Slow Down

Sure, we may not be able to really do a lot about our everyday schedule, but there’s usually a way to find a few minutes for ourselves somewhere in there. If you can, just set aside a few minutes to do something that’s quiet and helps you remove yourself from the busy-ness of the day.

What Refreshes You?

We all have a few things that truly can bring us relaxation and refreshment quickly, but we each need to decide what that is for us. Whether it’s drinking your favorite mocha, reading a bit of that novel that’s been sitting on the shelf for a few months, taking a long shower or even a few minutes for a bath or a pedicure, find that thing that just makes you go “Aaaaahhh”! The possibilities are endless.

Breathe

When my kids get upset or anxious the number one thing I tell them to do is take a deep breath. It almost always works, helps soothe them and helps them calm down. Adults often forget to breathe! Who has time?

Well, do it! Yoga is a great way to learn to breathe again, it is so relaxing! But, even taking a few minutes to just focus on breathing… steady and even… helps bring the right amount of oxygen to the brain (and the whole body) which makes you feel so much better!

1Hour Break™ is a natural spray for stress, anxiety,or insomnia. 1Hour Break™  combines 5 herbal extracts  to help calm your mind and body. It’s ½ OZ spray bottle contains up to 15 servings, and can help calm overactive minds, allowing you to relax and get the deep rest of R.E.M sleep. When take during the day, 1HourBreak™ does not interfere with mental sharpness or clarity. 1Hour Break™ is vegetarian, gluten free, kosher certified, and proudly made in the USA.

And now, for a limited time, you can get a free sample of by visiting 1HourBreak on Facebook and clicking on the “welcome” tab.  You can also save 50% off 1Hour Break™ through Amazon.com. Enter promo code “mom50off”. Limited time offer available while supplies last.

One lucky reader is going to win a free full size bottle of 1HourBreak!  Here’s how you can win…

Each of the following is 1 entry.  Please leave a separate comment for each entry.  This contest will end Monday, February 20, 2012 at 11:59 pm EST.  A winner will be chosen and announced by Wednesday, February 22, 2012

• Visit www.1hourbreak.com and tell us something you learned about the product.
• Like 1HourBreak on Facebook.
• Like A Frog in My Soup on Facebook.
• Tell us one anti-stress/relaxation tip that works for you.

Giveaway is open for US residents and is void where prohibited.

Good luck and happy entering!! Thanks to 1HourBreak for Sponsoring this post and giveaway!

Image from fotolia.com

General health and the need to lose some weight has had me focusing a bit more this year on finding ways to work out more consistently so I recently joined the MapMyFitness Quaker Challenge.

The basic goal with this great program is to work out 15 times in 30 days, which is totally doable (yay). I plan to do more, but what’s great about this is that I can still deal with the unexpected in daily life as a parent (illness, events, etc) but be able to easily reach that goal.

This program is totally free (though they do have some premium membership options that are completely up to you) and simple to use. Just map your workouts as you go to track your progress. Be sure to hop on over to sign yourself up today and get started toward better health!

Joining the MapMyFitness Quaker Challenge is my first step towards becoming healthier. It’s your turn to join the conversation and tell me what motivates you to stay healthy?

For your chance to win $750 complete these two steps:

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Quaker Oats Company. The opinions and text are all mine. Official Sweepstakes Rules.

If you’re a little daunted by the idea of making fondue for your family, don’t be! You don’t have to have a fancy 1970′s fondue set, a crockpot (or three in my case) and bamboo skewers work perfectly well.

Note that this recipe is only for 2 servings so be prepared to adjust accordingly. Also, I know that the recipe calls for heavy cream, but you can totally substitute in a healthy non-fat yogurt.

I recommend bananas, strawberries, graham crackers, pound cake, angel food cake and any other fruit that can be portioned well for dipping and tastes great with chocolate.

Chocolate Fondue – Eating Well

From EatingWell: January/February 2008
The chocolate will stiffen if it gets cold, so enjoy it while it’s still warm. Skewer and dip anything you like—pear slices, dried apricots, even marshmallows.

