Modern Mom's Guide to Life

Nutella Coffee Creamer

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 01:10:00 +0000

No one loves coffee more than I do. No one. Well, maybe someone, but I sure haven't met them yet. Another thing I love? Nutella. I have made all sorts of Nutella based recipes from cookies, to cupcakes, but this one I love:

I got the idea for this recipe here. I was sadly disappointed when I found out this was used with an ingredient similar to Nutella, but not quite the same, so of course I had to try it out with the real stuff! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

INGREDIENTS:

1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk (If you don’t have any sweetened condensed milk on hand – guess what? Use maple syrup! Substitute the condensed milk for about 1/4 – 1/2 cup of maple syrup, or to your desired sweetness & follow the steps accordingly!)

3 1/2 cups of milk or half & half (I used lactose free milk)

4 tbsp Nutella

DIRECTIONS:

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Heat over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the chocolate has become fully incorporated with the milk. Store in container & refrigerate.

Then, enjoy your coffee even more than you already do :)

Why We Have (Almost) No More Toys

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda) — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 02:14:00 +0000

"Christopher, if you don't pick up your toys I'm going to ...'insert horrible consequence here'..."

We have the same battle at our house numerous times a day. "BOYS PICK UP YOUR TOYS" & soon follow the instant tears & cries of frustration from the kids. Positive reinforcement works with a lot of things, but nothing is quite like the battle of who cleans up the toys. I have seen all sorts of creative ways to get children to pick up their toys, most of which, I have tried & most of which have never worked for us. Finally two boys, hundreds of toys, & almost 5 years later I have come to the conclusion:

I care more about their toys than my kids do.

Seriously, it's true. I bet if you really dig deep & think about it, it might be true for you too. I've really been trying to get mine & my family's priorities straight from everything to finances, the home & even the time we spend. That's when it occurred to me. We are spending way too much time & energy on toys & not enough on things that really matter. Pieces of plastic & wood. Things that are just that...things.

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal --Corinthians 4:18

What we have doesn't really matter, however, where we choose to spend our time does. I couldn't shake the feeling that I really wanted my kids to thoroughly know this. Not to mention my kids are infamous for what I like to call the 'Dump & Run' which consists of them dumping out a bucket, or sometimes even an entire toy box full of toys & running off to go do something else giggling along the way.

So thinking about the above bible verse I decided that toys were no longer going to be the center of our household, our time, or our efforts. We got rid of EVERYTHING except for a set of blocks, a car track, their play kitchen & about 5 other small toys. This was a major breakthrough for us considering to start with, there were three fully packed toy boxes, over 20 stuffed animals, small random toys, & puzzle pieces galore. And you want to hear the craziest part? They were happy about it, mommy on the other hand struggled a bit. I just kept thinking "I paid 20 bucks for that!" or "Well, we haven't even had this one for very long." But you know what? I would rather spend time teaching them to give to others than thinking of ways to get them to consistently clean them up. I want them to know we don't need "things" to have fun, or to spend time on. We can instead spend time on each other, & use our imigainations (which are why we kept the few toys we did) to play. Plus there are no more clean up frustrations which means we can spend more time on the books we kept, or the games we like to play, or learning about God together. & how blessed are we that we have enough "stuff" to give to others? Our cup is overflowing & we didn't even realize it. They understood the lesson though. They gave with joy & greafulness. No tears or screaming, quite the contrary from what we're used to at clean up time.

Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. --2 Corinthians 9:7

Thank God for my childrens' giving heart.

Overhaulin'

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda) — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 14:30:00 +0000

Despite my long hiatus, I am coming back with a vengeance. I am more than excited to bring you new content, tutorials & advice. Soon you will see more sections pop up, on dating your hubby, free printables, budget saviness, & SO MUCH MORE! No more hiding, it's time to do it big. We got a makeover, & the time is coming for growth!

