10 Things To Do This Weekend

It’s finally fall and it’s a great time of year to get out and enjoy nature with your family. Of course, the weather won’t always be perfect so you’ll need some other things to entertain your brood. Here are 10 things you can try this weekend to kick off the fall season with your family!

1. Take a Nature Walk

This can be simple, like a walk around your neighborhood or local park, or more elaborate, like a camping trip or visit to a state park in the mountains. Either way, you and your children are bound to have some fun and find some some little critters (and maybe some big ones!) while you’re out and about. Not to mention, all you momtographers out there will have some great photo-ops!

2. Collect Leaves

Kids love this! You can find them in your own backyard or at your local park and they come in different shapes and sizes. You can jump in big leaf piles (our personal favorite) or make traditional leaf rubbings once you get home.

3. Root for the Home Team

You don’t have to have tickets to a NFL or college game. See if your child’s little league friend is playing this weekend and go cheer them on!

4. Try a New Cuisine

Give a new taste a whirl, something your kids haven’t tried. Maybe Thai or Indian food. You can even give them some background about the country by visiting it on the map before you go to the restaurant or reading about it on the net.

5. Get in Touch with the Outdoors

Can’t make it to the mountains? Try camping in your backyard. Pitch a tent, roast marshmallows, and check out the stars. Don’t have a backyard? Pitch a tent in your livingroom! Just as fun, if not more!

6. Get Cooking

Kids love helping out in the kitchen. Try pizza or muffins. They’ll love mixing, measuring, and, most of all, mess making!

7. Try Something New

Pick a new sport or skill to try out. Try ice skating, horse-back riding, or roller-blading. This will offer a great opportunity for some wonderful family time together!

8. Have a Movie Night

Family movie night is always fun. Pick a classic movie, order pizza, and top it off with popcorn and ice cream!

9. Play Outside

It’s that simple! Take a walk together, ride bikes, play tag, or just enjoy the your backyard or local playground.

10. Do Yardwork Together

Kids are great at pulling weeds or helping out with the watering can. Toddlers also think they are big helpers as they use their bubble mower while you do the big jobs!

Easy Easter Breakfast Casserole

If you’re hosting Easter brunch this year you might be feeling the stress already. Wouldn’t it be so nice to wake up Easter Sunday to a clean house, a dining table set, and a meal ready for your guests? Your Easter Morning may not happen quite like that, but we’ve got a breakfast casserole that is so simple you’ll have a wonderful Easter feast ready in no time!

Easy Easter Breakfast Casserole

Thinking of hosting a brunch this year? We love the idea of Sunday brunch and think it is a great way to spend Easter with your family and friends. This breakfast casserole is SO simple (and yummy!).

What you’ll need:

8 slices of bread cubed

1/2 cup of butter, melted

2 cups milk

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. dry mustard

5 eggs

1/2 lb. shredded cheddar cheese

2 cups diced ham OR cooked sausage

4 oz. mushrooms

Fix it fast:

1. Grease a 9×13 pan.

2. Mix bread and butter together. Add cheese, ham/sausage, and mushrooms to mix.

3.  Place mixture in baking dish.

4. Beat eggs. Add milk and seasoning to eggs. Pour egg mixture over the bread mix in your baking dish.

5. Cover with foil and refrigerate over night.

6. Bake for one hour at 325.

7. Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes.

What We Love Right Now January 19, 2011: Super Cook = Super Mom!

Like most Moms, I find myself trying to plan a weekly menu of meals for my family. In reality, one or two meals actually get cooked and I find myself staring at a pantry of canned vegetables, fruits, tuna and an empty fridge, wondering what I can conjure up for dinner out of tomatoes, celery and some ketchup. Whether you choose to admit it or not, this has probably happened to you too (and perhaps even more than once!). Fear no more! SharpMoms has found a site that is going to bail you out of your dinner dilemma. Super Cook has a recipe search that is based on the ingredients you have in YOUR very own kitchen.  All you do is insert your ingredients into the search box and VOILA!, recipes appear at your fingertips. We’ve tried their search engine on more than one occasion and it DOES work! Happy cooking!

