First things first...
Some of these links are affiliate links, which means when you click on them, I may receive a small commission when you purchase the product! How cool is that? You get the product and also support my business, which then allows me to keep bringing you more free content (and maybe a little wine money too). I ONLY RECOMMEND products that I have personally used and love. Thank you so much for your support!
Some of these links are affiliate links, which means when you click on them, I may receive a small commission when you purchase the product! How cool is that? You get the product and also support my business, which then allows me to keep bringing you more free content (and maybe a little wine money too). I ONLY RECOMMEND products that I have personally used and love. Thank you so much for your support!
Everyone looks at these beautiful pictures and ideals of perfectly curated homes and all the stay at home, cozy, homesteading vibes. How can you get that feel when you simply don’t have time?
Speaking of time, you can skip to the recipe here.
Look, this isn’t a knock at SAHM’s. It’s a hard job. So is being a working mom and still having these healthy, always present expectations that we place upon ourselves because that is what society shows us.
Anyway, we jut had a great rainstorm last night and it’s October 1st as I write this, with my chicken stock simmering on my gas stovetop. I’ve got ALL the fall vibes up in here today. Also, I like to maximize my time because I’m a mom! I don’t have extra hours; I have to get things in where we can fit them in.
Here is my simple and time saving chicken stock recipe.
First to clarify, stock is made from bones and simmered for longer.
Ok, now that that’s out of the way, my first time saving step is this: skip roasting the chicken. Unless you’d already planned on meal prep or happen to roast a chicken last night for dinner, skip it. Go grab a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. I’m serious!
Next, take the meat off the bones. As much as you can muster or have the patience for. Use it for dinner the night before you make your stock, or make chicken salad for the week, or save it for chicken soup later (that’s what I’ll be doing today).
Then add all of the bones unto a large stock pot. I cant emphasize LARGE stockpot enough. You don’t need anything fancy. If you don’t already have one, try this one from amazon.
Next, add unpeeled carrots cut maybe in half. You just want them to fit. Add celery cut the same way, LEAVES INCLUDED. Seriously, it adds more flavor.
Add crushed garlic, an onion cut in quarters, and whatever fresh or dried spices you prefer. Fresh spices if you have them will add more flavor but this is about ease and saving time right? I used Italian seasoning in this last batch (basil, oregano, rosemary, marjoram, thyme, and sage). I also added 2 bay leaves, peppercorns, garlic powder (yes even with the fresh garlic), add some salt. If you rather add salt to your dishes you make with the stock later you can add less salt or no salt. It depends on your preference and dietary needs.
Add water to cover everything and bring it to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and allow to simmer for 2 hours or more. The bones should get soft and turn rather gelatinous. When it’s done, strain the stock through a colander and into a container large enough to hold the liquid. I like the large pyrex measuring cups for this.
Allow the stock to cool. Skim off any fat that comes to the top and discard. Then use as needed.
You can store this in the refrigerator for 4-5 days. If I have extra, I put a cup or 2 into zip lock bags, and lay them flat in my freezer to freeze. I do this especially with turkey stock after thanksgiving and then I’m good to go with soup stocks to use all winter long!
Easy Chicken Stock Recipie:
Prep time: 15 minutes
Total time: 3 hours
Ingredients:
- Chicken bones from rotisserie chicken or roasted chicken
- A few stalks of celery (5 or so will do, with leaves)
-4-5 carrots, unpeeled, halved
-1 onion, quartered
-2 bay leaves
-1Tbsp whole peppercorns
- Salt (how much is entirely up to you)
-Fresh garlic (I used 4 cloves)
-Fresh or dried spices. I prefer garlic powder, thyme, rosemary, basil, oregano, and sage. But use what you like!
Directions:
- Add chicken bones to large stock pot
- Add Fresh veggies to stock pot
-Cover with water
-Add fresh and/or dried spices to stock pot
-Bring to a boil
-Reduce to a simmer and cover loosely with lid
-Simmer for at least 2 hours or until bones are gelatinous and stock is a golden yellow color
-Strain off bones and veggies while keeping the stock
-Allow to cool and remove fat from the top with a spoon
-Use in soup immediately or store for future use 4-5 days in refrigerator or freeze
I hope you stay warm and cozy this fall and winter and I hope this recipe helps save you some time while also giving you all the cozy homemade warmth you're craving!