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:35:00 +0000

Easy peasy & super worth it. I've used all sorts of dry shampoos & I loved the concept, but didn't love the price. So I found this wonderful recipe here. For those of us with thin oily hair, we need showers more often than most. I was having to shower everyday...not that I needed it, but my hair certainly did. With two little boys all over the place, showering everyday is not always realistic, & I'm not big on ponytails so this is the way to go for me. I LOVE this stuff.

4 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup water
4 tablespoons rubbing alcohol

I guess that sounds kind of scary, but for me it's wonderful! I saw some people had concerns with it turning your hair a different color but I've been using this consistently (every other day) for 3+ months now & have never had any problems with it. My hair is brownish & dyed & I've also used it with blonde hair both of which I didn't have any problems. I only spray it on my roots & I don't get crazy with the amount I use. I lift my roots with a brush or my fingers, spray it in, & let it dry before I brush it through the rest of my hair. It gives me volume which is nice too. I would be really interested to see how it works on other hair types, so leave me feedback if you try out this recipe!

Responsible Kids

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 03:17:00 +0000

Okay so it's been a while. To make it up to you guys, I decided to post a pretty good one (or at least I'd like to think so). I'm not sure if you guys have ever heard of the Accountable Kids program, but I thought it was an absolutely amazing idea after I researched it. In short terms, your kids have certain chores each day that they earn "tickets" for in which they then cash in for things like TV time, or special activities or things of the like. If you want more detailed information I suggest you check out the link, you may have to watch their video a few times to get all of it because it's pretty complex. Anyway, it inspired me to make my own version of it. 1. Because I could dumb it down a bit & 2. Because I don't like spending money. It took a bit of time, but it was SO worth it! My 3 year old absolutely loves this program, & honestly I do too. Here's what ours looks like.

How Does it Work?

Now our system is a little bit different & a little more simple. Here's a breakdown. The above is Christopher's daily chart. The green squares are things he's expected to do on a daily basis, the yellow squares are his WEEKLY rewards, & the red squares are things that aren't acceptable in our home. The great thing about our version of the system is that chores, rewards, & unacceptable behavior are all readily displayed for the child to see. Also the cards are easy to replace at any time if you want to change the chores, rewards, or bad behaviors. The other component our system has are "bucks" rather than "tickets" that we use to reward good behavior immediately.

On the left are what are bucks look like, & the right are the replaceable cards for the chart.

Now the bucks are pretty simple. Christopher gets a buck every time he does his chores (the green squares) or displays really good behavior like, listening well, sharing, helping with extra chores etc. Every time he shows behavior we don't like (the red squares) we take a buck away from him. Bucks are used for small things like 30 minutes of TV, listening to his music on the way to school, an extra story at bedtime, & things of that nature. He can save up bucks, or spend them as soon as he gets them, it's up to him. This is great because it shows him that things like TV, & other extras are privileges NOT something we owe him. He needs to be good in order to get good things in return. We've been on the system for over a week now & saw IMMEDIATE results the first day we used it.

Now the last part works with the rest of the system & is simple as well. Each day that we had a good day (determined by how many bucks he earned) we put a pretty stone into his jar before bedtime. If we didn't have a good day, he simply doesn't earn a stone that day. Now these aren't like bucks because they cannot be spent right away, or by his choosing. Once he has earned 5 stones in his jar, they can be spent on a bigger reward (anything pictured in the yellow squares). We chose things like going to the park or the Children's museum, going out for ice cream, or staying the night at grandma's. This is great because it teaches him longer term goals too. Not everything has instant gratification, & sometimes we really have to work for the things we want.

How Did I Make It?

Our system did take a lot of time to make, but was pretty easy. All of our supplies we already had on hand, or were able to purchase at the dollar store. The chart is made out of baseball card sleeves. I just cut them & taped them together in the back until it was the size I needed it. The cards are just printed pictures I found (& colored) from online since we only had black ink. I just taped them to green, yellow, & red cardstock paper & cut everything to fit the card sleeves.

