If this is a situation that happens frequently in your home, you need a new confidant that will make certain dinner is ready on schedule; what you need is a crock pot.

A crock pot can be a salvation for work at home moms. While your energy level is elevated in the morning, just after you’ve dropped the kids off at school, toss the food into your crock pot. It doesn’t matter if it’s fresh or frozen, as long as it’s eatable. Turn on the crock pot and when its dinner time, dinner is ready to be served!

Using The Crock Pot

The main benefit of the crock pot is, that it provides a tasty meal with very little sweat from a busy mom. Chicken, fish, meats and vegetables can all be prepared with unbelievable results in a crock pot, as can seafood. Pot roasts are great when slow cooked. Sprinkle the meat with a fine coating of flour, add your favorite spices and herbs, plug it in, turn it on and dinner will be ready on time. In the early afternoon when you’re finishing your lunch break, toss in some carrots, potatoes and parsnips and let your crock pot do its magic.

Cooking in a Crock Pot

Meats need to be put into the crock pot raw, with the exception of ground meats, such as ground beef, chicken or turkey. These need to be browned first. Vegetables are washed, cleaned, cut into equally sized pieces to ensure they cook evenly and placed in the crock pot. No pre-cooking. Just toss them in with the meat.

When using a crock pot, only add about half of the amount of water that a regular recipe calls for because the steam hits the lid and is recycled. It doesn’t evaporate like it does when you’re using other methods of cooking, such as roasting or frying.

Using a Crock Pot is Cost-Effective

By cooking with a crock pot, you have the ability to buy meat that is less expensive. Slow cooking will tenderize even the toughest chuck roast, which saves a lot of money on food expenses during the course of a year. This is great news, as all moms can use a bit of extra money.

Some Crock Pot Recipes:

  Chicken with Noodles

4 chicken breasts – skinless and boneless
1 can of mushroom soup
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 clove of garlic, chopped
Salt and pepper
¼ cup of flour
½ cup of sour cream
2 ounces of noodles, or if you’re in a big hurry, substitute by using a Sidekick

Preparation

Cube the chicken breasts into 1 inch cubes and place in the crock pot.

Add seasoning and garlic

Cook on high for four hours or on low for eight hours

An hour before serving, combine flour and sour cream and add mixture to the crock pot.

Stir well.

Serve mixture over noodles. (If you don’t have noodles, use macaroni or other pasta.)

Desert: Blueberry Dump Cake

Add the ingredients to the crock pot in the order they are listed to successfully make this dump cake.

16 ounces of blueberry pie filling. (Any fruit pie filling will work, or you can make your own fruit sauce.)

Add 1 yellow cake mix.

½ cup of butter or margarine.

1 cup of chopped nuts. (optional)

Sprinkle the top of the ingredients with cinnamon or brown sugar, whichever you prefer, but not both.

Cover and cook for 2 to 3 hours.

Serve.

Options

Substitute blueberries with apple pie filling and use a spice cake mix for an apple dump cake.

This recipe can be adapted for diabetics by making your own fruit sauce and cake batter using Equal.

Some Helpful Tips

Do not lift the cover of the crock pot until your recipe is finished cooking or you wish to add other ingredients. Lifting the lid allows heat to get away, which will increase the cooking time.

So now when it’s dinner time, the dinner is ready and all you have to do is serve. Pork chops covered in mushroom soup is delicious done this way, as are brown beans with a little brown sugar and dry mustard added. Experiment or follow traditional recipes.

Bon Appetite!

…

Mommy Angst: Motherhood in American Popular Culture

Review

“This collection of 12 essays, edited by Hall (English, Ohio Dominican U.) and Bishop (communication, U. of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), examine images of motherhood in American popular culture. Topics include enduring moral tropes of motherhood in television; the absence of mothers and the erasure of agency in Disney portrayals of princesses; the marginalization of mothers in Cuban American pop culture; the portrayal of mother-as-monster; motherhood and violence in the films of Quentin Tarantino; class and teenage pregnancies in American culture; deployed motherhood in the political campaigns of Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, and Sarah Palin; post-pregnancy plastic surgery as cultural symbol; changing perceptions of adoption in American history; the consumer culture of motherhood on the Internet; and types, stereotypes, and counter-types of the Jewish mother in American culture.”

I found a  book that provides the clearly defined, unshakable foundation needed by every positive parenting approach, and every parent who uses them.

This landmark book offers a simple, yet powerful, failsafe approach to ending the problems, troubles and struggles that commonly develop between adults and children.

This book explains the root cause of these troubles and then provides the solution. Get rid of the root cause and all of those problems vanish.