We all know movement is good for our bodies. It helps our circulation, regular exercise can increase our immunity, and it’s good for our minds too! It’s an opportunity to recharge. To relax. So often though, fitting exercise or striving for hitting those step goals can add stress into our already busy lives. When the heck can I find time for one more thing?
And additional stressors work against our body’s wellbeing.
Sure, you could wake up earlier, or stay up later, but what are some practical ways to start out when you really are already stretched for time?
- Find small pockets of time for movement. For me, this was the second half of my lunch break. I knew I was sitting too much at work so, I started getting out at lunch. Getting outside is also one of the things I love to do to unwind and decrease stress, so for me, this was a two for one. Total no brainer. I just started walking for 15 minutes, 5 days a week during my lunch. It might not be much, but progress is progress.
- Make it a priority. Is it something you say you want to do over and over again but just don’t? Then it’s not a priority. Consider other things that suck time away from your day. Scrolling the internet, hitting snooze 3 times – I mean, you’re not actually falling back asleep and getting quality sleep during this time. So just get up and get going.
- Make it a family activity. Do your kids go outside to play? Put that load of wash in and THEN get outside with them. Go for a walk or a jog. Invite them to do a workout along side you. Not only can this motivate you, it can also create great lifelong habits for them. Do you need to allow them to tag along every day? HECK NO. You mama, deserve some time to yourself, too.
Overall, give yourself a ton of grace. Nothing and nobody is ever perfect. But if getting to moving is something you need to be doing, then just START. Start somewhere. Start slow so you don’t burn yourself out. Which, if you’re already feeling burnt out, jump in my free group “Exhausted to Energized Moms” and get back to feeling like you again. Come join us. If you need an accountability partner, or a community of support along this crazy motherhood journey, and you’ve been feeling burnt out, overwhelmed, and just not yourself, then this is the right place for you.
Don’t worry, I’m not going to suggest brain surgery. But have you ever considered how much of what we believe, or feel is related to our mindset? To what we are wired to believe? Now, I am a DNA analyst, but I’m not just talking DNA here. I’m talking what we are taught. How our experiences shape us.
Perception is reality, so they say. What if to feel a different way you only needed to alter your perception?
Ok. Seriously, I know what you’re thinking. This might sound a bit “woo woo”, but is it really? Consider the geographical differences between people. How they say certain words, what they believe, what their upbringing has taught them.
What if everything we believed was a result of that? Well, here’s the thing, it is.
How can that help you? If you’re facing a mental block, if you’re feeling like you can’t possibly do more, what if all you had to do is change your mindset to change your reality? Here are 3 things you can do to change your mindset.
Perception is reality, so they say. What if to feel a different way you only needed to alter your perception?
Ok. Seriously, I know what you’re thinking. This might sound a bit “woo woo”, but is it really? Consider the geographical differences between people. How they say certain words, what they believe, what their upbringing has taught them.
What if everything we believed was a result of that? Well, here’s the thing, it is.
How can that help you? If you’re facing a mental block, if you’re feeling like you can’t possibly do more, what if all you had to do is change your mindset to change your reality? Here are 3 things you can do to change your mindset.
- This step you’ve likely already taken care of if you’re reading this. Recognize that your mindset around something needs to change. Whether it’s your mindset around money, career, relationships…all of the above? Recognize that it needs to change.
- Spell out what your limiting beliefs are. Do you believe you don’t have time? Do you fear running out of something? Do you operate from a place of lack, rather than a place of abundance? The thing you’re lacking – the satisfaction, the love, the money – is able to be replenished. It can change at any moment. Self-sabotage is when we let our fears creep in and rather than welcoming and recognizing fear, we try to suppress it. We cannot run from fear. Fear keeps us safe and alive. We must live with and honor our fear. When we do that, fear takes a back seat, and so do those behaviors like self-sabotage, which often comes from a lack mindset.
- Reality. Why do we hold onto those limiting beliefs? What is holding us back? What do we need to stop believing about ourselves in order to change our belief system and therefore our mindset?
