Smart Resolution

We all want a deal.  We never want to pay full price… for anything.  Deal seeking and coupon redeeming is a must for a Smart Mama who wants to save a dollar and keep her family on budget. 
I have found daily deal sites like Groupon, LivingSocial, DailyDeals, MyCotorra and the like, to be fantastic.  Great deals on great RANDOM attractions, events and goods are always in abundance.  Two years in a row I’ve taken advantage of a phenomenal golf lesson package for my husband that I purchased on Living Social.  He loves it!
I also use the Entertainment book for even more.  It has been relied on for over 50 years, making it one of the most trusted savings books for families.  Its corresponding website, Entertainment.com, makes the deals easily accessible, without the need of the book.  Both the book and subscription-based website have equally great deals and coupons, …

Today’s post is brought to us by Amanda Dufau, a first-generation Cuban-American, was was born and raised in Miami. Her blog, Brandon’s Puppy, chronicles life with her husband and two boys. She can also be reached via Twitter @MandersD22  I hope you are as inspired by her commitment to lead a healthier lifestyle! I am! 
Last Spring, I took up running. I’ve never been a “runner”, but a friend coaxed me to go ahead and try it. He was so sure that I’d take to it, even like it, that he told me I’d end up running a Half Marathon with him. I figured I had nothing to lose, so I gave it a shot.
At first, I was gasping for air after two blocks. I thought to myself, “There’s no way I’m signing up for a Half”. I’d be out for about 4 minutes, …

Today I write a short message to you as I hope you will quickly read and act!  The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) forcing internet censorship is currently being reviewed by congress.  This act, while with great intention of ending piracy, oversteps the government’s bounds.
“Law-abiding U.S. internet companies would have to monitor everything users link to or upload or face the risk of time-consuming litigation.” – Google
Sites such as Wikipedia, YouTube would be the 1st to bid farewell.

The Hormel Extended Blogger Family program has inspired me to share my New Year’s resolution progress!  I’m eager to hear about your’s!
We are half way through the 1st month of the year.  How are you doing on your New Year’s resolutions!? Be honest!  This is a fantastic time to reflect on your accomplishments and rework how you will meet the resolutions that may have been a bit more difficult to stick with.

I pat myself on the back for a job well done with:

Eating healthier!
Drinking more water!
Picking up the house more often!
Saying HI to more people!
Drinking green tea daily!

 
Still Need to Work On

Exercising 3xs a week!
Cleaning up my desk every few days! (You don’t even want to look at it now!)
Going to bed earlier! (Let’s just say I watched part of the end of Letterman last night!)
Getting up earlier! (Woops, forgot to set the alarm this morning! Thankful for …

Smart Mamas use Pinterest because, well, they can’t remember it all.  Pinterest mixes a Smart Mama’s desire for organization and creativity and throws in whole bunch of useful technology.
Pinterest can be easily used by Smart Mamas.  There is so much there to help them.  Let’s start off with the basic…
What is Pinterest?
The best way to describe Pinterest is as a digital scrapbook, file folder or corkboard with added tech practicality.  Think of the way you have traditionally stored those magazine/newspaper rip-outs of recipes, playroom idea photos, fashion styles and more.  You would “organize” it in folders, on a cork board, in a box….now with advent of Pinterest, the same great info and photos you find in today’s media – the internet – is nicely organized for you to easily access and share with others. We now digitally “pin” rather …

Knowing how to maximize savings at a wholesale club is your task today!  Wholesale clubs, especially BJ’s, offer Smart Mamas a variety of “extras” that aren’t always seen at traditional grocery stores.  A visit to a local BJ’s Wholesale last month, including a tour from a representative of the club, taught me SO much about the great benefits that often go unnoticed by moms.  Here are 5 things I believe Smart Mamas need to know:

Multiple Coupons!  If you are purchasing a 3-pack of toothpaste you can use 3 manufacturer’s coupons – one for each pack!  Plus, if BJ’s has also included a coupon for that toothpaste pack in their coupon book (found in-store, sent home or available online,) that may also be used in conjunction with the manufacturer’s coupon!
Propane! Cheap propane gas!  Gassing up for the grilling season?  Did you know that BJ’s is often the cheapest …

Get out there and DO IT!  I woke up this morning feeling determined.  I wanted to get something done off my list.  I have stared at a

huge list in my Cozi calendar FOR-E-VER! This to-do list can’t even be called my New Year’s resolution list, but I have renamed it that for the sake of getting some motivation to actually get it done.
There are simple things on the list, like reorganzing the “crap corner” that originally was a nice pile of my older daughter’s school work, or getting to the bank and opening a bank account for the baby.  All things on the list would not take much time at all, yet all the list did in 2011 is grow.  Well, this morning it is no longer growing.
I got 6 things DONE off the list!  You honestly don’t understand how good it feels.  From a trip to the bank, …

