Works For Me Wednesday

Every year we plant about five or six tomato plants and they do very well. We plant them alongside our house on one side. We love tomatoes. I have always wanted to have a garden with more than just tomatoes in it, but our yard just isn't big enough. Most of our back yard is in the shade all day, and years ago we tried to grow a few vegetables back there but they just wouldn't work out. For years we've just enjoyed our tomatoes and been happy with just them. This year I decided to try something different. We planted some vegetables in our flower beds in our front yard. It was the only place we could think of to plant them. We planted cucumbers, green peppers, jalapeno peppers, eggplant, pumpkin and watermelon plants. They are spread out among our flowers and we really hope they do good. So far they are doing great.

So my tip for the week is if you have a very small yard but want a vegetable garden, just plant some veggies in your flower beds.

For more tips go to Rocks In My Dryer.

Works For Me: The "Mom, I'm Bored Edition"

Here is what I've done to try to help keep my kids from getting bored. I went to the craft store and bought a box with several hundred craft sticks of different colors in it. Then I sorted them out by colors and wrote all sorts of activities my kids can do when they're bored. Each color contains different types of activities, for instance, green sticks are all outdoor activities (blowing bubbles, drawing with sidewalk chalk, riding bikes, etc), red sticks are places we can go that cost money (amusement park, children's museum, etc), blue sticks are places we can go for free (park, zoo with our membership, etc.), yellow sticks are activities they can do inside (puzzles, read, color, etc). Then I put all of the sticks in a fancy cup I got from the circus back before I ever had kids (I have always loved the circus!) and when the kids are bored they can pick an activity out of the cup. If we're going somewhere I'll tell them if they can pick an activity that costs money or if it has to be a free activity. If it's raining outside I tell them they have to pick an indoor activity. If it's a nice day they can pick an outdoor activity. I do maintain a little bit of control over which category they can pick from, but then they can do whatever activity they pick out of the cup. Sometimes they'll pick an activity and it's something they don't feel like doing so they'll put it back and pick another one. They always find something they want to do. If this doesn't keep them from getting bored over the summer, nothing will.

Go to Rocks In My Dryer to check out a lot more boredom-busting ideas for summer vacation.

Works For Me Wednesday

Lately I've noticed that I never have the things that I use throughout the day handy. I am always having to run upstairs and downstairs to get things that I left somewhere. I don't even answer my phones (home and cell) when I should because I'll hear it ringing and realize it is on different level of the house than I am on and I'm too lazy to run up or down the stairs just to get the phone. Finally I figured out a solution. I went to the dollar store and bought a small plastic basket (I'm still fascinated by the dollars stores). I put my daily essentials in it and if I know I'm going to be on one level of the house for a while I make sure I take it with me and then I set it somewhere central on that level. If I'm working on the computer I try to keep it right next to me, but otherwise I just set it on the kitchen counter if I'm upstairs and my bed if I'm downstairs. Right now it contains my home phone, cell phone, a notebook, a pen, my timer, tissues and lip balm. I do try to keep my digital camera in it, also, so I can take pictures of the kids at a moment's notice when they're doing something cute, but, obviously, it couldn't be in the picture because it was taking the picture.


Having all of my essentials close to me throughout the day is what works for me.

Go to Rocks In My Dryer for so many great tips it will take you a few days to read them all, but they're worth it.

Works For Me Wednesday

Since school is starting in a few weeks for my kids, I decided I wanted to read some fun books to each of them that pertain to the grade each one is going into. I will have a preschooler, a kindergartner and a second grader this year. So I went to my library's website and requested a few books about preschool, a few books about kindergarten and a few books about second grade. There are some really cute books out there. For each grade I just typed in "preschool" or "kindergarten" or "second grade" and then searched through the results until I found some that looked good. Hopefully they are as good as they look. I do know for kindergarten there is a cute series of books about a teacher named Miss Bindergarten. Carson read some of those books when he was in kindergarten and really liked them, so I will check them throughout the year for Hayden. I'm not sure how high up in grade level they write books like this for kids, but I will continue to do it until they are old enough that there aren't fun books about their specific grade. I highly doubt there is a book out there called, "The Night Before 12th Grade," but I could be mistaken.

Reading fun books to my kids to get them ready for whatever grade they're going into works for me.

Go to Rocks In My Dryer for a ton of great tips. It sometimes takes me days to get through them all, but it is definitely worth it.