2 servings | Active Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon brewed espresso, (see Kitchen Tip)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
1 banana, peeled and cut into 8 pieces
8 1-inch chunks fresh pineapple
4 strawberries

Preparation

Place chocolate, cream, espresso, vanilla and salt in a medium microwave-safe bowl; microwave on Medium, stirring every 20 seconds, until melted, 1 to 2 minutes. (Alternatively, see “No Microwave?” below.)
Pour the chocolate mixture into a serving bowl. Serve with fruit.
Nutrition

Per serving : 345 Calories; 19 g Fat; 10 g Sat; 2 g Mono; 20 mg Cholesterol; 54 g Carbohydrates; 4 g Protein; 7 g Fiber; 81 mg Sodium; 382 mg Potassium

3 Carbohydrate Serving

Exchanges: 2 fruit, 1 carbohydrate (other), 4 fat

Tips & Notes

Make Ahead Tip: Equipment: Fondue forks or bamboo skewers
Kitchen Tip: If you don’t have an espresso maker, look for instant espresso powder at your supermarket.
No Microwave? Place chopped chocolate in the top of a double boiler over hot, but not boiling water. Gently stir until almost melted. Remove from the heat and stir until the chocolate melts completely.

Image from Eating Well Chocolate Fondue page

For me, keeping it yummy and simple is always the biggest factor in any game-day menu. Here’s a few tips to make preparation even simpler.

Use a Crockpot.

This is absolutely mandatory around here. In fact, crock pots are so useful for holidays and game day we went out and bought a great unit that has three crock pots in it. They are attractive, convenient and one pot does it all from cooking, to keeping warm and serving. 

Plan Ahead

Don’t get too very extravagant, you’d be surprised just how amazing things can turn out with just a little prep and a few ingredients. By planning ahead you don’t have to worry about missing ingredients or last minute trips to the store. Keep in mind there’s almost always a simple way to improvise if you do end up forgetting something.

Keep it Simple

When you’re entertaining a crowd all too often as the hostess we get way too caught up in wanting it to be fancy and impressive. On game-day this is absolutely not necessary! Break out the everyday dishes, the simpler the better actually as game-day tends to be casual and messy. Keep it as simple as possible for not only serving and eating, but for clean up as well!

Now it’s your turn! Join the conversation and tell me what tips you have for hosting a successful party for friends and family for the Big Game and be entered to win a 42” LG flat Screen TV!

Looking for some snack ideas? Tyson Any’tizers are a great snack that satisfies your kids on game day or any day! 

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Tyson Any’Tizers.  The opinions expressed by me do not necessarily reflect the view of the Tyson Any’Tizers Brand. Official Sweepstakes Rules

There are many mornings where making a full breakfast just doesn’t work well so it’s great to have something quick to grab. Also, the hungries hit the boys frequently throughout the day and I love knowing I have something healthy to give them that will fill them up and really feed their bodies well.

So, as I was looking around online I stumbled upon eatbetteramerica.com and their wonderful Healthified Oatmeal Peanut Butter Breakfast Cookies (quite a mouthful in so many ways lol). Everything about this recipe I love! It uses natural peanut butter (you should always use the unsalted unsweetened type anyway, it doesn’t take long for the family to get used to it I promise) and honey. There’s NO white sugar in this recipe, what an amazing healthful treat for your family!

Healthified Oatmeal Peanut Butter Breakfast Cookies

from eatbetteramerica.com

Ingredients

Nonstick cooking spray
1/2 cup mashed banana (about 1 large)
1/2 cup chunky natural peanut butter (unsalted and unsweetened)
1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup Gold Medal® whole wheat flour
1/4 cup nonfat dry milk powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup dried cranberries or raisins

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly coat two cookie sheets with cooking spray; set aside. In a large bowl, stir together banana, peanut butter, honey, and vanilla. In a small bowl, combine oats, flour, milk powder, cinnamon, and baking soda. Stir the oat mixture into the banana mixture until combined. Stir in dried cranberries.
2. Using a ¼-cup measure, drop mounds of dough 3 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets. With a thin metal or small plastic spatula dipped in water, flatten and spread each mound of dough to a 2¾-inch round, about ½ inch thick.
3. Bake, one sheet at a time, for 14 to 16 minutes or until browned. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Store in an airtight container or resealable plastic bag for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 2 months; thaw before serving.

Nutritional Information
1 Serving: Calories 220 (Calories from Fat 60); Total Fat 7g (Saturated Fat 1g, Trans Fat 0g); Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium 35mg; Total Carbohydrate 38g (Dietary Fiber 4g, Sugars 22g); Protein 6g Percent Daily Value*: Vitamin A 2%; Vitamin C 2%; Calcium 4%; Iron 8% Exchanges: 2 Starch; 1/2 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Vegetable; 1 Fat Carbohydrate Choices: 2 1/2
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Image ©JJAVA – fotolia.com

Of course, in my home there’s always a lot of clutter, but finding clever and convenient storage solutions can be the perfect answer for keeping things running smoothly when seasons change. This doesn’t have to be expensive, sure it can be, but there are ways to keep it down to a minimum.

Buy them all the same!

Try to buy the same containers for storing seasonal items. These containers can be different for each season but making sure you’re buying the same ones makes them simple to stack, find and label.

