Tuesday's Tip of the Week

You've missed these, right?  Here we go....... :)

Our kids LOVE pancakes.  I have to make a double batch each time to make sure we have enough to go around.  Any leftovers have no chance of going bad in the fridge as they are eaten so quickly.  (Yep, Bisquik loves us and we love them.)

So.  Today's tips are all about pancakes.

1.  We always cut the kids' pancakes for them.  The combination of syrup and hair is not one that we enjoy around here, so it just makes our lives a little easier to do this.  However,  that is a LOT of wrist strain to cut up that many pancakes for 4 .5 kids.  (A bit dramatic, but you get the point.)  Kevin came up with the idea of using our pizza cutter.  Only a couple of seconds and the cutting is done!

2.  Leftovers are always nice.  A couple of the kids are even to the point that I will allow them to get certain things out of the fridge by themselves.  Pancakes are one of those things.  To prevent the pancakes from 'sweating' in the re-sealable bag, make sure to let them cool completely.  Using a wire cooling rack will make this an easy task.

3.  Need to reheat the leftovers?  The microwave just leaves them soggy and nasty.  Use the toaster instead!  This warms them (obviously) without them getting soggy.  {I'll spare you a picture of our archaic toaster.  You know what one looks like, right?}

There you have it.  Hope this comes in handy for some of you.  Any other tips?  Feel free to leave them in a comment here or Facebook!

Tuesday's Tip of the Week

Remember the Tip about unfreezing frozen bread?  Well, I'm excited to let you know that it DOES work for hamburger buns too!  Yea!  Just do the same process as was done with the loaf of bread.  (I did separate the them so there was only a single layer.)

Now I can keep a supply in the freezer and spare my husband a stop at the grocery on his way home from work.

Tuesday's Tip of the Week

Good Morning, Y'all!

I don't have a tip for you today, but am asking for tips instead.

Let me explain.

In my mind, very few others are as big a slacker as I am.  Examples?  Right now I have a load in the washing machine that I'm pretty sure I'll have to re-wash, all the bathrooms need a good cleaning and a mop just isn't going to cut it on the kitchen floor this time.  Probably TMI, but it is true.

So, this time around, I'm asking you all to share your cleaning schedules.  Do you have one?  Do you have certain days or even times of the day that you do a specific job?  How do you start supper ahead if things are air/time sensitive?  Are there little secrets to multitasking better with the little ones?

This isn't a pity party.  I feel a bit overwhelmed at times, but I know it is just the stage of life I'm in.  And, quite frankly, most of the time I am my own worst enemy.  Just wanting some good ideas to implement in my life to make things even better in our home life.  Comments would be greatly appreciated this time around.  :) Leave one here or head on over to Facebook and leave one there.

Thanks in advance!

Tuesday's Tip of the Week

Fresh baked bread!  Yum!

Well, this is the closest this family is going to get from me for quiet awhile.

Here's what you do.

Purchase the big package of 12 inch wheat hoagies (6 ct) from Sam's Club.  And freeze them.  Yep.  Just toss those puppies in the freezer.

(I know, I know.  Bread just doesn't taste right or have a good texture after being frozen and then thawed.   Trust me on this one.  I can't stand bread after it has been frozen, but this little trick makes all the difference.) 


Now.  The next meal you need some yummy fresh bread, all you have to do is pull one (or any number) out of your freezer and put it in the oven.  Here's the trick.


Start with a cold oven.  Put your frozen bread in said oven.  Turn it on to 350* to preheat with the frozen bread in the oven.  (My oven takes 6.5 minutes to preheat to this temperature.)

After the temperature is reached, turn the oven off.  You now have two options depending on personal preference.  For a crispier, crunchier crust on the bread, pull the bread out of the oven and slice and serve.  (Just make sure the center is completely thawed.)  Option two is for a softer outside.  To achieve this, after the bread is sliced, wrap it in aluminum foil and put it back in the warm oven.  Pull it back out when ready to sit down and eat.  You can butter or season before or after wrapping it in foil.  (We typically do option two.)


It's that simple.  Really!  I can't tell the difference between bringing it home from the store and eating it right away or thawed.  Makes my life so much easier at meal time and the kids love it!


I've got some hamburger buns in the freezer on which to try this method.  I'll let you know how it works out the next time we have hamburgers.  


Hope this helps you all.  Let me know if you have the same results after trying this little trick.

Tuesday's Tip of the Week

Painting the living room has been my goal this week.  I would love to tell you I'm finished, but I can't.  *sigh*  Just a few too many things to do during the day to be able to focus on painting.  I am working hard to get it presentable to take pictures and post tomorrow.

