Are you dieting? Does your sweet tooth sabotage you like it does me? My way around it is sugar-free, fat-free instant pudding. It sounds so simple, but it really works. I usually have it after the kids have gone down for the night. When that insane craving gets to me at 2:30 in the afternoon and has me searching for the nearest candy jar, I am now able to think of the pudding that I am going to make for myself. It works for me.
Showing posts with label Tuesday's Tip Jar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tuesday's Tip Jar. Show all posts
Looking for a way to exercise and have fun with your kids? I found a really old exercise video; you might know it - Sweating to the Oldies! I pulled it out and asked Little Man if he want to dance to silly music with me and a crazy guy on television. He, of course, said yes. We had fun dancing together for 30 whole minutes. Give it a try and laugh with your kids!
As I was making a delicious WW marinade this morning, I realized I had the perfect tip for today's jar. The marinade called for 1/4 cup of honey. Before measuring out honey, spray your measuring cup with non-stick cooking spray. Then pour the honey in the measuring cup and it will slide right out without a sticky fuss. It works perfectly.
Now to tempt your taste buds, here's the marinade I made this morning:
Chili Chicken Kebabs with Yogurt Sauce
Chicken Marinade
2 Pounds skinless boneless chicken thighs cut into 2 inch pieces
1/2 cup OJ
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 teaspoon canola oil
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1 garlic clove minced
Salt and Pepper (my own addition)
Yogurt Sauce
1 8 ounce container of plain low-fat yogurt
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
2 tablespoons minced red onion
2 teaspoons chopped cilantro
2 teaspoons lime zest
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 pints cherry tomatoes
Combine marinade and chicken in a ziploc bag. Let sit at least 4 hours or overnight.
Make yogurt sauce and store in the airtight container in the fridge until ready to use.
To cook. Spray broiler rack and pre-heat broiler. Thread chicken and tomatoes onto 6 18 inch metal skewers. Broil 5 inches from from heat until chicken is browned and cooked through. About 6 minutes on each side.
Serves 6 people at 7 points each (if you follow points).
****I swapped the chicken thighs for breasts. I will most likely cook the chicken on the stove top with some cooking spray and chicken stock. I will roast (cooking spray, salt and pepper at 400 degrees) the tomatoes and add other roasting veggies (red peppers, onions and yellow summer squash) to the mix. I will weigh the chicken and count the weight as my points (but I will add a point because of the oil and sugars in the marinade). I will serve the chicken, veggies and sauce with rice.
I'm looking forward to it...hope the family enjoys. Perhaps I'll come back and post a photo tonight.
Doing a craft project? Little Man is making necklaces for all the women in his life and all the cousins he will celebrate Christmas with. To make things easier on both of us, I sorted all the beads in a cupcake pan. Give it a try!
You know those plastic spice and herb jars that you toss in recycling (or…gasp…the trash)? Stop! Rinse them out, peel the paper label, and toss them into the bathtub. They make great bath toys. Little Man loves to sprinkle water through the shaker lid!
The holidays are quickly approaching. I was browsing Etsy in search of the perfect gifts for my list for several reasons. I like the idea of a handmade creation. I like the idea of supporting a mom who stays home and uses Esty to supplement her income. I like the idea of using paypal to pay instead of my credit card (which I am really trying to avoid). And, last but not least, I need to ship things anyway, so why not shop at esty instead of going to a store and facing the crowds.
When considering gifts for the holiday season, take a look at Etsy. You'll like what you see! Below are just a few thigns that I think are fab. I may have even found something for my Mom (which I won't post b/c she reads my blog on occasion).
Take this scarf for instance. I love scarves. I wear scarves everyday in the winter. Who in New England doesn't need a new scarf every-now-and-again?
Or this pendant. I can't even begin to guess how she makes these, but they are wonderful. I really should learn to do these things myself.
And bags...I could spend many hours searching through the bags on esty. This one is fantastic!
Of course this one's pretty great too. Seriously...if I could make something like this, I could make gifts for so many people for so little money!
And this pillow is also great. I might, might be able to pull this one off if I bought the pillow. How hard could it be to add buttons (probably pretty hard). Better to save myself the stress and put it on a wishlist or buy it for someone else!
Another place you can save money this year is checking out the Lowes Coupon available to folks that are moving.
Consider adding this question, "What was your favorite part of today?" to your evening discussions with your family. A friend of mine started asking her teenage children this when they were very little and hasn't stopped. She asks the question everyday and always gets a thoguhtful answer.
I have started this with Little Man. While his answers are very simple, I am trying to form open lines of communication with him now and trying to foster a relationship where he will know that, no matter what, I will always care enough to ask him about his favorite part of the day.
We do it at bedtime. It comes after our prayer and before the "I love you." It gives me a chance to talk with him quitely and thoughtfully about his day. if your kids are older, it might be a good dinner time conversation and the whole family can be involved.
Give it a try tonight. See what happens.
Do you need trees in your yard? Go to ArborDay.org and become a member. For just $10 you become a member and they send you 10 free trees that will live in your zone. We live on a 1.5 acre lot that doesn't have a lot of trees. We have renewed our membership twice. It's a good cause and we get some great trees out of it.
Give it a try!
Do you have problems at the dinner table? We have had the hardest time getting Little Man to use his fork and spoon when eating. He is really starting to learn about table manners at daycare, so we am following suit and home. We talk about good manners all the time.