Most of the book is filled with examples of the solution at work in many of the common areas of struggle. These examples make it so easy to put this harmonizing system in place in your life.

Then you can say what others have said:

“I started to read it and couldn’t put it down.”
“It’s my bible.”
“My children are so nice now.”
“I wish I had this book when I was raising my children.”
“It’s every parent’s dream come true.”

You’ll even agree with Dr. Thomas Gordon, author of P.E.T. (Parent Effectiveness Training) among other books when he read the original version of this ebook, Parenting for the New Millennium:
“An easy-to-understand book that gives a bundle of ideas and communication skills for building families that function peacefully and foster the kind of kids every parent wants.”

Table of Contents

Chapter One – The Power of Respect: The Cooperative Solution(The Solution that dissolves the root cause, ends conflict, and creates a failsafe parenting foundation of mutual respect)
Chapter Two – Raising a Citizen for Democracy (children’s rights? ending the double standard; language of respect)
Chapter Three – The Model Parent (what kind of model are you? what kind of model do you want to be? here’s how you can get there)
Chapter Four – Trusting Children ( hard when we have been conditioned not to, but it is so worth it!)
Chapter Five – Watching It Work (filled with examples)
Chapter Six – Along Comes Baby (filled with examples)
Chapter Seven – Transitional Twos: The Age of Willpower (Powerful, Unique information! a MUST READ for anyone dealing with 2-year-olds! filled with examples)
Chapter Eight – Transformed Teens (making it smooth and enjoyable for everyone; filled with examples)
Chapter Nine – The Legacy
Chapter Ten – Questions & Answers: When Parents Have Problems
Chapter Eleven – No Guilt and the Practice of Self-Respect
Chapter Twelve – Silent Slavery (explore the root cause of the problems, troubles and struggles that develop between kids and adults)
Chapter Thirteen – Social Ills (explore how the root cause effects us all)
Chapter Fourteen – Born Into Bondage (stories of the daily, commin pain and suffering caused by the root cause)

Enjoy and Thrive!

#2. Keep the computer where you can keep an eye on them anything else is just not wise.

#3. Phone usage is 20 minutes unless special permission otherwise and cell phone is pay as you go plan only to be used to inform parents of your wearabouts, ride needs , or an emergency anything more than this and you are creating your own problems.

#4. TV watching during the week when they have school should be extremely limited ( being on a sports team should be mandatory!)

#5. Social time out on the weekend is also mandatory and given the age should have privledges increase with the age.

#6. All teens should learn basic cooking, cleaning, home repairs, entertaining, home economics, budgetting and other necessary skills of life!
Use all that TV internet and cell phone time to teach these.

Follow these rules and you will be much closer to an independent adult when they are 18 than you are to a spoiled child who thinks the world owes them something just because they showed up !

Rules of life: If you dirty it you will need to clean it , if you dropped it you will need to pick it up. If you expect a roof over your head you will have to work for it…..

But even though you might understand why your mom or dad has to work, sometimes it can be hard to accept. “Not now, I have to work” isn’t what you want to hear when you’d like to do something fun. This can be especially true during the summer or school vacations. You’re home, they’re gone, and the days can seem really long.

Many kids simply take care of themselves for all or part of the time that a parent is at work. This can be all right, but only if you’re prepared to handle the responsibility. You need to know what to do in case of an emergency, as well as how to use your time wisely. And if you’re by yourself, you should know how to handle loneliness, too.

Other choices include going to an after-school program or staying with a neighbor or relative. During the summer, many schools and towns offer summer programs and camps.

It can be tough when you don’t have enough time with your dad or mom. When you live with one parent, that person really has to do the work of two people. Besides a job, your mom or dad is responsible for caring for the kids, the house, the yard, the car, the pets — everything that grown-ups do! And besides all that, your dad or mom would like to be able to spend more time just hanging out with you, too. So what can you do?

One of the best ways is to hold a family meeting. Talk about everyone’s schedule for work, school, and activities. You can also talk about what jobs around the house need to be done every day, which ones can be done less often, and who could do each job.

When you take a look at chores and other time demands, you can try to work some family time into the schedule. Maybe you can eat more meals together. You might want to help your parent cook dinner sometimes. That can be both fun and helpful to your parent. Maybe you also can schedule a weekly game or movie night.

Time may be tight, but kids in single-parent families can make a difference by helping out around the house. They also can make another important contribution: reminding their moms or dads to have a little fun!

