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The Sugar Rush Cometh

It’s Halloween in spring; otherwise known as Easter. Only, instead of going door-to-door to collect sweet treats, kids run around like decapitated chickens hunting for plastic eggs filled with chocolate goodness under bushes, in trees and behind rocks. If parents are lucky, their children will actually make it back to the hunt’s home base with at least a few pieces of uneaten candy to show for their efforts.  The unlucky moms and dads are left to pluck their kids from wherever it is they decide to plant their tiny tushes mid-hunt and picnic from a basket bulging with marshmallow chicks, … Continue reading →

Salvage the Halloween Sugar

What’s a more frightening prospect for most for moms and dads; navigating through a maze of downed trees, wires and other debris with their children, or being left home alone with multiple bags of Halloween candy? In many communities along the East Coast slammed by superstorm Sandy, trick-or-treating has been postponed or cancelled for safety reasons, leaving hundreds of thousands of parents in a precarious spot: Having to explain to their mini ghouls and goblins how a fierce weather phenomenon dampened an annual tradition, and then finding ways not to waste the mountains of sweet treats that were bought for … Continue reading →

Sugar Storm

Why no, I don’t think 8 a.m. is too early for a 100 Grand bar. Just don’t tell my kid I’m raiding her Halloween loot. Now, if someone could just invent a fun-size Whatchamacallit bar. Peanut-flavored crisp candy topped with a layer of caramel and dipped in milk chocolate. Forever and ever. Amen. It’s been 24 hours since a sugar storm, named trick-or-treat, rained down on our neighborhood, and the kids have yet to recover. Interestingly, this evening while my child, who is up to her eyeballs in chocolate-covered anything and everything, was rifling through her sugar stash (in search … Continue reading →

Frugal Tips for Surviving Snowstorms

Fortunately (or unfortunately)for me, I no longer live in blizzard central where I grew up and spent the first decade of my adult life. Still, the news of blizzards in the northeast has me feeling a bit nostalgic. It also has me thinking of all of the frugal things that my parents did during snow storms and blizzards to keep us kids warm, happy, and fed. Hang blankets for extra warmth: Growing up, our homes were fueled with oil. During snowstorms, the temperatures would drop causing us to run out of oil quicker. To slow down the consumption of heating … Continue reading →

Keeping the Peace

Any semblance of peace that may blanket your home tonight will be shattered once dawn breaks on Easter Sunday. Kids will be running around like Energizer bunnies looking for sweet treats left behind by the holiday hare, and once they hit pay dirt, they’ll be even more amped thanks to the endless amount of sugar coursing through their little bodies. However, sugar highs only last so long.  So, how do you stay calm when your kids start to crash? Say “No” without saying “No”:  Your preschooler wants to polish off an entire family of Peeps before you leave the house … Continue reading →

Making Snow Cones from a Blizzard

That’s a desperate mom’s twist on the proverbial phrase about lemons and lemonade. When you live in the frozen tundra that is northern Wisconsin you have to flex your creative muscle on a regular basis in order to keep from going stir crazy during the winter months.  This is especially true if your home is filled with antsy children.  Even a singleton can push you to the limits if the weather outside is so frightful that winter play is limited to the living room, kitchen or basement. If you are enjoying a reprieve from Mother Nature right now, remember that … Continue reading →

Planning and Preparing for Holiday Baking

I have been spending the past few days planning my holiday baking.  Each trip I make to the store, I pick up some of the ingredients. Normally my baking takes place a couple of weeks before Christmas.  But since my military son won’t be home until a couple of days before, I am doing my baking the week he is home so that he can enjoy the yummy treats. The ingredients for baking can get expensive.  So if you plan early enough what you are going to make, you can create a master list.  Then instead of purchasing everything at … Continue reading →

Save Me From Myself

Don’t bother looking for fun-sized 100 Grand bars. I’ve eaten them all. Every.Single.One.In.The.Entire.Universe. Ditto for those tiny Twix bars, little Snickers, and mini Kit Kats. By the way, how is it that Kit Kat bars can get so stale sitting in a hermetically sealed wrapper? Not that it matters now. Stale or not, they’re gone. And by gone, I don’t mean you’ll find them in the trash barrels sitting at the end of our driveway. Rather, you’ll likely locate bits and pieces of chocolate, caramel, and cookie crunch clogging my arteries, enlarging my hips and padding my bottom. In a … Continue reading →

Hurricane Food

Well, we made it though Hurricane Sandy, and while our area is still seeing some of the after effects of this historic storm, we are in good shape. and well fed. When you are in the middle of a hurricane or in its aftermath, the food you eat should be easy to prepare, comforting, and in some cases, assembled without the use of the stovetop or oven. Stock up on the following items and use these tips to make sure that you can feed your family when you shelter in place. Canned Soup and Stew Easy to heat and easy … Continue reading →

The Trick Behind Halloween Treats

Depending on where you are collecting candy on Halloween, the free items can be more trick than treat. One word: Raisins. Dehydrated grapes that look more at home in the bottom of a toilet rather than the bottom of a plastic pumpkin shouldn’t be considered a Halloween treat. Ditto for toothbrushes, individual pennies, polished rocks and the errant canned good. Rocks, canned soup and raisins. Really? Who does that to a child on Halloween? Geez, the kid went through the trouble of dressing-up, braving chilly temps and navigating around mountains of fallen leaves in the dark. Doesn’t that warrant at … Continue reading →