2011
Interview with Celebrity Chef G. Garvin – Shares ways to make dinner prep easier!
Interview with Celebrity Chef G. Garvin – Shares ways to make dinner prep easier! Chef G. Garvin’s experience as a great chef and a single father make him a true expert of dinner preparation with kids in tow. Last week I shared some of Chef’s great suggestions of using ground turkey as the base to many different meals. […]
Ragu© Mom’s the Word Talks about Grocery Shopping with Kids! Do you?
Ragu© Mom’s the Word Talks about Grocery Shopping with Kids! Do you? I did it yesterday. I sort of hated it. Alright, it wasn’t the worst thing in the world, but I prefer to keep the occurrences to a minimum. What did I do? I went grocery shopping with my 5 month and 5 year […]
Coca-Cola #FamilyNight with Celebrity Chef G. Garvin, Smarty Pants Mama & more! Giveaways! Tues., 10/11 7-8PM EST
Coca-Cola #FamilyNight with Celebrity Chef G. Garvin, Smarty Pants Mama & more! Giveaways! Tues., 10/11 7-8PM EST Using Sunday afternoon to prep for the week ahead is a Smart Mama strategy! I recently Skyped with Celebrity Chef G. Garvin of Turn Up the Heat with G. Garvin. He shared that being your own sous chef […]
Mad Libs. Yes I can play it! Can you?
Mad Libs. Yes I can play it! Can you? Mad Libs is a childhood favorite. Honestly, it’s an adult one too! Mad Libs asks the player to suggest words to fill in the blanks of a passage. You’re told whether a noun, adjective, verb…must be used and you are clueless as to the topic of […]
Coca-Cola’s Family Game Night – We’re up for it! Are you? w/giveaway
Coca-Cola’s Family Game Night – We’re up for it! Are you? w/giveaway Weekend nights are the best, especially Fridays when we have family night. We eat as a family and then play as a family. We enjoy classic board games, Old Maid or a game invented by my near 5 year old, Isabella, as we […]
eBay Photo Taking Guidelines to Help You be a Successful Seller
eBay Photo Taking Guidelines to Help You be a Successful Seller Our eBay 5 Item Challenge continues! We have ransacked out closets and identified at least 5 still new or gently used items that are ready to find new homes! Now what do we do? At eBay on Location in Orlando I had the opportunity […]
Traveling in Miami – 4 Great Spots to Take the Family
Miami Resident Turns Tourist! When traveling in and around Miami, no need for planes or trains…just automobiles! Have you ever just looked at the tourist map for your metro area and realized the number of tourist destinations residing within an easy drive-able distance from your home? I recently set out to see the sights of Miami. I […]
Ways to Make After School Snacks Healthier!
Ways to Make After School Snacks Healthier! After school snacks can get junky and repetitive. Just as fast as our morning goes, we’re awaiting our kids at the bus stop before half the laundry gets done. Exhausted, yet wired, kids are ready for the afternoon. Hours of soccer, ballet and gymnastics cram our days and […]
iPhone App Marble Jar May Be the Solution to a Crazy Morning
iPhone App Marble Jar May Be the Solution to a Crazy Morning Motivating children to follow directions is a tough one. I learned as a teacher the value of positive reinforcement – rewarding children for positive behavior rather than focusing on the negative. As a Smart Mama I try to remember this strategy when my […]
Balancing the Dinner Budget – Ragu Mom’s the Word on Dinner Asks
Balancing the Dinner Budget – Ragu Mom’s the Word on Dinner Asks Moms An on-the-budget dinner isn’t always so easy. We’ve all done those last minute recipes where we spend an arm and a leg buying the ingredients at full price because our pantry was empty. I’ve learned, the hard way I might add, the […]
eBay 5 Item Challenge – How to identify items in your closet to sell online!
eBay is the online marketplace to sell your clothes! It’s the store you’ve always wanted that is simply waiting for you to add your inventory! The eBay 5 Item Challenge I’ve challenged you to enter your closet and pull out 5 items that can make you some money. Our closets are typically full – full of items […]
EBAY On Location – Asking the Questions with #ebayparent panel!