The bucks are made from foam rectangles I picked up at the dollar store & cut into thirds. Each one has a foam sticker that I placed in the middle of each buck & it made PLENTY. You can use any old jar & stones (or marbles, or beans, or whatever you have around) for the long term reward. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below, or on our Facebook page!

EDIT:
Here are the printables for the pictures I used in my chart. Keep in mind these are specific for my family & you may need to get creative & add some of your own as well. Color them with your kids, or feel free to leave them as is. P.S. coloring is way more fun! Good luck!

Page 1
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DIY Wood Cleaner/Polish

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 08:33:00 +0000

I have a confession to make...I hardly ever polish my wood surfaces...especially in the bathrooms or kitchen where the wood dries out easily. It just happens to be one of those things I don't notice until it's too late. My eyes don't see it until it's crusted in little boy fingerprints, cooking spills & completely dried out. I think this is a condition somewhat related to selective hearing, but I can't really be too sure. Either way here's my cheap & easy solution! Oh & please don't judge me for my before pictures, or even if you do, please don't tell anyone I know. Maybe they haven't noticed yet?

What you'll need:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 3/4 cups water
1/2 teaspoon essential oil (optional)
16 oz or larger spray bottle

That's it! Mix it all in a bottle & just shake it before you spray it each time because the oil & water separate!

Melted Snowman Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 05:39:00 +0000

Okay okay, I'm a procrastinator. Christmas is over, the presents have all been unwrapped & Santa went home, but this is still a really cute recipe considering it's still winter & New Years Eve is on it's way so I thought I would post it anyway.

What you'll need:

1 cup margarine
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Step 1: Cream the margarine and add the sugar gradually. Beat until light and fluffy.

Step 2: Add eggs one at time, mixing well after each addition.

Step 3: Mix in all other ingredients & chill dough overnight in the fridge (4 hours at least).

Step 4: After dough has been chilled, pat cookies into a circle-ish shape. They don't need to be pretty, the icing will "melt" better if there are lumpy areas. Bake at 375 F for 6-8 minutes or until they're golden brown.

Royal Icing

5 egg whites
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
6 cups confectioners sugar

I wish I had pictures but I was so focused on getting the recipe right that I didn't take any. Plus I had to tweak the recipe a lot in order for it to work for me which I reflected my above. You may have to change yours to a consistency you feel comfortable with. Mine was too thick at first so I added more vanilla & more egg whites to give it that liquidy feel. If yours is too thin, add some more powdered sugar.

Step 1: In large bowl, combine the egg whites and vanilla and beat until frothy.

Step 2: Add the confectioners sugar gradually and mix on low speed until sugar is incorporated and mixture is shiny. NOTE: You may want to do this part by hand because mine got so thick my hand mixer started to give in.

Step 3: Turn speed up to high and beat until mixture forms stiff, glossy peaks. (For those of you who don't know...hey I didn't...peaks mean that when you dip a spoon in & pull it out, there is a little peak that sticks up after the spoon has been removed). This should take approximately 5 to 7 minutes. Add food coloring, if desired.

Marshmallow Snowman Heads

This part is easy peasy. Just put some shortening on a plate, put a bunch of marshmallows on it & pop it in the microwave. DON'T LET THEM GET HUGE. It's tempting but seriously don't, they will turn into rocks. Just wait for them to inflate a bit & then pull them out. Make sure you have shortening on your fingers so they don't stick to you. Have fun! I know we did!

This is where I got the idea from!

Homemade Wipes

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 18:19:00 +0000

I don't know about anyone else, but sometimes I think back to before I had kids & I wonder...how in the heck did I run a household successfully without any wipes?! I use them for everything. Cleaning quick spills, getting a spot out from a shirt, wiping faces & sticky hands, & of course the more obvious, less glamorous wiping up all that poop! Maybe this isn't normal, but for my house it is & let me tell you, we go through a LOT of wipes on a daily/weekly/monthly basis. So I thought, why not try to make my own? If I didn't end up liking it I could always switch back to the store bought ones. But to be quite honest, I never would switch back! The homemade wipes last a lot longer, are way more durable & I find I need to use less of them than a traditional wipe. Plus I like the idea of being able to use the baby wash I already use for my kids' skin in the bathtub. Here's how it's done...