In our quest to live healthier lives in 2012, a good, new recipe is always needed.
This is a 20 minute meal that’s so healthy, easy & delicious you’ll want to make it once a week. Because I use thin sliced chicken breast and tent my dish, this meal takes just 20 minutes and is delicious every single time. I love a little extra lemon so sometimes I add a little more to the recipe but feel free to put your spin on this recipe to call it your own.
Ingredients: 
Chicken (4 or 5 thin sliced breasts)
Lemons (3)
Capers (1/4 cup)
Sea Salt (to taste)
Fresh Ground Pepper (to taste)
Heat your oven to 425 F. Arrange your thin sliced chicken breast in a medium baking dish. Cut two lemons into 1/4 inch slices and completely cover your chicken breast. Squeeze the juice of one lemon over your chicken and lemon slices. Don’t worry about the pulp, it …

A deck of cards, palm of your hand, length of your pinky… we use visualizations to help us with our portion control.  It helps, but it’s not full proof!
#SmartMamaLUTION – Adhere to your portion control by adjusting how you serve the meal.
I recently made meatloaf in 4 mini-loaf pans.  Each meatloaf was the precise serving size that I should eat.  There was no temptation to cut a wider piece or have one more slice.  I bought the loaf pans at Publix for cheap.  Next I want to buy ceramic ones that I can use over and over again!

Later in the week I served dinner in a pepper!  Following a recipe from the Eating Well magazine, I stuffed red and green peppers with a ground beef mixture and it was delicious!  We even got to eat the “bowl!”  My daughter LOVED this!  Peppers are one of “her veggies,” so I thought …

#SmartMamaLUTION 6:  3 Easy Ways to Maximize Every Last Drop of Detergent
Pour detergent into the cap.
Pour detergent into washing machine.
Now what do you do with the detergent that remains in the cap?  I have 3 simple Smart Mama solutions that will help you maximize the liquid laundry detergent that remains in the measuring cap:

Drop the cap into washer and let it run the cycle.  The remaining detergent film will quickly become part of the soap solution. Be sure to remove the cap before transferring the clothes into the dryer!
Use a sock from the laundry pile or any piece of dirty clothing to wipe out the cap.  Throw item into wash.
Forget the cap, eyeball the amount of detergent you need and pour it directly into the washer.

These solutions will leave the cap clean and prevent detergent goo in your laundry room.
Share!
Is there …

Guest Poster: Joanne Palumbo of Homestyling101!
I am so excited to be a part of the SmartyMamaLUTION, partly because I love SmartyPantsMama and partly because I personally need a little motivation to get my own resolutions underway! Today I am going to help you tackle that dreaded playroom- which, if it is anything like my home, probably looks like an explosion of Walmart, Target and Toys R Us after this holiday insanity! So here is some advice on how to restore order to the chaos and how to find room for the new toys that just entered the already over-filled playroom.
Step 1
Remove children from the room. I joke about this but in truth, I can NEVER really clean up my kid’s toys with them anywhere in ear shot. Otherwise I hear “I love that toy!”….”I got that when I was 2….it is so special” to which I can’t really …

What’s for dinner?  We all have a handful of recipes that we go to when making that decision.  Great recipes, but with this New Year let’s broaden our recipe collection and even more importantly REMEMBER and REUSE the those healthier ones the kids seem to like!
Here a solution to the resolution to help you keep the dinner planning less stressful and healthier this year:

Create a What’s for Dinner? board.  This board displays the dinner menu for the week. It is placed in an obvious place in your kitchen area where everyone, especially you, sees it.  The menu board holds an array of menu items, tucked into a pocket.  These menu items are the tried and true meals that you know your kids will eat. It also has blank ones for new menu items to be added when you successfully get them to try something new!
The Planning

Each Sunday, together with the …

Keep your home a Smart CLEAN Home this New Year!  Microwaves are common household appliances and often get more use than a traditional oven.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 90% of American households have one!  The appliance was invented in 1946 by Percy Spencer whose 1st “microwaved” food was melting chocolate!  Yummy!  Nowadays we use it for far more than melting chocolate.  We cook, warm, reheat and defrost foods on a regular basis.  It’s our go-to appliance, therefore it’s probably the appliance getting the dirtiest the quickest!