Shop Sales

Right after Christmas is usually the perfect time to shop for storage as most stores have big sales on it. Sure, some of them may be red and green big plastic containers but those are perfect for storing all your winter and Christmas stuff and you’ll always know what boxes to look in for that time of year! Even snow suits, winter clothing, boots, etc are perfect for storing in these containers.

Label Well

Label all your containers with not only the season, but the basic contents. For Christmas/winter stuff I’d typically have one box for lights, another for ornaments/stockings and another for winter clothes. You get the idea.

Plan Ahead

Make an area in your home or garage or basement that’s just for storage. Take time to find that one spot that’s not damp or wet, but isn’t used much. Keep in mind that it does NOT have to be a large area. I would venture to say that for seasonal storage you really don’t need more than a 6ft x 6ft area to fit all four seasons.

This is a great time to get rid of any lights that don’t work or clothes that are worn out, too small or won’t be used again! Fill your boxes and stack them all together by season. The great thing about doing it this way is that it doesn’t take long at all and everything is going to be so very easy to find next year when you need it.

Now I’m off to find that pesky Valentine’s Day table runner I didn’t put away last year !

This post was brought to you by Uncle Bob’s storage company! All opinions and content is entirely mine you can see my full disclosure policy here. 

Keeping my boys looking decent, preferably with no holes in their shoes (sadly I discovered one of them needs a new pair just this morning), and allowing myself the occasional “indulgence” of fun clothes or shoes requires a little patience and a lot of perseverance.

Here’s some great tips for huge discounts when shopping on a budget for your family!

This post is brought to you by Macy’s, my favorite shoes for girls.

Know Your Store

Most of us have a few select stores we shop at a lot. Then there are the ones we visit a little less frequently for specific items. The biggest tip I have is to get familiar with the patterns of the store you frequent most.

The one I shop at almost always has a percentage off of their clearance items. I know that they will have about two weeks each year where there is no extra discount on the clearance products, every other part of the year they will be anywhere from 40% to 60% off the clearance price. Point is, there’s a pattern to their discounts and there are many stores that do the same so plan ahead for those biggest savings weeks and try to do most of your bulk shopping then.

Shop the Clearance Rack

Yes, usually you will find mostly “off-season” items, but if your store has a clearance section (mine always does though they do move it occasionally) frequent it and think ahead to what your family may need soon. My store usually has deeper discounts off the clearance items, so as mentioned before I tend to try and do even more shopping then.

Always Be Prepared

Always know your children’s clothing and shoe sizes and what they are currently in need of (or will be soon) when visiting the store. You want to be prepared to shop for any of them at any given time based on what is actually available for a great deal in the store (I love getting $50 shoes for under $20).

Be Flexible

Here’s a tip that can be a little challenging for some people. Know what you or your children need, but if you go to the store with a particular brand or exact style in mind you will usually be disappointed and pay far more than you need to. I have the benefit of shopping at a store that carries some great brand name clothing, that said though, they are not always going to have one brand on sale. If you do have a specific brand in mind, just wait to see if they go on sale another month.

Look for a Return Policy

Did you know that there are some stores that have a return policy for children’s clothing that covers them if they get holes in the knees or if they outgrow them too soon? For some people this is a great way to shop!

Look for Coupons

Another great tip is to shop with a coupon. A lot of stores will have their own “bucks” to earn and use which is a great way to get a discount. Other stores will have sales and sometimes they will even have those sales in conjunction with a coupon in their weekly ad or in the mail…. look for these, they are so great!

Online vs. Offline

Honestly this is a matter of personal preference. There are tons of amazing deals to be found both ways! I talked primarily today about physically going to a store to shop, but that doesn’t mean that even better deals can’t be found online, it’s simply a little different technique to find the best deals and we will cover that another time!

Have a tip of your own? We’d love to hear it! Just leave a comment and tell us your best frugal shopping tip!

Disclosure: This post was brought to you by and written by me on behalf of Macy’s, my favorite shoes for girls. 

It’s no secret that things are often chaotic in our teeny tiny house filled with 6 growing busy boys. There are few that don’t immediately question my state of sanity the moment they find out how many children I have. It amuses me when I can just see them trying to imagine what would transpire if they were to spend several hours cooped up in a little room with said number of boys. But I digress…

The age difference from my 16 year old down to the 5 year old twins seems monumental right now. The idea that I have to be able to smoothly transition in the course of a millisecond from “don’t break that” and “what on earth are you doing up there?” to worrying about the cost of adding the 16 year old to our insurance (can you hear me scream?), and talk to him about his future is all likely to happen in the course of a normal moment for me.