So, are you being foolish or careless the way some “preppers” I’ve talked to say you are? I don’t think so. I am not a prepper, either – just a person who spent a week without utilities after a hurricane once. Major natural disasters or man made catastrophes like a nuclear plant failure are very scary things for people to think about and it is perfectly natural to want to think about nice things instead. After all, you know there is no real way to be completely ready for every possible danger and you could stress yourself out pretty badly by trying. However, if you push past your uneasiness and do some real planning and preparing, you can have the peace of mind that comes with knowing that you can keep your family fed, warm and hydrated during most possible disasters. Here are a few basic emergency preparedness tips that can help you prepare for possible disasters in your area.

Know the Possible Dangers in Your Area

If you are near a nuclear power plant, on a fault line, or located in tornado alley, you should definitely prepare for related disasters. It makes sense to have a storm shelter when you are likely to see tornadoes or to have a clear understanding of what to do if the power plant has a leak. I live near a big dam and have familiarized myself with warning sirens, how to find out how many gates are going to be opened when there’s a big rain storm and what to do if there is an evacuation.

Have an Up to Date Emergency Preparedness Kit

Buying a standard 72 hour emergency preparedness kit is a great start if you have the money to buy it. If you need a kit for each member of a large family, it can be a little pricey, though. You can put them together yourself by following the CDC guidelines and shopping for bargains on the different supplies. Once you have the kit, you should add copies of all your important papers, a good pocket knife, a supply of essential medications, dry socks and underwear and some cash. I also think a thumb drive with copies of precious digital family photos on it is a nice addition.

Once you have a kit for each member of your family, put them in a safe, easy to access place. A lot of people put a wheeled trash can in the coat closet or somewhere else close to the door and stack them in it. Then, check the kits every six months to be sure that none of the food has expired. You should also rotate out any water bottles for fresh water and should check to be sure that you have at least a three day supply of current medications in them.

Meet the Most Important Part of Any Plan

Knowing you can handle life for a few days if something does go wrong sure goes a long way toward helping you feel less fearful, huh? Planning is important, but, to me, the most important thing is knowing that God is with me in any situation. Psalm 46:1 KJV says “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” While you are gathering supplies, meditate on this verse and remember that you don’t need to put together your emergency preparedness kit from a place of fear. Being prepared is sensible and helps responders allocate precious resources to people who don’t need them. It allows you to spend some time praying for others when a disaster strikes instead of hunting down the kids’ birth certificates in case the flood waters rise. I consider it good stewardship and a wise choice for people living in disaster prone areas.

Do you have an emergency preparedness kit for your family?

—————————————————————-

Your Family Isn’t Ready For A Terrorist Attack, Hurricane, Flood, or Tornado!

Will They Survive? If The Government Collapsed Tomorrow
Can You Feed & Protect Them?

Will They Die Because Yaou’re Not Ready?

Get The “Survive-Anything Course”

How to survive anything may seem like a stretch, but here’s what I mean by survive anything:  Be totally ready for ANY major disasters, whether it’s a hurricane, tornado, flood, civil war or even terrorist attack.

Sounds like a tall order (and it is), but together, George & I have put together a course that leaves nothing to chance.  Even if you’ve never dealt with a major disaster before.

Here’s what’s included:

• The single most important thing your family needs (after a plan) in the event of a hurricane, tornado, flood, or civil war.
• Shortcut method to navigate your way through total chaos in half the time a normal commute takes – even if you’re in New York City!
• Easiest way to figure out exactly how much prep work you need to do.  You’ll see that when you get organized the exact way George talks about, it’s almost as easy to prepare for a year  as it is for a month!

• Don’t experience devastating “Survivor’s Guilt” that can hit minutes after a catastrophe, and be totally debilitating. It left people from Katrina wishing they were dead.  This is vital for your children!

• Understand exactly what the starving mob of people is thinking, and how to remove any chance of them taking your food by force.  The best part is it involves no violence (although you’ll learn how to deal with people forcibly if need be.)
• The first thing you need to do when you hear a tornado siren (not what the government wants!).

Bonus Guides!

They’ll help you:

• Have complete peace of mind in your family’s safety – whether you’re at home or not.
• Invest one day (or a weekend at the most) and turn your home into a veritable survival fortress.  Looters and terrorists won’t even know what’s hit ‘em!
• Why the food your wife buys normally is perfect for your family’s survival – and what to stock-up on next time you go to the store!  (You’ll never guess the reason – I didn’t!)

So, you need to learn:

• How to create a 30 minute routine that will help keep you and your family happy for the rest of the day – even if you haven’t showered or eaten a hot meal in days!