As a result of trying to do too much, I have a great tip of the week.  Usually,  I am OCD about making sure my painting supplies and tools are cleaned right away.  This last time I made sure the brush was cleaned, but did no more than just set the empty paint tray to the side to fix supper.  Guess what -  I completely forgot about it.  Imagine that!!  {Okay.  Not such a big surprise.}  Such a happy mistake, though!
See......

The absolute easiest clean up I believe I've ever had.  I'm really tempted to do this every time.  Every last bit of paint came out of the tray and I was able to just start anew.

So, if you ever don't have time or just totally forget about cleaning out the paint tray, no worries about the resulting dried latex paint.  There was something almost satisfying/therapeutic about getting to pull all that out, too.

Tuesday's Tip of the Week

I thought I would take some time this morning to post.  It's amazing how much I miss being in Blogland whether posting or just looking around for inspiration.

So.  I've been wanting to add some privacy to the very see-through glass shower stall in our master bath.  All I could really envision was a curtain of some sort. But, that wasn't really practical since I would have to rig something to hold the curtain rod in place.  Yesterday I was able to find some privacy film at Joann's.  I didn't like the price, but I did have a 40% off coupon with me to take the price sting down a bit.  That being said, here are the tips.  (Yep, you get more than one today!)

1.  Use tape to hold the piece of film in place.

Unfortunately, I only have 2 hands so the extra help was needed.

2.  Really wet the glass and the back of the film with water using a fine mist sprayer.  I just used the little water bottle that I have for doing the girls' hair.

3.  Use a credit card (or the like) to help smooth out the air bubbles.

This was easier for me than using a squeegee like the directions suggested.  Plus, just about everyone has a card like this on hand.

I'm happy with the results.  I get the privacy I need and I don't have a curtain in the way to mess with or worry about keeping clean.

One of these days, if I ever get a Silhouette, I might be able to add some embellishments; but, this accomplishes what I need.  (I need to get some paint on the walls, too!)

Tuesday's Tip of the Week

You know the white area on a Ziploc freezer bag?  Always use this area and a good marker to label your food before putting said food in the freezer.

That way you can avoid the frustration of having to remove white rice (which you thought was mozzarella cheese) from your baked spaghetti.  : /

Tuesday's Tip of the Week

Well, now.  Are our flip flops all clean and spiffy?  Is the medicine getting inside the baby instead of just running out the corners of those cute little mouths?  Good!

Our newest tip of the week is for our showers.

I don't know how many of you out there use those body scrubbers (is that the correct terminology?) instead of using a washcloth.  They are a huge hit in our home and I'm all for something that gets the kids excited about getting clean and not just playing in the shower.  A MEGA pet peeve of mine is those puffy balls just laying on the bottom of the tub or hanging off the bath fixtures.  I didn't want hooks, or anything like that, permanently stuck to the shower wall, either.  What to do?  Hang up a Command Hook*.

I seriously thought these would fall down within a week of installation.  They have now been up for about 18 months with no signs of falling!  

Things to keep in mind.  Keep them well out of the water.  Steam hasn't seemed to make a difference, but direct hit with water might.  Let the kids know that the hooks are not there to help them scale the shower wall.  (Seriously had to do that one.)

I just picked up some more Command Hooks the other day to put in the kids' shower.  They love having their own anything, so this will help them to remember to leave the shower area nice and tidy. 

*The link above is for the 3M Command site.  Check it out for other ideas and also for coupons.  :)

Tuesday's Tip of the Week

My baby boy turned 5 months over the weekend.  If that wasn't enough to pull at my heartstrings, he decided to get a little extra attention by getting his first illness this weekend as well.  The fever, congestion and coughing made it necessary for our first sick visit to the pediatrician.  This then led to his first antibiotic.  What a weekend for him!  I am happy to report that he is doing much better now.  Thankfully, he is a happy baby and hasn't stopped smiling through the whole thing.

Our first attempt at administering the medicine was quite the fiasco.  I was just hoping I got half the dose in him since there was so much pink on his face and outfit.  Ever have this happen to you?

Yeah, so many captions could be put with this picture.  Needless to say, he wasn't too thrilled about that dropper going in his mouth. :)

My solution is quick and easy.  Fortunately, he will take a bottle.  So, I grabbed the top of one from our stash, squeezed the medicine from the dropper into that and haven't had any trouble making sure ALL of every dose gets into that little body.

Tuesday's Tip of the Week

With summer coming to an end and school starting in a week, I've been evaluating all the kids' clothing and gear.  Shoes are outgrown quickly around here and are easy things to pass down to the next child if they are still in good shape.  Why buy something new when you can fix or clean up what you already have?  Especially when it's flip-flops.

Here's a great way to bring new life to those little shoes.  Just grab a Scotch-Brite sponge with the green scrubbing stuff on one side,  get the sponge and the flip-flop wet and start scrubbing.  You'll have clean shoes in no time.