by Sarah Powers on April 24, 2013
This post is by Sarah Powers, Happiest Home contributor and Managing Editor, and blogger at Powers of Mine.
A year or so ago, I started saving glass jars. Inspired by the seemingly overnight rise in trendiness of the Mason jar, and coupled with a sort of obsessive satisfaction I get out of not wasting things, my little collection of old salsa, pasta sauce, olive and jam jars grew steadily.
The problem was, I had no idea what to actually DO with the jars. I turned to Pinterest and created a board called Inexplicable Jar Obsession, which I filled with amazing ideas – like twine-wrapped jars filled with floating candles and ombre tinted mason jars – only to realize when my pinning high wore off that I was never in a million years actually going to do those things.
(By the way, if you are the type to do these things with jars, more power to ‘ya. To paraphrase Meagan in her post about baking from scratch, I don’t do it, but I think it’s awesome if you do.)
It has taken a while, but I’ve gradually found very practical – and DO-able, for me – uses for repurposed glass jars in my home.
Here are 5 ideas for reusing glass jars that don’t require a glue gun, raffia, chalkboard paint, or a crafty bone in your body: [click to continue…]
by Meagan Francis on April 22, 2013
A few weeks back, the local paper got in touch with me hoping to do a story about my blog, my podcast, and feeding a family. I talked to the reporter about why I started The Kitchen Hour, how I manage blogging and life with five kids, getting dinner on the table more easily, and my work with ConAgra Foods.
And then a photographer came out to my house to snap pictures of me in the kitchen with the kids, which they totally dug. (The younger three, anyway. Jacob and Isaac hid.) [click to continue…]
by Meagan Francis on April 20, 2013
This post was written as part of a compensated partnership with Goldfish Smiles.
Yes, those ridiculous dimples are mine. ALL MINE! I take full credit for them, as well as the dimples in the cheeks and chins of my other four kids.
I also like to take credit for Clara’s imagination. Isaac’s sense of humor. William’s love of books. And the list goes on…
But sometimes, my kids reflect back not-so-great traits that I also have to rather sheepishly recognize as my very own. The truth is, our children are often mirrors of our least-attractive behavior. The trick is using those “reflections” to improve, rather than just getting lost in guilt. [click to continue…]
by Meagan Francis on April 19, 2013
I’ve always wanted to think of myself as the kind of mom who grows herbs indoors using a DIY seed-starting kit, turning toilet-paper rolls or egg cartons into frugal mini-gardens which nurture her child’s green thumb, creativity and resourcefulness.
In reality, I’m the kind of mom who intends, every year, to start seeds indoors eight weeks before the ground is warm, or start a windowsill herb garden, but always forgets to gather the supplies or set aside an afternoon for putting together a system.
So this year, I decided to skip all the usual “Oh man, I can’t believe I never got around to that!” and make things easy on myself.
Yes, it would have been a lot cheaper to scour the garden center for seeds and soil and repurpose household objects as planters, but I decided that buying a pre-assembled kit was worth the $15 – $20 it would cost because this way, the project would actually get done, and sometimes that’s counts most. [click to continue…]
by Meagan Francis on April 17, 2013
I’ve always been a bit of a “minimalist” parent. I just didn’t know that there was such a thing, and that you could be a “minimalist” mom and a good mom at the same time.
In my youngest years of motherhood, I inwardly rebelled against all the “should do’s” but outwardly faked it so I could feel better about myself and where I fit with the other moms. I felt anxious when I didn’t feel my kids were signed up for enough activities, even though a lot of scheduled activities have never been my bag. I worried that I’d look like a bad mom for not teaching my infant sign language or attending Mommy and Me classes or Kindermusik. I wondered if there was something wrong with the fact that I was happiest when we kept our hours relatively free and my expectations on the low side.
I did eventually learn to embrace my nature and see the good sides of “slower” parenting, but I’ve always wished there were a book that tells parents, in no uncertain terms, that you don’t have to do X, Y, and Z (in addition to A – W) to raise great kids, and that slowing down and streamlining can actually lead to a happier family life. Not only why, but how to shrug off societal pressures and chart a new course for your family with confidence.
So when I heard that my friends Christine Koh of Bostonmamas and Asha Dornfest of Parent Hacks were writing a book called Minimalist Parenting, I got really excited. And when I read the book, I got even more excited. It’s just as practical, reassuring, and helpful as I hoped it would be.
