Recipe of the Week: BLT in a Bowl

Makes 4 Servings
If your family likes BLT sandwiches, consider our hearty BLT soup. Made with tomato soup, tortellini, baby spinach, and bacon bits, it’s a fun way to turn soup into a main meal. For the bacon, you could use vegetarian bacon bits or simply cook up a few slices of your favorite bacon and [...]

Lessons in Home Staging

Yesterday while I was at the office, the home stagers were at my house, rummaging through my cupboards, hiding my toothbrushes and paper towels, and designing my house to sell. If you ever watch Designed to Sell on HGTV, you know the difference staging can make.  A little granite here, a fancy light fixture there [...]

Down on the (community) farm

Raising my children only a few towns over from where I grew up, there have been many “circle of life” moments. Soccer games in fields I once played on. Pretzels from “Bob’s store” (aka Bacon Street Farm in Natick). Visits to the school playground where I split my lip.
This past Saturday I had another of [...]

Podcast: Raising Readers

We all know “reading is fundamental.” But can we also make it fun? We’re joined by Julie Temple Stan, editorial director of Early Moments Book Club, who shares tips for helping kids embrace (and maybe even enjoy?) reading!
Links mentioned: Early Moments Book Club | How to make reading an everyday activity | Reading is Fundamental
Listen: [...]

Manic Mommies Book Club: April Selection + Giveaway

We are so excited to announce that Hachette Book Group is our exclusive Manic Mommies Book Club partner for the remainder of 2010! This means more terrific books (all new or upcoming releases!), monthly giveaways and a return of the Manic Mommies Book Club and author discussion at Escape 2010.
Our April pick is The Yellow [...]

Genius!

I would like to thank the folks at Kelly’s Roast Beef in Natick for feeding my kids AND keeping them entertained with free crafts, ice cream and face painting so my husband and I could finish our dinners. It was a lovely night and you can be sure that we will be attending again (and [...]

You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.

I often say that I don’t know where our 4 year old daughter gets her temper. But the truth is I know exactly from whence her rage came – she is me. To quote Bruce Banner “don’t get me angry. You wouldn’t like it when I’m angry.”
I hope that most people I know don’t know [...]

Recipe of the Week: Chocolate Pudding

Chocolate Pudding with Toppers
Makes 6 Servings
One of the easiest ways to make chocolate pudding is to grab a 50-cent box of instant pudding mix. It’s convenient, but for us, the artificial flavors and colors – namely the red 40, yellow 5, and blue 1, are a turn off. For an all-natural, calcium-rich alternative, try our [...]

Podcast: Going for Gold

Has your family been watching the Winter Olympics? Are you sad to see it all end? This week we’re talking about the events our kids enjoyed most, sharing our reactions to the Manic Daddies episode we released last week, and dishing up the dirt on ABC’s The Bachelor. Tune in to find out who won [...]

Life. Part Two.

For nearly ten years, my husband and I have called this house our home. We moved here shortly after getting married and although we have long talked about moving to other houses in other towns—closer to the ocean, closer to the city, to a town with stellar schools—I never thought we’d ever really pull the [...]

I Spy on my business card

Today, over on Real Simple, I posted on the topic of business cards ( How many business cards do I need? ). In the post I showed my new business card, of which one side is displayed below:

I had a lot of fun trying to get this picture, especially the process of figuring out what [...]

Knowing when to say no…

I have always had a problem saying no. Not to my kids, of course, to them I say “no” all the time. I’m only half-joking when I say there is a good chance my daughter might have thought her name was no for the second 6 months of her life (that’s when they start going [...]

Recipe of the Week: Minestrone Soup

Due to their other commitments, The Meal Makeover Moms will now be submitting recipes every other Wednesday. I’d like to keep doing the recipe of the week because I’m always on the hunt for new ones to try. I have to believe that some day all the shopping and meal planning I do every week [...]

Life Coach Kristin G. Has Selected Her Clients

Written by Kristen G.
Thanks to all of you that responded to the offer of some “taped” coaching sessions. The response was wonderful and reiterated to me how much interest there is in the coaching world on a personal level! My hope is to educate people through these recorded sessions and allow them to see how [...]

Podcast: The Manic Daddies and 200 Shows

Who could have ever imagined we’d actually produce 200 episodes of Manic Mommies? Certainly not our husbands! And yet without them and their continued support, tolerance, acceptance and willingness to be occasionally humiliated before a national and international audience, there would be no Manic Mommies. They listen to our crazy hopes and dreams, they watch [...]

Morning throwdown

“Mommy! Daddy said I was a brat!!!”
I’m 30 minutes late, I haven’t showered, the cleaners are coming (which, in addition to staying up too late to watch the Olympics, is why I’m running late), my daughter is still in bed because she wants me to iron her jeans to make them warm, and now I’m [...]

Jen’s Fitness Corner

So you have decided on a good routine, a doable one, and one that you can feasibly stick to for the rest of the year. The next step is a HUGELY important one. You must decide on a goal. What does your finish line look like?
A size 6 dress? To go down a pants size? [...]

Recipe of the Week: Roasted Chicken

“Mom, the House Smells Great” Roasted Chicken
Makes 6 Servings
There’s nothing better than hearing your family scream, “I can’t wait for dinner,” and that’s exactly what you can expect with our delicious roast chicken recipe. Though clearly not as convenient as buying a pre-made roasted chicken at the market, when you make it yourself, your house [...]

Giveaway: Palm Pre Plus

It’s being advertised as “the first 3G smartphone smart enough for mom.” And if you’re the lucky winner of our random drawing, a new Palm Pre Plus can be yours just for being a fan of Manic Mommies.
We’re participating in a Palm Pre Plus campaign run by our friends at The Motherhood.com. To facilitate our [...]

Podcast: Are you a naughty mom?

It’s Valentine’s Day and, if you are like us, the last thing on your mind is sex. But Kristen Chase, aka the Mominatrix, is ready to help you discover (or rediscover) your inner naughty mom.
She answers some of your questions about getting in the mood, turning off your brain, making time for intimacy and toys [...]