The Musings of a Working Mom

The holidays are here and that means HOLIDAY PARTIES!!  That also means oodles of eating and drinking and countless hours spent in the gym trying to work them off.  Here's a great little article breaking down the calories in those holiday libations that I came across in the December 2012 issue of Everyday Food.  I hope that this little calorie guide helps you to keep those excess holiday LBS from making their way to your midsection!  Enjoy and Be Merry...

Here is a simple, elegant and quick recipe to use especially during the holiday season.  I tried this appetizer at a holiday party a couple of years ago and I have loved it ever since.  The recipe is super easy to prepare but looks like a gourmet dish when arranged on a platter in a floral pattern.  Serve this appetizer at your next gathering and everyone will think that you are a gourmet chef!  Enjoy... Endive Spears with Stilton Cheese,  Toasted Pecans, and Sauteed Pears (original base recipe from FoodNetwork.com but tweaked by yours truly) Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 10 minutes Serves: 25 Spears Ingredients 3 Tbsp butter 2 Tbsp sugar 2 pears, peeled and diced 2 cloves garlic, chopped 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar 1 tsp salt 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1/2 cup Stilton cheese, crumbled (or any other blue cheese or soft cheese, like feta or goat) 25 endive spears (or more) 1/2 cup pecan halves, c...

My youngest just turned 2 over the weekend and since his favorite show right now is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, we decided to have a Mickey Mouse themed birthday party.  I found a lot of great ideas on various sites and blogs, so here is what I came up with: A cute sturdy cardboard MM cupcake stand I purchased on Amazon for under $10 (the stand also came with the cupcake liners and Mickey toppers) I made sugar cookies using a MM cookie cutter, frosted with chocolate and vanilla frosting (on the left).  On the right - I took mini Oreo's and reg size Oreo's and "glued" them together with melted chocolate.  How cute!! The birthday boy with his Mickey Mouse hoodie on. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse birthday banner that stands 6 feet tall!   Chocolate Oreo Mickey's in cute cupcake stands.  Cupcakes in the background. The birthday boy loving his balloon bouquet! This is one of my favorites - personalized chocolate bar that I purchased from iCandywr...

I'm not a big crockpot person...that is until now.  I know, I have 3 kids and I should be using a crockpot to make my dinner prep/work easier but I never felt the need to get one.  Well, I finally broke down and bought one and just at the perfect time!  The kids and I went to a local apple orchard and brought home more apples than I had planned...so what to do with all of those apples?  Well make applesauce of course!  I found the easiest, most delicious recipe using my crockpot.  You can add as much or little cinnamon as you like, or omit it all together if you don't like any seasoning in your applesauce.  Not only do we like to eat our applesauce plain as a snack, I like to top my greek yogurt with some applesauce and a handful of granola for a tasty breakfast treat.  You can also substitute applesauce for oil in most baking recipes for a healthy alternative.  What a great way to use up all of those apples before they go bad! Crockpot App...

My creative juices have been flowing lately thinking of new ideas for snacks for the kids after they come home from school.  Here is a great article I came across in my e-mail inbox. I love me some Food Network!!! http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes-and-cooking/50-after-school-snacks/index.html

I was spoiled - up until now, my twins had been in a full day preschool program that provided breakfasts, snacks and lunches.  Now that they are in Kindergarten, I have found that being creative makes all the difference in if your child eats lunch or not.  But I am always looking for creative ideas - Here is a great article I stumbled across with loads of great sandwich ideas to add to your child's lunch rotation. http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/everydaycooking/family/kids-lunch-ideas

Even though I have adventurous eaters, I do have toddlers after all and we do have our moments of "picky eating"...but I get them to try something new by reminding them of the story of "Sam I Am".  I have read and re-read the story Sam I Am by Dr. Seuss for many years now...and the moral of the story is that you should give something a try before writing it off - you never know how good it tastes until you try something.  So when my kids say that they don't want to eat something, I just say "Come on Sam I Am - you should try it, you may like it!"  Saying this reminds them of the story and they take one bite and if they don't like it, no problem - they don't have to eat it.  At least I got them to try it.  And if they like it, even better.  On a side note, if they didn't like whatever they tried - don't give up on that item just yet.  Keep on trying - toddlers are finicky eaters and one day they make like something, and the next day the...

