This week my Works-for-Me Wednesday tip is pretty simple.

Our wonderful “Aunt Sandy” gave us this idea. Instead of spraying down your little ones with chemicals and ingredients you can’t pronounce, use Listerine!

Seriously. I poured some into a squirt bottle and I dowse my kids before they go outside to play.

Not only is it less scary to put on them (I figure it has to be a bit safer since you can put it in your mouth!), but it’s tons cheaper, too. One bottle goes a LONG way.

I use the original kind (you know, the golden yellow stuff), so I’m not sure if the other kinds work. Let me know if you try it though.

So, this summer my kids will have fewer mosquito bites and better breath, too. Works for me!

Click here for more ideas from Shannon’s Works-for-Me Wednesday links.

This week’s Works-For-Me Wednesday is a themed edition: Five Ingredients Or Less!  Shannon says, “Offer up your simplest recipes and link back up here on Wednesday.” I thought about stealing my sister-in-law’s chicken parmesean recipe – or her one for enchiladas – and putting it up here, but she should get the credit. Maybe she’ll post one of those. At any rate, I’m mourning the loss of cheese and butter in our everyday cooking, so I’ve got them on the brain. Here’s my old stand-by: smothered chicken. Please make this and tell me how yummy it was, OK?

My recipe here isn’t super fast, but it is super simple. It’s also a family favorite and has been raved about by company. It takes about 5 minutes to throw together this entree and its sides. Sound good?

When things are chaotic, I make my version of smothered chicken. Here’s what you’ll need:

• boneless, skinless chicken breasts (enough for your family)
• butter 
• mozzarella cheese
• French-fried onions
• (optional) green pepper, diced

Here’s how to make it: Take some boneless, skinless chicken breasts, throw them in an oven-safe (I prefer Corningware because it has a lid!) dish. Put a small pat of butter on top of each one. Bake at about 400 degrees. After about 15 minutes, flip the chicken breasts over about half-way through (total baking time is about 30-45 minutes, depending on whether your chicken breasts are fresh or frozen).

About five minutes before you wish to serve dinner, sprinkle the top of each breast with mozzarella cheese and French-friend onions. (You know what those are… those things often found atop green-bean casserole this time of year. They’re better on this!)

As an added bonus, I often sprinkle diced green bell peppers on top of each one, too. Slide them back in the oven long enough for the cheese to melt. SOOOOO yummy.

I generally make baked potatoes or rice with green beans, a tossed green salad, or something like that with these. All of those sides are easily and quickly made, too. So, while it may take 30-45 minutes for this dinner to actually cook, it only takes 5-10 minutes to prepare. THAT works for me.

Try this dinner. Soooo delicious and comforting. It may not be the healthiest thing for you, but no one here and bloggy-ville will be counting your calories.

Now, check out more great last-minute meal ideas at Works for Me Wednesday.

Somedays my brain lacks major creativity… maybe it’s because all the creative juices in my body have gone into my graphic design projects? At any rate, today is one of those days. I do, however, have a simple Works-for-Me-Wednesday idea to share.

This tip is for those of you with small children!

Since we have five kids, five and under (three in diapers), we have quite an assortment of “sippy cups.” (Is that what you all call them?) Some have spouts, some have spouts and valves, some have straws that flip down, etc…

When I bought the first batch about five years ago, I never realized what a pain all the small crevices and spouts would be to clean. I actually saw some crazy tiny sponge like devices glued to sticks sold in the baby department that were made just to clean certain kinds of cups, but they didn’t address the straw ones.

Then I got a clever idea! Buy a package of pipe cleaners! You can bend them to fit any spout and you can thread them through any straw! Voila!Cleaner cups for waaaay cheap!

I bought my first package of pipe cleaners about five years ago. I throw them out and get a new one out each time one gets yucky, yet I still have some left in that pack! I’m sure the entire thing was less than $1 and it has saved so many cups. Cheap and easy… my favorite. Works for me!

For a huge index of tips better than mine, visit the Works-for-Me Wednesday list hosted by Rocks in my Dryer.

This week, Shannon over at Rocks in My Dryer is asking us to post Works-for-Me Wednesday ideas along the boredom-busting theme. She says, “What are your best tips for helping the kids engaged and busy and happy over the summer? ” So, here goes. 

I have a jar that sits in my kitchen that I call the Chore Jar. When my kids complain of being bored (which they don’t really do yet,) I have them dig into the jar and pull out a card. On each card is a simple instruction…

• “Wash the front of the stove.”
• “Organize books on shelf.”
• “Vacuum the stairs.”
• “Pull weeds along the side of the driveway.”
• “Make Mommy a four-course meal that includes cheesecake.”

OK, so that last one is a joke, but the others aren’t. My chore jar kills two birds* with one stone:

1. Tiny odd jobs that don’t usually get done actually get done.
2. My kids learn to not say their bored.

It’s a win-win situation, right?

For more stellar boredom-busting ideas, check out the Works-for-Me Wednesday list.

*PS–No actual birds were harmed in the writing of this blog.

My kids love waffles. I like to make the homemade ones in my waffle maker. My husband likes those, but still likes the frozen/toaster kind, too. So, we still buy them. My boys will eat either kind, but they’re messy.

Until now (insert infomercial voice here!)

I’ve thought of a way for them to eat waffles and syrup that’s not only cleaner, but easier for me to serve, too!

