June 2026

Written By Olivia Schwalbach

RECIPE

Healthy Cookie Dough Bark

Ingredients:

  • 1 and 1/2 cups almond flour

  • 1/4 cup cashew butter (or peanut butter)

  • 1/4 cup maple syrup

  • 2 tbsp melted coconut oil

  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

  • 1/4 tsp salt

  • 1/4 cup chocolate chips

    Chocolate topping:

  • 1 cup chocolate chips

  • 2 tsp coconut oil

  • Flaky sea salt

Instructions:

  • In a bowl, add almond flour, cashew butter, maple syrup, melted coconut oil, vanilla, and salt. Mix together then stir in chocolate chips

  • Press cookie dough onto a baking sheet with parchment paper (about 1/2” thick)

  • Melt chocolate chips and coconut oil together and pour over the top. Sprinkle flaky sea salt on top

  • Freeze until firm, then chop into pieces. Store in the fridge and enjoy!

RECEIPTS + RECS



You’re the Best Ribbon: This is so fun to add to gifts! A friend gave me a Mother’s Day gift wrapped in this and it was the cutest touch. Definitely keeping it on hand for teacher gifts next year.

Boden-Inspired Girl’s Dress: These Amazon dresses look like Boden but are $17! Got a couple for my daughter for the summer.

Travel Laundry Basket: Finally learned to travel with this collapsible laundry basket and it’s such a game changer. Takes up almost no room in your suitcase, and keeps rooms much more tidy while traveling.

Local Restaurant: Domenico’s. A bold statement - the best sandwiches we’ve had in Tennessee. And the owners are incredible people!

Instagram Follow: @bonnie_engle. Easy one-pan dinner recipes.

REFLECTIONS

On Mother’s Day weekend I was thinking about all of the incredible moms I know, and in addition to my own mom, I was especially grateful for two others.

These two friends and I have served in the same nursery classroom at our church for almost four years. They each have three kids, and their oldest daughters are several years ahead of my oldest. Having friends who are slightly ahead of me in the motherhood journey is truly one of my biggest gifts in parenting right now.

I think a lot of us have thoughts that sound like: “Is this normal?” “Is my child going to grow up and be a good person?” “Are other kids doing this too?”. Voicing these out loud to trusted friends who have been in my shoes has been incredibly helpful.

When my oldest started kindergarten this year, she absolutely loved school, but had a hard time when she got home in the afternoons. When I explained what was going on to my friends, they gave some great advice, and also told me that it might last a couple of months. And they were right! Just hearing an approximate timeline from people who have already been through the kindergarten stage really made me feel 1. less alone, and 2. relieved that this struggle to adjust to a new routine would not last all year.

If you don’t already have people like this in your corner, I’d encourage you to think about who you could reach out to! A friend, cousin, coworker - anyone who is slightly ahead of you in the parenthood journey can be such a valuable person to lean on. And then you can pay it forward to a mother with children younger than yours. We are not meant to do this alone! Motherhood is even more amazing when we link arms and help each other.

Olivia Schwalbach
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May 2026