As a mom and a Dietitian, I frequently get asked what are great first finger foods when introducing solids to their little ones.  I have come up with a list of delicious and easy finger foods for those little experimental eaters!  I know that there is a lot of concern regarding food allergies and the timing of food introduction, so when in doubt, trust your inner gut and always consult with your Pediatrician.  Also check out this site endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics site as well this great site . Here is my list of great first finger foods: 1.  Multi-grain Cheerios or other O shaped cereal 2.  Soft, ripe, cubed banana pieces 3.  Diced, ripe avocado 4.  Diced, cooked sweet potatoes/white potatoes/butternut squash/acorn squash (steam or bake but don't boil) 5.  Soft, shredded chicken, white fish (low mercury fish like tilapia), beef or turkey 6.  Very ripe, peeled Peaches or Pears 7.  Small cubes Tofu 8....

OK - so we all have that collection of broken pieces of crayons that the kids refuse to use anymore but what to do with them?  Don't chuck them quite yet - you can make new crayons with them.  If you have the extra cash, you can buy the Crayola Crayon Maker but why spend the money when you have all the tools you need to do the same thing at home??  Place the broken crayon pieces into fun baking molds or into lined muffin tins (or mini muffin tins) and put them into the oven at 300 F for about 10 minutes or until the crayon pieces have melted completely. Take out of oven and allow to cool and set. Your kids end up with really cool shaped crayons and you can create any color that you want - even swirly crayons!  The kids will love their new recycled crayons and hopefully you won't need to buy new crayons for a long time.  I hope that you find this tip helpful...Enjoy!

I love those diaper caddy's that are sold at the various "baby" stores - they look cute and can really help you to organize your diapering supplies in one place so you have it when you need it.  But let's be realistic - when you have a young, curious, mobile child like I do, I would have to put this caddy out of my son's reach (a.k.a. hide it away which loses it's function of having all of your diapering supplies at arm's reach) or my 16 month old son will pull everything out of it and hide it in places I will never be able to find!!  Well to make things easy for myself, thus having all of my diapering/changing supplies in one location without allowing my son to open the container and get into it, I use a storage container with a secure lid on it to hold all of my diapering supplies.  I purchased mine from my local Target but you can get one from any place that sells storage bins/containers.  I love that the...

OK - now that your baby is no longer eating baby food and will only eat the same food that you are eating, what do you do with all of that leftover baby food???  I for one am not letting that food go to waste - after all, that's still good food. And baby food is just fruits and veggies pureed with some water.  So what do I do - I simply add them to the dishes that I make - i.e. pancakes, brownies, marinara sauce, pasta, etc.  That's right, I just add them to whatever we're eating as a family.  I adjust the liquid content of my recipes but I add the baby food and it makes my brownies, pancakes and cakes moist and adds a lot of extra nutrition to my dishes.  I adjust the type of baby food based on what I'm making, savory with savory foods and sweet with sweet dishes.  I have used applesauce and mixed fruits in my pancakes, prunes and other fruits in my brownies, mixed veggies in my marinara sauce as well as mac & cheese, etc....

There are so many "discount" websites out there that features big brand companies selling high ticket items (or services) for discounted prices.  I love these sites but there is a discount site specifically for mommies called Zulily.com .  I love this site - not only do they feature great deals for mommies, but also clothing, shoes, toys and more for babies and kids.  My kids love Crocs but I hate paying full price for these - but why should I when I can buy them off of Zulily for half the price!  I have bought good quality snow/rain boots for my twins, organization tools for the family, baby shower gifts for friends, as well as clothing and shoes for myself.  The shipping prices are pretty reasonable (usually under $10.00) considering how much you are saving on the items that you are buying.  If you are like me and are always looking for a great deal or sale, then this is the perfect site for you....

I always do a lot of research before I buy anything, especially baby/child related.  When I was pregnant with the twins, I had heard a lot of great things about the Dr. Brown's bottles- how they reduce the amount of air swallowed by baby (a.k.a. gas), reduce spit up's, reduce colicky events, etc.  And I'm sure that it did do that for our twins but what it didn't do was save us time because we were washing 5 parts to each bottle!  Besides being in a complete daze from having to wake the twins every 2-3 hours to feed/change/put to sleep for 24 hours a day initially, we were spending our quiet time while the twins were sleeping washing all of the parts to our Dr. Brown's bottles.  My husband and I would literally have an assembly line to wash and rinse each part!  What a waste of our time and yeah we could've just put the parts in the dishwasher but since we were feeding the kids so frequently, we didn't want to buy 12+ bottles to make this work.  ...

