The Life of a Working Mom

I wish I had a picture of it - it has saved us on many outings…the Toy Bag.

We have an inexpensive canvas bag that we keep by the door, whenever we are on our way out, to eat or to the store or the Dr’s, I can grab it - it has a couple diapers and wipes, but the best part about the bag are the toys.  Nothing big, nothing expensive, and nothing the boys get to play with at home.  Right now we have it loaded with some match box cars, slinky’s, crayons and a couple of books.  I can’t even count the number of times it has saved us…and the fact that they are all such inexpensive items, nothing that is left behind needs to be retreived, or has ever been cried over.

That is what works for us….What works for you?  Head on over to Kristin at We Are THAT Family to share your tip, and find out what works for other bloggers!!

I have no time.  Working mom, stay at home mom, just mom, we often have no time for ourselves…I have a gym membership..HA!!  I don’t know why - I don’t have time to go.  But I do have a goal, a weight loss, get fit goal.  I am determined to get back into my pre wedding weight and clothes…determined.  That is where my Wii Fit comes in. We bought a Wii last spring and this past Christmas I was given the Fit and I love it!!!  Almost daily I can find as much as 30 minutes to hop on and be active.  The fact that I can do it anytime in my living room helps.  The fact that it is always there and ready to go.  I don’t need anything in addition to the fit, I don’t need to drive anywhere or make it to a class on time.  I just hop on whenever I can squeeze in a couple extra moments.  So the Wii Fit is what works for me, it works for my body (I have lost 11+ pounds since starting to use it late December) and it works for my mind and soul (it is therapuetic to hoola hoop like an idiot in my living room, to laugh at myself as I fumble through step aerobics)

I also love the fact that I have found a wonderful group of blogging moms who are all using the Wii Fit to help squeeze in that work out.  I love that I have found a virtual support group of other fitters!!

I am sure I have mentioned before that I have limited sewing space and my supplies must be stored well and easily transported.  I was struggling with this until I bought a new comforter.  The plastic comforter bag (you know, heavy duty plastic with a zipper) works great.

This bag works wonderfully.  The zippered plastic protects all of my fabric from the elements (kids, husband, cat, etc).  There is also a wonderful little internal pocket that held the comforter info, this has worked great to keep my delicate light weight interfacing safe, and the handle on the top makes it even easier to move around my home.

That’s what works for me…pay a visit to Shanon at Rocks in My Dryer to see what works for everyone else (or at least everyone who plays along).

I am in love with foaming dish soap, but I absolutely hate paying all that money for something that is essentially watered down soap in a really funky dispenser…instead I have learned how to make my own. 

We had a foam dispenser from one of the kids’ foaming handsoaps

I filled it almost all the way with water

Then added plain old dish soap (Palmolive here…usually I use Dawn…but had to go with whats on sale)

 Shake it up a bit to mix it and……voila….foaming soap

 Doing this saves us so much…I think I have to buy soap once every six months if that often. 

If you do try this…it can take a couple tries to get the combo right, and different soaps mix a little differently, but its pretty easy and when you consider how much you spend on the foaming soap when it is mostly water it is so worth the time and energy (what little energy it takes)

I love my son!!  He is sweet, cute smart and active!! 

 Actually I don’t know that “active” even adequately describes his incredible energy level!!  He can, and often does, run circles around me and there are times, when I am cooking especially, when I just can’t have this!!  Our solution…a sink full of soapy water and some tub toys.  He will stand there as long as we let him splashing and playing and pouring water everywhwere. 

 It defnintely isn’t the neatest activity, by the time he is done he is wet head to toe and there are many puddles on my counters and my floor, but at least it is just water and as long as we have towels ready it really isn’t too big a deal.

This is what works for us….what works for you?  What do you do in your day to make life just a little bit easier?  Head on over to Rocks in My Dryer and share you tips with the world!!

I was never a fan of meatloaf, until I started playing with the recipe…now I love it and it is a staple in our house.

Now this isn’t the meatloaf from back in the day - the over mixed, over cooked, over dried meatloaf.  Doused in ketchup in an attempt to add flavor….this is different.

My secret - I have fun with it and find new combinations of flavors, also key is how you mix up the meat.  The biggest mistake when mixing meatloaf is over mixing and breaking up the meat too much - this is what gives it the dry crumbly texture.  If you mix it just enough to combine the final product is yummy and juicy.