eBay On Location has provided an abundance of information to empower you and me to be profitable eBay Smart Mamas! I am here with the eBay Parent Panel learning exactly how to make it possible! Right now I’m sitting in a session titled Listing Makeover! I just learned how photo size, clothing measurements and more […]
When School Ends, the Day Just Begins, Guest Post by Alexis, The Exhausted Mom
Today I welcome Alexis Prieto, the infamous Exhausted Mom, to share how she manages her exhausting life! She’s a mom we can all relate to, and her posts always make me feel less stressed when I see how she manages with kids, work and a traveling spouse! If Alexis can do it, so can I! […]
Rock ‘N Learn Videos are Excellent Tools for Back to School Learning
Reading, writing and arithmetic. That’s the focus. Homeschooling, back to school or even just entertainment in the car DVD player – moms are searching for fun ways to educate their children. What can YOU do to support your pre-school or elementary aged children as they embark on a new school year? It’s important to keep it […]
421K Germs Linger at the Bottom of Your Shoe Soles! What to do?
The Asian tradition to remove shoes before entering a home is centuries old. The muddy streets of Japan long ago, made it necessary for the shoe removal, to prevent the grime of the street to enter their homes. Although streets are now paved in most of Asia, the tradition is set within their cultural norms. […]
Back to School Time – 5 Ways to Make Your Morning Run Smoothly
On your mark. Get set. GO! Back to school time is here! Some of us have started. Some are anxiously waiting. Regardless, we all spend these weeks transitioning into the new school time schedule. It’s nerve-racking, but being a Smart Mama can increase your chances of a successful morning! Here are 5 ways you can […]
A Marco Island Vacation is an Ideal Family Travel Destination
This year’s summer family trip was a Marco Island vacation. This island sits less than 2 hours west of Miami, just south of Naples. Traveling to Florida, with the exception of Disney, is slow season during the summer months. Intense heat and possibility of hurricanes makes it not always ideal when traveling. However, slow season […]
Smart Food: Potluck of Produce, Chili Vegetable Ragout
Fresh local produce is something a Smart Mama LOVES! I’m sure you all agree! Whether you’re at a local farmer’s market, partake in a farm-share or have a great produce department at your grocery store, the freshness of good produce is something we all want for our families. My near 5 year old has developed […]
Smart Home: Fooz Kids and it’s valuable Parental Dashboard!
Thank you to Fooz Kids for providing me with an All-In-One pack to review. The opinions I’ve expressed here are solely my own and represent my honest viewpoint. It’s not often that you find a keeper. I’ve come across one that is most certainly a keeper for all parents, especially as we’re gearing up for […]
Smart Home: 5 Clothing Piece Dare and the ebay Parent Panel
I dare you. I dare you to go into your child’s closet, or better yet your own, and find 5 pieces of clothing that either still have tags on them or essentially are brand new. I’m thinking of those items that you bought and NEVER wore. Maybe they were never worn because of style changes, […]
Smart Food: Slow-Cooked Chicken Wine and Tomato
Another great slow-cooker YUMMY recipe for back to school days! I adapted this recipe from EatingWell.com. It tastes great with a serving of brown rice and salad. My daughter, the picky eater, LOVED it. The chicken comes out moist, which is a challenge for many of us when making chicken. Leftovers taste great, too. I […]
Smart Food: Pot Roast, a Back to School Favorite
As we get ready for the crazy back to school schedule, we need to stack our decks. We need to have plans in place to increase our chance of success. The slow cooker is a busy Smart Mama’s friend! It can be the sous chef that we have always longed for. Dedicating often less than […]
Cleaning the Remote Control, Why and How!
Up to 70 percent of remote controls are coated with illness-causing germs and an estimated one in five of these bugs are dangerous, drug-resistant strains, say University of Arizona researchers. – iVillage.com What would you rather lick: a toilet bowl handle, bathroom door handle or a remote control? Sorry to tell you, but the remote […]
Smart Home: Back to School, Shop for Layers!
Yes, it’s back to school time and I’m ecstatic – and it isn’t just because of the time I’ll get back during the day to get things done! Back to school means autumn is soon! It’s my favorite season! Shopping these last weeks of summer for the coming months can be overwhelming, especially without
Bed Time for Kids Getting Ready for School
How & when do you establish bed time for kids getting ready for school? We start at minimum a full week before the 1st day of school. Tomorrow is the big day. The day I’ve been waiting for. I can’t believe it’s actually here. Am I ready? Are they ready? What is the big day […]
