Online Parent

If the last few months of cooking big meals for your family has created a refrigerator full of leftovers, you are not alone. Figuring out how to reintroduce the same old dishes to your family in new and interesting ways is a challenge. You don’t want to bore your family by serving them the same plate over and over again, but you don’t want to waste food either.

How can you create a meal that isn’t a repeat of the same old plate? The trick to creating a new dish is to think about what ingredients you are working with, not just the finished dish.

1) Old Fashioned Potato Soup

When you have leftover mashed potatoes, you have the makings for a wonderfully creamy potato soup. Start with a big soup pot. Throw in 3 or 4 slices of bacon, diced, and cook until the pieces are crispy, then remove from pot. In the same pot, cook up some diced celery and carrots. Then add some diced onion and cook until soft. Then put in about 1 Tablespoon of oil, 1 Tablespoon of flour, and 1 1/2 cups of milk, and thicken. Stir in your potatoes and bacon and simmer very slowly. This is a very satisfying creamy potato soup.

3) Spicy Turkey n’ Gravy on a Bun

Cut up or fork-shred some turkey, both white meat and dark will do. In a large skillet, brown a little diced up bacon. Add some diced onion and minced garlic if you like. Put the cut up turkey in the skillet and top with enough leftover gravy to cover the turkey pieces. Now add just enough of a good barbeque sauce or grill flavoring or dry rub to flavor your gravy and turkey mix to give it that Sloppy Joe flavor. Scoop on top of a hamburger bun or a leftover dinner roll.

3) Curry Turkey Cauliflower Soup

Take your leftover cooked cauliflower and put it in your food processor. Pulse until smooth and creamy, adding a little milk as you go to make it soup-like. Sprinkle in about 2 teaspoons of curry, a little more or less depending on how strong you like it. Then, in a soup pot, cook some chopped carrots and onion, in a little oil, until soft . Pour the blended cauliflower into the pot and add some chopped leftover turkey. Simmer the soup until it’s nice and creamy and hot.

4) Green Bean Tomato Cheese Soup

The classic green bean casserole already has cream of mushroom soup and cheese in the ingredients so it’s perfect for a cheesy soup. Green beans with some nice diced tomatoes will perk this soup up a bit. Start with a big soup pot and saute a bunch of nice big chunks of celery. Then add some big diced pieces of onion cooking until transparent. Add a minced clove or two of garlic. Pour in one can of fire roasted diced tomatoes or regular diced tomatoes with a sprinkle of any good grill seasoning. Add your leftover green bean casserole a little at a time, stirring and heating through until you get the right soup consistency. Add a little chicken broth if you need to thin out the soup. Simmer until all the flavors are nice and savory together.

5) Egg And Stuffing Breakfast

Spray a muffin tin with non-stick spray or brush with butter or oil. Spoon enough stuffing in each muffin cup to form a little cup with room for one egg. Break one egg into each cup and top with enough shredded cheese to cover egg. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about 15 to 20 minutes or until the egg is done and cheese is melted. Let stand a few minutes before removing egg and stuffing from muffin tin.

Using up holiday leftovers is always a challenge. No one wants to look at the same dishes being served time and time again. If you give some thought to the ingredients that went in to creating the dish in the first place, you’ll no doubt be able to add complimentary food items to build a whole new dish out of the old one.

Single parenting is already becoming a rapidly growing trend in the society today. Studies show, that in the United States alone, there are four single parents to every ten parents and there are two single parents for every 10 adults.

Single parenting can be the result of a voluntary decision, such as those women who choose to have a child by artificial insemination and those unmarried persons who adopt children. Women who become pregnant outside of marriage, or those parents who are widowed, divorced, or simply deserted by their spouses are all single parents.

Growing up with a single mother is by far the most common instance of single parenting; single mothers out number single fathers nine to one. Among divorced single parents in the United States, according to the US Census Bureau, only 15% of custodial parents in 2002 were men.

The problems that single mothers face are that they have a more difficult time providing for their families because women generally have lower paying jobs. Even though women face greater financial problems, they tend to be more nurturing to their children.

Society dictates that the father works and brings home money. Being a single parent, fathers can be found helping kids with their homework, they do the house chores, they help out in the kitchen and other previously considered “mother” roles. Financial issues are not really a problem with single dads, as they tend to have higher positions in the work force, giving them higher salaries.