Are you afraid of wearing daring, bright colors on your eyes or lips?  Start with baby steps - add a pop of color in one area only.  For example, start by using a colored eyeliner on your top or bottom lash line and set with coordinating eyeshadow.  And then go neutral/natural everywhere else.  Or go with a bright and bold lip color and go natural/neutral on the eyes.  I find that on days that I don't want to do anything special, I add my pop of color by wearing a neutral eye shadow color on my lid (i.e. MAC Shroom, UD Virgin) and add either a sapphire blue or deep purple colored gel eyeliner on my top lash line (these colors look great on brown eyes).  Or you can try a bronze eyeshadow or the Maybelline 24 Hour Color Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze on the lid and line the bottom lash line with a green eyeshadow or liner. Or wear a magenta lip with a neutral eye finished with a brown liner.  Just add a "pop" of colo...

Making fresh, wholesome baby food at home is much easier than you think!  I made my own baby food with all of my kids but I have to be honest and say that I did buy premade baby food for convenience reasons.  And why not?  Store bought baby food has come such a long way - they can be organic, they come in such easy-to-use and portable packaging and most importantly, they taste good (like I-wouldn't-mind-eating-it good).  But making baby food is quite easy, can save you money and requires very few ingredients and appliances.  All you need is fresh/frozen produce (fruits, vegs, yogurt, etc.), a magic bullet type of small blender (or blender) and a microwave or stove top. Making baby food couldn't be any easier - I would typically steam some vegetables and/or fruit (fresh or frozen) in my Pampered Chef steamer with a little bit of water. FYI - don't discard the "steaming liquid", you can use this liquid to adjust the c...

Cooking a healthy meal for your family on any given weekday after a crazy day of work/chauffeuring the kids around from practice to practice/running errands can seem impossible but I have a time saving tip that can help you feed your family a healthy meal and take the stress out of cooking dinner instead of picking up dinner at a fast food drive through.  Start by making your menu list for the week - what do the kids want to eat, what new recipes do you want to try, etc.?  Now that you have your menu list ready, use this list to make your shopping list.  I recommend doing the bulk of your grocery shopping on the weekend with about 1-2 small "pit stops" to the grocery store during the week to pick up any forgotten items and/or to pick up fresh meat/seafood.  Once you get home with your groceries, take the time to wash your produce and start doing some prep work right now to save valuable time during the week.  Take a qu...

My kids love pasta but cooking pasta can take too long, especially when your kids are hungry - like yesterday hungry and can't wait!  I love to freeze cooked pasta and sauces that can be ready to eat in minutes when my kids are hungry.  I make large batches of sauces like fresh marinara or bolognese sauce and freeze them in ice cube trays (that are designated for food only).  Once frozen, I pop them and out and store in a freezer bag.  I also do the same with cooked pasta.  I place my cooked pasta in a large muffin tin (sprayed with cooking spray for quick and easy removal) and freeze.  Once frozen, I pop them into a freezer bag and label it.  That way, whenever I need cooked pasta or sauce, I take out however many frozen cubes as I need and I thaw them out in the microwave and voila - instant and quick meal!  I also do this with soups - I place the cooled soups in small freezer bags and lay them flat on a baking sheet to freeze....

I don't know about the state of your kitchen when you have kids but my kitchen counters looked like a bottle/sippy cup factory exploded in it.  It seemed like every square inch of our counter space was covered with bottles and sippy cup accessories.  A few years ago I read a great article in The Washington Post about other parents of multiples and how they managed their lives through the chaos with kids.  They had some great tips and advice that they shared and I have implemented a few of their tips into my life.  A great tip to help with organization - use over the door pocket plastic or canvas shoe storage units for storing all sorts of things.  We have a pocket storage unit stowed away inside of the door leading to our basement located in our kitchen so it's out of the way.  It's great - our kitchen counters look so much cleaner and we have all of the bottles and sippy cups stored in it and out of sight...

If there is one thing that I hate to do, it's the laundry - especially with 3 kids under 5!  I'm already running 2 majorly large loads each week but that's not the part I hate.  I hate to fold the laundry and put it way.  All too often I end up either pulling clothes out of the basket as we need them or my husband and I fold the clothes but they never get put away.  For me, I just feel too overwhelmed having to fold and/or puttng the clothes in 4 different dressers or hanging them in all of the different closets.  But the one tip that I can offer that I received from another busy working mom is to do a small load of laundry every other day and as you pull the clothes out of the dryer, fold them and then put them away.  It's far less overwhelming to fold and put away a small load of clothes versus a large, overloaded basket of clothes.  I know that you must think that doing a load of laundry is wasteful in terms of electricity and water - make sure you ...