Home Made Potato Chips

A recipe for healthy potato chips that you can make at home easily and quickly!

All You'll Need:

* One Russet potato sliced paper thin
* Salt (optional)
* Parchment paper


Slice the potato into thin slices. Cover a plate with parchment paper and then lay the potato slices on the paper without the sides touching. Sprinkle with salt,and cover the potato slices with another sheet of parchment paper.

Microwave 5-6 minutes and you will have lightly browned potato chips that are yummy and healthy!

A New Diet For a Flat Belly?

See me raising my hand? Me, me, me ...I want to know about this latest flat belly diet! I mean, I love love love my kids but not so much the leftover pregnancy belly I now carry around with me everywhere.

But there has been some buzz going on about Prevention's new Flat Belly Diet...so you know I'm going to check it out. And I did! Have you read about it yet? If you haven't, you may want to.

Now, first of all I have to say it sounds pretty easy, which always worries me. But it also makes sense, which makes me very happy. I just don't know if anything short of surgery can give me a flat or even semi-flat belly again. Hmm. But let me share what I read in a nutshell, and you can decide if you want to check out this latest diet more.

At the heart of the Flat Belly Diet are five foods that are packed with MUFA's, or the "Good for you Fats." Apparently these monounsaturated fatty acids ( MUFA's ) not only protect you from chronic disease but according to new research, can help you lose fat, specifically around your middle.

So what are the top five categories of MUFA foods? Avocado, Oils, Nuts and Seeds, Olives and Chocolate are the keys to losing belly fat. Sound good so far? Eating one serving of any of these foods at every meal will help reduce your accumulation of dangerous belly fat; control your calorie intake and you'll lose inches and pounds, too--especially around your waistline, according to Prevention's Flat Belly Diet. And there are recipes to help you with getting these foods into your daily diet.

Read about the Flat Belly Diet on Prevention. If you are going to try it, or are already doing it, I would love to hear about it!!

Looking For Freelance Work From Home?

I know parents that stay home with their kids are often on the lookout for freelance jobs they can do from home and earn extra income with. I am always looking for ways to make money while staying home full time with my 3 kids.
Freelance Nation is a new freelance job board that offers freelance work for those looking for projects to do from home. I checked it out today and they do have a lot of projects listed. It also appears to be good for freelancers as the board uses a blind bidding system to help reduce underbidding and encourages fair pricing. And for small businesses posting projects on Freelance, Nation, they get the benefit of their project being posted for free on 119 job boards.
There is a forum for members which is good because you can get support and advice from other freelancers which is always a good thing. It seems easy enough to get started by basically creating and publishing your profile.
Stay at home mommies and daddies looking for some temporary employment may want to check out Freelance Nation and see if it could work for them.

Fun Kid Snacks Remembered

I was blog browsing today and came across a fun post on Your Fun Family. It's about remembering favorite summer memories when you were a child, and summertime snacks you enjoyed. Melissa describes the ice cream sandwiches (yum!) she made with her mom, and so it got me to thinking about some of my favorite snacks as well.

I loved making cookies without having to bake them in a hot oven on hot summer days. I haven't made these cookies in I don't know how long, but because of Melissa's post today, I think I will do these later today with my kids.

So here's my version of No Bake Cookies. Enjoy!

2 cups sugar
1/2 cups butter
3 Tablespoons cocoa
1/2 cup milk
3 cup oatmeal.
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
wax paper

Directions:

Have your wax paper spread and ready for the cookies. This is important because after removing the mix from the heat, you need to get the mix on the wax paper quickly for setting purposes.

Boil together sugar, butter, cocoa and milk for approx 2 1/2 minutes stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add vanilla and oatmeal. Stir quickly. Drop by spoonfuls onto wax paper. Put into fridge to harden. Enjoy in about an hour.

Cleaning The House With Natural Products

Got some lemons laying around? Or Vinegar? How about Baking Soda? All three are great for cleaning around the house, and are safer and cheaper than the chemical cleaners at the market.

White vinegar is acidic and so will break down dirt and grime, and kill bacteria, mold and germs. But do not us vinegar on marble or other porous surfaces, it can cause damage. Also, be careful on grout-too strong a solution of vinegar can also damage the grout.

You can use vinegar in the laundry. Just use 1/2 cup to 1 cup of vinegar in the rinse cycle instead of commercial fabric softener. You can also pour the vinegar in a fabric softener ball they sell at stores, and just toss it in to get fluffy soft clothes.

Use vinegar in the dishwasher instead of expensive dish washing detergent. Pour about a 1/2 cup into the bottom of the dishwasher. This is especially good for getting glasses sparkling. Even if you decide to still use detergent, try using the vinegar as a rinse agent instead of the more expensive store bought products.

Use vinegar in the toilet bowl to help get rid of the rings. Pour about three cups into the bowl to break down the grime. Also, about once a week pour white vinegar into the back tank to help keep the toilet bowl clean. Vinegar is great at breaking down hard water stains and soap scum.

Use Lemons to make an all natural furniture polish. Just mix about one part lemon juice with two parts olive oil. The left over lemon peels are perfect to put in your plants to keep cats from deciding to use the potted soil as a cat litter box!

Use lemons in the kitchen to wash dishes. Just get a half lemon and sprinkle some baking soda on it and your dishes will sparkle. Put the lemon peel down the garbage disposal to get rid of odors.

Use Baking Soda mixed with water to make a paste to clean kitchen surfaces with.

Use Baking Soda to help clean your microwave by boiling two tablespoons of baking soda in a small bowl of water, and then just wipe away the softened unk.

Use baking soda and water paste to remove stains on clothing before washing.

Use baking soda to help clear bathroom drains. Pour about a cup of baking soda down the drain, followed by a cup of vinegar. It may take a few repeats, but clogs should be cleared up with this solution.