you!

For week 3 of our Back to School Sweepstakes, we’re giving entrants a chance to win their very own prize package equipped with some of these Litehouse Foods goodies, a box of fresh Starr Ranch Growers apples AND a Kids Amazon Kindle Fire to help make home or classroom learning that much easier. To enter to win, head over to our Instagram – winner will be announced 9/4 at 12 PST.

Good luck and enjoy!

Back to School Bento Boxes

Back to School Bento Boxes

by | Aug 24, 2020 | Harvest Home

It’s week two of our Back to School Sweepstakes and we’re excited to announce that culinary class is not cancelled – in fact, we have a few awesome lunch ideas that you and your kiddos will love. The best part about these bento boxes is that they can accommodate even the pickiest of eaters, and adults can enjoy them too by using them as meal prep containers for the week.

We put together two bento box ideas in our household – the Garden Box and the Power Box – both scrumptious in different ways, with macro-nutrients depending on you (or your child’s) needs. I love both, and they can certainly accommodate a ‘food mood’ depending on what you’re craving!

What I personally love most about bento boxes, is that they’re a great way to experiment with what your little ones may like – maybe they’re not eating much of the cherry tomatoes, and maybe they’re digging into the apples and PB – good intel for next time! I also love that these make for great on-the-go snacking and can be shared with friends or family no matter where you are, and whatever is left over can be simply saved for later (great for reducing food waste too!)

Being a big snacker myself, I like to prep a bento the night before and snack on different sections throughout the following work day when the busy day gets away from me! I always like a nutrient-packed piece of fruit like an apple with a sprinkle of cinnamon, and lately I have been loving our Starr Ranch Growers apples with the Litehouse Creamy Cheesecake Greek Yogurt dip – this almost feels like dessert minus the guilt! Following my favorite fruits, I typically like various nuts, granola, and a handful of seasonal veggies.

A few of our favorite bento box combos to try at home:

  1. Greek yogurt tzatziki, falafels, diced cucumber, cherry tomatoes
  2. PBJ, snap peas, apples, carrots
  3. Apples and cinnamon, granola, dark chocolate
  4. Sliced peaches, yogurt, pecans, pretzels
  5. Crackers, nut butter, mixed berries, salami slices
  6. Black beans, shredded cheese, lettuce, corn, shredded tortillas

Are you a fan of bento boxes? Do your kiddos love them too? To win your very own Pottery Barn Bento Boxes and a Kids Kindle Fire if you want to entertain the kiddos while you prep, head on over to our Instagram to enter to win! Winner will be announced 8/28 at 12PST on our Instagram stories. Good luck, and happy bento prepping!

Back to School: A+ in Self-Care!

Back to School: A+ in Self-Care!

by | Aug 17, 2020 | Harvest Home

It’s back to school season and gearing up for this semester may look and feel a little different for us all. Teachers are navigating new online education, parents are pivoting through this new protocol and familiarizing their kiddos, students and littles miss their friends and interacting with their teachers. And, for some, in-classroom learning may be continuing for now, with new guidelines that kids and their teachers are all exploring together.

We understand that no matter what the scope of back to school season looks like, that it’s new for us all, and now more than ever we’re here to comfort, inspire and bring brightness to households, everywhere. Because let’s face it, we could use a little bit of that!

Each week, we’ll be rolling out new Back to School with Starr Ranch Growers ‘School Subjects’ that parents, teachers and kids alike can get excited about! For our first week, we couldn’t help but think ‘A+ in Self Care’ would be fitting. Preparing for the school season can be stressful enough as you hop back into post-summer routines, and we feel that it’s important to take a moment now more than ever to unwind, soak in the final moments of summer, and give yourself some much deserved ‘TLC’.

That said, we’ve prepared the simplest, Soothing Spiced Apple Tea that can calm even the busiest of bees. With loose apple tea, cinnamon, sliced warm Starr Ranch Growers Granny Smith apples, and a splash of coconut milk – this tea is so easy and delicious, and you can enjoy it even with your littles, in the morning before you get your day started, or before bed to treat yourself and soothe. Over the next few weeks, we’re so excited to continue to share simple, time-saving recipes for the fall school season so you can continue to focus on self-care, family-time, and overall health.

A few of our favorite daily reminders for the busy back to school season:

  1. Slow down and be present: It’s so easy to get wrapped up in the day-to-day stresses, whether you’re patiently trying to share new technologies with your own kids, gear them back up for the classroom, or you’re a teacher yourself transforming your living quarters into a Zoom classroom, or even preparing for the return of in-class learning – all of these different scenarios are certainly stressful and new – try to slow down, don’t be hard on yourself, do your best and remember that you’re not alone!
  2. Eat well, feel well: Snacking on fresh, whole options will keep the brain fog at bay, and keep you alert, focused and energized for all the school-day festivities. We love snacking on fresh sliced Starr Ranch Apples with peanut butter, or simply chopped over a simple green salad.
  3. Stretch & Get Fresh Air: It’s easy to end up sitting inside all day, and whatever your circumstances could be – the kids may need to also let out a big burst of energy. Setting aside time for a walk, outside play time and activities will do wonders for keeping up your back to school stamina – and vitamin D will help keep spirits high!