I simply cut their waffles into strips with kitchen sheers. They end up about the size of those pricier dunkin’ strips. Then I take empty baby food containers and put some syrup in each one. It ends up looking like this:

The boys simply pick up a strip, dunk and bite. Yum!

Those baby food containers work great for ketchup, salsa and ranch, too. Reduces double dipping.

That’s my deep thought for the day. Hope it helps. Check out Rocks in My Dryer for more great Works for Me Wednesday tips.

For about two years, we had a kids’ easel in our already small kitchen. I was constantly bumping into it and the kids climbed on it more than I care to admit. We were always running out of the dry erase markers for that side, so they really only ever used the chalkboard side.

In an effort to de-clutter, I decided to ditch the worn-out easel and simply paint the door from our kitchen to our basement with chalkboard paint. Voila!

Here’s the before (see the little easel on the lower right corner?):

Not only did I create a fun space for the kids and a useful space for us, but I also made the space look a bit cleaner. That works for me!

To see an entire list of brilliant tips from people everywhere, check out the Works for Me Wednesday list on the Rocks in My Dryer website.

I’m not sure where I first saw this tip, but it’s a super yummy one.

For a healthy (and summery!) snack, put a bunch of seedless grapes in the freezer. Whether you eat one at a time or a whole handful, they’re delightfully sweet and fat free! My kids absolutely love them and sometimes even call them “little grape popsicles.”

(As always, remember to cut them into smaller pieces for your itty-bitty kids, since grapes can be a choking hazard.)

For more great ideas from bloggers everywhere, see the Rocks in My Dryer list of Works for Me Wednesday tips!

With baseball season upon us, we’ll be spending a lot more time “living” out of our van. Here’s a Works-for-Me-Wednesday tip for all you moms out there! 

Now that we’ve upped our kiddie total to five (and the oldest is just five), I’m starting to have some organizational Mommy break-throughs. Actually, I thought of this one awhile ago, but it’s so good I’ll post about it now, a few years later.

Rather than hauling around a ginormous diaper bag filled with the necessities PLUS a change of clothes for each child who might need it (we currently have three in diapers), I have a second bag in my van with just that — changes of clothes for each child. They’re generally outfits I don’t love, so I don’t miss them in their day-to-day rotation of laundry… but they do fit in case of emergency.

We’ve had to use them a time or two when we’re away from home. We’ve also been able to lend them to friends who don’t use the system when their kids have accidents. (It’s nice being someone else’s life-saver!)

That’s it. Not earth-shattering, but a great idea for those moments when you’re in a pinch! For other ideas, check out Rocks in My Dryer’s Works for Me Wednesday.

After a brief ”maternity leave,” I am resuming my spot
on the Works-for-Me-Wednesday list of links. Did you miss me?  

Our kitchen is fairly small. (In fact, our whole house is.) The kitchen was definitely not designed for a family of seven. I’m constantly out of space, especially after we do our stock-up bulk grocery shopping at Sam’s Club.

I was constantly being faced with the challenges of where to put the unusual-shaped stuff that you don’t want crushed by toddlers climbing through the canned-food cabinet to make towers. Then I thought of it! How ’bout a LARGE basket on top of the fridge?

It’s great. It still looks clean and organized, though inside lurks a passel of half-eaten bags of pretzels and chips, plus the bags of marshmallows I bought to make “Wild Christmas Trees,” along with pouches trail mix and other stuff that falls out of upper cabinets and gets eaten too fast in lower ones.

Try it… I got my huge basket (on clearance!) at Target, but I’m thinking you could also use a picnic basket! Or maybe one of those wicker laundry baskets?? Hope it helps in your kitchen, too.

Check out Rocks in My Dryer for other great Works for Me Wednesday tips that just might change your world… or at least make it a little simpler to live there.

This week, Shannon over at Rocks in My Dryer is once again hosting her Works for Me Wednesday… and since it’s the first Wednesday of the month, it’s themed. This month’s theme is “Greatest Hits.” She says, “For fun (and to take a load off!), let’s have the Greatest Hits Edition.  From your own archives, re-run one of your favorite of your own WFMWs.  If you only have a handful to choose from, that’s okay.  It will still be fun to read everyone’s best.” So, here’s my oldie-but-a-goody: 

I thought about re-posting my natural diaper rash home remedy, but realized this other idea got way more replies… plus it’s more fun! Our family has a unique (and free!) way of celebrating things. We have “family camp outs” — on our living room floor!

Some good family friends of ours have done this for years and we thought it was idea worth stealing. They started doing it when their oldest child was little as an incentive to get him to try to hit the ball in Little League. “If you get a hit, we all sleep on the floor!” So, we do it, too. We’ve done it to make birthdays more special, to celebrate potty training successes, to mark the end of certain kinds of my husband’s police training, etc.

We push the coffee table aside and we each drag out our sleeping bags and spread them out. I make popcorn and everyone gets a (caffeine free) soft drink while we watch a (pre-screened) family movie. Sometimes we even put up the kids’ small pop-up tent to add to the effect. The kids often fall asleep before the end of the movie, but it’s fun to all wake up in the same room.

We love using this special time as a reward because it’s free, it doesn’t cause cavities like candy, and it promotes family time. It really works for us!

For more great tips, go check out Works for Me Wednesday!