What We Love Right Now December 29, 2010: 75 Uses for Baking Soda

Baking soda can come in really handy, as some of you may already know. It is probably an item you have in your pantry, under the kitchen sink or in the fridge. Here are 75 ways to use baking soda as a healing ointment, cooking ingredient, household cleaner and more!

Health Uses

1. Use it as an antacid.

2. Use it as underarm deodorant by applying it with a powder puff.

3. Mix half a teaspoon with peroxide paste and use it as toothpaste.

4. Use it as a face and body scrub.

5. Add a cup to bathwater to soften your skin.

6. Relieve skin itch from insect bites and pain from sunburn.

7. Remove strong odors from your hands by rubbing them with baking soda and water.

8. Put two tablespoons in your baby’s bathwater to help relieve diaper rash.

9. Apply it on rashes, insect bites, and poison ivy irritations.

10. Take a baking soda bath to relieve skin irritations.

11. Heartburn? Take a teaspoon of baking soda mixed with one-half glass of water.

12. Freshen your mouth by gargling half a teaspoon of baking soda mixed water.

13. Relieve canker sore pain by using it as mouthwash.

14. Use it to relieve bee stings.

15. Use it to relieve windburns.

16. Apply it on jellyfish sting to draw out the venom.

17. Unblock stuffy nose by adding a teaspoon of baking soda to your vaporizer.

In the Home

18. Keep cut flowers fresh longer by adding a teaspoon to the water in the vase.

19. Put out small fires on rugs, upholstery, clothing, and wood.

20. Put an open container of baking soda in the fridge to absorb the odors.

21. Sprinkle it on your ashtrays to reduce bad odor and prevent smoldering.

22. Sprinkle it on your slippers, boots, shoes, and socks to eliminate foul odor.

23. Turn baking soda into modeling clay by combining it with one and 1/4 cups of water and one cup of cornstarch.

24. After feeding your baby, wipe his shirt with a moist cloth sprinkled with baking soda to remove the odor.

25. Wipe your windshield with it to repel rain.

26. Improve the smell of dishrags by soaking them in baking soda and water.

27. Suck it in with your vacuum cleaner to remove the odor.

28. Freshen the air by mixing baking soda with your favorite perfumed bath salts. Put the mixture in small sachet bags.

29. Restore stiff brushes by boiling them in a solution of 1/2 gallon of water, 1/4 cup of vinegar, and a cup of baking soda.

30. Put it under sinks and along basement windows to repel cockroaches and ants.

31. Scatter baking soda around flowerbeds to prevent rabbits from eating your veggies.

32. Sweeten your tomatoes by sprinkling baking soda on the soil around your tomato plants.

33. Sprinkle it onto your cat’s litter box to absorb the bad odor.

34. Sprinkle it on your pet’s comb or brush to deodorize their fur and skin.

In Cooking

35. Use it as a substitute for baking powder by mixing with it with cream of tartar or vinegar.

36. Wash fruits and vegetables with it.

37. When boiling a chicken, add a teaspoon of baking soda to the water. Feathers will come off easier, and the flesh will be clean and white.

38. Soak dried beans to a baking soda solution to make them more digestible.

39. Remove the distinctive taste of wild game by soaking it in a baking soda solution.

40. Make a sports drink by mixing it with boiled water, salt, and Kool-Aid.

41. Remove the fishy smell from your fillets by soaking the raw fish in a baking soda solution for an hour inside the fridge.

42. Make fluffier omelets by adding half a teaspoon of baking soda for every three eggs used.

43. Reduce the acid content of your tomato-based recipes by sprinkling them with a pinch of baking soda.

Cleaning Purposes

44. Add a cup to the toilet, leave it for an hour, and then flush. It will clean the toilet and absorb the odor.

45. Use it to scrub sinks, showers, plastic and porcelain tubs

46. Spray it on walls, mirrors, and countertops.

47. Add a spoonful to your dishwasker to make scrubbing dishes easier.

48. Remove grease from pots and pans.

49. Dry clean carpets and upholstered furniture by sprinkling baking soda over the fabric and gently brushing it. Leave it for an hour or overnight, then vacuum.