How are you navigating this new back to school reality? Whether you’re a parent, teacher, our student of any age – we hear you, and understand even navigating these new challenges presented within our own families. Our goal and hope is to make the fall season a little bit lighter, brighter and sweet with new weekly recipes, back to school hacks and of course – giveaways! This week, we are featuring the Sweetest Self-Care Gift Box presented by Heart to Heart Gift Company.

Inside this special gift box you’ll find:

  • Rose Geranium Soap from Nicola Soaps
  • Granola from Happy Girl Granola
  • Sticker from Elyse Designs
  • Lemon S Cookies from CiCi’s Cookies 
  • Creme Brulee Flowering Tea from PinkyUp
  • Eye mask from Payne and Comfort

Heart to Heart Gift Company is a curated gift box company based in Salinas, CA. Debbie and Amanda are a mother-daughter team who are passionate about combining two things they love: gifting and supporting local & small business. Gifting has always been a passion of Debbie’s, which she passed down to her daughter, Amanda. No event, milestone, or holiday is too small to be celebrated. They are also passionate about their community and showcasing the beautiful work that is done by local makers on the Central Coast. From a dinner party, new job, or birthday – they believe gifting should come from the heart, from the ribbon on top to each and every item in their boxes.

We are so elated to partner up with the ladies at Heart to Heart Gift Company for our week 1 giveaway! To enter to win, head on over to our Instagram @starr_ranch_growers and check out @hearttoheart_giftco while you’re at it! Contest Sweepstakes ends 8/21 at 12PM PST. We hope you have a wonderful and safe back to school season no matter where you may be!

Good luck!

Our Favorite Ways to Stay Creative, Productive and Inspired

Our Favorite Ways to Stay Creative, Productive and Inspired

by | Aug 3, 2020 | Harvest Home

Spending lots of time with your quarantine crew? Yeah..us too! While we’re all navigating this new reality, we may also be running out of things to do in the home, or ways to stay busy, or maybe ways to keep the little ones busy (did someone say all the above?) Whatever your reality looks like these days, we hear you – and we’re here to share some of our top picks for staying busy, productive and inspired.

That said, I thought it was about time to bake a cake! Because do you really need an excuse to bake a cake – especially these days? Honestly, I haven’t baked a layered cake in YEARS. I actually can’t even remember the last time I baked a cake in general– not even for a birthday (kind of sad, I know) I guess I am usually a ‘pie’ kind of girl, or even cupcakes – but I was feeling inspired at the challenge of baking a cake, AND getting creative with decorating one.


The best part about this is, you don’t have to turn into Martha Stewart to have fun with the process – go for the store-bought cake mix if that’s your thing. Invest your time and energy into the process of decorating the cake to your liking. Whatever you’re in the mood for – go for it – there are no rules and your kiddos will have a blast.

That said, I admittedly opted for 3 boxes of Cinnamon Swirl cake mix because this was a last-minute endeavor and I didn’t have the resources for a homemade base – again, work with what you have and don’t put too much pressure on yourself! I had a plethora of Starr Ranch Growers granny smith apples on hand because these are my favorite to snack on with some peanut butter throughout the week, so I went ahead and cored and very thinly sliced about 3-4 apple rings coated with cinnamon sugar and laid them on top of each frosted layer of cinnamon swirl cake. So inside instead of cake filling, there was cream cheese frosting and apple slices – YUM. This actually helped add another level of moisture to the cake that was so delicious, and who doesn’t love a warm baked slice of apple in each bite?!


To decorate the cake, opt for pretty flowers in the garden, greenery, more apples, or let the kids turn it into a full-on arts and crafts project – anything to keep them busy, creative and having fun!

Aside from baking a cake – here are a few other creative ideas for keeping the whole family productive that you can implement into your own home!

  1. Challenge yourselves to meal prep EACH meal of the day together – participation and involvement from the little ones will make them feel so special when a part of this daily task.
  2. Build a fort together.
  3. Ride bikes, rollerblade, or simply carve out time to go on walks around the neighborhood to let out some pent-up energy and load up on some much-needed vitamin D.
  4. Did someone say coloring books? Amazon has a ton of these – they’re so fun the adults will want to join in too.
  5. Try out a new Pinterest recipe together.
  6. Do a puzzle on the back-patio.
  7. DIY s’mores on the stove.
  8. ‘Glamp’ in the backyard.
  9. Make homemade no-churn ice cream and have a ‘build-your-own’ ice cream party.
  10. Treasure-hunts around the house.

How are you and your family staying both productive and positive lately? What have been some activities that were a huge hit in your own household? Was it baking and decorating a cake together? Or perhaps painting a masterpiece? We want to know in the comments below!