New Tricks

I have recently been shown a few great tricks that I would like to share. The first one was shown on my cousins blog .It makes shredding chicken really easy, to use in chicken spread, enchiladas etc....
I like to slow cook my chicken for 5-6 hours at 265-275 degrees in the oven. Make sure that you add about a cup of water to the bottom of your roasting pan. You can also use a crock pot. This makes it really tender and easy to shred. You can also boil your chicken if you are in a hurry, but I don't find that the chicken is as tender.
After you are done cooking your chicken, drain any liquid that is left. Then to shred the chicken, use your beater. It works really good and takes half of the time it takes to shred the chicken with a fork.
The second great tip that I have tried recently is to keep a package of baby wipes in one of my kitchen cupboards.
It has been so great to have something wet to grab, to wipe off faces and hands and also to wipe up a sticky spill on the floor after I use a paper towel to soak up the liquid.
The third tip I just recently came upon in a gardening book I found was to use your grass clippings from your lawn to spread as mulch around your garden.This helps to keep the weeds down and is good for your garden when it decomposes and can be tilled into the dirt for next year. You can also use straw if you don't want to use grass. It will improve the drainage of your soil when it is tilled in.

I hope you try some of these tips, I know they have made my life a little easier- and for me the easier the better :)

Carbonite

Many of you probably already know what Carbonite is. For those of you who don't and have ever had the painful experience of having your computer crash and take all of your treasured pictures with it, you will appreciate the tip in this post. 
Carbonite is a website that backs up your entire computer.
It costs about $50.00 for the year, but in my opinion, it is worth it. It has been really nice to feel like those files are protected. It will continue to back up new files as you add them. Another nice thing is that it allows you to access any file on your computer from a different computer.( For example: If you are at your parents house and want to show them your newest pictures of your kids, you can log onto your carbonite account and all of your files are there. It is great!!!! Here is the link to their site if you are interested.
http://www.carbonite.com/                                                                                  

Be the Amazing Person You Are! (You have so much to offer)

The other day I was headed to do some shopping all by myself for once, and as I drove, I thought about my life and the things that I struggle with or that sometimes make me feel down and inadequate.
I thought about the areas I wish I could be a better mom, I thought about how I let the fear of what others think slow me down and discourage me from doing the things I could be really great at, I thought about all the opportunities I let pass me by for the fear of failing- and at that moment, I had my own personal epiphany:
*Life is too short to let others steer; I am going to dance when I want to dance, enjoy my children in the short time that I have them, make a difference (even if it is a small one) to better this world and make someones life more bearable, give 110% in everything I do, indulge in the things that make me happy, try new things I've never tried, and love deeper than I ever have.
I am going to lay it all out on the line- I know that deep inside myself, there is so much I can offer!
I am really tired of of letting other things in my life define me.
I am taking charge!!!!
I know that all of you mothers out there, probably feel the same way sometimes. You need to tell yourself and believe it! - how incredible you are, and really look deep inside yourself to discover what you have to offer that you keep to yourself.
My advice- Share it, Become it, and Live it!
I am sure that like me you don't want to get to the end of your life and look back to wish you had done more with your life.

Disneyland Vacation

We just got back from our Disneyland vacation. We had a great time and learned many tips that I would like to share to make your future vacations there more fun.
We went through Getaway Today Vacations. I did a lot of research and they beat everything I looked at for price and value. They booked our hotel and got us discounted tickets to Disneyland and the Sandiego Zoo/Safari Parks. They offer many other places to visit and transportation to get there.
We stayed at the Ayeres Inn, we were very happy with our accomodations. The rooms were clean and comfortable. They had a hot buffet breakfast every morning, which was very good, and best of all it was included in the price of our hotel. It was nice not to have to worry about a place to eat breakfast every morning. They had a free shuttle bus that took us to Disneyland and picked us up at night, I loved this because it took the headache/cost out of parking daily.
Once we got to Disneyland, I learned a lot of helpful tips
* Don't use their strollers. (Plan to bring your own umbrella stroller.) Strollers were $15.00 per day to rent.
* Pack your own lunches. This seems like it would be a lot to carry, but they do rent lockers for about $7.00
That might seem like a lot for a locker, but if you don't, you will be paying more for their food.
A hot dog was between $7-$10 each, a drink was $3.50 and for a sit down dinner, you are looking at $25-$50 per plate. I figured out how much I would have spent eating all our meals/snacks  in the park, and it was like $1500.00-$1800.00. Totally ridiculous.
*Make sure to utilize their Fast pass, Parents Pass, and their Single Rider Pass. It cuts down a lot on waiting in line.
Fast Pass- To get a fast pass, you take your tickets that you used to get into Disneyland to the ride you want to ride ( usually they are only on the rides that consistantly have long lines) They will have a machine that you put your tickets into and it reads the barcode on your ticket- then gives your ticket back. Then it prints out another ticket for you with a time to return back to that ride, for example it will say return between 5:05 and 6:05 pm . When you return between those two times, they have another line that allows you to go right to the front and get on the ride a lot faster.It is a great way to cut down on wait times.
Parents Pass-This pass is great for parents who are there with young children who can't ride every ride because of their height.
It makes it so a parent can take an older child on a ride while the other parent waits with the younger child who can't go. When they are done with the ride, the other parent can take the parent pass to the ride operator and go straight to the front of the line. It makes it so you don't have to wait in a long line twice.
They only have these passes however on rides that have a set height requirement.
Single Rider Pass-We found that there were some rides that our children could not ride due to their height, but my husband and I still wanted to ride. This is where the single rider pass helped out a lot. With this pass, you are able to go to the front of the line and they will put you where ever there is space.
I was able to get on the roller coaster in under 10 minutes.