• My most used disaster tool, that I keep on my counter!  It’ll increase the storage life of anything from fruit to toothpaste!  (The money this will save you in everyday life more than pays for this entire course!)
• The big difference between a disaster with well water and city water – and how your food completely depends on it! Plus, how to be totally safe with either!
• How to know if an expired food is safe, or if it’s going to kill you.

Here’s what that means:

• Get your “Bug Out Bag” ready for anything life can throw at you!  If you do nothing else, please do this!
• How an Altoids tin can save your life!  (You read right, this is the truth)
• Pack tools for surviving in the big city, or the wild – while keeping it easy to carry and lightweight (under 40 pounds!)
• A few critical items to help you survive extreme heat and cold!
• Turn your car into a mobile survival kit in under 30 minutes – when you think about where you spend most of your time, you’ll realize how important this is!

Get The “Survive-Anything” Today

Here are some  Great books on Crock Pot Recipes!

photo via amazon.com

If you plan out a week’s worth of menus, go to the store on Saturday or Sunday to buy ingredients and remember to throw the meal in the crock pot before you step out the door, you can really cut down on those “I’m too tired” stops at the grocery store or the fast food joint.

Some meals, like the pulled pork recipe from All You magazine I want to try require additional prep work and cooking time. For days that are busy, I prefer easy crock pot recipes that don’t involve the extra work and time. Here’s a family favorite that is super simple:

1 chicken cut up or a package of chicken breasts
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can cream of broccoli soup
1 cup of rice

Cook on low heat for eight hours.

If I have time, I start the chicken and soup first and then add the rice around lunch time. This way, I am not putting rice in with raw meat, which grosses me out, and I can see if I need to add some water for the rice to absorb. If you prefer, you can just cook the rice as you normally do and serve the meat and “gravy” over the rice.

What is your favorite easy crock pot recipe?

Photo of Born a Star Lovable Labels via lovablelabels.ca

As I suspected, the youngest over labeled some of the books. Now, it was time to see how hard it was going to be to remove the extra labels. Was I going to be permanently stuck with the problem? Nope. I was pleasantly surprised to see that even though they stick down nicely and stay securely on the book’s inside cover if I don’t want them to come loose, they can be peeled right off if I want to remove or reposition them an hour or so later. As soon as I lifted one corner, they came right up and left absolutely no residue behind. Now, they are basically stickers, so don’t expect to be able to peel them off that easily if you come across a label where it doesn’t belong a week or two after someone put it there! The next day, those labels were solidly adhered to the books.

Now, on to what the kids thought. They loved being able to identify their books as their personal property. In fact, I found labels on other things, too, so keep an eye on those id stickers!

So, down to the big question. Would I buy Lovable Labels after trying out the Book Worm Label pack I was given to review? Yes, I would. I’ve gotten the kids the kind of labels that have a blank for writing your name before. They are okay for older kids with neat handwriting, but younger children struggle with filling them in. Having printed labels makes it easy for even the youngest child to show everyone that those books belong to them. I also like how nicely printed the labels are. I’d also be interested in trying the microwave and dishwasher safe sticker labels for helping them keep track of whose water bottle is whose and things like that.

To find out more about the many Lovable Labels products, including medical wristbands, allergy labels and a really cool starter/camp pack that has an assortment of labels for clothing, shoes and other items, visit the company website or give them a call at 1-866-327-Love.

When I saw “drum set” on the wish list for someone’s upcoming birthday, my first thought was, “Now there’s an expensive gift. Yikes!” However, after the initial ouch reaction, I started thinking about ways to shop for a cheap drum set for beginners. The way I see it, the question isn’t whether I can afford to buy one. The question is whether I can afford not to.

Studies have shown over and over that kids who are given creative arts classes in school excel. Our schools do have art class once a week and music class once a week, but it would be better if the kids could have an arts class every day. Since that isn’t happening any time soon because of the emphasis on maths and sciences and the budget cuts every school system in America seems to be facing, I need to be sure that my guys have opportunities to do these things at home.

With that said, if you are unemployed or underemployed and you are struggling to feed your kids, don’t feel like you are being a bad parent if you say no. Instead, forget the drum set and give them an empty oatmeal box and some pencils. You can learn a lot about drumming without an actual drum set, like how to keep a steady beat and how different objects make a different sound. Talk about rhythm and encourage your future drummer to practice every day.

Then, after a few weeks, evaluate the situation. If it seems like drumming is definitely in your child’s future, put a hole in the lid of an empty jar, label it “Ted’s Drum Fund” or what have you and encourage your child to start saving up for a nice used set.

