Mom Hacks, Tips & Tricks

The Easiest Dinner You'll Ever Make I'm so tired of cooking; I don't mind doing it and while there are times I enjoy it during the week, I just wish I was doing something else. I want to spend those few, short, hours after school and work actually engaging with my kids and my husband, not standing at the stove while they talk and play. I want easy dinner, and no, not take out. I'm not against take out or dining out, it is a weekend staple, but my wallet and our health prefer home cooking. This chicken dish has become a go-to favorite, thanks to the variety of dishes we can create with it. It is not labor intensive, cooks...

The One Hobby I Did Not Have To Give Up As A Full-Time Working Mom When I first embarked on this dangerous journey we call motherhood, one of the first things I did was stop putting myself first. Feeling tired? The baby had to eat first. Feeling hungry? The baby needs a change first. Need a shower? The baby can’t be left alone, have to wait for my husband to come home. And the list goes on and on and on and on. After I began the habit of putting myself last, I also fell into a routine of not making time for the things I enjoyed. Before I had babies I was an avid runner, exercised regularly, read often, tried...

Did You Say Charcuterie? I jumped on the charcuterie board train when they became popular a few years ago, and I’ve been riding the trend ever since because this is exactly how I like to eat! I’ve been known to forgo dinner choosing to indulge in what I call my "fancy" snacks from favorite niche grocery stores Sprouts and Trader Joes. Charcuterie boards have become a fun and fancy way to serve and eat my fancy snacks. Also, if you have finicky eaters, try introducing new foods on a charcuterie platter and watch your family turn into foodies! The nice thing about charcuterie boards is that there are so many options. They can be made to serve one person, e.g., a charcuterie...

The Simple Dinner Table Game That Will Have Everyone Laughing If your family is like mine, your dinner time with one another is the only time you spend together as a family all day. We may be ripping, running and chaotic most days out of the week but more often than not, we make the time to sit and have our last meal of the day, together. We may just be eating drive-thru fried chicken after the football game or Old El Paso tacos, but we do it as a family in our own kitchen. Some nights, though, we find ourselves asking why we even bother. There’s always at least one person at the table in a foul mood, one...

Mondays Are Made For (Instant Pot) Red Beans As a transplant, one of the things I appreciate most about living in Louisiana is the culture. It’s something I really wanted my kids to grow up with. For just about everything that’s done in the Bayou, there is sure to be a story behind it. A good example of this is the Louisiana tradition of eating red beans and rice on Mondays. Red beans are traditionally made on Mondays down here, but do you know why? As the story goes, back in the day, Monday was typically wash day and since all the laundry was done by hand little time was left for preparing an elaborate meal. Red kidney beans soaked overnight and...