*We went to character dining at Goofys Diner. It was a bit costly, but we thought since it was our only real meal in the park, it would be fun.( I believe it requires a reservation,we ordered ours through get away today you might be able to call. They also have character dining at Ariels Grotto in California Adventure)
One word of advice though. Goofys Diner is in the Disneyland hotel which is quite a long walk through downtown disney. ( If you rent a stroller, they will not let you take it into downtown disney and if you park it in between Disneyland and California Adventure, they will turn your stroller with your belongings in it- back into the stroller rental area.) so my advice is to park your stroller in Disneyland by the Nemo ride and then use the tram which boards right by the Nemo ride to get there. Our kids were tired of walking all day and then to walk what seemed like a mile was not fun.
Goofys Diner was fun though, when we first arrived, they had a professional photographer take our picture with Goofy. It was about $35 for two 8x10 and 2 smaller photos. They will also have the photographer take a picture with your own camera if you ask them to.  The buffet had  fun things for kids to eat and also great food for grownups.While you are eating the characters come around and visit your kids. We got a visit from Gooofy, Chip, Pluto, Minnie Mouse, Pocahontas & Snow White. They were playing with my kids while they ate- all of them loved it.
*One thing you should not miss is the World of Color at Paradise Pier it was fantastic!!!
You have to go as soon as the California Adventure Park opens to get a fast pass for the show. Otherwise you will definatly
We tried again on Wednesday knowing what happened on Monday. We got our fast passes and I waited to line up around 7:00pm. I was able to get in and get a front row spot by the railing where no one could get in front of us. One thing I did notice was that even at 7:30 there was an area anyone with a fast pass can go . It still had lot's of room along the railing.  They call this area the wet zone because you will get a little wet there, but if you are running late, it is better to get a little wet, than to have a seat where you can't see anything.
* The fireworks were the same kind of situation. If you want to see the entire show, a front row seat in front of the castle on the Disneyland side is where you will see the most. Make sure to stake out your spot early.
* One last tip is that when you visit with the characters, there is a professional photographer there taking pictures. You can ask for a photo pass- they will load your childrens pictures onto the card. you can keep the same card for all of the character pictures and then take it home and view/order these pictures from your home computer.
I think the most important tip though, is to remember to have a great time with your family, and to create lot's of  great memories!

Surviving Late Night Snack Cravings

It's the end of the night. Kids are in bed. You are ready to de-stress and relax (that is if you aren't cleaning up everything you didn't get to during the day.

Unfortunately, most stress cravings are not a salad with light dressing. It would be great if it were. And there is nothing wrong with having one cookie and calling it good. But sometimes the cravings are there and won't go away. So here are a few things to try out.

1) Drink water instead. I've heard that sometimes when you get cravings and want to eat, sometimes it's your body telling you that you need more water. You know what you've eaten (hopefully) and know whether you really do need food or if you just want to eat for eating sake. Drink some water to fill the void.

2) Brush your teeth. Don't wait until you are getting ready for bed to brush your teeth. Do it with the kids when they are brushing theirs. I tend to think a whole lot more about whether I want to eat something at night when my teeth are freshly cleaned.

3) Find a snack that will both fill your craving and be low in calories. If you really do enjoy salad, have one in the evening. Get a lighter calorie dressing and don't pack it with tons of calories. Or have a popsicle (homemade ones will have less sugar). If you really are craving something, enjoy a little something, not a lot of something.

4) Get busy. Do some cleaning, do a craft, read a book. Do something so you don't have time to snack.

Do you have any ideas for curbing those late night snack cravings?

Yummy easy pizza roll recipe:
Start off by thawing out 9 regular rise and serve Rhodes Rolls. (I thawed mine in the microwave-30 seconds on each side). Then I combined all of them together and rolled them out into a big rectangle. Once rolled, I made 1-2 inch small cuts down the side of the rectangle-make a slit directly across from the other slit on the other side. (So its like you are cutting them into strips but skipping the middle area). Then, take a pizza sauce-you can also use a BBQ sauce, spread it all over the middle section of the rectangle. If using a BBQ sauce-cook some chicken, cut into bit sized pieces then add them to the top of the BBQ sauce. If using regular pizza sauce, add what pizza flavorings you would like, olives, pepperoni, sausage, pineapple...Top with lots of cheese, cheddar and mozzarella. Then take a piece of the dough strip from each side of the rectangle (the one directly across from the other) and tie the pieces in a knot. Do that all the way down the rectangle until it all looks like one big loaf. Put on cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 17-20 minutes. Then take a pizza cutter and separate each strip. Yummy Yummy!
                                                                                                                     Ashley