Works For Me Wednesday

Today is Works For Me Wednesday: The Great Parenting Advice Edition. My parenting advice is to teach your kids to sleep from the day they are born. Now, you would think that sleep would come naturally to kids, but it doesn't, at least after the first few months. Those first few months are bliss. Babies sleep a lot, and they usually don't care where they are. But give it time. Soon they will start fighting it and it doesn't matter how tired they are, they will resist sleeping at all costs. Get them on a schedule early on and get them used to sleeping in their crib early on. Even if you use a bassinet when they are newborns, have them take naps in their crib, so when they outgrow the bassinet they will already be used to their crib. Let them learn to fall asleep on their own, otherwise your life will be miserable. When you know they are getting sleepy, put them in their crib while they are still awake so they can get to sleep on their own. If kids learn good sleep habits when they are babies, that will carry through during childhood and even adulthood. I recently read an article (and I can't remember where) that said children who have sleep problems usually grow up to be adults who have sleep problems.

Sleep is very important in keeping kids in good moods and, when they get in school, for learning. A well rested kid is a happier kid and learns better than a tired one.

I have to admit that we are the envy of our friends and relatives because our kids sleep so well. I can't believe so many of them say to us, "You are so lucky that your kids sleep good." Well, we aren't lucky. It took some work to get them to sleep good and we made some mistakes along the way.

This is going to be long, so now that you know my advice, you really could stop reading now, unless you want the detailed information on each of my kids, which may be boring to most people.

Since Carson was the first, I held him constantly for months; therefore, he got to where he wouldn't sleep unless he was being held. Well, that was fine for the first little while, but when he was nine months old and I couldn't get a freaking thing done because I had to hold him or he wouldn't sleep, I had to take drastic measures. I admit, I let him cry it out. The first day he cried for two and a half hours, the second day he cried for 10 minutes, the third day he cried for five minutes and from then on he didn't cry at all. Now, I admit that the two and a half hour crying session about did me in, and I was telling a woman at work how guilty I felt about it and she said, "Why? It's not like he's ever going to remember it or hate you because of it." And guess what? He is now seven years old and he goes to bed when it's time, sleeps great and she was right, he doesn't hate me. Another mistake we made with Carson was playing a tape of lullabies for him at bedtime. It got to where he would listen to the tape and when it was over he would yell at us to start it over. We would have to start it over up to three times a night before he would go to sleep. It was ridiculous. I don't recommend music or any kind of sleep machine because then they have to have it. My mom is so used to using a sleep machine that if she goes out of town and forgets to bring hers she has to go buy a new one or she can't sleep. I would hate that.

With Hayden I already knew the mistakes I had made with Carson so I started working on him early. Of course, in the beginning I did hold him a lot when he slept (you can't help it with a newborn), but I still had him take most of his naps in his crib. He slept in our bed for the first few months. I know it's not recommended to let a newborn sleep in your bed, and I'm totally not recommending it, but I was so exhausted that I couldn't wake up during the night to feed him. I was breastfeeding, so when he would wake up to cry I would just whip it out, get him latched on and fall asleep until the next time he cried, then I would switch sides and do it again. I honestly don't even know how long he fed during the night because I was asleep. The reason I was so tired was because my dad was dying and the day after I got home from the hospital I would wake up, get the boys ready and go to my parents' house all day every day until he died. It was really hard. Anyway, I never did let Hayden cry because he learned very early on that when it was time to sleep, it was time to sleep, and when it was time to sleep, he slept in his crib (after the initial exhaustion period on my part).

As for Amaya, we had to handle things differently because with her being adopted and not a newborn we had to resort to other methods. When we were still in China with her she took naps and went to bed at night perfectly, but as soon as we got home it was a totally different story. I think most of it had to do with the time change. The first night she slept fine. The second night she didn't sleep at all (neither did the boys) and we were totally exhausted because of the major jet lag. By the way, why did we not feel any effects of jet lag when we went to China but when we got home it was unbearable? Anyway, by the third night I was ready to kill myself because I couldn't take the lack of sleep anymore. So what I did was put her in her crib, leave the room, and when she started crying, which was immediately, I went back in and rubbed her back and sang to her until she stopped crying. I didn't pick her up, but I was touching her and singing to her. As soon as she stopped crying, which sometimes took a minute or two, I walked out again, and she would start crying immediately so I would go back in and repeat the back rubbing and singing. I must have walked in and out of her room 500 times that night. Finally around 4:00 a.m. I walked out, went in my room, and fell asleep for 20 minutes. I don't know if she was asleep or awake, but I was able to be out of her room for 20 minutes. Then she woke up again so I went in again. She cried a couple of times more, but finally she fell asleep, and guess what? After that night she took her naps and went to bed at night without crying at all, and almost two years later she is an excellent sleeper.