My other secret - I don’t have time to cook it for 45+ minutes…nope….I use a cupcake pan…..that’s right a cupcake pan.  This makes little single serving size pieces, that cook in 15 minutes at 400 degrees.  I will admit I stole this idea from Rachel Ray (although her idea was to make it into patties - I liked the single serving idea and just ran with what I had)

Favorite Flavor Combos:
BBQ Sauce, Mozarella (I might add bacon next time)

Italian spices, parmasean
Three Cheese Mix (whatever’s on hand really)

One other tip - if you want to make it healthy do half beef and half turkey - you can cut down on the fat but still keep the great taste.

Oh…and if you are wondering…that is my plate - with my boring salad….sometimes a girl just wants lettuce

Check out Shanon at Rocks in My Dryer for more wonderful Works for Me Wednesday fun!!

I love these wonderful creations.  Not only do these wonderful bags help me be a little more green on shopping day, they also come into play almost daily in my comings and goings and general running aroud-ings.  I have always love the classic canvas tote, the idea of an open topped catch-all to contain all my….stuff.  I just always had an issue doling out so much money for a bag I knew was going to just serve as a collection point for piles of my….stuff.  In come the reusable shopping bags.  For $0.99 (purchased at my local Stop and Shop) I have a wonderful tote bag - one that can get tossed around and hauled all over the planet, with no worry about the expense to replace (although I have yet to need to replace a single one!!).  I am constantly finding new uses for these bags, including

*beach tote

*baby toy tote, holds a lot - perfect for visits to family homes without children

*carrying around my sewing stuff

*containing clothes dirtied during an outing

*bringing home presents from the Grandparents (well…planned use for tomorrow)

*filling with all the needed errand items for the day (christmas cards to mail, coupons and sale flyers, and all the other needed accoutrements too big for my purse

I am sure there are more uses….but these are all I can think of.

 If you want to see what works for other wonderful folks, go check out Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer.

Found this wonderful tutorial the other day on Maya*made and thought I’d give it a try. Newspaper snowflakes. I am thrilled with the results!! and they were so incredibly easy to make. I actually did all the cutting while the boys played last Thursday - and I finally got around to sewing them this morning.   I am still trying to find places to hang them - and I have a huge stack of them (it was almost therapuetic to cut them - I think I got carried away).  The ones I made this time are around 9 inches in diameter, I think I am going to try to make some itty bitty ones to use as decorations on windows and mirrors around the house, and maybe to decorate some gifts too.

The pictures aren’t the best - it was a little difficult to take clear pictures of them

Go see Shannon over at Rocks In My Dryer and find out what works for other bloggers out there!!

So its a little late in the day to be posting this, but better late than never right?

My son LOVES pancakes, and 90% of the time I make them from scratch.  Its really pretty easy and I love making them for him, the only problem I had was I hated digging out the cookbook each time, but I could never remember the volumes for the ingredients.  My solution? I wrote out the recipe on an index card and taped it to the inside of a cabinet near the stove, now all I have to do is open my cabinet and I have all the info.  I have now started to put together other tips/tricks/lists that I need frequently and put them there as well (like to fry with vegetable oil my stove must be set at 7 - something I can never remember).  Now all my needed information is in an easy access area, but not hanging out all over my counter tops!!

That’s what works for me - go see Shannon at Rock in My Dryer and see what works for other’s.  Have a good tip?  Play along!!!

 I love to bake and I love Christmas cookies (who doesn’t?!)  My biggest cookie pet peeve - over browned bottoms, which often leads to over crispy cookies, and I like mine soft. 

A friend recommended a silpat to me - its a little flexible, silicone like mat that you can put under the cookies before you bake.  My only problem with this is I prepare multiple pans while one is cooking, I and only put dough on cooled sheets - I don’t want to buy a million of silpats.  My resolution - wax or parchment paper (either works).  Just tear off a piece long enough for your pan, line the cookie sheet and place your cookies.  Your bottoms will stay a nice pleasant light brown and your cookies will be delish.  You can reuse the paper a couple of times and I find it cools quicker than the silpat.

 Hope this helps with your Christmas cookies!!

 If you want to see more Works for Me Wednesday posts check out Rocks in My Dryer!!