Surviving General Conference With Young Children

Surviving eight hours of General Conference with young children can be quite the task. The trick I have found is to make it fun for your kids. 
For the past 3 years I have done Conference bingo. I have bingo cards with pictures of different church topics on them. I use M&M's, Pennies, Goldfish etc for the gameboard markers. When they get a bingo, they get to eat the treats for that bingo, or keep the pennies. My kids love this and look forward to this tradition every time that Conference comes around.
Tomorrow I am going to try another idea I found. I printed out conference packets for each of my kids- they have coloring pages, mazes, dot to dots, color by number, journaling etc....I thought I would do the bingo one session and the packet for the next session.
Check out these fun sites to print your conference activities for your kids:
http://2kidsandtiredconference.blogspot.com
http://jmsmusings.blogspot.com/2008/10/reminder.html
I just love great idea's that help our children learn and grow.
Hope you get the most out of conference.

Family vacations with young children.

Vacations are a great way to make good memories and spend quality time with your family. We are planning a Disneyland vacation this spring with our three young boys, and so I did some research on ways I could make the 12 hour drive and the time spent there easier and more memorable. I found some great websites you should check out if you are planning a vacation.
momsminivan.com  
This site has lot's of fun traveling games you can print. They have travel bingo, scavenger hunts, tic tac toe, fun childrens songs to sing in the car, games to play with string, travel journal ideas etc.... You really should check it out.
http://familycrafts.about.com/od/craftprojectsbytype/a/travelacts.htm
http://familyfun.go.com/vacations/on-the-road-games/
http://fun.familyeducation.com/travel/family-travel/33401.html
Here is a list of things we like to do in the car with my family:
* The Alphabet Game- find letters on signs, cars or on anything outside of the car. Start with A, once you find the letter A go on to B and so on. Go in order of the alphabet and don't move onto the next letter until you find the one you are looking for.
*Story Chain- Start telling a made up story. Start with Mom- let her tell part of the story and then pass it onto Dad, then to kids etc...
* 20 Questions/ Guess Who/ I spy- Have someone think of a thing or person, or an item in your car. Every one else starts asking yes and no questions until you have figured out what the person is thinking of.
*Guess that song- Take turns humming notes to a song. Start with one or two notes. Keep adding notes until the rest of the family guesses what the song is.
*Bring coloring books and activity pads. Another great idea, and this also works well for a church quiet book, is to get some page protectors ( the shiny ones work best) and print out fun activity pages or tear them out of a coloring book.
Put the pages into the page protectors and let your children use a dry erase marker to do the activities. This is great, because the pages can be wiped off and reused over and over. I put the page protectors into a 3 ring binder for each one of my children. You can make each one as age specific as you need to.
*Bring a portable DVD player. Most kids will sit and watch a movie for a few hours.
* Bring books for your kids to read or for you to read to them. You can also check out books on tape/CD from your local library.
*Load your MP3 player, or bring children's CD's full of fun children's music.
*Bring a doodle pro- ( These are the boards they can draw on with magnets.)
*My kids love stencils. Bring a note book and a bunch of stencils.You could also bring sheets of stickers.
*Many of our favorite games are also sold in a travel size- Check out your local store to see what types they have.
*I have seen at Walmart and many other places- magnetic activity tins. They have all different kinds. The kinds we have are superheros, faces ( They interchange facial features) & the zoo.
My next post I'd like to find ways to make the most out of your Disneyland vacation. So if you know of any great tips that will make the time better spent or ways to save money etc.... Please feel free to leave your comments and I will include them in my next post.

Newspaper Planting Pots

I don't know about the rest of you, but I love spring time! It is a time to start new and spend long days outside, after a loooooooong winter. One of the things I love about spring is starting my garden. Sometimes this can get expensive to buy seeds, pots and soil, and if you're like me you tried the little starting pellets and had to spend more money to transplant your seedlings to a bigger pot because the roots were growing out of the bottom.  But...........
I just learned a great trick for making your own planting pots out of newspaper and I wanted to share the video link.
http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/2009/04/13/food-storage-garden-newspaper-pots/
I hope this helps to save you some money planting your garden this year. I know I am going to try this,
and I am soooo excited :)

Yummy recipes

Here are some more of my favorite recipes:
Mandarin Chicken
4 cans mandarin oranges
1/2 C Brown Sugar
1/2 C BBQ Sauce
4-8 Chicken Breasts
Blend 1rst three ingredients together in a blender
Place chicken in 9x13" casserole dish, pour mixture over chicken. Cook at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours.
This recipe also works great in a dutch oven.