Being a single parent inherently comes with challenges, when it is a single parent household, the single parent must wear several hats and do a great deal of tasks to keep the family together. Children raised in one parent homes have the opportunity to take more responsibility for the entire family’s well being than those with two parents to share the burdens of income earning and family care, making them independent, mature, resourceful, and responsible.

However, many single parents find themselves feeling isolated at one point or another. Dating and hanging out with friends must take a back seat since time must be devoted to the child or children. Single parents don’t really relate to singles without children because single parents have an entirely different set of priorities and responsibilities.

Single parents have the unique opportunity to influence their child or children for good or ill, without the counterbalance of another parent. Fortunately, many children raised in a single parent home will report with admiration the extra effort made by their single parent Mom or Dad.

Under no circumstances is being pregnant the end of a woman’s attractiveness. With so many items of maternity clothing in different styles, fabrics, colors and designs to suit every woman’s size and shape, expectant mothers will look as gorgeous as ever.

On top of the list of maternity clothing basics is a comfortable pair of maternity jeans, or overalls, if you prefer. These specially designed jeans will make a pregnant woman feel confident as well as comfortable.

Jeans are such a great clothing item for women while being pregnant as they can be worn casually, or dressed up with a nice maternity blouse or shirt. The versatility of maternity jeans allows a woman to have a couple of pairs of jeans and many different maternity blouses and tops to match, making her have more than enough maternity clothes.

Maternity jeans are available in a variety of designs that include; ink finish, rock finish, light and dark wash styles, low cut, boot leg, Capri’s, cropped pants, and white and black jean styles.

Jeans for pregnant women also come in many different fits. There are jeans that will either fit over your bump, on it (where your natural waist should be), or under your bump. Those that fit over and on the bump can be found with elastic waists allowing room to grow for expecting mothers.

Always try on maternity jeans for the first few times so you can find the right style and fit for you. But it is best to purchase different styles of jeans, as there are styles that fit better at the different pregnancy stages.

Maternity jeans is one fashion item you will get the most mileage from, so it is worth it to spend a few extra money to find a pair that will last and stretch you through your pregnancy. But since you’ll be wearing them for only a few months, you can look through sales racks, yard sales, consignment shops and the Internet to find good deals without spending much.

Motherhood is to be celebrated and dressing up is one way of doing it. In fact, expectant mothers are looking more attractive, more beautiful and more fashionable than ever in their trendy maternity jeans. Check out the Internet stores for amazing styles, colors, and prices.

A paternity test is the test that determines the likelihood that a man is the biological father of the child. A paternity test can provide unequivocal results in cases where there is any doubt as to the identity of a child’s father, such as where a mother’s fidelity is in question, or in some legal child support or custody cases.

Generally, a paternity test is conducted through a comprehensive DNA testing and analysis of different enzymes, proteins, and HLA antigens. Paternity testing has three test options available: prenatal testing, viability test, or in-home testing.

In prenatal paternity testing, a physician or gynecologist needs to be involved to do an amniocentesis or CVS (chronic villi sampling) in order to collect a sample for testing. If you choose prenatal paternity testing you should discuss this with your doctor to make sure that it is the best thing for you and the baby and that you are in no way endangering the child.

In cases where the father is missing, a viability test can help determine the paternity. The viability test involves testing material like preserved samples of hair or other body tissues.

Paternity testing can now be conducted from the privacy of your own home. In this test, the DNA is collected using the buccal swab, which resembles to the common cotton-tipped swab but has a special component known as the “Dacron.” The swab is then rubbed against the interior of the individual’s cheek, several loose cheek cells stick to the swab. The DNA collected will be brought to the laboratory for some series of tests. It is very important that the DNA samples must be in sealed and tamper-evident packing.

Paternity testing can be used for either personal or legal purposes. Personal paternity tests can be done in cases wherein legal involvement is not required. DNA paternity testing used in legal situations establishes legal proof-of-paternity/non-paternity for a variety of legal applications, including child support and custody cases.

There are two possible result scenarios after taking a paternity test. First would be exclusion, which means that the man is proven not to be the biological father of the child. The second scenario would be inclusion, which means that the man is the biological father of the child.

Paternity testing can lead to child support issues, custody and visitation being put upon you and your child if it is proven that you are the biological father. If this is not the outcome you are looking for, it may be wise to carefully think about what is to gain before having the paternity test performed. You can purchase DNA paternity testing kits online.

