Hope's Cafe: MAM Baby Products named NAPPA 2013 Winners! #Giveaway

Hope's Cafe: MAM Baby Products named NAPPA 2013 Winners! #Giveaway

Great opportunity to win MAM baby products! Save yourself some money :)

Sensory bags-

 It's important to get your children to use their hands and start experiencing the world around them. A quick and cheap way to do that is by creating sensory bags at home. First look through your pantry, craft cabinets, and beauty supplies. Grab 4-5 plastic bags with a zipper seal. Fill the bags with some different textures items. A few samples are dried beans, cotton balls, child safe paint, sand, and marbles. Hold the bags with your child and discuss the feeling. For example say, "this is paint, it is squishy". Please make sure to never leave your child unattended with the bags as they could be a choking hazard.

Yard Sale Season!

Yard sale season is in full swing which means the opportunity to score some great things for very little money. There are a few things you can do to maximize your haul. First- devote the day to yard sales. Plan your route the night before. Your local newspaper as well as Craigslist are great places to get listings for yard sales. Look for neighborhood and multi-family yard sales, as these have the best chance of having more items. Pick sales that close together so you can hit more in a small amount of time. Second- Make a list of items you specifically are looking for. Someone else's trash can be your treasure, but you don't need it, someone else's junk becomes your junk. If you make a specific list you are likely to end up sticking to it. Third- Get up early! You need to be prepared to be at the yard sales when they open. The best items tend to be gone in the first hour or so, so keep that in mind as you plan your route. Fourth and finally- Bring a variety of cash. Make sure you have some change and a variety of bills. This makes check out easier for you and also allows you to bargain. Yard sales can be a ton of fun and help you save a lot of money on great items. Please keep in mind safety when shopping for baby items. Car seats should never be purchased used unless it is from someone you know and trust. It is very, very important that the car seat has never been in an accident. Also, make sure with used cribs, swings, and bouncers that you do a quick search to make sure there have never been any recalls on the items. Most importantly when yard sailing- have fun!

Quick chili (or slow depending on you!)

   Chili is a great winter meal, a great addition to hot dogs in the summer, and a fun entry into a contest. Everyone has their own "take" on chili, but here's a quick recipe to help you get it on the table quickly.


20 oz ground turkey (they come this way, but you can add more or less depending on your mood)
1 chopped pepper
1 chopped medium onion
2 cans of beans- pinto, kidney, black...
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 large can tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
1/2 an envelope of taco seasoning
Cheese and sour cream for topping


Brown the ground turkey, add your chopped pepper and onion. Cook until vegetables are tender. Add your two cans of tomatoes, two cans of beans, sauce, and tomato paste. Stir to check the thickness. Now add your half a packet of taco seasoning. Cook for 15-20 minutes until flavors have blended and chili has thickened.

Note: The seasoning can vary, you can use chili seasoning, or make your own with a blend of cayenne, paprika, black pepper. The fun part about this chili is that it's flexible. You can add more tomato paste if you prefer a thicker chili. If you want add corn, carrots, or even a can of pumpkin for some extra fiber! Play with the meat too. If you don't have the time to stand at the stove then brown your meat and then throw it in the crock pot for either 4 hours on high or 8 on low.

Rewards Programs

   One thing that enough people don't take advantage of is reward programs. There are many of them: Coca-Cola rewards, Pampers Gifts to Grow, Huggies Rewards, and Kellogg's Family Rewards to name a few. If you buy these products anyway then what do you have to lose? The companies have gotten very user friendly and most of them have apps where you can enter your codes right from your phone. Depending on how frequently you use the products there is a variety of rewards ranging from instant win sweepstakes to larger prizes such as basketball hoops. One of the rewards programs I will focus is on Pampers.
          Pampers has a great rewards program, and if you follow them on Facebook and Twitter, they frequently give out codes for extra reward points.  Earning is simple and takes just a few minutes. Plus the rewards are for things you can actually use! Chances are you probably know someone who just tosses theirs away so you may be able to scoop up a few extra points here and there. Check out your favorite brands websites for more information on their rewards programs.

How to survive....without the freezer meals.