No Meat Chowmein
Heat in a large skillet 1/4 C vegetable or olive oil
add: 1- 5oz can sliced water chestnuts (drained)
1-5oz can bamboo shoots (drained)
2 cups thinly sliced celery
2 cups shredded cabbage
1 large or 2 small cans of sliced mushrooms
1 large green pepper (cut into strips)
1pkg (10 oz) frozen french style green beans- can substitute 1 can drained french style green beans
9 green onions ( 1 bunch) diced 1/2 way up the green part
2 garlic cloves minced or the equivalent of dried minced garlic
1 cup carrots thinly sliced horizontally

Fry for 1 minute then add bringing to a boil:
2 TBS sugar
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cups chicken broth from a can or ( dissolve 2 chicken bouillon cubes in 2 cups of hot water
Simmer 10 minutes- or until vegetables are tender
Mix 3 tsp corn starch in 1/4th cup cold water ( to eliminate lumps)- add to skillet and stir until thickened
Add 1/4 cup soy sauce-mix well
Serve over rice. Top with chowmein noodles

Cake mix cookies
1 cake mix ( I like to use chocolate)
3 TBS vegetable oil
1 cup chocolate chips
( You can add anything you think you'd like in them ie: walnuts, macadamias, butterscotch chips etc...)
Heat oven to 350 degrees
Mix ingredients in a bowl until thoroughly mixed. Dough will be stiff.
Using a cookie scoop, place onto a cookie sheet sprayed with a nonstick vegetable spray.
Bake for 12-15 minutes or until brown.
Yields: 24-36 cookies.


Lemon cake mix cookies
1 pkg lemon cake mix
1/3 c vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 TBS lemon juice
powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and lightly grease a cookie sheet.
Combine cake mix, egg, oil, and lemon juice. ( Can add lemon zest or lemon extract for more lemon taste)
Blend at a low speed until well blended. Dough will be sticky.
Shape into 1" balls and place on cookie sheet 1" apart. Bake for 8 minutes
Cool several minutes and then dust with powdered sugar.
Yields: 32 cookies

Courageous Parenting

Tonight  I have been thinking a lot about how hard it is to raise a child in a world that shouts bad influences.
Every where you look, there are obstacles for our children to overcome. I have found comfort and guidance in  the talk "Courageous Parenting" By Elder Larry R Lawrence .It was given in the Sunday afternoon session of the LDS General Conference.
Here are a few of my favorite paragraphs:

The Young Men and Young Women Mutual theme for 2010 was taken from the book of Joshua. It begins, “Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid” (Joshua 1:9). This phrase from the scriptures would be a good theme for parents as well. In these last days, what the world really needs is courageous parenting from mothers and fathers who are not afraid to speak up and take a stand.
Imagine for a moment that your daughter was sitting on the railroad tracks and you heard the train whistle blowing. Would you warn her to get off the tracks? Or would you hesitate, worried that she might think you were being overprotective? If she ignored your warning, would you quickly move her to a safe place? Of course you would! Your love for your daughter would override all other considerations. You would value her life more than her temporary goodwill.
Challenges and temptations are coming at our teenagers with the speed and power of a freight train. As we are reminded in the family proclamation, parents are responsible for the protection of their children.¹ That means spiritually as well as physically.
Elder Joe J. Christensen reminded us that “parenting is not a popularity contest.”² In the same spirit, Elder Robert D. Hales has observed, “Sometimes we are afraid of our children—afraid to counsel with them for fear of offending them.”³

It’s so important for husbands and wives to be united when making parenting decisions. If either parent doesn’t feel good about something, then permission should not be granted. If either feels uncomfortable about a movie, a television show, a video game, a party, a dress, a swimsuit, or an Internet activity, have the courage to support each other and say no.
Brothers and sisters, if your spouse doesn’t feel good about something, show respect for those feelings. When you take the easy way out by saying and doing nothing, you may be enabling destructive behavior.

It is vital that parents have the courage to speak up and intervene before Satan succeeds.

May I express my personal warning about a practice that is common in many cultures. I am referring to sleepovers, or spending the night at the home of a friend. As a bishop I discovered that too many youth violated the Word of Wisdom or the law of chastity for the first time as part of a sleepover. Too often their first exposure to pornography and even their first encounter with the police occurred when they were spending the night away from home.
Peer pressure becomes more powerful when our children are away from our influence and when their defenses are weakened late at night. If you have ever felt uneasy about an overnight activity, don’t be afraid to respond to that warning voice inside. Always be prayerful when it comes to protecting your precious children.
Courageous parenting does not always involve saying no. Parents also need courage to say yes to the counsel of modern-day prophets. Our Church leaders have counseled us to establish righteous patterns in our homes. Consider five fundamental practices that have the power to fortify our youth: family prayer, family scripture study, family home evening, family dinner together, and regular one-on-one interviews with each child.
It takes courage to gather children from whatever they’re doing and kneel together as a family. It takes courage to turn off the television and the computer and to guide your family through the pages of the scriptures every day. It takes courage to turn down other invitations on Monday night so that you can reserve that evening for your family. It takes courage and willpower to avoid overscheduling so that your family can be home for dinner.
One of the most effective ways we can influence our sons and daughters is to counsel with them in private interviews. By listening closely, we can discover the desires of their hearts, help them set righteous goals, and also share with them the spiritual impressions that we have received about them. Counseling requires courage.
Try to imagine what the rising generation could become if these five righteous patterns were practiced consistently in every home. Our young people could be like Helaman’s army: invincible (see Alma 57:25–26).