A baby’s cries for milk can come at any time and breastfeeding clothes can make the whole experience easier. One of the most necessary pieces of breastfeeding clothes that a nursing mother requires is a good quality nursing bra.

The bra should fit perfectly and should be easy to use. A correctly fitted nursing bra gives a mother comfort and support, so it is a good idea to get fitted by a professional. The best time to purchase a nursing bra is during mid to late pregnancy so that your rib and bust size will be close to the same size as they will be following delivery of your baby.

Bras that are too tight may block the flow of milk and put you at risk for plugged ducts or infection that can eventually lead to mastitis. There is no one best kind of nursing bra, as every woman’s body is different and has different comfort preferences.

One of the more popular types of nursing bras are those that have under wires. Under wires provide extra support, especially to those who have bigger bust lines. However, these bras, particularly if they are too small or tight, can dig into your breast tissue and clog a milk duct, which can lead to mastitis. If you do opt for an under wire bra, make certain that the bra fits properly and that the wire is not pressing on any part of your breast.

There are some nursing bras that are equipped with flaps that simply open to reveal the breast when it’s time to breastfeed. The flaps on nursing bras differ; some hook or fasten at the top while others close in the middle of the chest. If you choose this style, make sure the flap opens easily and exposes enough of the breast to make it simple for the baby to feed.

There are nursing bras without flaps and under wires that can easily be pulled to one side with one hand which are usually made of softer fabrics. While this type is often cheaper and very comfortable, be sure that it also offers you enough support.

Make sure that you have a good number of nursing bras so that you can wash them regularly; this will help protect you and your baby from the possibility of infection. Try to purchase a nursing bra where the cup is lined with cotton, although many synthetic materials nowadays do let your skin breath. Also make sure your bra has straps that keep the breasts elevated without cutting into your shoulder.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that nursing bras have to be unflattering. There are various styles and colors to choose from, and they are every bit as sexy as the bras you wore before you were pregnant. There is no such thing as the best nursing bra. Buy the one that gives you the best support, is easy for you to use and gives you the greatest confidence. The Internet is a great place to find the maternity clothing that is right for you.

Having a baby would mean that you should prepare yourself for some extra expenses. With the many things that you would have to buy, you need to differentiate between pieces of baby furniture that are absolutely necessary and those that are mere fills. Here are the absolute top five baby furniture pieces that you should have in your nursery.

Crib

It goes without saying that whether you would like to co-sleep with your baby at night or not, you would still need to buy a good nursery crib. The crib is the only piece of baby furniture on which you may safely leave your baby unattended for a short period of time.

Baby crib manufacturers are more safety-conscious these days. Otherwise, crib models would never make it out on the market. However, you should still be extra careful and vigilant though. Even to this day, there are crib product recalls. The recalls usually happen when certain features are discovered to be potentially dangerous. Keep your ears and eyes peeled for online news on recent product recalls.

Portable Crib/ Playpen

Even with nursery cribs, it would still be a practical idea to have a portable playpen or a portable baby crib. Portables like these would come in handy for parents who would like to enjoy family trips and picnics with their babies.

Similar to nursery cribs, any standard portable cribs are also made with safety features in mind. Do remember though that like standard cribs, portables may also be recalled if they have features that may still be improved on. Some parents also use portable cribs as their main nursery crib. It is probably safest though not to use portables as all around cribs.

Cabinet/ Changing Table

A new occupant in the house like your new baby would also require new storage space for clothes, diapers and other miscellaneous items. A sturdy cabinet with back brackets would be a good piece of furniture to store baby items in. To save you some cash, you should consider buying a baby cabinet that can double as a changing table. This way, you only have to buy one piece of furniture that can perform two functions. A good design would be a piece with a changing table on top and open shelves or drawers below to hold baby items. The top storage compartment could hold diapers and other changing articles to make baby changing an easier chore.

High Chair

Feeding the baby can get really messy especially when he finds out that he can sit and move around. You don’t want to forever keep chasing after your baby. This is why you need a good high chair for baby meal time. Pick one with a wide sturdy base to prevent tipping accidents.

