Smart Solutions for Busy Moms!
How to make a brownie in a mug… How fun is this? And what a great way to get the kids involved in the kitchen, helping to make their own quick brownies, with very little mess, and minimal clean up. Love this! I’m all about “Smart Solutions for Busy Moms” – and this is a perfect fit for my cooking style. Be sure to check out the other simple recipes at the bottom too! [Read more…]
“No, candy corn is not a vegetable. Potato chips aren’t either.”… Do you have trouble getting your kids to eat veggies? My two year old loves her veggies, all of ’em – but my nephews who live with me definitely do NOT. They are 6 and 9, and very opinionated and a bit stubborn. {A lot like their dad, my younger brother, lol.} So since healthy eating is a bit of a passion of mine – and kids need about 2 1/2 cups of veggies every day – I had to start getting creative to encourage them to try new foods without a fight. Here are my top 7 tips and tricks to easily get your kids to eat more veggies – and if you’ve a tip that works great in your house, be sure to share it in the comments after the post.
“A morning without coffee is like…. sleep.” – Unknown… Yes, I admit it – I am a coffee junkie. I drink it all day long, year round, and without it, I’m just like a slithering jellyfish – accomplishing nothing, just floating mindlessly through my days. {I ran out of coffee once, so I just gave up on everything.} But WITH coffee, I am an amazing superwoman, able to leap tall laundry piles in a single bound. There used to be a time that I would pick up an iced coffee at the little local coffee place down the road, or grab a Starbucks as we ran errands around town – but that is a big chunk of money that’s wasted each week. {Although, is any money spent on coffee ever really a waste??} Then I was introduced to International Delight Iced Coffee in a carton – the very first prepackaged iced coffee ever that I actually liked. So I switched – I used these cartons to mix up my own coffee drinks at home, and saved over $100 bucks in that first month! Since I’m such a big fan of them, I was excited to put together a great sponsored party to share my faves with my other mom friends, and totally change their lives….
How many times have I told you guys how much I love, love, LOVE the cartons of Iced Coffee from International Delight? Well, let me count the times…. I saved a ton of money when I did a month-long challenge to initially try this stuff out, switching from coffee house drinks to enjoying this amazingly creamy drink at home. {I saved over $100 bucks!} And I’ve showed you how you can use it in recipes like Candy Bar & Cookie Coffee, or Irish Cream Mocha Brownies. And now, I have another sweet idea for using these amazing cartons of coffee for more than energizing my mornings – Homemade Chocolate & Pumpkin Spice Swirled Fall Dessert Bread. SO good!
Witchie, Witchie – Screamie, Screamie – Happy, Happy Halloweenie!… Halloween is one of my holidays of the year. {Christmas and Easter are my other two faves.} There are SO many creative ways to celebrate this time of year – carving pumpkins, decorating the yard for trick or treaters, making costumes, and I love, love, love all of the super fun, spooky kids food and snack ideas. I wanted a few new recipes to make with our extra Halloween candy, and got the inspiration for these Spooky HERSHEY’S Spider Cookies from the Ritzy Halloween Spiders from Sprinkled with Flour, that I found on Pinterest. Check ’em out… 
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“Life is complicated, so we’re making healthy simple.” – IHOP… I am LOVING the new Simple & Fit menu from IHOP. It can be tough to make the healthiest choices when dining out, since you don’t always know how things are prepared, or how many calories a dish really has if it’s not listed. So it’s awesome when a restaurant cares enough to simplify it all, and clearly list the healthier options, and the details of what they include. Check out the new Simple & Fit line-up {and keep reading to win a $50 IHOP gift card too!}…
These are just a few of the incredibly yummy choices available, you can see the rest of the under 600-calorie breakfast choices on their site. And this is NOT like most of the “healthy options” sections of a menu that you’re used to, where you’ll find a small handful of choices. No way mister – IHOP has created 30 new delicious meals for you to pick from. Want to see my personal fave?? [Read more…]
Whisk up something delicious…. Ok ladies, I was recently introduced to a new site, called Whisked Foodie, that I have fallen in love with – and I think that you’ll love it too! It’s filled with amazing recipes, food and wine pairing, regional foodie info, and more…
“Through information and inspiration, we’re here to cut through the fat of gourmet culinary jargon and deliver the skinny on how to make real food taste real good—right in your own kitchen. With a small team of culinary and drink professionals, our goal is to bring out the gourmand inside the home cook. It doesn’t take a fancy degree, a high-tech kitchen, or an unlimited budget to bring the flavor and flare of good food to your table.”
There are so many great things on this site… As you know, I’m definitely NOT a gourmet momma. I’m more of a kinda-homemade style cook, looking for new shortcuts and ways to jazz up some packaged ingredients to make dinnertime simpler. But, I do like to cook. I enjoy finding new tips, discovering cool new recipes that are easy enough to put an impressive meal on the table with minimal effort, and learning new skills. Those are all things you’ll find on Whisked Foodie – recipes that look fancy, but can be made on a busy weeknight. Here are a few of the things you’ll find there:
Sound good? Sure as heck does! If you’re ready to learn some new skills to make you a kitchen wonder, make sure to check them out today. You can find meal ideas on WhiskedFoodie.com, or follow them on Twitter and Facebook for new updates too.
"The phrase "working mother" is redundant." I'm Meagan - a Momma, a Blogger, a Freelance Writer, and a total Social Media Junkie. I love sparkles and … [Read More...]