Satan and his followers are striving to bring this generation down; the Lord is counting on valiant parents to bring them up. Parents, “Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid” (Joshua 1:9). I know that God hears and will answer your prayers. I testify that the Lord supports and blesses courageous parents.

I hope that as my children grow up and are faced with the challenges they will be faced with, that I can implement this council and keep up the five fundamental practices in my family.
I hope this post gives you courage to be the best parent you can be.

Rest and Relaxation as a Mom: Oxymoron?

You think your life is busy until you start having kids. Then you have a baby. Now you are taking care of yourself and another human being. Then you have another one. There's three people you are taking care of. Add another one? Now you have four people you are taking care of. There is dropping them off at school or daycare. Changing diapers, washing dishes, doing laundry. I better stop before you decide you don't want anymore kids now.

It does get easier as they get older. They can start clearing off the table when they are done eating, they can clean their rooms, they can help you put things away.

But now to the topic. Is Relaxing as a Mom an oxymoron? If you wait to find the type, yes. A lot of days, getting a chance to relax may not come on it's own. If you make the time to relax, it can happen.

I have one child in elementary, one in preschool two days a week, one in diapers still, and a dog. I make sure that most days, I take the time to relax and just be me. Not Mom, just me. Here are some ideas to help.

1) In order to fully get to relax, play with your kids. They want your attention. They want you to play with them and be with them. Read them a few books, play a game with them. Then tell them that is mommy's time to relax on the computer, or reading a book, or whatever your choice of relaxing is. A lot of times they will still interrupt you. As everyone gets used to this, the older ones will start knowing that Mommy makes time for herself to relax. The little ones will still cry for a diaper change, but we love them enough to give up our time for a moment.

2) Take time when you can get it. The kids are all in bed and the house is quiet. You need to get some milk at the store. If dad is home, take the chance and get out. Turn the radio off in the car and enjoy the silence. Or turn the music up loud and enjoy not having to keep turning it down because your child wants to talk with you.

3) Take a nap or a shower to refresh I realize this one is a lot harder for a lot of moms. You don't feel comfortable sleeping while your three year old wanders the house. If you have kids at school, you don't have to worry about those. If you have a little one that still uses the crib for naps, you can put them in there. It's the ones in between you have to worry about. You know your kid and whether you can trust them while you take a quick nap or shower.

4) Take one minute. All children in your house can be okay left alone for one minute. Occupy them with a toy or snack. Go to your room, shut the door, and just breathe. Relish the quietness. Take a deep breathe. Clear your mind. Enjoy. Then go break the fight that started while you were gone.

Top Secret Cleaning Tips

Cleaning can sometimes be a pain, but with these fantastic tips, it can be a breeze.
* Do 10 messy minutes a day- find a spot in your house that is cluttered or is often neglected. Devote 10 minutes a day to getting it organized and under control. Once your 10 minutes are up, you're done for the day. You will be surprised at the difference it makes.

Tips For Saving Money

Budgeting/Saving Money

 Feeding a family can be expensive. If you're like me, you like to find ways to get the most for your money.
Bountiful Baskets is a great way to get fresh produce for a cheap price. I also like that it helps you add more fruits and vegetables into your diet. The way it works is you visit the site below. Create an account.  Click on the state you live in and it brings up a list of different locations to pick your produce up from and when they will be delivering to that location. Select the site. Then you can place your order. On the pick up date that it lists, you go to the site you signed up for and you get one basket of fruit and one of vegetables. The cost is $15.00 for both baskets. They also have an organic choice for $25.00- Check it out, I think it is well worth it!

 Http://www.BountifulBaskets.org/

 Plan your menu's
 Another great way, that I like to save money, is to plan my menu's for the entire month. I use my calendar to plan my meals. I keep it on the side of my fridge so that I never have to wonder what is for dinner. I buy all of my ingredients once a month, with the exception of fresh ingredients.
When planning my meals I look at all of the ads that were sent to my house. I write down all of the things under the stores name that I feel are great deals.
Then I look at what is on sale and decide what kinds of dinners I can make with those ingredients.
Then I look through my coupon organizer for other coupons that will help to save additional money on those items.
*I buy my meat in bulk when it is on sale, I separate it into what I need for each meal, and then wrap each portion tight in saran wrap or freezer paper- meat stays good for a long time when frozen. Usually I have enough meat, that I don't have to buy more until I find another great sale. It's also great, because you usually have the meat you need for any meal.
*Stock up on items when they are on sale, try to get enough of the product that it will last until the next sale.
* Take advantage of case lot sales. A lot of my recipes use different kinds of soups, beans, tomatoes, rice etc- most of the things that they sell at a case lot sale. Stock up on these items so that you get a great deal on them, and so you will always have them when you need them.
* Buy your bread on sale! Bread can be frozen.
* I try to freeze or bottle fresh fruits and vegetables, when they are on sale, or when I pick them out of my garden. This saves a lot of money down the road. Most fruits/vegetables need to be blanched before freezing them in a freezer bag. I made soup this winter that called for zucchini. I had zucchini out the ears from my garden during the summer, that I diced up and froze. It saved me a lot of money to be able to pull out a bag of frozen zucchini out of my freezer. It tasted great!
* Learn how to use coupons to your advantage. I like the website:  
http://www.grocerysmarts.com/
The passport code is g84ctw. This site lists all of the adds for an area and then rates them with a star system, so you can find the best deals. It also tells you what coupons you can use with each deal if there is one.
Another great site is:
http://www.pinchingyourpennies.com/

