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Ways to Make Your Likelihood of Getting Pregnant Easier

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Pregnancy never seems to happen at a good time. A couple is either trying to conceive for months and months before they have success, or it happens out of the blue to a couple who isn’t even thinking about having children.

getting-pregnant

To those who are having a hard time conceiving, it becomes salt in a wound every time you see that somebody else you know is expecting, especially when it seems like they didn’t even want the baby in the first place. If you’re facing infertility issues, you’ve probably researched a lot of options, but here are some ways to make your likelihood of getting pregnant easier: [Read more…] about Ways to Make Your Likelihood of Getting Pregnant Easier

How And Why To Add New Forms Of Protein Into Your Family’s Diet

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Americans basically get all of the protein they need with the amount of meat they eat on a daily basis. Most of them get far more protein than they actually need. With the rates of obesity and the health issues with certain meats, many people are trying to find different ways to get the protein that they do need.

kids-eating-vegetables

The average adult woman needs about 46 grams of protein a day, while men need 56 grams. It helps to know the size of a serving of meat, when it comes to protein and meat. One serving of meat is about the size of a deck of cards, and contains somewhere around 21 grams. [Read more…] about How And Why To Add New Forms Of Protein Into Your Family’s Diet

Switching Your Children to an Organic Diet

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Every responsible parent wants their children to grow up to be strong and healthy. Unfortunately, many of the food choices offered to children these days leaves much to be desired. Food manufacturing plants load their food products with all kinds of harmful chemicals and other nutritionally deficient ingredients. For this reason, many parents find themselves having to do a lot of research into food manufacturers to figure out which companies produce the best food products, like chicken, to serve their children at mealtime. [Read more…] about Switching Your Children to an Organic Diet

How I Got My 3-Year-Old to Love Veggies

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banh miI grew up liking veggies, simply because my mom started with me and my sister at an early age. I think my tastebuds – not to mention my brain – got used to the idea that veggies were the normal food, as opposed to hotdogs and meat. Now that I have three sons, I have had different experiences with each one.

The eldest is a special child – in all senses of the word – and he will eat anything! In fact, because of his condition, my problem is to make sure he does not eat everything that he sees at the table.

The second is three years old, and for the longest time, he only wanted to eat hotdogs. He also loves noodles, but when he sees any signs of vegetables, he would pick them out and put them aside. [Read more…] about How I Got My 3-Year-Old to Love Veggies

Mix Those Veggies In and Keep it a Secret

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Encouraging kids to eat their veggies can be a real challenge to parents particularly the moms. Some kids can be picky about what they eat. You may succeed in letting them eat healthy while still babies but by the time they become toddlers, their food preference can change.

Kid eating veggies

Don’t worry, though, as there’s a way to let them eat the more healthy foods without letting your kids know that their greens are actually in their meals. An effective way is to sneak those veggies whenever you can.

Here are some fast and easy steps that you can follow.

Grated carrots – When you make burger patties, for instance, you can grate a small piece of carrot and mix them with the ground beef, pork or chicken you’re using. When cooked, they won’t have any clue that carrots bits are in the patty.

You can do this too to make your meatballs and taco meat more nutritious. And you may also mix this beta carotene-rich veggie in your spaghetti.

Shredded zucchini – When making your spaghetti sauce, why not include some shredded zucchini as well.

Oats and flax seed – If you love preparing pancakes, you can include oats and flax seed for added nutrition.

Beans – Research has shown that babies love beans so don’t deprive it to them. In fact, some toddlers love eating plain beans and this can be a good snack for them. Beans are rich in protein, by the way.

Dried fruits – Nutrition experts suggest feeding your little ones with dried fruits instead of the usual fruit snacks that are normally loaded with sugar, fruit juice and corn syrup.

Image via topnews

How to Use Coupons for Baby Products

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Being a mother requires patience and budget management skills. The latter is most important especially when purchasing the family’s basic needs including that of the baby and not go beyond the available budget. It takes practice but it can be done.

Thankfully, there are discount coupons that can be had in many ways today. Apart from the newspapers and magazines, mothers can get them online from various websites. They can also find them from product labels of their favorite grocery items.

Coupons are great to use if you have a tight budget or if you just want to merely try out new products in the market. While some provide discounts on regular prices, the others give away free items without having to purchase a product. Common baby stuff you can get using these tickets are diapers, formula, clothes, gear and magazines.

For diapers, you can get free samples if you request for them or you may register for diaper reward programs. Another option is to subscribe to a company’s mailing list. Some manufacturers have promos that require consumers to collect points or codes which they can later exchange for free coupons, books, gift certificates and toys.
[Read more…] about How to Use Coupons for Baby Products

The Easiest Halloween Dracula Cake Ever

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Vampire Cake
I admit that baking a fancy cake is not my forte. I’m from the school of Mums who make those “it-tastes-yummy-but-doesn’t-look-it” cakes at home. Luckily my sister is a wonderful baker, so when I need something really good I know where to go. The thing is, she doesn’t make this sort of thing – sugar loaded, multi colored characters meant for kids – but more genteel desserts like her to-die-for “Tres Leches” mini cakes, or the german chocolate, richly laden with coconut, a slice of which still sits on my fridge (beckoning) from her Bday lunch.