Tips for Finding a Nice, Inexpensive Drum Set for Your Child

photo via amazon.com

If you do have the cash to get a cheap set of drums, you might be tempted to hop onto Amazon and buy a child’s drum set. If your child is careful and gentle with his or her toys, that might work out just fine. However, even if they do hold up, you will find that your child has outgrown them pretty quickly. I don’t really recommend doing this unless you have a younger child who will grow into using them when you have to trade up to a real set for your older child.

That said, G P Percussion’s sets seem to get consistently high reviews and are usually on sale for under $150. These junior sets are aimed at children ages 3 to 8.

Reviews of the sets from other manufacturers that sell toy drum sets for around $50 are very poor. The products don’t seem to be well made and don’t last very long for most children. Honestly, if you only have $50 to spend and you want to shop through Amazon, you’d probably be better off buying a practice pad and a set of drum sticks.

So, what are the options if Amazon doesn’t work for you? Well, they all involve buying used instruments, but you can get a really nice set for a substantial discount. Here goes:

• Check your thrift store. I saw a set worth $350 for $30 at mine the other day. Sadly, drum sets were not on our shopping list until a few days after that. When I rushed back to the store two days later, it was already gone. Someone somewhere has a gorgeous set of drums in good shape for an amazing price!
• Ask at pawn shops. We have a few pawn shops in our area that tend to have drum sets in. The prices aren’t as good as the thrift store price, but they are fair. If you don’t have time to really shop around, this may be your best option.
• Check shops that sell kids’ instruments. We got a nice used violin at one and I am sure drum sets would be available, too.
• Look on Craigslist. I’ve seen just about everything on there from time to time.
• Ask on Freecycle. Sometimes, a kid will simply lose interest and parents just want more space and don’t want to mess around with an ad. When someone is looking for something, they’re glad to unload it.
• Check local yardsale lists. We have a local list where people list things or ask to buy them. You may be able to get a cheap drum set off of one of them.
• Don’t forget newspaper classifieds. We have a few local free papers and a small county paper that still have plenty of classified ads in them.

Look Your Gift Horse in the Mouth When Getting Used Drums

Free is free. If someone literally gives you a drum set and it isn’t covered in toxic mold, I’d say go for it. However, if you’re buying it, you’ll want to check it over first. After all, a drum isn’t going to do you any good if you can’t play it. Here are a few things to keep in mind when you are shopping for a cheap used drum set:

• Playability – Give it a few taps and listen to the sound. Even if you aren’t musical, you can tell when a drum doesn’t drum.
• Appearance – If a drum’s brass is covered in pitted rust and the wood veneer is a splintery mess, you’ll want to pass. If there is just a bit of rust here and there, you should be okay. If the drum head (technical term for the part you whack with sticks) is bowed in or out, think twice. You can buy replacement heads, but they run $20 or more and you’ll need to be sure that it isn’t because of a problem with the drum body.
• Completeness – Some drums are supposed to have legs. Some have straps. Is everything there?

Once you take a good look and are satisfied with the condition of the set, you’ll be able to decide if you want to buy it based on the price. Remember, not all drum sets are equal, so a used price of $200 may be a steal on one set and highway robbery on another. I recommend researching the types of sets people are selling and their new pricing before you head out to look at them.

One final thing: Either because the drum heads on a used set are already worn or because your little guy turns out to be a very enthusiastic drummer, you’ll probably find yourself needing to do a replacement. This is the best video I’ve found so far on replacing drum heads and has some great tips for young drummers, too:

Brussel Sprout plant photo via SXC/Christa Richert

Since I like to practice what I preach, I’m doing something I’ve wanted to do ever since I’ve heard that brussel sprout plant leaves were edible. I’m cooking a few leaves from my plants as if they were collard greens this morning. They taste pretty similar but are slightly sweeter.

Here’s my favorite recipe:

I put a tablespoon of olive oil in the bottom of a wok, added a teaspoon of dehydrated garlic and chopped up some chives and tossed them in, too. You can use garlic cloves, too, but I didn’t have any this morning. I added a strip of turkey bacon and let it cook a bit. Then, I added the brussel sprout leaves torn into strips and let them saute for about two or three minutes. I added a cup of chicken broth and put a lid on the wok. They simmered for about 15 minutes and then they were ready to eat. Delicious. Sometimes, I skip the bacon when I’m cooking collard greens, but I wasn’t sure of the flavor of the brussel sprouts. Now that I do, I’ll probably skip it with them, too.

How do you use more of what you buy to save money on your grocery budget?

Here you can Save on Back-to-School Groceries