Hailey's Helpful Hints

With Spring break and summer travel soon approaching, it's time to talk travel. I like to think I'm a seasoned veteran on the subject being that we've traveled for months on end with my ' lil guy since 3 weeks old. Only time will tell if I'm as ambitious with two in tow. In addition to mentally preparing for any trip, it's important to have appropriate gear to make the trip as headache free as possible. Who am I kidding - is there such a thing?? 1) CARES If you're not into bringing the carseat on the plane (me!), then the CARES Safety Restraint ($69) is a genius alternative to give your little ones that extra protection. The Cares Restraint is the only FAA-approved and adjustable child restrain harness other than a car seat, and can be used for toddlers over 22 pounds. 2) GoGo Kidz Travelmate Back in December I blogged about this already but if you prefer to take your carseat on the plane but don't want to lug around both the carseat AND your st...

Piggybacking on yesterday's Splurge vs. Steal post on tortillas, I thought this recipe was fitting. I get asked all the time for easy, quick, kid-friendly dinner ideas. Sadly I'm not a good resource since I don't steer too far from our signature re-occurring meals; tacos, stir-fry, enchiladas, chicken and broccoli, spaghetti, sloppy joes, turkey meat loaf. Nothing fancy. I'm all about - if it works, why mess up a good thing. As much as I like routine though, I find myself bored even of our favorites. Thanks to my girlfriend Lori, these tasty personal tortilla pizzas have become a staple in our weekly dinner line-up. In addition to being super easy, they are low fat, inexpensive and take 15 minutes from start to table top. Ingredients: Flour tortillas Pizza sauce 8 oz. bag of shredded Mozzarella Cheese Toppings of choice Directions: 1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees 2) Spread spoonful of pizza sauce on top of tortilla 3) Layer desired amount of cheese on top 4) Decorate wit...

I've become a pretty religious Target grocery shopper as of late. The convenience of a one stop shop is pretty flippin' nice. I'm so stoked about this super steal I happen to fall upon this week, that I thought I would share with y'all. A staple item on my grocery list is flour tortillas. Yes, flour. Not wheat. Shame on us, I know. Chase loves quesadillas for lunch, we eat tacos on a weekly basis and my husband eats them plain, straight out of the bag for a snack. We go through a lot of tortillas. And every time I reach for the "Mission" brand bag, I cringe. For a 10 pack of the Mission 'Carb Balance' Soft Taco tortillas at our local Vons/Safeway they are expensive at $6.19. Target's Mission price is a little better at $4.99 but it still doesn't sit well with me. Bummed that Target was out of our Mission 'Carb Balance' favorites and knowing I couldn't go home empty-handed, I searched through the shelf of options. Dissecting the nutr...

Alright confession time. I'm obsessed with scraping my tongue. Wait. What you ask??? You know, the step that takes place after you get done brushing your teeth to scrap off the filthy, furry layer of left over bacteria on the back of your tongue? I know you were hoping for more but that's me. I'm not obsessed with nice cars. I'm not obsessed with fancy jewelry. I'm obsessed with good hygiene . It comes with being OCD and the fact that my family growing up had very sensitive noses to foul odors. Getting out the door past my mom or dad with bad breath was near impossible. Hence the obsession (or complex -whatever you want to call it) with my tongue scraper. For those of you that don't see the benefit of a tongue scraper, let's talk Dentistry 101: According to Wikipedia , "the most common location for mouth-related halitosis is the tongue. Tongue bacteria produce malodorous compounds and fatty acids, and account for 80-90% of all cases of mouth-related bad...

Calling all coffee lovers!! Unfortunately I've never tried this recipe before but after reading Sally from My Homemade Life rave about it, I figured it was worthy enough to share. Besides, who doesn't love coffee AND chocolate combined!?! ~Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins~ Ingredients: Makes 24 mini muffins 2 individual packages of Starbucks Via Instant Coffee Italian Roast Extra Bold 1/2 c. warm milk 1/4 c. melted margarine ( 1/2 stick ) 1 whole egg 1 tsp. vanilla 1 c. flour 1/3 c. sugar 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 tsp. salt 1 c. chocolate chips 1 Mini Muffin Tin (She prefers to use the mini muffin tin instead of the regular cupcake tin but it's whatever your heart desires) IMPORTANT :She is all about using the Starbucks Via Instant Coffee (Italian Roast Extra Bold) flavor. It's super easy to find being that there's a Starbucks on every corner! Even check your local grocery store. I know most of them are now carrying Starbuck's roasts. Direct...

Hands down I'm a cocktail girl. First choice would be a mojito but I do also love me a killer margarita. Thanks to my aging metabolism however, I can't justify those tasty 800 calories that high five my liver on their way to my bootah . {Tear}. Dave and I always wonder if, or when, we'll hit that sophisticated milestone and make the switch from cocktails to wine. Prior to last Saturday night, I wasn't too optimistic BUT thanks to some great friends, we were introduced to Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Villages 2009. This particular bottle has me second guessing the whole wine thing. It's light, yet flavorful with enticing aromas of raspberry, cherry pie, strawberries and smoky herbs. In my opinion (along with the rest of the table) this Beaujolais is very drinkable. It was the first time in a very long time that I wasn't forcing the wine down my throat and puckering at a bitter aftertaste. Cheers to Tracy for tickling my fancy! You may have to hunt a little for this w...

This doesn't work for me just yet but you better believe I am going to implement this when my kid's are in school. I got this genius idea from a one of my mommy-mentors (thanks Krista!) that struggled with getting two boys out the door in the morning on time. BIGGEST CHALLENGE: Trying to get the boys, who more often than not woke up on the wrong side of the bed, outfitted in proper attire without a raging outbreak. Trying to rationalize with a four year old who doesn't understand why he can't wear his bathing suit, rain boots and Batman t-shirt is a sure-fire stress builder. What should be a 30 second conversation turns into a 30 minute battle for control. And I'm sure it's even worse with little girls. Eek. Due to all the lost time of calming them down, getting them dressed, teeth brushed, and hair combed, they were constantly in a rush against the clock. Which always resulted in forgetting something; library book, cleats for practice. Eating breakfast in the...