50. Boost your laundry detergent’s cleaning power by sprinkling a handful on dirty clothes.

51. Combine it with water to make a paste for polishing stainless steel and chrome.

52. Remove scratches and crayon marks from vinyl floors and walls.

53. Clean your shoes with it.

54. Clean garbage cans with it.

55. Use it to wash diapers.

56. Clean the fridge with it.

57. Soak brushes and combs in a baking soda solution.

58. Mix it with water to wash food and drink containers.

59. Put three tablespoons of baking soda to a quart of warm water, then use the mixture to wash marble-topped furniture.

60. Absorb it with a damp sponge, then clean Formica countertops with the sponge.

61. Use it to get rid of stale odors from cooling containers and thermos bottles.

62. Run your coffee maker with a baking soda solution, then rinse.

63. Combine with hot water to clean baby bottles.

64. Sprinkle it on barbecue grills, then rinse it off.

65. Scatter it on your greasy garage floor, scrub the floor, and rinse.

66. Remove burned-on food from a pan by soaking it in a baking soda solution for 10 minutes before washing.

67. Clean your ashtrays with a baking soda solution.

68. Keep your drains clean by putting four tablespoons of baking soda in them each week. Flush it down with hot water.

69. Clean your shower curtains by soaking them in baking soda and water.

70. Put it on a small brush to rub canvas handbags clean.

71. Use it to remove melted plastic bread wrapper from a toaster. Sprinkle baking soda on a damp rug, then use the rug to clean the toaster.

72. Use it to clean your retainers and dentures.

73. Make a thick paste of baking soda and water, and used it to scrub enameled cast iron and stainless steel.

74. Mix four tablespoons of baking soda with a quart of warm water, and use it to clean the inside part of an oven.

75. Use it to unclog gas stoves.

It is truly amazing what this little box of powder can do! And best of all it is very inexpensive so you can do all this for a small cost!

5 dollar dinners

With the economy the way it is going, and has been, many folks are looking for cheaper dinner alternatives, especially if you have a lot of mouths to feed! SharpMoms has a few $5 dinners that you and your family will be sure to love. Try them out and let us know what you think!

Do you have a $5 dinner or your own? Leave a comment and share it with the SharpMoms community!

Mexican Rice Casserole

What you need:

1. 1 package ground beef (1-2 lbs.)
2. 1 package taco seasoning
3. 1 8 oz can tomato sauce
4. 2 cups rice
5. 1 bar cheese, shredded- blocked cheese tends to be cheaper than pre-shredded or pre-cubed!
6. 6 ears corn

Make it fast:

1. Cook 2 cups rice according to package.
2. Brown ground beef. Drain. Return to skillet, add 3/4 cup water, taco seasoning and tomato sauce. Stir thoroughly.
3. Add ground beef to rice. Put into 9×13 baking dish. Top with shredded cheese.
4. Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes or until cheese melts.
5. Boil or grill ears of corn and serve on the side.

Pizza Wraps

What you need:

1. 6 Tortillas
2. 1/2 jar pizza sauce
3. Pepperoni
4. 1/2 Green Pepper, thinly sliced
5. 2 cups shredded mozerella cheese

Make it fast:

1. Preheat oven 350. Lay tortillas flat. Spread on pizza sauce. Layer 1-2 rows of pepperoni and sliced green peppers. Sprinkle with cheese, leaving room to roll.
2. Roll up tortillas and place snugly into 8×8 dish. Cook about 10 minutes so cheese melts.

Southwestern Mac N Cheese

What you need:

1. 8oz. package of elbow maccaroni
2. 1 cup salsa
3. 1 1/2 cups milk
4. 1 15 0z can cream-style corn
5. one can mexi-kernal corn with red and green peppers (Green Giant makes a corn variety similar to this)
6. 8 oz cheddar cheese, cubed

Make it fast:

1. Mix all ingredients except cheese in 12-inch nonstick skillet. Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally; reduce heat.
2. Cover and simmer 10 to 15 minutes, stirring frequently, until macaroni is tender.
3. Stir in cheese until melted.