We really are lucky to have three such great sleepers. It wasn't always easy, but it was so worth it. Now they all go to bed at 8:00 and that gives them plenty of sleep and lets us have a few hours to ourselves to get much needed things done around the house before we go to bed.

My advice is train (I know it sounds like I'm talking about a dog here, but I'm not) your kids to be good sleepers and it will benefit them throughout their childhood and into adulthood, not to mention helping you keep your sanity.

For more parenting tips go to Rocks In My Dryer.

Works For Me Wednesday

I totally forgot that it was Wednesday and time for Works For Me Wednesday until I was doing my daily blog reading. Sometimes I have a hard time coming up with a tip, but I feel like I have to think of some sort of tip to contribute since I get so many great tips from everyone else. I get so excited to see everyone's tips each week.

Anyway, I was having a hard time thinking of a tip until I read this post on Stacey's blog. I found out about it from 5 Minutes for Mom. It tells of a near tragedy when her son got buried in sand on a beach and they couldn't find him for five minutes. Luckily, a woman that was helping search thought to look under the sand and they found him. Thank goodness he was fine.

After I read the story I thought to myself, "I've got to explain to the kids how dangerous it can be to get in a hole dug in dirt because it might cave in on you and you could die." Then I realized that I says things like that to myself all the time. Whenever I hear of a tragic story or a near tragic story I tell myself I need to explain to the kids what they should watch out for or shouldn't do. I had the same thought last week when I read about a little girl that had her intestines pulled out of her body by a malfunctioning drain in the bottom of a swimming pool. I had heard of this happening years ago and knew it could happen. I thought that I needed to explain to my kids to stay away from the drains in swimming pools and explain why. I thought that last week and then forgot about it.

As adults we have so much more experience with situations and hear about a lot of preventable tragedies that happen to adults and kids. It's not that parents are always negligent when tragedies happen, it's just that there are so many things that can happen that could be termed "freak accidents" that we need to explain to our kids (and remember them ourselves) what types of things to avoid. Obviously what happened to that little boy being buried in the sand was a freaky thing that his parents would have had no idea could happen, unless they'd heard of something like that happening before, which they hadn't. Unfortunately, even if you've heard about something like this happening, at the time you hear about it you think how sad and tragic it is, but you soon forget about it. In order to keep these types of things in our mind we need to hear about them more often than just once every few years, just like when I heard about the swimming pool drain incidences several years ago and had completely forgot about it until last week.

Anyway, finally on to my tip. I've decided that every time I say to myself, "I need to tell the kids about this," meaning about a tragedy and how it happened so they can avoid doing things that might lead to their own tragedy, I'm going to write it down on a list instead of just trying to remember it and never getting around to telling them. I'm going to call my list "The Safety List" and set aside a time each week called, "Safety Time" where we can sit down as a family for even just five minutes and Mike and I can explain certain situations and bad things that can happen. If they hear things on a weekly basis then they will have a much easier time remembering it. I think all parents should do this. Of course, each safety tip you give your kids needs to be age appropriate. For instance, every time I hear of a tragedy involving teens driving I am going to write it down. Of course it will be a number of years before we talk about that type of thing because my oldest child is only seven, but at least I will have it written down on my list for the future. Every time I hear about a tragedy involving kids and drug use I will write it down. Again, hopefully it will be years before I have to talk to my kids about that, but when the time comes I will have it handy. I think another good thing to do would be to cut articles out of the newspaper and keep it in a folder with the list so I have concrete proof that the tips I'm giving them can help them avoid real tragedies. I think if they can see a clipping from a newspaper they will really believe me and not just think I'm "being a parent" and worrying about nothing.

Unfortunately, being a parent is very stressful when it comes to trying to keep your kids safe. It doesn't matter how careful you are, sometimes bad things happen, but I think the better prepared you and your children are, the easier it will be to stay safe.

So far my list will include:

Do not get into holes dug into dirt because they can easily cave in. I've heard of this happening to construction workers who died even though fellow workers saw it happen and started digging immediately.

Stay away from drains in swimming pools because if they malfunction they can suck you down onto them and you can either drown or get your insides sucked out causing life-long, permanent injuries.

