This post is part of the HEALTHY ESSENTIALS® 2014 program by Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, Inc. and The Motherhood, who sent me a box of products and compensated me for my time. Opinions, experiences and photos shared here are all my own, and I hope you enjoy them.

How's your holiday shopping going? I was SO happy I knocked a few people off of my list today! Since I love to cook, I tend to give foodie presents--especially baked goods.  Plus, if I give them away, they won't end up in my stomach!  Um, that's what I tell myself at least!

As I get out all of my favorite cookie recipes (including Cranberry Hootycreeks and Cocoa Chewy Gooeys!), I try to find ways to make them healthier.  My favorite substitute is Splenda because it's almost impossible to tell they are healthified. Score!

There are many varieties of Splenda on the market now: granulated, brown sugar blend and sugar blend, to name a few.  For the most part, you use HALF the amount of Splenda as your recipe calls for.  To be sure, check the handy conversion chart on the back of the box or bag, though!

Using Splenda helps reduce the calories of your baked goods without changing the flavor or texture of what you're baking. Another great swap to healthify baking is using natural applesauce, mashed banana and coconut oil...all included in this recipe!

(Healthified) Zucchini Bread with Mini Chocolate Chips

Makes: 2 large loaves or 6 mini loaves. Also try muffins!

Ingredients

• 3 cups of flour
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup Splenda sugar blend
• 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 cup natural applesauce
• 2 cups zucchini, shredded and drained--about 4 large zucchini (look for markdowns at your store!)
• 1 mashed banana
• 1/2 cup plain or vanilla Greek yogurt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• Topping: 1/2 cup mini chips 
• I like to just top the bread with chips instead of putting in the whole mix.  You can use less, but still get the chocolate flavor in the bread.

Let's Bake!

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Spray Pam on bread pans.  
3. Mix eggs, sugar, coconut oil and applesauce for 1-2 minutes, until creamy. 
4. In a bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda and baking powder. Set aside. 
5. Add zucchini, vanilla, banana and Greek yogurt to bowl.  Mix until combined.
6. Slowly add dry ingredients.  Mix only until combined.
7. Pour into loaf pans and sprinkle the top with mini chips.
8. Bake until golden brown.  I poke mine with a toothpick to check the centers.
• Full loaf pan- 60 minutes
• Mini loaf pans- 40 minutes
• Muffins- 20-24 minutes

For gifts, Dollar Tree has very cute baked goods boxes.  You can freeze the loaves if you want to mail them out or gift them later.

Right now, Healthy Essentials has many coupons perfect for the season, including Splenda.  My girls have been wanting the Frozen Band-Aids for quite some time now--the coupon pairs with No More Tangles which is necessary for hat hair this winter.  There are tons of Johnson & Johnson baby coupons on there too--the Intense Moisture cream is ah-mazing!

How's your holiday baking going?  Share your favorite cookie recipe below!

How to Establish a Back-to-School Routine on a Budget #HealthyEssentials

DISCLAIMER: This post is part of the HEALTHY ESSENTIALS® 2014 program by Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, Inc. and The Motherhood, who sent me a box of products and compensated me for my time. Opinions, experiences and photos shared here are all my own, and I hope you enjoy them.

Since this is our first official "back-to-school" season, we are total newbies with setting a routine.  I remember what I used to do back in the day: get to bed earlier, buy new school clothes, etc--but with kids of your own it's totally more complex.

Fall can be expensive!  First thing to do is to set a budget.  When you have a general idea what you have to work with, you know how to designate the money.  Since my girls had a growth spurt this spring/summer, I got out all of their clothes and took inventory.  We had an afternoon fashion show and set aside items that didn't fit anymore.  Don't forget the shoes too!  From that point, I would focus on one item of clothing every week or two, based on sales.  The first week, Children's Place had an amazing deal on jeans, so we stocked up.  Two weeks later, Target had a deal on undies/camis.  When you break it down throughout July and August, it doesn't seem as bad!

Another tip: don't wait until the last minute for school supplies.  Sales will continue all through August, with basically the same prices...but the selection becomes much smaller.  Print coupons when you see them, they go quickly!  If you can, wait until 2-3 weeks into school to hit the clearance.  I like to make bags for teachers with the markdown finds.

I don't know about you, but summer is rough for me.  My hair gets dry and frizzy, my skin is dry--when the end of August came around, it was time to refresh!  With my kids, they have all sorts of summer scrapes and "flip flop feet" to deal with (permanently dirty looking feet, even after a shower!).  Right now Johnson + Johnson has over $40 of printable coupons for their #HealthyEssentials program.

• For the kids: 
• Lubriderm is our favorite lotion.  It's moisturizing, yet doesn't have the irritating scents like some other "big kid" lotions.  
• Neosporin to help heal all of those bug bites and summer scrapes.  I also picked up a few new boxes of Band-Aids. 
• No More Tangles conditioner and spray can't be beat, especially with Gabby's curls.  We've tried other brands, but this is something we always stock up on! The conditioner is great for post-swimming/beach tangles, we leave it in for 2-3 minutes during the bath.
• For the adults:
• Refresh your skin with Neutrogena oil-free pink grapefruit scrub. This is my go-to for getting soft skin and it smells amazing!
• Take off that nail polish! After the sand, sun and flip flops, your feet have taken a beating.  I like to let my nails breathe for a few days before putting on a new polish.  Sally Beauty Supply has a great cuticle oil that I keep by my toothbrush to apply at night.

The biggest step to getting back on schedule is to stick to it, which is hard during the busy summer.  My girls still occasionally nap, so near the end of the summer we cut those out (early bedtime outweighs the cranky kids, right?) and tried to push their bedtime to 7:30-8:00.  Now that school is in session, we're trying to keep that schedule going on the weekend too.  We'll see how that goes!

For me, I had to organize myself--which, if you know me, is not easy.  I like to say I'm an organized mess because I usually know where something is, but I'm quite messy. I try to pack as much of the lunch at night, so I just have to quickly add components in the morning.  Backpacks are all lined up by the door at night, with shoes right next to them.  This saves SO MUCH time in the morning!

Check out over $40 in Healthy Essentials coupons to save while you're shopping this month!

What Back-to-School tips can you share?