Moms

Taste of Saint Patrick’s Day

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St Patrick's Day

Saint Patrick’s Day is coming soon and I always look forward to it. My husband and I both have Irish ancestors. We really love many of the delicious dishes that have Irish roots and love to make them on Saint Patricks Day. Irish Soda Bread This easy to make bread doesn’t require yeast, but gets it’s ability to rise from baking soda. Baking soda came to Ireland in the 1800’s and this bread became popular during the Potato Famine. By-the-way, it’s delicious. Corned Beef Hash Hash is a wonderful dish to create with leftovers, and corned beef hash is delicious! It’s easy to make in your skillet. Southern Fried Cabbage With Sausage Here’s another great skillet dish. It has a southern twist to great Irish menu items of Cabbage and Sausage. Yum! Irish Apple Cake This Apple Cake is made with simple ingredients and traditionally cooked in an iron skillet. Corned Beef and Cabbage This is most commonly eaten dish on Saint Patrick’s Day. Beef brisket and cabbage are the main ingredients. Colcannon Recipes for Colcannon included Mashed Potatoes with cabbage or Kale. What a scrumptious side dish! Irish Potato Cakes Another wonderful menu item made with leftovers. The main ingredient is of course, mashed potatoes. Strawberry and Apple Crumble An Apple Crumble might be an Irish staple for dessert, but why not add Strawberries to give it even more flavor. Green Velvet Silver Dollar Pancakes This one doesn’t have an Irish history, but is so much fun for kids! Make a stack of wonderful pancakes for the holiday with green coloring. Green Peppermint Shakes We all love Peppermint Milkshakes, so why not add a little Irish Green to make them even more festive. Leprechaun Chow Here’s another fun snack for kids (and everyone). This snack mix didn’t originate in Ireland, but is amazing to eat on Saint Patrick’s Day. Andes Mint Chocolate Layer Cake How about a rich chocolate cake with Andes Mint frosting layered between? Using green color will only dress it up even more for your festive end to the meal. Saint Patrick’s Day is a lovely day and can be a blast for families. Enjoy mealtime on this day to discuss Ireland: it’s history and culture. I never passed up a holiday to learn a little something. I guess the homeschool-mom in me just couldn’t help myself. @2020, copyright Lisa Ehrman

How To Update Your Spring Cleaning Plan

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Spring is right around the corner and the internet is abuzz with tips and hacks to follow for Spring Cleaning. You’ll find help all around to see how much deep cleaning you can get done in a week, or even a day. When I read many of the ideas it is exhausting to even think about. I prefer to update my Spring Cleaning plan. The first thing I will tell you about Spring Cleaning is: I hate it! I know it’s a great tradition and we should follow our great-grandmothers in cleaning every square inch of our homes, but I think it’s an antiquated process. Most women and families aren’t able to devote the time needed to clean the house from top-to-bottom in a short stretch of time. With working schedules and outside activities keeping us busy and tired, Spring Cleaning just isn’t practical. I prefer a more simple approach: A Yearly Cleaning Plan. With a Yearly Cleaning Plan, every chore in my home can be planned out over the year’s time. Nothing will be left un-done, but I won’t feel the pressure to accomplish a ton of work in the Spring. I know that some people prefer to get it over within a week or so, and that’s fine. But for me, I could never make that work. I learned about planning my cleaning chores over the year’s time by reading books from Emilie Barnes. Her books described a more simple way of cleaning my home. Cleaning isn’t fun for anyone, but why would we want to add more stress to our lives. Simply Organized was the first book by Emilie Barnes that I read. I read more of her books through the years, and they were all excellent. This book can be found for sale on used book stores, such as Thriftbooks and Alibris. The book is small and very easy to understand. Of course, the book describes a simple way to live an organized and beautiful life. Cleaning tasks are organized by how often they should be repeated. Tasks are broken down by category and placed on a master plan. I love a master plan, because then I can see the big picture as well as the details. I’m so excited to let you know that I’ve created a free Cleaning Planner to help you plan your cleaning. You’ll be able to download and print out all the pages that help you to get on top of your cleaning tasks. I hope that you’ll consider a different way to approach cleaning and avoid the guilt of Spring Cleaning. If you enjoy the tradition, the free planner can still help you to organize your tasks. What are your thoughts and plans? @2020, copyright Lisa Ehrman