This one is for adults. If a child gets into baby oil and drinks it and accidentally inhales it, they will most certainly die because the oil coats the lungs so even if the child doesn't drown from drinking it they will suffocate because their lungs won't work properly. Baby oil is very dangerous to kids. I knew of a man who died in a similar manner because he asphyxiated when he was drinking Castor Oil and it coated his lungs and there was no way to get it out.

When riding your bike or scooter or even walking on a sidewalk, look ahead at the driveways and notice whether there is a car backing out or someone getting in their car. It's hard for adults in cars to see small children behind their cars.

I know that if I sit here writing and make this post into a novel I can think of a bunch more tips. I think the list is probably never ending. Depending on how long your list is you don't have to read the whole thing every week, but try to read a portion of it each week so at least once a month they will hear all the tips and hopefully it will stick in their brains.

If anyone out there has some great safety tips, leave them in my comments and I will add them to my list. I think as I think of more I will do short posts here and there with my tips that I am adding to my list.

Keeping our kids safe is our most important job, and sometimes it is impossible, but it is better to be equipped with too much information than not enough.



Go to Rocks In My Dryer for a lot of great tips.

Works For Me Wednesday

One thing that works for us is to buy most of our groceries locally. Now I know that going to the supermarket is probably considered shopping locally, but most of the products at the supermarket, including fruits and vegetables and dairy and meat, are definitely shipped from other states or even other countries. We have a local company that started out as a dairy and has now become a lot more that delivers groceries to our front door once a week. When I was a kid my parents had an old metal box that they would get milk in weekly from this company. Now we have a big, nice, modern cooler on our porch that we get our groceries in each week. We don't live out in the country, either. We live in a fairly large city.

Here is a list of the types of food we get delivered to our door: fruit, vegetables, milk, butter, cheese, yogurt, eggs, syrup, sausage, bacon, beef, chicken, tamales, pasta and sauce, tortillas, salsa, guacamole, bread, bagels, peanut butter, jam, cream cheese and fruit juices. The animals that they get their milk and meat from are all natural and not injected with growth hormones, so I feel that is a healthier choice for our family. They get their produce from local farmers as often as possible and have a lot of organic stuff. We don't exclusively eat organic food otherwise we would be limited in what we can eat, and I'm all for eating as many different varieties of food as we can, but we do like to eat that type of stuff as often as we can.

Not only is the food from there healthier, in my opinion, but it is fun to go on the internet and do your grocery shopping and have it delivered to you. We still need to pick up a few things at the grocery store each week, but it really saves a lot of time, too.

I like the fact that I am buying healthy food for my family and supporting local businesses and farmers in the process. Buying groceries locally works for us.

For more tips go to Rocks In My Dryer.

Works For Me Wednesday

I think as mothers we all feel that there aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done that we need to do. At the end of the day I always feel like I haven't spent enough time doing activities with my kids, and I haven't spent enough time doing things around the house to get it in order, and I haven't spent enough time working on projects for work. Well, recently I decided that instead of focusing on all of the stuff I didn't do during the day, I will focus on the things that I did do. It has helped me tremendously. I keep a list (right now I just keep it on a piece of paper, but I might change to a dry erase board where I can see it better) and every time I do something meaningful I write it down. That way at the end of the day, even though it doesn't feel like I spent enough time with the kids, I can see that we read books together, played games together, watched a video together and wrestled around on the floor together. Even though it doesn't feel like I spent enough time on the house I can see that I cleaned the kitchen, did two loads of laundry, folded them and put them away, vacuumed and dusted the family room and trimmed the rose bushes. Even though it doesn't feel like I spent enough time doing work I can see that I edited 50 pages of one transcript and proofread 25 pages of another transcript. It has worked wonders for me and brought my level of stress down to see that I actually do accomplish a lot during the day.

For more tips go to Rocks In My Dryer.