Surviving Meals

Surviving Meals

Surviving meal time with a young family, can sometimes be very chaotic. Here is a list of different recipes that have been suggested, to save you time and headache.

One of the easiest recipes I have in my recipe book is

Red Potatoes and Pork Chops
4-5 Potatoes (Peeled and chopped into bite sized pieces)
1 regular can Tomato Soup
4-5 Pork Chops

Preheat your oven to 375*
Place your pork chops in the bottom of a roasting pan.
Add your diced potatoes. Pour 1 can of tomato soup(undiluted) on top of the potatoes.
Place lid on roasting pan and bake for 1 1/2- 2 hours, or until potatoes are soft.

Enjoy! My family loves this recipe and it only takes 5-10 minutes to prepare. Then you can walk away and come back around dinner time to a great meal. It also has few ingredients, which makes it fairly cheap.

.

Chicken and Rice-Submitted by Ashley H.

1 1/2 cups real rice

1 dry onion soup packet

Spread uncooked rice on bottom of caserole dish. Add onion soup mix and 1 can of cream of chicken soup. thawed chicken (desired amount) salt and pepper and arrange on rice. Add water (about 3 cups total) to consistency. 350 degrees for 1 hour. sprinkle cheese on top cover with foil and cook 15-20 minutes more. 

Chicken in sour cream sauce (crock pot)-Submitted by Ashley H.

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. paprika

1/4 tsp lemon-pepper

Combine in a bowl

rub over chicken breasts.

Place in a slow cooker.

In a medium bowl, add

1/2 cup chicken broth (1/4 tsp. chicken granules plus 1/2 cup water heated)

1 cup sour cream

1 can mushroom soup

1/2 lb fresh mushrooms (optional)

Pour over chicken, cover and cook on low 6-8 hours til juices run clear. Serve over rice or noodles. We like the rice the best.

Fresh homemade salsa-Submitted by Ashley H.

28 oz. stewed tomatoes

1 can green chilies

1/2 c onion

1/2 c or less cilantro (optional)

Juice from 1 lime

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp oregano

1 tsp sugar 1 clove garlic

throw all in blender and enjoy

Night Terrors

 Last night, my son woke up around 10:30 screaming and crying. When we went up to talk to him, he had a blank look on his face. We would ask him questions and he would just ramble the strangest things that didn't make sense. The only thing we could figure, was that he was still asleep. My husband tried clapping, and shouting his name to try and wake him up, but it still didn't work.
It was kind of a scary experience. After he laid back down, we looked up night terrors on the internet. It described his behavior perfectly.
Has any one else out there had this happen with your child?
The website said that this is most common in children ages 3-11 and that it usually will go away on its own as the child ages. It said that it happens for many different reasons: if a child is overly tired, if they are experiencing emotional stress, anxiety, or a poor diet, it also mentioned that it can be hereditary.
The site said that you should not try to wake your child by shouting or making loud noises, because this will just confuse them. ( That is exactly what happened with us, the more we tried to wake him up, the more upset he got.) Instead try to soothe them by talking calmly, hold them if that helps. Try to help them go back to bed.
This has happened a few times before with my son and I didn't realize what was going on- it really made me worry about him. It was good to know that this can be a normal thing for children to experience.
I just wanted to pass this information on in case any of you ever experience this with your child.
If you have had this happen, please comment and let me know what you did to handle this kind of thing.

New Recipe

 If ya want a nice restaurant style dinner with your family that is inexpensive and easy..Try this recipe..We had it last night for dinner and we all loved it!

Go to the store and buy a package of the Tyson Country Fried Steak Patties and follow the directions (like 13-17 minutes in the oven)..I also got a package of Rhodes rise and serve rolls.

Get a couple of big potatoes cut them up and boil them. Once they are tender, mash them with half a cube of butter and salt and pepper and a little milk til light and fluffy.

For the perfect rolls: Take the rolls out and get a muffin pan, spray the pan well and put 2 frozen rolls side by side in 1 muffin cup. I take them out at 10 in the morning. Put a dry kitchen towel on the top and let them rise all day until dinner time...The package says to cook 350 for 15 minutes but I only cook them for about 12 minutes then once they come out, brush them with butter..