So to satisfy my little Goth’s request for a Dracula Cake this Halloween, I’ve been on a mission to find the easiest recipe for Dracula cake out there. And here it is (adapted from Piece of Cake Decorating):

Ingredients:

2 10 inch round cakes (to get into the spirit of things, use Red Velvet)
Green, black, yellow/gold and white buttercream icing
4 Tips # 5 – *Ready-made black is better, as mixing your own is extremely difficult!

*** Tip*** If you do not have four #5 tips, do not worry. You will get the same effect using tips #4 or 6. If you do not want to use a tip at all, just cut the end of the piping bag to size. It will work just as well but your lines will not be as tight. This techniques works best for piping the eyes and nose because of their shape.

Directions:

1. Level, tort and fill the cakes. They can be placed on a 12 or 14 inch cake board. In this picture, the cake is placed on a large cake board (in the pic, Pillsbury Pumpkin Sugar Cookies scattered around for added decoration). Ice the cake with your green buttercream icing.

2. Using a toothpick, outline the vampire’s hair. Next, using tip #5 and black buttercream icing, pipe the outline of the hair and fill in with tight lines.

***Tip*** To smooth out the striped effect you get from filling in an outline using a piping bag, simply put a little cornstarch on your finger and gently pat it flat. Most of the cornstarch will fade into the icing but the excess can be brushed away with a decorating brush.

3. Using tip # 5 and yellow icing, pipe the eyes on the cake. Add the pupils using the extra black icing.

4. Using tip # 5 and green icing, pipe the nose. Next, add the mouth and eyebrows with the left over black icing and the teeth (tip #5) with white icing.

As with most cake mixes, do be aware that monosodium glutamate will be used, an additive helps to bring out natural flavors and make it taste better. Despite many reports from amateurs to the contrary, this is a completely safe ingredient to use- as affirmed by the FDA and many other regulators and scientific agencies around the world.

Impromptu Gatherings Made Easy With Recipe Finder

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Recipe Finder Home Page
Recipe Finder Home Page

Some people were born hosts/hostesses, but for others, entertaining at home can be a pain in the butt. For the former group, the logistics of entertaining at home is not a source of concern. For the latter, it can be quite a nightmare. Even more so if the gathering is an out of the blue one. You know, when your partner or kid calls and tells you that they are coming home within a couple of hours, and can you please prepare dinner for their friends as well?

When faced with this situation, you can either go out and get food from a restaurant or hit the kitchen and get cooking. While the first option is always convenient, it can also mean big bucks. If I were you, I’d go for the second option and make sure that you have the right tools to make your impromptu gathering a success. [Read more…] about Impromptu Gatherings Made Easy With Recipe Finder

Buying and Choosing Fruit for Your Kids

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Fruits
Fruits

We all know that fruit is the best thing to give our kids. Luckily my three kids love the stuff, although they have varying tastes (my girl loves pineapple, the boys don’t!). Bananas, apples and oranges are the most popular, and so are mangoes. Just yesterday, even baby Wills joined in by wolfing down half a mango in record time.

I’m not really a fan of frozen or canned fruit, but I do buy those mandarin oranges in plastic containers as my son likes to take it to school. Fresh is the best way to go I say, and organic if you can. If you can’t, make sure to wash the fruit with a natural “fruit and veggie” wash and peel it well.

I have to admit though that if I have to buy fruit at the supermarket, I sometimes have difficulty discerning which fruit is good, which isn’t. Isn’t it annoying when you buy a melon that looks perfectly decent, you open it up and it turns out to be tasteless or worse, sour?

Here’s some good advice I found:

Apples: Look for firmness. Brown or tan “scald” marks don’t affect taste, but soft bruises that are discolored indicate damage.

• Avocados: Available year-round, as they are grown in Florida and California. Choose slightly soft fruit, or if bought unripe, allow three to five days at room temperature to ripen. Refrigeration slows ripening.

• Bananas: Best eaten when yellow with brown speckles. Bananas get damaged below 55 degrees Fahrenheit, so never refrigerate.

• Blueberries: In season from May to September. Look for uniform color and plumpness; avoid oozing berries.

• Grapefruit: This fruit is sold ready-to-eat; avoid fruit that is too soft (a sign of decay). Scratches and spots on the peel don’t usually indicate that anything’s wrong.

• Grapes: Select those with green, pliable stems that the grapes don’t fall off of easily — a sign that the grapes themselves are fresh.

• Kiwi: It’s ripe when it yields to the touch but doesn’t leave indentations.

• Melons: A stem that’s still attached may indicate the fruit isn’t ripe. With cantaloupe, avoid those with an overly yellow color and a soft skin, which indicates overripeness. Sniff for a sweet, pleasing smell. Most cantaloupes require two to four days to ripen at room temperature at home.

• Oranges: Should be heavy, indicating juiciness. Brown mottles on Florida or Texas oranges are common and don’t affect flavor.

• Peaches: In season from May to September. Very hard peaches are unlikely to ripen. Choose freestone varieties for eating.

• Pears: Should be firm but slightly soft. Their color depends on the type: Bartletts should be pale to rich yellow, while Boscs are brownish yellow. Shriveled pears will not ripen.

• Raspberries: Stains on the container may indicate mushy or moldy berries inside. Berries should not have their caps attached.

• Strawberries: In peak supply in May and June. Look for the cap stem still attached, and avoid fruit with white shoulders or large discolored patches.

Photo via plumandjello