What you'll need:

1 roll paper towels (I got mine from the Dollar Store & they happened to be Basic Bounty)
1 1/4 tablespoons baby bath wash
1 tablespoon baby oil
1 1/3 cups water
A container that will fit half a roll of paper towels in it (again, Dollar Store)

Step 1: Mix all of the ingredients together in your container

Step 2: Cut your paper towels in half with a non-serrated knife & save the other half for next time.

Step 3: Just place your paper towels into the container already filled with your mixture.

Step 5: Close your container & turn in upside-down until the paper towels are completely wet (15 minutes-ish).

Step 6: Open it back up & pull our the cardboard center.

All done: Cheap, easy & durable wipes!

This is where I based my recipe from!

Brightening up Bath Time

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 05:46:00 +0000

So here's something wonderfully simple & cheap that my kids absolutely ADORE. When I'm having a lazy mom day, instead of busting out all of the normal bath time toys that I loathe fishing out from the bottom of the bathtub every time, I toss in a package of glowsticks that I got from the dollar store & turn some of the bathroom lights off. My boys LOVE this! I know these aren't great pictures, but they give you the general idea. I wish the pictures did more justice to how much the glowsticks really make the whole bathtub & water light up though. I like it just as much as the boys do!

DIY Shaving Cream

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 07:04:00 +0000

This one is pretty easy, & very very worth it! I have pretty sensitive skin (probably a lot more sensitive than most) & this is the only shaving cream that I have ever tried that didn't leave me any sort of irritation a day or so after shaving. I know too much info ha ha, but I'm just being honest here so forgive me. It doesn't have the same consistency as shaving gel or cream, but after using this I don't even need any sort of moisturizer to keep my legs from being dry. And let me tell you, I need all the time I can get with two little boys running around so the less time I have to spend on taking care of my skin the better. Not to mention I was pretty impressed with how nice my legs looked afterwards...& it's December, so that in itself is impressive. Plus it's WAY more cost effective than shelling out for Skintimate or even the off brand shaving cream all the time.

What you need:

1 cup conditioner
1 cup shampoo
1/3 cup baby oil
1/3 hand cream

I got the shampoo & conditioner at the dollar store. I know that lotion & baby oil can be found there as well & this is more than enough to make at least two large bottles of shaving cream.

Mix 1 cup of shampoo & 1 cup of conditioner first. I just used a fork to mix everything up.

Now add 1/3 cup of baby oil, & 1/3 cup of lotion & mix it up.

Now pour it into a bottle of your liking using a funnel. I just used an old baby lotion bottle because I liked the pump to get the shaving cream out.

& there you go! Even with dry skin you won't need to moisturize after shaving with this. Hope you love it as much as I did! This is where I found the original recipe. It also has a breakdown of the average cost per container made versus store bought in case you're interested!

Countdown to Christmas!

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 06:00:00 +0000

I have a confession to make. I never knew that you could use just plain glass as dry erase boards (ie: picture frames). I'm fairly certain just about everyone else on the face of the planet may have been aware of this, but I was not one of these people until just recently. With that being said, I thought it might be nice to make a dry erase countdown to Christmas board. Here's how it turned out, & my apologies for the terrible picture quality.

To make this, the only things you will need are scrapbook paper, Christmas stickers (optional), a dry erase marker & eraser, & a picture frame of course.

The area where you write the number erases so you can put the new number in each day. Everything else like the scrapbook paper, the Christmas stickers, & the words are behind the glass so they don't get erased every time you erase the numbers. Thanks for reading!

Leftovers Anyone?