This lovely little gem comes to me from a good friend. It's how she gets her kids to use good table manners. Last night as I watched Little Man use his hands to shovel green beans into his mouth, I decided enough was enough. Us repeating, over and over, "use your fork...use your spoon" just wasn't working. I took a break from dinner and ran for the change bowl. I grabbed 10 pennies and lined them up in front of him. I told him they could all be his at the end of dinner if, and only if, he used his fork and spoon for each bite. I also told him that every time I saw him use his hands to eat that I would take away a penny.
Ahhhh...Little Man accepted the challenge. Can you, however, guess what happened the first time he lost a penny? He wigged out. His little lip was so low it was almost hitting the table. I had to explain the whole process again and let him know he had a chance to get the penny back the next night. He lost only one more penny after that and the reaction was less tearful. He ended the night using his spoon and fork for most of his meal. Losing only 2 pennies was far better than I expected.
If your child isn't into pennies, use something he or she is into. Marshmallows, pretzel sticks, stickers. Whatever it is, it will work. You can use it for anything at the table. Once we get the flatware mastered, we will move onto food dropped on the floor. Once that is mastered we will move to using a quiet voice at the table. The possibilities are endless.
Now I say to you, "Go forth and conquer those bad table manners!"
When making strawberry pie, even though the recipe says to let the strawberry glaze cool, don't let it cool too much. If you let it cool completely, you won't end up with the nice, smooth and pretty pie they show in pictures. You'll end up with one that tastes good, but that looks kinda globby. Like mine!
Want to Roast Potatoes, but it's too hot to turn on the oven?
Cut your potatoes as you like them. Drizzle them with oil, sprinkle them with your desired seasoning, place them on a microwave safe cutting board, then microwave them until soft (I have a potato sensor in my microwave, so I'm not sure how long this takes). Remove them from the microwave and transfer them to a baking sheet. Put them under the broiler until browned and crisp, which will be just a few minutes.
You are still turning the oven on, but for only a short amount of time and no pre-heating is required.
When sending out birth announcements, send one to the President of the United States and the First Lady. Within a few weeks, you will receive a lovely little note in the mail.
Both of my kids have these notes From President George W. Bush and Mrs. Laura Bush. The hubs and I have a note from Former President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary. I couldn't stand Clinton (he's a disgusting pig of a man), and I still don't like him, but I thought it was an important thing to do.
Eight years ago today I married my best friend, so today it's only fitting that my Tuesday's Tip jar will be my tips for a successful marriage.
1) Realize that the man you married has the same basic personality traits he did on the day you got married. You'll never be able to change those personality traits, so stop trying.
2) Love your husband for who he is; faults and all. He loves you faults and all. Stop apologizing for your faults. They are yours; together with the good, they make you uniquely you.
3) Accept that there will be one overly sensitive spouse and one not-so sensitive spouse. Work on seeing things from the opposite point of view.
4) Go out together. Don't only have girls' nights. It's not healthy to only spend time out with your girlfriends. It leads to mistrust, less communication and temptation that can and should be avoided. Have date nights and throw a girls' night in there occasionally.
5) Be open and honest at all times. There's no need to keep secrets from each other.
6) Marriage is hard work, but it is worth it. Don't give up at the first sign of trouble. You entered into it with vows that told you it was going to be both good and bad. Stick with it through the bad; you'll be glad you did.
7) Enjoy each other.
Happy, happy anniversary, Hubs!
Going to the beach? Can't stand the sand that sticks to your body? Take baby powder and a dish cloth with you. At the end of the day, dust the baby powder on the dish cloth and wipe away the sand from your body. It makes wiping the sand away easier and less painful than rubbing it with your hand.p.s. - don't forget your sunscreen at the beach!
When you bring grapes home from the grocery store, dump them into a colander. Pull each grape from the stem (very important - if you leave the stems on and rinse them, the will get soft and moldy where the stem meets the grape), then run them under running water. Let them drain for a few minutes, then dump them into a storage bag lined with a paper towel.You'll have a healthy and delish go to snack anytime you need it.
Don't waste your money on those flimsy mats marketed to first time parents for easy clean-up under the high chair. Pick up vinyl table cloths at any discount department store like Wal-Mart or Target for $3 or under. Not only are the vinyl table cloths sturdier, they are much bigger.We use them under the Little Man's chair at the table and under his art desk.
Chocolate Covered Strawberries:Add a tablespoon of shortening to your chocolate chips before melting them. It will keep your chocolate smooth and easy to work with.
Make sure your strawberries are super cold. Line a tray with wax paper, line the strawberries on the tray and put them in the freezer for 15 minutes. Remove them from the freezer and dip them in the melted chocolate. Line them back on the tray. Put them back in the freezer for 5-10 minutes to harden.
For a little adult zing in your strawberries, inject them with a chocolate liqueur after dipping them. You could use Godiva white or milk chocolate liqueur.
Nasty oil stain??? No problem! As soon as you can, following the stain, dust it with baby powder or any other talcom type powder. Let it sit for 24 hours. Wipe off baby powder, treat the with your normal stain remover, then wash. I treat mine with a combination of Shout and powdered Oxi Clean (sorta making a paste). To get a flat baked cake, bake your cakes at 300 degrees instead of 350. You'll want to add 10 minutes to the cooking time, then check it for doneness. This method requires more looking and checking on your cake, but the result is a beautifully flat cake that makes decorating much easier.It seems to me, that 60% of our potty training accidents happened on the couch. This resulted in me cleaning the couch cushions a lot. One day, I found myself cleaning 2 cushions leaving us with just 1 for the day. Finally, I smartened up! When potty training by using underwear instead of pull-ups, put a rubber backed bath mat on the couch. Whenever your potty trainer wants to sit on the couch, have him/her sit on the bathmat. This will help you avoid cleaning the couch each and every time there is an accident.
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