Changing your mindset takes work. It takes continuous work. If you think about it though, so does self-sabotage and lack. Like a ton of work. You are constantly rebuilding the old you instead of growing. IS that what you want for you or your family? These processes have a lingering affect as they are passed on to your kids, and then to their kids – unless one person decides to do something different. That might seem like a lot to bear, but honestly, is passing on those same self-sabotaging behaviors to those we love the most even more to bear?
We really dive into mindset in my group Exhausted to Energized Moms. There's even a free 3-day mindset challenge! Not in there yet? It's FREE! Join here.
First things first...
Some of these links are affiliate links, which means when you click on them, I may receive a small commission when you purchase the product! How cool is that? You get the product and also support my business, which then allows me to keep bringing you more free content (and maybe a little wine money too). I ONLY RECOMMEND products that I have personally used and love. Thank you so much for your support!
Some of these links are affiliate links, which means when you click on them, I may receive a small commission when you purchase the product! How cool is that? You get the product and also support my business, which then allows me to keep bringing you more free content (and maybe a little wine money too). I ONLY RECOMMEND products that I have personally used and love. Thank you so much for your support!
Ok, so whether you’ve been here for a while or you’re just reading for the first time, there are a couple things you should know. 1. I’m a mom and stepmom. 2. I hate fluff and bullshit. 3. I love to save a penny (see #1).
Another thing about me is I love using plant based, natural products in my home. One of those products is my laundry detergent. I mean, think about it – our skin is our largest organ. Within seconds of a chemical being placed on our skin it is absorbed into our bloodstream.
That being said, it makes perfect sense to start with your laundry detergent and household cleaners if you’re ready to move toward better products for our health. My laundry detergent of choice, is the Thieves line offered by Young Living. At over $30 a bottle this can make you want to put on the breaks and crawl back to the stuff filled with synthetic fragrance (which give me such a headache). Stop. Right. There.
Grab my hack below on how you can stretch your laundry detergent to stretch your budget. Like many other detergents on the market, the Thieves laundry detergent is highly concentrated. So, I split mine into thirds in order to stretch it further, without sacrifice the cleaning power.
Rather watch a video? You can see how super simple this money saving hack on my YouTube channel here.
What you will need:
- 1 bottle Thieves laundry detergent
- Thieves household cleaner concentrate (you will need about 6 capfuls for this recipe, so save the rest for a tub scrub, an all-purpose spray, and store the rest for refills and grass stained knees!)
- Purification essential oil
- Lavender essential oil
- 3 pump bottles. I use these bottles from Amazon.
- warm water
Directions:
- Split the bottle of Thieves laundry detergent between the 3 bottles
- Add 2 capfuls of Thieves household cleaner (I recommend using a funnel for this…I didn’t use it last time and well, if you check out my video you can see my mess)
- Add 20 drops of Purification essential oil to each bottle
- Add 20 drops of Lavender essential oil to each bottle
- Slowly fill the bottles with warm water, being sure to leave room for the caps
- Cap the bottles with the pumps
- GENTLY shake the bottles until mixed
That’s it! Use about 2 pumps per full size load of laundry. I tend to not pay attention and probably add 3-4, but that’s not necessary. You should gently mix the detergent before use since the different parts will separate some over time.
This gives my family of five, about nine months of detergent, doing about one load every day. If you need to grab some of the products listed above and you don’t have an account or don’t already have someone to help you, shoot me a message below and I’d be happy to help!
We all know that motherhood is no joke. It’s so easy to look at other moms and think “wow, she’s really got it all together”. The Truth though? None of us have it “all together”. None of us truly knew how to be a mom before we became one, so remember that next time you’re scrolling, and you start playing the comparison game.
The hardest thing I’ve had to learn as a mom? No, it wasn’t that we are all out here winging it and not really know what we were doing. It was to LET GO. To let go of things we can’t control…and even some of what we can. I don’t talk about my divorce much because quite frankly, I don’t let that define me. I’m not “a divorced mom”, no, I’m just a mom. However, through going through a divorce and then starting a relationship with someone that has children as well, I’ve had to learn to let go a lot – like a lot a lot.
Now, rather than throwing myself into a full-on anxiety attack, I use the tools that I’ve learned to cope. No, I’m not talking about my glass of wine (that I do enjoy by the way). I’m talking about thinking things through and asking myself a few questions.