Works For Me Wednesday

My tip this week is another travel-related tip. I love Mapquest.com. On our recent trip I printed off five different maps for our different destinations and it worked so well. Each map gives you step-by-step directions, mileage, estimated travel time and a visual map. I never looked at the visual maps, but everything else came in handy. I also use Mapquest for work. Sometimes I have to go to jobs that are in a city or town that I'm unfamiliar with so I will print up a map so I can easily find the place. On our trip our first destination was my great aunt's cabin. The last five miles was traveling on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. Mapquest took us right to her driveway and the estimated time was perfect. Our next stop was a friend's house a few hours away. This was the only glitch we had the whole trip. It took us to her neighborhood but didn't take us to her house. Luckily I had my cell phone and she directed us the rest of the way. The estimated time was actually more than what it took us. Our next stop was our hotel in Denver. We drove right to it within the estimated travel time. While we were in Denver I decided I wanted to go to The Container Store, which is the closest one to our house. I went on the computer in the hotel lobby, went to Mapquest.com, and printed out a map. We drove there in 9 minutes, which is what the map said it would take. Our final destination was home. We didn't use the map for this because we knew how to get home, but I had printed it off anyway because I was curious about how long it said it would take. It took us an hour longer than the map said, but with three kids in the car we had to stop about five times and we ran into construction, so I'm sure that's what slowed us down. Anyway, Mapquest.com is what worked for us on vacation and what works for me around our own local area when I'm going somewhere unfamiliar.

For more tips go to Rocks In My Dryer.

Works For Me Wednesday

Since we are leaving for a vacation tomorrow, and are going to be driving for about eight hours, my tip for the week is to buy an adapter that plugs into the cigarette lighter of your vehicle and has a real plug on the other end, as opposed to having an end that you need numerous interchangeable adapters to plug into different things. At one time I bought an adapter that plugged into the car, but the other end had about eight different plug-ins for different accessories. If whatever you needed to plug in didn't take one of the adapters, you were out of luck. Last year I found one that has a real plug on it so you can plug in anything. Whenever we are driving long distances I usually bring my computer so I can get some work done. The boys always like to have their Gameboys on long trips. I can even charge my camera batteries with it. When my cell phone needs charging I plug it in, since I don't have a car adapter for it. I keep it in my vehicle at all times so it is always there if I need it. I got it at Office Max and I think it cost about $75. It has been worth every penny.

For more tips go to Rocks In My Dryer.

Works For Me Wednesday

Since this is the "Mom, I'm bored!" edition, here is what works for us to help beat the boredom during the summer. We have memberships to various places around town so we can go whenever and wherever we want and it doesn't cost a fortune.

The one we use the most is to the zoo. During the summer they have a variety of programs, and each day they have "Meet-a-Keeper" several times throughout the day at different animal exhibits. They put out a schedule at the beginning of the summer so you know what animals they are doing and at what time. It is just a small presentation that lasts about 10-15 minutes and they talk about the animal, show the kids something from the animal, such as what their fur feels like or what toys they play with, and then the kids get to ask questions. Since we only live about 10 minutes away from the zoo, it is easy to head to the zoo and go to a program and leave, after only being there for a half an hour. It is a quick, easy thing to do. Of course, we do have our days when we go and spend a few hours there, but the kids like the short trips a lot, too.

Another membership we have is to a very large garden. Walking around the whole garden tires the kids out because there is a lot of room for them to run. They don't really look at the plants, but they do burn off some energy. Then we'll go to the kids area and hang out for a while. There is a water area where the kids can cool off and have fun.

Other memberships or passes we are considering are: the dinosaur park, the children's museum, the pool, the dinosaur museum, etc. There are a lot of places that offer memberships and if you have a membership then you don't have to worry about it costing so much to go all the time. In fact, if you have a membership you want to go a lot to get your money's worth. Just make sure you get a membership to a place your kids love, and somewhere you don't mind spending a lot of time.

Having a family membership or a family pass to local attractions is what works for us to help keep boredom at bay.

Head on over to Rocks In My Dryer for more great tips on keeping your kids busy during the summer.

Works For Me Wednesday

The thing that works for me is that I take a camera everywhere, and I do mean everywhere, I go. When we're going to a family party or an important function (like a school program or Christmas party) I like to take my whole camera bag, which has a video camera, a 35 mm camera, a digital camera and all of the film, memory cards, batteries and chargers I might need. If we're going somewhere where taking that bag isn't feasible, then I will take my 35mm camera in its bag with extra film and batteries. I like my 35mm because it takes excellent pictures and has a lot of features so I take that one most places I go with my kids. I keep my digital camera in its bag, along with an extra battery and memory card, in my purse so I always have it with me. That way I'm never without a camera, and I can show off pictures of my kids since they are viewable on the camera. Sometimes if I don't want to carry a purse I will put my digital camera in the front pocket of my 35mm camera bag and just carry it over my shoulder. That way I have those two cameras handy. I never want to be without a camera because you never know when you might come upon a great photo opportunity, especially with kids. Always having a camera with me works for me.