Motherhood can be a tough balance between finding the time to have a great meal and sacrificing yourself to quick things on the go.  You can survive without eating only frozen meals, fast food, and mini snacks. My first recommendation? GET A SLOW COOKER! This will be your best friend. Not only does it do 95% of the work for you, but it also cooks all those things at the store that are really cheap but you don't have the time for (rice, beans, roasts.....). A slow cooker can cook just about anything- Whole chickens, casseroles, soups, stews, even CAKE. Yes, I said it....CAKE!  The best part about a slow cooker is that it requires no special skill, just moisture and time. One easy example-you ball up some tin foil on the bottom of the slow cooker, place a whole roaster chicken on the foil (please remove all the insides!), rub it with butter and season with your favorite spices. Let roast on low for 8 hours. You will come back to fall off the bone tender chicken and you didn't even have to mess up your oven.  All that's next is adding side dishes, and if there's anything left over then tomorrow you have chicken salad sandwiches. The best part about slow cooking as well is that most of the time it uses staples that you already have in your pantry. Think creamed soups, broths, noodles...You can stock up with coupons and have all the ingredients ready to roll.


Next familiarize yourself with quick meals that are healthy. Pork chops, chicken breasts, and cube steaks are all cuts of meat that take very little time to cook. Pair that with some par boiled brown rice and a steamed vegetable and you can have dinner in 15-20 minutes. Here is another quick favorite meal of mine:
Pesto Chicken-
Ingredients-
3-4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (on the thin side! If not, pound them)
1 jar prepared pesto (you can use homemade or the refrigerated kind)
2 plum tomatoes
1 mozzarella ball
1 box of noodles (any shape you desire)

Preheat your oven to 400*. Line a 9 x 13 glass baking pan with foil. Next poor 1/4 cup of pesto into a bowl (more if you'd like) coat both sides of the chicken in the pesto. Place chicken on foil in baking pan. Cook for 20-25. Next slice the plum tomato and place 1-2 slices on each chicken breast. Cover with a slice of mozzarella. Bake for an additional 5 minutes until cheese is melted and chicken has reached the proper internal temperature. While the chicken is baking cook your box of noodles to your desired texture. Use the remaining pesto as a sauce for the noodles. Serve with chicken.

There are plenty of similar meals out there that take less than 30 minutes and use FRESH ingredients. This meal can be made for just a few $ per person per serving. I will be posting more cost effective recipes. If anyone has any special requests let me know.

Diaper savings

Let's discuss diapers for a second. A lot of people have strong opinions of them. Some prefer the soft plush name brand kind, others can't afford them and if it's absorbent they'll take it. Then you have your 3rd class of people who prefer the environmentally friendly cloth version. Over here I am kind of a middle woman. I prefer the cushy name brand but I know that essentially they will all be thrown in the trash. My first rule of diapers is NEVER PAY MORE THAN 15 CENTS A DIAPER! You have to set a limit for yourself. Pick a number, mine is .15 because I know that the premium diapers tend to run about 25 cents a diaper so if i can take .10 off each diaper in a pack of 36 diapers I am saving $3.60. Premium diapers are NOT out of your reach, you just need to know how to shop for them. How do I get diapers so low you ask? COUPONS. If you don't have time to sit with the Sunday inserts then know what websites offer coupons. Coupons.com is a great place to go. You can look up the coupons by their categories. Store websites such as Target also offer printable coupons on their website. Still too much work to print and clip? Well then visit each diaper brand's website directly. Luvs will mail you a coupon, as does Pampers, Huggies, etc..... You should also familiarize yourself with your local bulk clubs. Costco, BJ's, and Sam's Club offer excellent diaper savings and usually provide coupons as well. A few more tips? More is not always cheaper, usually if you divide the number of diapers in a box by the cost vs. the number in a pack they will be the same price unless they are on sale. So keep that in mind. More can be better because it's less trips to the store but it is not always the cheapest option. Next- take advantage of stock up sales. Many stores offer "buy 2 and save $15" or "buy 2 and get a $10 gift card". These sales help significantly bring down the cost of the diapers. If all of this is still too much work for you then consider name store brand diapers. Usually they are pretty comparable. They tend to be less soft and have no "extras" (such as a handy strip that turns colors when the diaper is wet!) You can go out and get store brand diapers for as low as 5 cents a diaper sometimes depending on sales. Babies R Us tends to run good sales on their name brand diapers, and they also offer the VIB card which is a gift card that you fill with money and they match a contribution (FREE MONEY). Combine the sale price with the VIB extra cash for the best savings.  Just remember, having a baby can be expensive but if you know the tools to save the extra cash then you can live large without sacrifice.