Questions like: Is this going to matter in 5 years? If the answer is no, then I ask “Is this even going to matter in five minutes”. If the answer to both of these is know, then I allow myself to let it go right then and there. If the answer is yes then I ask myself WHY. You see, most of the time, us mamas want to control our kid’s worlds because we think we know best. And we do know best. However, we don’t always know BETTER. What I’m saying is, there is more than one way to parent, more than one way to do things that will still get you the same result. The result being every parent’s objective to raise good, happy, and heathy, thriving human beings. That’s really all there is, right?
That being said, there are absolutely times where lines need to be drawn either for real safety concerns, or even for your own sanity. Everyone needs boundaries.
However, I challenge you, the next time you’re about to lose your shit because things aren’t being done “your way” as yourself the questions above. Sacrificing your sanity is not worth being “right”. It’s just not.
In a blended family, there are many different dynamics where conflict can occur. Whether in co-parenting with our children’s other parent or a disagreement between my fiancé, things can pop up in an instant. It would be quite easy to spend days bitter and angry and arguing over, when you really think about it, things that are so trivial. We all have the same goal, as I said before. As long as our families and our kids are happy, and healthy and thriving, the logistics really don’t matter.
Nobody ever said someone failed as a parent because they let their kid have candy, or because they had different bedtime rules, or because they ate dinner in front of the television. So mama, when you are at your wits end. When your partner or co-parent isn’t hearing you, I urge you to ask yourself whether it’s worth letting that issue steal your joy, and at what cost? At the cost of your anger being redirected at your child? At the cost of your child hearing you say something negative about someone they love?
Let go mama. It’s your ego talking, we all have them. But please hear me out and make like Elsa. Let it go. Your mind, your soul, and your heart will thank you for it.
The hardest thing I’ve had to learn as a mom? No, it wasn’t that we are all out here winging it and not really know what we were doing. It was to LET GO. To let go of things we can’t control…and even some of what we can. I don’t talk about my divorce much because quite frankly, I don’t let that define me. I’m not “a divorced mom”, no, I’m just a mom. However, through going through a divorce and then starting a relationship with someone that has children as well, I’ve had to learn to let go a lot – like a lot a lot.
Now, rather than throwing myself into a full-on anxiety attack, I use the tools that I’ve learned to cope. No, I’m not talking about my glass of wine (that I do enjoy by the way). I’m talking about thinking things through and asking myself a few questions.
Questions like: Is this going to matter in 5 years? If the answer is no, then I ask “Is this even going to matter in five minutes”. If the answer to both of these is know, then I allow myself to let it go right then and there. If the answer is yes then I ask myself WHY. You see, most of the time, us mamas want to control our kid’s worlds because we think we know best. And we do know best. However, we don’t always know BETTER. What I’m saying is, there is more than one way to parent, more than one way to do things that will still get you the same result. The result being every parent’s objective to raise good, happy, and heathy, thriving human beings. That’s really all there is, right?
That being said, there are absolutely times where lines need to be drawn either for real safety concerns, or even for your own sanity. Everyone needs boundaries.
However, I challenge you, the next time you’re about to lose your shit because things aren’t being done “your way” as yourself the questions above. Sacrificing your sanity is not worth being “right”. It’s just not.
In a blended family, there are many different dynamics where conflict can occur. Whether in co-parenting with our children’s other parent or a disagreement between my fiancé, things can pop up in an instant. It would be quite easy to spend days bitter and angry and arguing over, when you really think about it, things that are so trivial. We all have the same goal, as I said before. As long as our families and our kids are happy, and healthy and thriving, the logistics really don’t matter.
Nobody ever said someone failed as a parent because they let their kid have candy, or because they had different bedtime rules, or because they ate dinner in front of the television. So mama, when you are at your wits end. When your partner or co-parent isn’t hearing you, I urge you to ask yourself whether it’s worth letting that issue steal your joy, and at what cost? At the cost of your anger being redirected at your child? At the cost of your child hearing you say something negative about someone they love?
Let go mama. It’s your ego talking, we all have them. But please hear me out and make like Elsa. Let it go. Your mind, your soul, and your heart will thank you for it.
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