Homemade country gravy:  Take 1/2 cup of water, bring to boil. Add a little more than 1/2 tsp chicken granules (Bullion) and then set aside. In another pan, take 1/2 cube butter and melt then add 4 Tbsp flour, stir til creamy then add 2 cups of milk and whisk till all smooth (will be liquidy but with thicken up) keep on med to low temp. add the chicken broth. salt and pepper I also like to add McCormick's white pepper.

top on whipped potatoes and steak. add some fresh steamed veggies and voila!! yummy food!

Motivating kids to do chores and rewarding them for good behavior

So yesterday I was looking at blogs and found this awesome idea at this link:
http://www.theidearoom.net/2009/08/reward-points-system-and-home-store.html
This ladies idea for rewarding and motivating your children to do chores was in my opinion ingenious!
I am definitely going to try this. I told my boys about it and they were so excited about it.
Check it out :)

What is your love language?

I have been reading the book The Five Love Languages  By: Gary Chapman.
This book is fantastic for understanding that people need to be loved in different ways. It is written mainly for marriages, but I feel that a lot of the advice also applies to loving our children as well.
Here is their main website: ( Although you can buy the book almost anywhere)
http://www.5lovelanguages.com/
I believe that a good family starts with a solid marriage foundation, and so this post is directed towards strengthening your marriage relationship.
Life gets really busy and I am sure that all of us agree that raising children takes a good portion of our time.With this month being the month of love, I would like to list one challenge for you to do daily to help strengthen your relationship with your spouse.
1. Write them a love letter- ( Make sure to tell them things you appreciate about them, that often times get overlooked.)
2.Give the gift of time today. Spend some good quality time together. Give your undivided attention                ( Watching TV does not count!)
3. Buy or make your spouses favorite treat. Surprise them with it.
4. Reminisce today about fun times you've had together. Maybe watch your wedding video or look at your wedding album together. Talk about times you've been through that have brought you closer together. ( Good or Bad)
5. Share your goals with your spouse. Come up with ways you can be supportive in helping your souse achieve their goals and dreams.
6. Tell them verbally today that you love them.
7. Make some love coupons at this website:     http://valentinelovecard.com/pg_coupons_page.php
8. Today let your husband choose something you do together.
9. Today let your wife choose something you do together.
10.Go on a date during the month
11.Write a list of 100 things you love about your spouse.
12.Talk to your spouse respectfully today
13.Surprise your spouse by doing something for them they would want done.
14.Don't sweat the small stuff
15.Be a good listener
16.Make your spouse breakfast
17.Do something to lighten your spouses load
18.Give your spouse a 15 second kiss
19.Back your spouse up
20.Fix a nice dinner that they like
21.Call or e-mail your spouse during the day so they know you are thinking of them
22.Cuddle for awhile
23.Kiss hello and goodbye
24.Pray for each other
25.Slow dance
26.Watch your spouses favorite movie with them
27.Forgive each other
28.Give your spouse a massage

I am going to try and do one thing each day during the month of February.
You can also go to my link at the bottom of this page for the Dating Divas Website. They have lot's of great ideas for striking up the romance.

Teaching Young Kids to Clean

Housework is something you do that nobody notices until you don't do it.
~Author Unknown

Ain't that the truth! You work hard all day and the kids and husband comes home. “What did you do all day mom?” You get sick and suddenly the house is a mess. Hopefully most the time we have kids and a spouse that help out.

I like hugs and I like kisses,
But what I really love is help with the dishes!
~Author Unknown

If you are a stay at home mom typically the house workload is put on you. That's okay to a point. I mean, you are home during the day. Other family members are at school or work. But... if there are 4 people in your family, you are ¼ of the family. Yet sometimes it feels like you are doing most 3/4 of the work. If your kids are all at school, then cleaning is a little easier to get ahead. If you have little ones at home still, you need their help.

Cleaning sometimes isn't fun. But why not make it fun? Kids like to play. Make cleaning into a game. If you are stuck in a cleaning rut, here are some ideas that hopefully will make it go smoother. (FYI, my kids are 5, 6, and 2. The older ones love these games. The 2 year old doesn't understand the games yet.)

1) I Spy: I spy with my little eye something that you build. The kids look around and try and figure out what it is that you might build with. They race trying to find it. One of them gets it. They put it away. You could do something that is green. Something that goes quack quack. Have fun with it.

2) Hot or Cold: Have the kids take turns. Pick out an item. Then tell them if they are hot or cold. I'm sure we all know how this game goes. And to make it even more fun for the kids, let them have a turn picking out an item and you find it and put it away. Make being in charge of cleaning fun to.

3) Pick up (X) items: Sometimes we just tell everyone to stop what they are doing. Everyone picks up 10 items and put them away from every room that needs it. That's 40 items per room (2 year old doesn't quite get it, but we encourage her to pick up something.). Let's say you need to clean up 4 rooms. That is 160 things picked up and put away. You could spend 30 minutes doing it yourself. Or you divide it up between everyone and get it done in 1/4 the time.

