Time is a precious commodity and those who learn to use theirs wisely will always be ahead of the game.  First the bad news, the one thing you can’t do is add more hours to your day.  No matter what, it’s just not going to happen.  The good news, you can do certain things to make every precious minute count and in turn leave you with more free time. 

Plan ahead – Don’t go anywhere without a list.  Especially if you have the kids with you, you’re more likely to forget something without a list.  So, don’t go on your errand run or shopping trip without a list.  Also try to go shopping in the evenings when there are less people in the store.  Why waste an hour fighting the crowds when you can be done in 30 minutes.  Better yet, do your shopping online.

Meal Plan – Plan meals for the upcoming week and write your shopping list according to the meals.  Make sure you stick the meal plan on the fridge so you can know what foods need to be thawed daily, etc.  This will save you a lot of time and money.

Buy in Bulk – If you have the space plan ahead and buy things in bulk.  You’ll save money and precious time by not having to go to the supermarket so often.

Pay Your Bills Electronically – If you can do this then you should.  You will save a lot of time by not having to write out and mail checks.  If you really can’t or choose not to do this, then set up a work station and keep your checkbook, stamp, envelopes, pens close at hand.  You can also have a calendar with all your important dates and appointments written on there.  Go a step further and have an inbox for mail and papers that need to be files.  You’ll never waste time looking for these things again.

Don’t Let The Housework Pile Up – There’s nothing worst than spending your weekends cleaning.  If you do a little bit each day you won’t ever need to spend a whole day cleaning.  For example, do a load of laundry daily rather than letting it all pile up for Saturday, same thing with the vacuuming and other tasks.  Once the weekend comes around the house should be fairly organized.  You may just have to give the bathroom and kitchen a good clean, leaving you with plenty of time to enjoy your family.

Organize Your Life – Spend a little time organizing your house, the time spent doing this will save you a lot of time and hassle in return.  Have a set place for everything.  For example, have a place near the front door where you can hang your keys and purse.  Don’t forget items like umbrellas, hats, gloves and scarves for those rainy or cold days.  Set up storage for the kids toys or all magazines and books.

Description:  This breadmaker, includes:

-2 lb non-stick, removable baking pan, great for family sized loafs -programmable delay bake: pwerfect for when you come home from work and want fresh bread, or when you want to wake up to the smeall of freshly baked bread -express bake for those times when you need a quick loaf -several cooking functions -instruction book with bread recipes

Review: I don’t know about you, but for me, nothing beats home-made bread: it doesn’t even compare with store-bought ones.

Home-made bread is fresh, nutritional, great tasting, and your family will love you for making it. The Sunbeam bread machine is inexpensive, and easy to use.

It only takes 2 minutes to add the ingredients, and press the start button, and in less than 4 hours, you’ll have fresh bread.

Pros:
-easy to use
-inexpensive
-easy to clean
-saves you a LOT of money on bread
-sturdy (I’ve had mine for 2 years now, and we bake one loaf a day)

Cons:
-you may need to experiment with your recipes until you get the right one for you family (sometimes your bread will raise too much, or the top will collapse, because of too much or too little of certain ingredients) -there are not too many recipes in the booklet that comes with the machine

Submitted By: Adriana Copaceanu; New Market, VA
Rating: 8
Where to buy: amazon.com, walmart.com

Junk food might include items like: potato chips, candy, chocolate, artificially flavoured drinks, etc. Junk food is appealing to kids because of the taste, color and appearance. Some junk food companies regularly target children with enticing ad campaigns for fast food.

Parents can easily get sucked into the junk food routine because it’s so much quicker and easier than preparing a full, well-balanced meal. While junk food is faster to grab and go, it can lead to a variety of health issues, such as: tooth decay and cavities, stomach problems, and more.

Here are some ways to curb the junk food monster in your house and create a healthier lifestyle:

1. Family meals – Busy families find it especially difficult to make time for family meals. With soccer practice, track meets and band rehearsals filling nearly every week day, families are spread thin. Schedule a special day once per week for a family dinner. During dinner, take turns talking about your day. Slow down and enjoy your meal and this time together.

2. Involve the family – Get the entire family involved in planning and cooking your family dinner. Homemade pizza is always a fun meal to make with kids. Tacos are another quick and easy meal to make with kids. Put each family member in charge of a certain aspect of the meal, from setting the table to preparing the dinner.