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 00:07:00 +0000

So how was everyone's Thanksgiving last week? I would be willing to bet that you ate a lot of turkey, & I'd also be willing to be that you still have a lot of turkey left over. Instead of the usual turkey sandwich for all those leftovers you have laying around, why not try a different way to use all that turkey? All you're going to need for this recipe is some cheese (I used colby for this recipe but it's great with any kind of cheese you like), turkey (again, for this I used deli sliced ham but any meat would be appropriate), & some crescent rolls.

Now, lay out all the crescent rolls, but instead of breaking them all into the triangles that you normally would, press two of the triangles together to make a rectangle instead.

Next you place as much cheese as you would like on the crescent rolls. I like to slice mine thin so it melts into everything really well.

After that you just put the meat right on top. This is where your shredded turkey leftovers would be perfect ;)

Then you roll 'em up & bake them according to the Crescent Roll directions!

& that's that! Enjoy!

You can also find the original recipe & other adaptations here. Thanks for stopping by guys!

Honey Hair Treatment

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 22:47:00 +0000

Okay, let me be honest... I have terrible hair. And I truly from the bottom of my heart mean absolutely terrible. It's super fine & thin, so not only are my roots oily, but my tips always always look fried & broken. I have seen a few recipes online to make your own hair conditioning treatments but nothing ever stood out as something I wanted to try, until now of course! Here's the recipe & directions:

1/2 cup of honey

2 tablespoons - 1/4 cup of olive oil (depending on the dryness of your hair & scalp)

Stir ingredients together until combined
Saturate your hair with the mixture
Wrap your hair in a towel & leave on for 45 minutes (It doesn't have to be exact)
Rinse your hair & then shampoo & condition as usual

Well my first worry was that this would make my oily hair even more oily. It didn't! This treatment was AMAZING. My hair looked softer, shinier, & healthier than I think it ever has in it's entire sad, dull, damaged life. It was a bit messy to put on, but it was completely worth it! I promise you won't be disappointed if you end up trying this.

Homemade Counter Cleaner

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 18:34:00 +0000

Okay, so I'm a bit of a hippie when it comes to saving money, cutting down on waste, & being green. With that being said, I like to make my own...everything. I'm talking dish soap, laundry detergent, & cleaning products. I will post the rest of the cleaning recipes on a later date, but this one is AMAZING for cleaning your counters. It disinfects & leaves your counters super shiny (I promise) & that means a lot coming from the OCD neat freak herself. Here's the recipe, & it's only pennies in a bottle!

What you'll need:

A spray bottle

Rubbing alcohol

Antibacterial dish soap (I found all the items at the dollar store)

Water

How to make it:

Fill the spray bottle about 1/8 full with rubbing alcohol

Add a few drops of the dish soap

Fill the bottle the rest of the way with water & shake! That's it!

To me, nothing is better than saving money, & knowing exactly what is being used in products I'm cleaning my family's home with is always a plus! Let me know if you tried it!

A New Take on a Shadow Box

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 05:35:00 +0000

I was so excited when my mom brought over an extra shadow box for me to use! I knew I wanted to fill it with things from the boys, but I wasn't sure what at first. Eventually, I ended up with the obvious...baby shoes, hospital bracelets from the birth, their first baby hat etc. Considering how excited I was, it was pretty sad how unexciting I just made it look. Not to mention that the boys' room is decorated with cars & trucks. The 'baby' shadow box just didn't seem to make sense their room, much less anywhere else in the house. I left it that way for a few months until I found some inspiration, & a lot of hot wheels & here was the finished product!

I think this is way more fitting! Plus it's something that both boys really love, which is exactly what should be in a shadow box. We filled with HotWheels from when I was little, & of course HotWheels that both of the boys picked out. Plus we all got to work on it together & it only took a few minutes!

So it begins!

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda) — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 03:03:00 +0000

Here it is! This blog is about to be full of easy (& cheap) ways to play with your kids, decorate your house, connect with your husband, pamper yourself, cook & organize your life! Now I'm no pro, but I am passionate about trying new things & improving life in any way possible. I grab my ideas from all over the internet & I will do my best to break down instructions with pictures, as well as credit where the ideas came from. Thanks for joining me for the ride!