4) Make cleaning a race: Sometimes when we've all fallen behind a bit we'll race to see who can clean their room the fastest. I clean my room, the kids clean their rooms. We have had whining on this one sometimes because one of them feels bad that they didn't win. But it's a good way to encourage being a good sport when you don't win. Sometimes the winner gets to pick out one small treat from the treat bag. Sometimes the winner gets two treats and everyone else gets one treat. Sometimes we don't win anything. Because sometimes we clean not to be rewarded, but because that's what you do.

I don't have experience yet with cleaning with older kids. But, I have read Don Aslett's book "Help Around the House". (If you go to Amazon, you can preview the book to have an idea of what's in it.) He has lots of great ideas of getting your family involved with cleaning. The nice thing about this book is that he has ideas sent in from readers. Some of them completely contradict each other, but it really is about finding what works with your family.

Here are a few more quotes to leave you with that I found about housework.

"Our house is clean enough to be healthy, and dirty enough to be happy.
~Author Unknown

"The Rose Bowl is the only bowl I've ever seen that I didn't have to clean." ~Erma Bombeck

"If the shelves are dusty
and the pots don't shine,
it's because I have better things
to do with my time."
~Author Unknown

"I am thankful for a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning and gutters that need fixing because it means I have a home.... I am thankful for the piles of laundry and ironing because it means my loved ones are nearby."
~Nancie J. Carmody

Kids and Cleaning: Let it Go

You fold the laundry and go put away clothes. You come back and the toddler has thrown the rest of your piles all over the floor. So much for all the hard work you just did. You finally get the dishes done and now it's lunch and the sink is getting full again. Somedays it feels like all you do is clean and clean and clean. And what do you have to show for it at the end of the day? A messy house.

Motherhood is not easy. You are taking a human being that knows just about nothing and teaching them how to be productive citizens and helpful people. There are a lot of ways to help teach a child to clean and to be willing to clean. But today I am going to focus on just letting it go.


Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing." ~Phyllis Diller.


That is how it feels sometimes. You go out and shovel and then it keeps snowing and you can barely see that you even shoveled. But the point is that you can see it. It did help a little. There is that much less snow to shovel. Same goes with cleaning. Don't expect perfection. You are living with little tornadoes. It's tough sometimes. You don't want to do it anymore, because it's not like anyone else seems to care how the house looks. I've learned that cleaning a house isn't really about having a clean house. It's about teaching the kids that it's what we should do. We should take some time for cleaning and then go back to having fun. It's about a having a calm peaceful feeling, rather than living in chaos.

But where is the mother whose house is so shocking? She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking. The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow, for children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow. So quiet down cobwebs, dust go to sleep. I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

I don't know where that quote comes from. But it is so true. Do you want to spend all day cleaning everyday and just telling the kids that you can't play with them because you are busy? That tells them that your clean house is more important than them. I have sometimes wanted to keep cleaning but had to stop to play with my daughter for 15 minutes. She's happier because Mom took some time out and I had fun spending time focused on her. Then I get to go back to cleaning. And our kids do grow up. They only stay little for a short time. Cleaning is important, but so is spending time with your little ones.

Next time I'll post more about some ways to make cleaning fun and ways you can get everyone involved, hopefully without complaining.

Daily Challenge

I am going to start listing a daily challenge every day. I hope these challenges will make a difference in your day to day routine! They will be listed to the right of this post. Feel free to send me any ideas you have to survivormoms@yahoo.com.

Cold Season

I don't know about the rest of you out there, but I know I am getting really tired of the cold and flu season. It seems like I just get one of my three boys better, and then another one comes down with something else.
So this post is for all of you out there who might have something to share on how to make being sick more survivable.
Here are the tips that I have tried that have worked for me.

*Cold and Flu - I was doing some research online and found that Garlic is great for treating and preventing the common cold and flu. The site said that garlic is a broad spectrum antibiotic and antibacterial, along with containing other useful compounds that can help the immune system fight off illness.

*Sore throats-  Add 1 tsp cayenne pepper and 1 tsp salt to 1/4 cup warm water. Mix well and gargle for 30 seconds. Repeat 3-4 times a day.  ( I recently had a sore throat with white spots that were very painful. I found this remedy online and decided it wouldn't hurt to give it a try. The first night I did this, within an hour the pain was half of what it was to begin with. The next day, the white spots were gone but it was still slightly sore. The next day my throat felt completely better!)

Honey- coats the throat, reducing soreness and cough. Honey also has some antiseptic and antibacterial properties, which may help to heal the sore throat.
Coughs- I have been told by several people, that rubbing vicks on the bottom of your feet before bedtime, helps to quiet a cough. I will have to try it tonight with my sons who are coughing- I'll let you know how it works :)
So I rubbed Vicks onto my boys chest, neck and feet. I was actually amazed to find that their coughing really did seem to be a lot less frequent. I will continue to test this remedy!

I have been told that HONEY is a great natural remedy for a cough.