3. Be creative – Create fun healthy snacks and meals. Your imagination is your only limitation. Invent new names for vegetables and fruits. You might call carrots “dynamite sticks” or instead of giving your child baby tomatoes call them “mini bombs.” Pay attention to what your child’s favorite toys or movies, and then rename fruits and veggies with fun, similar names.

4. Variety – Most young children will only eat the foods they are familiar with. Very few are willing to try foods that are different. However, variety is important. Try introducing one new food per week. If you attempt to present too many new foods at once, your child may refuse them all. Give them one new vegetable at dinner time every day for one week. If they refuse to eat it for the week, introduce a new food the following week.

5. Start the day off right – Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Jumpstart your kids’ day with a healthy breakfast. Include sweet fruits, like honeydew and cantaloupe, to make this meal more appealing. Even adding something as simple as a whole fruit juice can give your child a better jumpstart to their day.

Ingredients:

4 boneless/skinless chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
4 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1 cup corn kernels
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup chopped onions

Directions:

Place all ingredients into crock pot (veggies at bottom). Cook on low for 7 hours.

A recent study shows that drinking 17 oz. of water can increase your metabolism by 30%.  Apparently your metabolism will increase within 10 minutes — and peaks within 40 min.

Before reading this study, I had replaced my morning coffee with ice water.  Yes, I know it doesn’t sound that great, but it does indeed wake me up in the morning.  In fact, I have my large cup of ice water next to me right now since it’s only 6:25 in the morning. 

 I did notice a small weight loss after I started doing it.  I believe if you apply the above study by including some extra water in your daily routine you might find that it is beneficial. 

Try taking it a step further by adding some “ICE”.  I have heard that drinking something really cold can increase your metabolism — because your body has to pick up momentum to get your body temperature back down to normal.   Remember ice cold soft drinks may rev up your metabolism, but the calories may cancel out that benefit — so choosing water or other drinks without calories might be the best choice for the best benefit.

I’d like to challenge you to try it for a couple of weeks and then get back with me here to post some comments on how it worked for you. (good or bad)  To find this post just check back later in the “weight loss” category.

Description: The Britax Convertible Car Seat is a superior safety seat. It has several unique features that make it not only safer but more convenient to use.

Review: I put a lot of emphasis on safety when it comes to my kids and their car seats. Before I purchase a safety seat I do research online and in Consumer Reports magazine.

One seat that consistently outperforms other seats in crash tests are the Britax styles. Britax makes infant car seats, convertible seats for rear or forward facing (infants to toddlers up to 40 pounds) as well as booster seats for older kids that have a 100 pound weight limit.

The Britax models make it much easier to get a very secure, tight installation in most any vehicle.  The 5 point harnesses the infant and convertible seats offer have been proven to be superior to the 3 point harness systems.

Britax seats offer features that are unlike other safety seats. One of these is the locking clips on the side of the seats. The shoulder straps of your car’s seat belt are threaded through these, and then they are locked. Other models require using a metal clip, these are very difficult to use. The lock off clips make it super easy to get that rock hard fit that you want in your seat. You can shake your Britax seat back and forth and it will not wiggle, but the entire car will rock. This ensures that the seat won’t wiggle out of place during an accident.

Britax car seats have deep side “wings” with foam that is engineered and tested for side impact protection. The restraint straps are designed to never twist… this is very important as twisted straps compromise safety. The straps are easy to loosen and tighten with a push button and front pull design. No more having to unbuckle the seat to adjust straps.

Another nice feature of the Britax convertible seat is the easy to adjust headrest. All you do is twist the large knob on the side to move the headrest up or down for your child’s comfort. No need to rethread the shoulder straps!

Britax offers all replacement parts on their website so if your car seat cover gets dirty you can replace it. You can even buy new harnesses (you know how filthy these can get with spilled milk and chocolate chips cookies mashed into them!), new pads that go under the cloth and new buckles.

Criticism: The only drawback with Britax models is the cost: they retail at nearly $200. But in my opinion, they are well worth spending the extra money for the peace of mind.

Submitted By: Carrie Lauth; Dallas, GA
Rating: 10
Where to buy: www.amazon.com