Toy Box

Teaching your child how to pick his toys up after playing should start as soon as he knows where to find his toys or as soon as he can pick them up. This is why it is probably a good idea for you to get your child a toy box. Teach him to store his toys after play so that he can carry over the habit until adulthood. Pick a toy box that doesn’t have a heavy lid. It should also ideally have a lock in place spring to prevent the lid from falling on your child. Other safe designs include the open storage piece that is easy for your baby to use.

How to successfully navigate the perilous waters of a gift exchange can be a tricky task. At the holiday season we are beset with many different kinds of gift exchanges. There is the office gift exchange, the neighbor gift exchange, the gifts we exchange with our friends and the great white elephant gift exchange. While each of these exchanges has their own fun and pitfalls perhaps the most perilous is the family gift exchange.

Gift giving between siblings might be a fun tradition that is not too difficult - sure last year you received a novelty holiday sweater that has not seen the light of day since, but it is all in good fun. When it gets truly tricky is when the gift exchange flows down to the next generation to nieces and nephews.

Get it right

You love your nieces and nephews. You carry a photo of their pink pudgy faces and show off your precious babies at every chance, but shopping for a baby or toddler when you have none yourself is sometimes difficult.

Appropriate gifts

The last thing the mother of a 9-month old needs is more choking hazards to worry about, or a large toy which encourages climbing, or toys that make incessant noise without secession. Fortunately you don’t need to be Dr. Spock to know what kinds of toys babies or toddlers of any age are bound to love without causing their parents hardship.

Most toys are divided into age appropriate categories and labeled. All you need to do is read the label. If there is no age label then a little bit of common sense will come to your aide. If your niece is 18-months old she is likely to enjoy simple toys like dolls or trains. The complicated toys with delicate parts will break and frustrate. Think also of mom and dad. Noisy toys will find themselves hidden out of earshot.

Mom knows best

This maxim applies to all mothers, even the moms of your pint sized nieces and nephews. Before you go out and complete all your holiday shopping it is always a good idea to run your list past the toddler’s mom. Tommy (2-years old) might love a remote control car, or 17-month old Suzie might enjoy coloring books and bright markers.

Yet if these gifts will inspire those little free spirits to run into the busy roads or create great works of art on the walls, then maybe they should wait.

Running your gift selection past parents helps you avoid these pitfalls that you might not know about otherwise. You can also be sure your gifts are not being duplicated. You might be given an even better gift idea.

Spoiling your babies at Christmas time should be fun! Remembering a few simple rules before you shop will ensure your success.

Perhaps you may think that posting a baby sitter wanted on your window is the best way to get the help you need. But is it? You should think twice though. There are difficulties and disadvantages to looking for a sitter on your own.

Looking for Your Own Sitter

Finding a sitter may seem like an easy task. This may make you feel like you are in better control of your options. You will also be cutting the cost of fees that sitter agencies and services charge. The advantages of performing your own search may be tempting. There are however, some disadvantages that you should be aware of.

- Time Constraints - It can take a lot of time for you to find an ideal sitter. This may be well and good if you want to be extra sure that you have the right person. Then again, this may not work out well for you if you want a sitter at the soonest possible time. Waiting for the right one to come along may mean that you would have to postpone whatever you need to do to take care of the kids.

- Scope of the Ad - Good prospects for your baby sitter wanted ad do not come all the time. This is especially true if your ad is only restricted to one area. You may only be advertising in your neighborhood or immediate locality. This may therefore significantly restrict your options.

- Doing Everything - Looking for a sitter on your own means doing everything on your own. This includes checking references and performing background checks. This may be a tedious task on your part. It is especially so if you are not very familiar with the certifications and documents that you would need a sitter to get to prove her clean background. Even if you do manage to perform a good background check, there is still the task of carefully assessing sitter skills and capabilities.

- Limited Choice - Looking on your own will limit you to just one hired sitter. This may be to your disadvantage. You may need only one sitter but there is no guarantee that your sitter will always be around. Even the best sitters may have to take some time off for important personal and family matters. That would leave you with no replacement sitter.

Sitter Services

Today, another popular option would be to engage the help of an online service. Now you don’t need to manually look for a good sitter. Online services can do that for you. Sitter services list potential sitters in your area. You get to have your pick on ideal candidates. If you pay a higher membership fee, you will also be given access to important sitter information such as character background.

