Homemade Ranch Dressing

I love ranch dressing! I can eat it on most things. So I found a recipe to make your own healthy version! Enjoy :)

Healthy Frozen Summer Treat

 

These look so DELICIOUS! If you are not a fan of watermelon, use strawberries in it’s place!

Ingredients:
3 cups watermelon puree (seedless if possible)
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup chopped fresh strawberries
1 kiwi, peeled and sliced
1 peach or nectarine, diced
small handful fresh cherries, pitted and chopped

Directions:
Cut the watermelon into chunks and then puree it in a blender until smooth. Set aside. Set out about 1 dozen popsicle molds (amount needed will vary depending on size of molds). Fill each one with the chopped fresh fruit. Then pour in the watermelon puree until each mold is full to the top. Place a popsicle stick into each one. Place into your freezer and freeze for about 6 to 8 hours.

Free app to help you shop healthier!

 

I love the FREE app Fooducate! It helps you make the best decision when choosing foods/drinks. I scanned a popular 'weight loss' cereal to show that its not a wise choice. For breakfast you are better off going with a hearty oatmeal. But if you really want cereal, simply click show alternatives and the app gives you a list of foods that are similar but better options! So many neat features! Give this one a try!

Candy free Easter basket ideas!

 

Ok parents, we all know kids have tons of energy. Give em candy and you have your own Tazmanian Devil on hand! So this year I will be making candy free baskets for my girls. Here are some ideas for you. Get creative and add in things that your kiddos love! Hit the dollar store up for most of these!

1. Stickers
2. Bubbles
3. Puzzles
4. Crayons
5. Markers
6. Glitter
7. Makeup
8. Lip gloss
9. Books
10. Dress up jewelry
11. Nail polish
12. Hair bows
13. Doll
14. Slinky
15. Glow sticks
16. Play dough
17. Dried fruit
18. Juice boxes
19. Coloring book
20. Notebook

4 household tips to help you stay organized!

I'm going to share 4 tips to help you keep your house more organized! These tips, as simple as they are, can save you some major headaches!

1. Socks

 

I can't be the ONLY one who has a laundry basket overflowing with socks! I mean well, thinking I'll get to sorting them soon. Before too long, the pile is RIDIC and then I'm just overwhelmed and say forget it lol
So what you do is get each person their own laundry mesh bag. Write their name on it and have them fill it with their socks (can even do undies too) Then when it's time to do laundry, simply pop the bag in the wash! Once washed and dried you can just give the bag back to the person to have them put their own socks up or if it's for the littles, you can fold them. EASY PEASY! Exciting stuff isn't it?!

2. Hanging clothes

I have 3 girls, so clothes are handed down and used again. The closet can quickly become a mixture of all kinds of clothing sizes. Not so fun to dig through when you are in a hurry to get them dressed! So what I have done is created closet labels like you see above. Mine are not that pretty and fancy, but it works. I used cardstock paper and wrote sizes on it. Now I can easily find clothes for the right kid! Then as the youngest outgrows items, I'll just take those clothes out.
**side note- as my girls outgrow items, I am storing those clothes I just can't part with in a plastic container to be used to make quilts for them later**
I also have their drawers labeled. Ex~ 3T pants, 4T pjs, etc so I can keep those straight as well. PLUS when I'm out of town or sick, someone else can easily put the clothes away in the proper spot!

3. Cluttered closets

Ok, we all have clothes sitting in closets that just sit there and are never worn. Well I for one just got tired of seeing them and having them take up my space! If you are ready to clear the clutter, here is what you do! Hang EVERYTHING like you see pictured above. As you wear an item and put it back, hang it the correct way. After a season, see what was not turned around. Those are things you don't wear and you just gotta get rid of it! You'll feel SO much better. Give it away, sell it, or donate it. Just get it out of your house!

4. Organizing bedding

This is a great way to store your matching sheets and pillow cases! Simply put the folded sheets and cases inside one of the pillow cases. Easy to locate a set when it's time to put on fresh bedding AND it looks pretty this way too :)


Hopefully these tips help you around the house. As a sahm or a wahm (or dads too) we have a lot going on so anything that will save us time is just freeing up more time we can spend with our family!

Cleaning schedule

As a mom of 3 (all under 5) the house can become a disaster VERY quickly! I could literally clean all day long at the rate these little people create messes lol I know fellow moms feel my pain!
I have come to realize that a simple schedule for keeping a tidy house is the best way to keep the chaos to a minimum. By doing simple daily activities, I no longer have to go into full panic mode when I know we are expecting guests. You all know that feeling right?! When you are running around the house like a mad woman throwing everything into closets/bags/drawers just to get the crap out of sight. Yup, mmm hmmm been there done that!
Hopefully this schedule can give you a good starting place to getting order to your house. Feel free to print it out and hang it up to use. I love a list! They keep me on track and I really honestly love to cross things off a list! Makes me feel all accomplished :)
For the weekly items, I have a general area listed. What I do is really tackle that room! Dust, organize, ceiling fans, blinds, windows, etc so it get a deep clean. That way you don't have the daunting task of doing all the blinds at one time. By deep cleaning each room once a week, things don't get out of hand for you later.
And ladies, just remember this...our kids grow up way to fast! House work will always be there to do. Make sure you are taking the time out to spend with them. They don't care if the inside of the fridge looks all organized like one of those you see on MTV Cribs. They don't care if there are crumbs on the counter. Heck, they don't care if the toilet is flushed (wait, is that just my kids?! Who knew girls could be so gross lol) They just care about spending time with you!

Toy clutter!

I can't be the only mom who is fed up with toy clutter! There are some days I look around at the destruction & I'm just ready to bag and toss it all just to get it out of my house! So I've been working on coming up with ways to organize the chaos. I HEART Pinterest! Here are some ideas I've seen on there for organizing kid stuff.


Isn't this so pretty?! Ahh I just love the neat stacks, bright colors, and baskets! See her solution to her kids mess! She has a great plan!

 

 

Buy some pretty buckets, drill a few holes and connect with zip ties! Looks cool & it's functional!

 

 

3 small bookcases = reading nook! I love this!

 

 

Cut the legs off an old dresser and turn it into a bench with storage. just add pillows.

 

 

Limited on space? Replace a closet door with a bookcase door!

 

 

Not a lot of space for book shelves? No problem, just put up some rain gutters and you have instant shelves. Holds a ton of books and you aren't using any precious floor space! Click here for more info.

 

 

Hopefully this has given you some inspiration to get your project started! Don't forget about the space under beds! Perfect to slid baskets or plastic containers under.