Check out more great tips at Rocks in my Dryer.

What Works For Me

What works for me is my timer. I use my timer for everything. I use it when I cook, of course, to let me know how long something needs to cook. I use it when my kids are in time out so I don't forget they are in time out or so they don't try to sneak out early. I use it when I clean to limit myself to a certain amount of time to get a task done, usually 15 minutes to 30 minutes. I use it when I work at home so I make sure I get enough work done each day. I use it when I want my kids to help out around the house. They do better if I say, "I am setting the timer for 15 minutes and I want you to clean as much of your room as you can and then you can take a break." Instead of sitting in their rooms wasting time, they actually try to beat the timer. I use it when I want them to pick up their outside toys or pick up their toys from the family room. I use it when I do laundry. I have the buzzer turned off on my dryer because when it goes off it is so loud it will wake up any kids that may be sleeping, so I use my timer instead and when I hear it go off I know it's time to change the laundry. It just helps me keep track of my time better. I actually bought my kids their own timers that are the dial kind that are on ropes so they can hang them on their door handle or their dresser or anywhere else so they can see it easily. My timer is a digital one that I can clip on my pocket or my shirt so it is with my while it's on so I don't accidentally leave it in another room and not hear it go off. My timer is also the type you can set for a certain amount of time and after it goes off and you stop it it automatically re-sets itself at the same amount of time. That feature comes in handy because usually the increment I use is 15 minutes so I don't have to re-set it every time. Using my timer all day long works for me to help keep me on track and not waste time.

Go to Rocks in my Dryer for more great tips.

Works For Me Wednesday

My tip for the week relates to trying to stay somewhat organized. Between myself, Mike and the three kids it is very hard to keep track of everyone's schedule. We keep track of everything on a large calendar that is centrally located so it is easy for everyone to see. When there are schedules for five people on one calendar it gets hard to see at a quick glance who has what, so I have started writing each person's events in a different color. That way each person can look for their specific color and quickly find what they have coming up. Each person has their favorite color and I actually have two colors. I only work a couple of days a week, and sometimes not at all, so I write my work schedule in red so it stands out and I won't forget that I have to work on a certain day. Having everyone's schedule in a different color on the calendar is what works for me.

Go to Rocks In My Dryer for more great tips.

Works For Me Wednesday

My tip is to always have an at-home salad bar and homemade dressing ready for a quick, easy, healthy meal or snack.

I love salads, especially salad bars at restaurants because there is such a variety of different toppings. I buy bags of pre-washed salad mixes. There are different ones depending on what you like. I also usually buy a bunch of spinach to wash (making sure to get all the dirt out of it) and add some spinach leaves to my salad. Then I make sure I have a variety of toppings such as: broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, cucumbers, garbanzo beans, canned beets, olives, hard-boiled eggs, cheese, nuts, etc. I just chop up a couple of these a day, not all at once, and keep them in baggies in the fridge. Just think of any toppings you love at a salad bar. I don't have all the toppings on hand at once, just whenever grocery shopping I buy a few things so that I always have some on hand. Obviously with chopped veggies you can tell when they aren't fresh anymore, but with the canned items I put them in a baggie and write the date on them so if they accidentally get pushed to the back of the fridge I will know if I can use them or not. We usually have chicken a few nights a week for dinner, so if we have any left-over chicken, no matter what flavor, I will chop some up and add to my salad to make it more of a meal. My kids are even starting to like to eat salad so sometimes they will eat one for a snack.

I also make my own salad dressing. I can't stand low- or no-fat salad dressings from the store so I make my own with balsamic vinegar and olive oil or even some creamy (no so low fat but tasty) dressing from various cookbooks I have. I usually try to eat the vinegar and oil dressings because they are healthier, but sometimes I need something creamier. I think homemade dressings are healthier than most store-bought dressings and they are very simple to make. They usually only have a few ingredients in them and you can just mix it up real quick and they last in the fridge for about two weeks, although most oil and vinegar dressings don't need to be refrigerated because they will gel up and then you have to let them sit out for a while and liquify again. You can buy a dressing kit from Good Seasons that comes with some Italian dressing mixes (which I throw away) and a glass cruet which is nice looking and works great for homemade dressing. They are very cheap, too, only a couple of dollars, if I remember right.


So an at-home salad bar with homemade dressing is what works for me to help my family eat healthier.

For more tips go to Rocks in My Dryer.