Today I’m thrilled to bring you Episode 11 of The Kitchen Hour podcast with Christine and Asha as my guests. In it we talk about everything from food to kids’ activities, from defining family priorities and values, to self-care. Just click the “play” button below to listen in your browser (or you can listen in iTunes), and make sure to head over to The Kitchen Hour to check out the show notes, where you’ll find links to things we talked about in the podcast as well as the book’s site and some other goodies.
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by Meagan Francis on April 15, 2013
I’m working with Minute Maid® Pure Squeezed on a series of posts about nurturing ourselves and our families. Click here to see more of the discussion.
We’ve all been there. It’s 7:30 and your preschooler wants a bedtime snack…but you’re immobilized on the sofa, wondering how you’ll summon the strength to slice an apple. Your six-year-old is begging you to read to him, but your eyes cross when you look at the pages of a book. You’re spent, and that leaves you feeling like a not-so-great mom.
Yes, it’s a cliche, but sometimes motherhood and exhaustion really do go hand-in-hand. Sure, it’s important to cut ourselves a lot of slack, but we also want to feel like we’re meeting our kids’ needs and getting the job done. Here are five ideas that can help you “bring it” as a mom…even during those times when you’re too tired to think: [click to continue…]
by Guest Blogger on April 12, 2013
This post is part of our reader-submitted guest post series, My Path to Motherhood. For more about the series, read this post. To read all posts in the series, click here.
Motherhood is tricky business. It’s defined differently by different people and cultures; in fact, my daughter was 8 years old before I felt comfortable being acknowledged on Mother’s Day. My path to motherhood came with a prefix: Step. I am a stepmom. [click to continue…]
by Meagan Francis on April 11, 2013
You could say we are a meat-and-potatoes family: emphasis on the potatoes. Mashed, roasted, baked, or fried; there are potatoes on the dinner table at most of our meals. (Maybe it’s the Irishwoman in me.)
Back when I was afraid of cooking large pieces of meat, I didn’t realize that often, the meat is the easiest part of the meal. Yes, it takes time in the oven, but the preparation is usually simple and fast. Once the chicken or roast is cooking away, I’m free to go about my business and even run errands if there’s another person in the house capable of keeping an eye on the oven.
Sometimes I don’t want to spend ten minutes slicing and preparing potatoes. And let’s face it: sometimes I just don’t feel like it. On those days, I’m glad to be able to just reach into my freezer.
I’ve been working with ConAgra Foods to create a series of videos highlighting frozen foods, and how I use them in my home. I’m a big fan of frozen foods, both those I freeze myself and the prepared meals I sometimes reach for on busy nights. Despite the bad rap they’ve gotten, frozen foods are often even more nutritious than what you’d pick up in the produce aisle (veggies are frozen quickly, at the height of freshness) and the ConAgra Foods brands I’m representing feature simple ingredients like olive oil, herbs and spices – like I use in my own cooking. [click to continue…]
by Kristen on April 10, 2013
This post is by Kristen Levithan, Happiest Home contributor and blogger at Motherese. You can read previous historical motherhood posts by clicking here.
In addition to being a history buff, I am also a big fan of historical fiction. The period that fascinates me the most is Tudor England, and especially the reigns of King Henry VIII and his daughter, Elizabeth I. Like many of us, I devoured Philippa Gregory’s juicy The Other Boleyn Girl. More recently, I was captivated by Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, Hilary Mantel’s masterful, Booker Prize-winning fictional biographies of Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s chief advisor.
In all of my reading about this era – fiction and non – my thoughts always turn to Catherine of Aragon, Henry’s first wife and the woman who became a pawn in his insatiable quest to provide England with a male heir by any means necessary. Catherine was Spanish royalty; a dutiful, loving wife; and the mother of his first legitimate child. Nevertheless, once she proved unable to bear him a son, her crown did not rest easily on her head. [click to continue…]
by Meagan Francis on April 9, 2013
Lately, I’ve been trying to eat more protein. This is especially tricky around lunchtime, when my go-to meal tends to be bread with a side of bread. And as much as I love an egg over-medium with bacon, it gets old eating that every single day. (I know, I never thought I’d say that, either.)
Still, when it comes to protein-packed goodness, it doesn’t get much better than the humble egg. Sure, the organic and cage-free varieties can seem spendy, but are they really that expensive per pound when you consider what you get out of them? [click to continue…]