I have children in three different schools. For the first time ever all 6 of my sons are attending school, though the Twinks only have morning Kindergarten. The few hours that they are at school should feel like a time to breathe and rebuild, but I end up spending so much of that time tackling Mount Laundry, picking up, running errands and generally recovering from the whirlwind that is 6 boys, the time is gone before I have even taken a single breath.

I could go on and on… but I think you get the idea here. This may not be everyday life for the next mom, but the point is that I have spent the last several years simply surviving, and lately I’ve been trying to take a step back and evaluate whatever I can to help move past mere survival. As a mother, as a woman, as a wife, as a human being I want to be happy and healthy, even in my present circumstances!

I can’t tell you how many times I have not only thought that I am alone in feeling overwhelmed, but that I am a horribly incompetent parent because I can’t always just roll with every single spontaneous and unexpected thing that is thrown my way. Admittedly, I do have a few more than the average number of children, but I have discovered that so many other moms feel exactly the same way I do. We share the same or similar struggles, frustrations, feeling overwhelmed and so much more.

This year, the theme at A Frog In My Soup is Healthy Family, but that means taking a look at each individual part of that family to make sure that they are healthy in more than the physical sense.  Over the next few weeks I’ll be taking a deeper look at motherhood and I have a few thoughts on the demystification of certain aspects of motherhood. There are no perfect parents, but we can all be capable and equipped parents that still make mistakes.

Today, I want any mom who feels overwhelmed to know that you are not alone. We all experience it at one point or another, it’s how we face it that makes the difference.

Deal Alert! For an amazing deal on this software, just visit MyMemories.com and enter the code: STMMMS65638 to get $10 off the My Memories Suite Software or $10 off in the store! Also check out the end of this post for a great giveaway!

If you have been looking for a digital scrapbooking software whether you’re a beginner or have been doing it for awhile you’ll definitely want to check out the features My Memories Suite has to offer! A software that is completely created just for scrapbooking and that allows you to create beautiful pages with just a few clicks of a button.

The pre-installed albums are great for those who really just want a pretty page without having to build it from scratch. The photo templates are amazing for those who want to build the elements portions but want a great layout. Or, if you just want to build a page from the ground up, you can totally do that too.

Purchasing the kits, templates and other items offered in their store is definitely the easiest way to go! From calendar templates and quickpages, to albums and digital scrapbooking kits you are totally covered and they are extremely affordable. There’s even a lot of freebies and great sales and dollar items.

If you have digi-scrap kits already on hand that you’d like to use with the program, you can totally do that too. Although the process takes a few more steps to have the kits at your fingertips, if you love working with this program it will totally be worth it.

Who should buy it? I recommend this software for beginner to intermediate digi-scrappers! I recommend advanced users to check out the software before buying as you may find your collection of kits bogs the program down a little too much and the inability to switch out elements on the fly may be frustrating.

Win it!

That’s right, My Memories is offering you the chance to win My Memories Suite software right here at A Frog In My Soup (value $39.97)! 

How to Enter: There are many ways to enter (and we couldn’t have made it more simple, just check out the bar at the bottom of your screen to do most of the entry options without even leaving the site)! Just make sure you leave a NEW comment for each new entry!

• Tell me why you would like to win My Memories Suite for yourself!
• Visit MyMemories.com and tell me what kit is your favorite.
• Fan Us: Become a Facebook Fan of A Frog In My Soup!!!
• Follow A Frog In My Soup on Twitter
• Tweet It: Just tweet this giveaway with a link to this post and make sure your comment has your twitter handle in it.
• Blog It: Write a post about this giveaway (with a link to this post of course) on your own blog, make sure your comment has a link to your post.
• Share it: Stumble It, Kirtsy It, Digg It, Submit to Mommy Blips: Submit this giveaway to any of these sites and earn an extra entry for each one…and make sure your comment has your Username.
• Follow My Memories Blog
• Follow My Memories on Twitter
• Follow My Memories on Facebook

It is void where prohibited, be sure to read my giveaway policies here. Giveaway ends at noon on Thursday January 26, 2012. This giveaway is open to US addresses only.
Disclosure: I always give honest and forthright reviews and will not present something that poses a conflict of interest &/or that I do not like. My Memories provided me with a copy of My Memories Suite Scrapbooking software to try out and present this review to you. You can read our full disclosure policy here.

We had the most amazing beautiful chilly, clear day on Friday with a sunset that lit up the world all pink (I was in Heaven)! That quickly turned to snow and ice on Saturday. The contrast was incredible so I had to share it with all of you! Just click each picture to see it larger and I hope all is well and beautiful in your part of the world!