Keeping that, often most important appliance, clean can be a challenge.  Cleaning your microwave should include NO chemicals.  Have you ever cleaned it with an all-purpose cleaner to then smell it’s chemical cleaner scent for many uses thereafter as the remaining cleaner burns in the appliance? Yuck!
Clean It!
Here’s a quick way to stick to that resolution –keep your microwave …

To be more organized is a common New Year’s resolution.  Organization is a key component to Smart Mama-hood!  Let’s take on this #SmartMamaLUTION by creating an inexpensive organizational container for the Christmas ornaments that will inevitably be put away within the next 10 days.
This ornament box was inspired by a beautiful ornament box I saw in a recent Ballard Designs catalog.  I fell in love with the concept but not with the price.  Even at Target, a similar ornament box runs for about $20.  I knew that there had to be a way to store the ornaments in such an organized manner as seen in both the catalog and in the store, but at a much more affordable, smarter price.
To make the shirt box ornament box you’ll need:

2 shirt boxes.  These boxes are typically on clearance this time of year.  The heavier/stronger the box the better.  One box will be …

New Year’s #SmartMamaLUTION 1: You will be a Smart Mama by preserving memories with your family.
We tend to remember the important days each year, like birthdays, holidays and even the 1st day of school.  But do you remember what you did last year on March 3rd?  or November 17? or the specific date your daughter found out she get an A+ on her science project?  I don’t.  But I want to.  I want to have those moments sitting on the couch with my kids and husband, looking back like you do with a scrapbook, and reminiscing about the events of year’s past.

Today’s SmartMamaLUTION is to make a memory box to jot down a blurb each day of something that’s memorable.  This 10 minute task will require:

few packs of index cards – you’ll need 366 cards
box no larger than a kids shoebox – I got …

Can you believe it’s already 2012?
Excuses are being thrown out the window!  We now need to take 2012 and make it the very best we can.  What we put into it will have a direct effect on what we get out of it.  Yes, time to throw away those remaining Christmas cookies if a healthier lifestyle is in your resolution list!
You have your personal resolutions that I welcome you to share here.  I have one’s too!  I also have a New Year’s resolution for my Smarty Pants Mama community! I have made the resolution to provide you with achievable tasks each day to make you SMARTER MAMAS – smarter in your health, in your home life and your family!
Tomorrow I will present the 1st task!  Curious as to what it is?  I bet you are!  Here’s a few hints: I was inspired at Pinterest!  It is something that your …

Oh yes, February Resolution: Organization continues!!!! Another kitchen drawer was tackled! This is the infamous junk drawer. I know you have one too! It has everything imaginable. I found 2 screwdrivers, an emery board, dozen of pens, markers, crayons, expired coupons, paper clips and 7 phone/USB type cords! I even found a Mexican peso! Well THANK YOU to the inventor of Ziploc, because that’s what saved me with this challenge! I organized the “junk” into 5 different categories and viola the drawer is organized. I also tossed sooooo much! It felt soooo good! Only one more drawer to go!!!!

BEFORE:

AFTER:
I know I’m not the only Smart Mama out there with drawers in need of a little reorganization!!! Who’s on my team?!?!?!?

Yes, the February Resolution: Organization continues! I’ve been focusing on my crazy kitchen drawers, you may have noticed. Here’s another random drawer, full of measuring cups, spoons and other nonsense. The after picture doesn’t really give my honest organization justice though!BEFORE
AFTER

February Resolution: Organization #2
This is the drawer right next to the cutlery. It holds larger serving ware and lots of other miscellaneous stuff. One challenge I had was to incorporate the stuff from the cutlery drawer that I took out yesterday! I also found a ridiculous number of chopsticks from PF Changs to Asian Station, our decent Chineese/Japaneese delivery! I opted to put the chopsticks in Isa’s arts and crafts bin since I don’t see us using 15 sets of chopsticks in the near future!
Before….

After….

Patting my back!!!! Now I need to start thinking of the next nook!!! Will it be nightstand drawer or the linen closet…I’ll take a suggestion because honestly, I don’t want to do either! =)

I’ve made a resolution with myself – I guess I can’t call it a New Year’s resolution since I really didn’t start it until February. We can call it the February resolution – the February Resolution: Organization!

I have nooks and crannies around the house, some larger than others, that are in desperate need of organization. Some are drawers, closets, under beds, pantries and the like. I’m taking a guess that I’m not the only Smart Mama with this going on! Well, I hereby promise to clean/organize a nook every day. The nooks will vary in size, from one shelf in the pantry to my daughter’s closet (I made need extra help here!) My daily clean out will range in time to complete – with areas like my medicine cabinet just minutes and the garage, well I won’t even go there yet!

February Resolution: Organization – Day 1 – My Cutlery Drawer
Before…. …