9 Ways To Survive The Last Month Of Winter

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Disclosure: Affiliate link included. With one month left until the beginning of Spring, many of you are counting down the days. In reality, many of us won’t see any sign of Spring weather in four weeks. Winter weather continues in many areas of the country far longer than the first day of Spring. What to do until the warm weather comes? I personally love living in the midwest, where we have 4 real seasons. I love cold weather and don’t want to see the humid summer come any quicker. But, for now, we still have bitter cold days and the occasional snow. What to do to survive the last few weeks of winter? Get great winter gear on sale Many stores are marking down coats, gloves, hats, and more during the Winter clearance sales. If you need or want a new coat this is a great time to save half-price! Stores want to get rid of all the heavy inventory, because they bring out spring apparel very early. You could be the winner! Do something fun outdoors If you love winter sports, this is a great time to get outdoors! You can schedule snow-skiing, ice-skating, cross-country skiing, or hiking. You may be able to find some last-minute deals, too. If you want to get outdoors in a warmer climate, plan your visit down south. Try out some new recipes If you’ve gotten in a winter cooking rut, it’s a great time to try a few new recipes. Look for some great Instant-Pot or slow-cooker recipes using seasonal vegetables. Bring out some of your least-used cooking gadgets and use them. I’m sure that your family would love a warm and hearty meal that is different from what you normally prepare. If you’re snowed in, have a family night Every night may seem like family night, but soon the days will get longer and the kids will be outside in the daylight hours. For now, bring out a fun board game or puzzle. Your family can enjoy hours of fun, along with a big bowl of popcorn. Movie nights are always fun, too. Change something When I get stir-crazy or get sick of how my home looks, I move the furniture. I love re-arranging the furniture! Even if it looks weird, and I have to move it back in a few days, it’s fun and energizing. It’s always hilarious to see the surprised looks on your kids faces when they get home. Finish your winter bucket list Go ahead and look. Did you get anything checked off your bucket list? If you’re a little behind, find something on the list to complete. You’ll have fun and feel a great sense of accomplishment. Let your kids help you plan a special Saturday activity Sounds scary, doesn’t it? No, you’ll have a great time if the kids have a say-so in planning a fun afternoon event. Go ahead and make those family memories that are worth more than you know. Dust off the china How about using your china or best dishes for family meals once in a while. Your family will feel special when you serve any basic meal on your best dishes. Light a candle or two and dim the lights. What good are those dishes if we never use them? Have an indoor picnic Now, you’ll want to do things like this when your children are young. When they get to be tweens and older they’ll think that this is lame. You can serve picnic foods on a blanket in the living room. Pretend like you’re outside (without the ants) and enjoy being a little silly. So, don’t count down the days until Spring. Just try something to help you love Winter. And, enjoy those last few weeks. @2020, copyright Lisa Ehrman

Do You Like Free Food?

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Free Food

My family loves food. I really like free food. We’ve been getting free food from Kroger for years by simply using the Kroger REWARDS World Mastercard. We’ve also saved tons of money on our gas purchases. I’m excited to share how much I love this card! Let me tell you what I love about this credit card and how it has saved my family thousands of dollars. If you have a Kroger store (or Dillons, Bakers, etc) nearby, you’ll probably already know about the great discount features there. Kroger loyalty cards give you all the savings in the store that cut money off of your receipt. Using the Kroger website, we always click and load the Digital Coupons onto our card. Then, at checkout, the ecoupons are automatically added….money saved without clipping any paper coupons. Points that are earned on our loyalty card will also get us cents-off-per-gallon at the Kroger Fuel centers. These are conveniently located in the Kroger parking lot. I also love getting the custom coupons in the mail that match what we purchase often. Kroger sends recipe pamphlets in the mail, too. These have super paper coupons. New product coupons also come right to my home. Using the Kroger Rewards World Mastercard works to help my family by: 3 points for every dollar spent in Kroger for Kroger brands (including Simple Truth, Home Brand, and Private Selections). 2 points for every dollar spent in Kroger stores 1 point for every dollar spent anywhere Earn FREE groceries with a rewards check, sent automatically from Kroger, 4 times a year. Receive additional 5¢ fuel discount at Kroger Family of Companies Fuel when you pay with you Kroger REWARDS World Mastercard. We love when the Kroger checks come in the mail. We have $170. in free food checks this quarter! Wow! This is really super for our budget. @2020, copyright Lisa Ehrman

Instruction In Gratefulness

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Gratefulness doesn’t come naturally. Starting at birth, babies demand what they want. They don’t show gratitude, but demand more from their parents until they are old enough to be taught the attitude of gratefulness. The first thing to remember about instructing a child in gratefulness is that parents are the teachers. And, no matter what books you may read to a child, your example is the main thing. Children will become grateful in a natural progression if they see the behavior in their parents. Parents may well have big goals for their family and wishes for future success, but having a grateful heart is important. Children sense an attitude of gratitude and will likely follow. Don’t indulge – Children shouldn’t be given everything they want, even if you have the means to provide it. Spoiling a child will make them expect to get their way and feel entitled. They won’t be grateful for things they have if they are given too much. Live a life of service – Growing up watching your parents serve others, especially those less fortunate, will show your children that many people don’t have much. This helps children to be appreciative of what they’re given. Speak with grateful words – Be intentional when you’re talking with your children. Whether money is plenteous or scarce, speak grateful words. Show your children that you are thankful for what you have. Gratefulness remembered – Keeping a family Journal of Gratitude can be a great way to share things that you’re thankful for. Many people do this at Thanksgiving, but it’s more powerful to keep it year-round. During family-time or at dinner, you can write down things that your children mention that they’re grateful for. Share specific things with them, too. Saying Thanks – Sitting down to eat dinner as a family is a wonderful time to share the day. Saying thanks in a family prayer teaches children that they should be thankful for their food. They should also be encouraged to write Thank-you notes when they are given a gift. We should teach them to always appreciate something that is given to them. Show Contentment – Living a life of contentment will be seen by those around us. If we are content with what we have, others will recognize it. Children will learn from parents to be content and grateful. It’s not easy to be the teacher who instructs our children in the way of gratefulness. But, we are the ones given the responsibility and the ability. All good things are a gift from God and we can share the gifts with our children. Instructing them in a way that is natural is the best way, if not the easiest. @2020, copyright Lisa Ehrman

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