In most cases, sitter services has more benefits than if you look for a sitter yourself. They do not however, take away your right to choose and decide. After picking a few prospects from the list in your area, you are given the opportunity to interview your prospects.

With a good service provider, you wouldn’t need a baby sitter wanted ad. Everything you need to find a good sitter is at your finger tips.

It is best to encourage our children to engage in the little physical activities that these games give. We all know that it’s a bad thing to let children just spend the whole day locked up inside the house and playing nothing but videogames and chatting over the Internet. Old fashioned games promote a healthy way to exercise for children.

These games are also a way for our children to develop excellent social skills that they would need, not only in school but also outside in the real world. I’m sure that most of you will agree with me that the amount of time we spent playing as kids have greatly affected the way we are now as adults. It would be excellent if our kids would also have these opportunities to become better people to themselves and to other people.

It is best to encourage our children to engage in the little physical activities that these games give. We all know that it’s a bad thing to let children just spend the whole day locked up inside the house and playing nothing but videogames and chatting over the Internet. Old fashioned games promote a healthy way to physical activity for children.

Team games also help a lot in developing social skills that children would need in school and in life. Growing up they need to understand how to keep everything under control and that there are other children in the playground. It helps them understand compassion and concern and other very important traits that would shape them to become better people in the future.

We should encourage them to go out and play more because it does not only help them physically and socially. Studies show that children who constantly stay in playgrounds tend to be more mentally stable than those who sulk around in their own rooms minding their own worlds. There are plenty of games that you can teach them. From Prisoner’s Base to the still enjoyable Hide-and-Seek, your own favorites can also teach them the values you have as a person.

I’m sure you want your kid to have the most out of his or her childhood. Teaching them how to play fair through the games that taught you the same is a excellent way to start. So tell your kid to get off the couch and begin running around with his or her friends.

A mother is not the only one who has memories of baby and toddlerhood. Grandparents also play a very important part in the making and keeping of a child’s memories.

The advent of the holiday season marks the passing of another year. Each of us becomes a bit more nostalgic than usual at this time so rich in tradition and with the reminders of ending and beginnings so close on every hand. As minds wander over the previous year and holidays past we can see those little ones that are dear to our hearts and mark their growth with each Christmas.

It is often difficult to believe that the little one that runs about the house with pattering feet and a barely decipherable chatter was little more than a roly-poly smiling bundle at this same time last year.

Good intentions

Each baby is born to mothers who have the best of intentions to record and photograph each moment of this child’s life. Many mothers rise to this challenge amid hectic schedules and life’s demands. Yet few remain as committed to the scrapbook of the last child as they were with the first. Some mothers just don’t have time to even begin and those cute baby memory books remain untouched as the years pass.

Filling a need

Moms and Dads are not the only persons in a child’s life that have memories to record and share. Aunties and Grandmas also love and care for these babies from birth to the toddler years and right on up. This year why not give a gift that records and shares these precious memories with your precious baby?

Photos that are locked on computer hard drives or remain hidden on memory chips in cameras aren’t very accessible. Toddlers love to see pictures of themselves and hear stories featuring them as they were when they were a baby. A memory book dedicated to them will be a big hit.

The toddler is not the only one who will appreciate the memory book. Moms from the dedicated scrap booking enthusiast to the mom who never even started will appreciate photos of her child that are already arranged, journaled and require nothing of her time and energy other than pure enjoyment.

Unique perspective

Grandmas and Aunties have a unique perspective that they can share. As a grandparent or sibling you can share memories of the baby as well as the parent you knew as a child. Pointing out similarities in looks, behavior and attitudes is often fun for both the toddler and their parent to discover. You can also laugh more readily at the natural naughtiness of childhood. As a loved one not in the parental role it is a funny occurrence - not a tragic mess - when the toothpaste is emptied from the tube, or the butter is eaten in huge bites right from the cube.

Getting started

To start your memory book Christmas gift give yourself time to complete it. The value of this gift is in its creation and not the monetary investment, so make sure you give it the time it deserves. The internet will be your best friend. You can get the photos you need by sending them directly from your PC to the photo shop via email. This saves time and gas. If you have the capability you can even print the photos yourself at home.

Memory books come in all shapes and sizes. You can get a one-time book that you can fill, or you can get a book that allows for the addition of pages as the years roll on. Browse online to find the book that is right for you, and then get to work. This is one gift that will be pleasing to giver and recipient alike.