Tag: Tips

Shenanigans

Kitchen Kapers

Having trouble with children eating vegetables?  Try blending squash/zucchini/carrots in with spaghetti sauce (use less water, add veggies after browning meat). Another Vegetable idea for carrots is to cut them with a crinkle cutter–makes children think they were made especially for them! Add a little Spice to your coffee!  Try adding 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of cinnamon/nutmeg/vanilla directly into auto-drip coffee basket for some “spice-au-lait.”  Save on gourmet coffee … Continue reading Kitchen Kapers

Unknown's avatarAngela DiCicco, The Italian GrandmamaLeave a comment
Parenting

Feast of the Seven Fishes

If you know my family, then you know that every Christmas Eve, for as long as I can remember, we have celebrated the Feast of the Seven Fishes.  Growing up we never really got to all seven fishes, but now with my brother (the chef) we always have seven fishes! Bacala, anchovies and smelts are what my mom grew up with.  Now we may have … Continue reading Feast of the Seven Fishes

Unknown's avatarAngela DiCicco, The Italian GrandmamaLeave a comment
Parenting

Moms to Moms: Dealing with the Santa Question

At the age of seven, my oldest son asked me to settle an argument in which he claimed the Easter Bunny was not real.  I told him he was correct.  A few minutes later he came back asking, “Does that mean that Santa Claus isn’t real either?”  When I answered positively, he couldn’t believe that all those present really came from us (after all, we … Continue reading Moms to Moms: Dealing with the Santa Question

Unknown's avatarAngela DiCicco, The Italian GrandmamaLeave a comment
Parenting

Guest Post: My Coth Diapering Experience Part 3

This is a Guest Post by Evelyn Langdon and Stay at home mom to Trevor and Scott.  Here’s an idea of what we have in our house and what works for our family:  My Diaper Stash  18 BumGenius One-Size 3.0 Pockets that I had snap converted (when I bought them, they only had Velcro closures; BG has since added the option to get snap closures) … Continue reading Guest Post: My Coth Diapering Experience Part 3

Unknown's avatarAngela DiCicco, The Italian Grandmama3 Comments
Parenting

Stress and the Holidays

Holidays are an important and stress time for many families.  The focus of the holidays is to celebrate but often we become so busy with preparations that we forget their true meaning.  Meeting everyone’s needs during the holidays, as well as bringing to life the picture we’ve painted in our own minds, can over-stress our bodies.  Our bodies can be over-stressed both physically (e.g. overeating, … Continue reading Stress and the Holidays

Unknown's avatarAngela DiCicco, The Italian GrandmamaLeave a comment
Parenting

Guest Post: Clother Diapering Part 2

This is a Guest Post by Evelyn Langdon a Stay at home mom to Trevor and Scott.  Now that we’ve covered all the diaper and cover info, there are a few more things you’ll need to get started. Not all of these are a must, but they are nice and make things much easier:  Diaper pail  This is non-negotiable. You need somewhere to keep dirty diapers … Continue reading Guest Post: Clother Diapering Part 2

Unknown's avatarAngela DiCicco, The Italian Grandmama2 Comments
Parenting

Guest Post: Cloth Diapering Part 1

This is a Guest Post by Evelyn Langdon a Stay at home mom to Trevor and Scott.    Why Choose Cloth?  This is different for everyone, but my reasons were pretty simple. First of all, it’s MUCH less expensive to use cloth diapers than disposables. Yes, there’s a big cost up front for the initial purchase, but there are adjustable size diapers on the market, as … Continue reading Guest Post: Cloth Diapering Part 1

Unknown's avatarAngela DiCicco, The Italian Grandmama3 Comments
Parenting

Holiday Traditions

Each family has different holiday traditions, throughout the years those traditions may be altered or change entirely due to marriage, babies, location. There are many different traditions that I enjoyed as a child and I plan on continuing as an adult with my family. My Christmas Holiday starts on Thanksgiving weekend.  We always put up the Christmas tree, decorate the house and start the baking! … Continue reading Holiday Traditions

Unknown's avatarAngela DiCicco, The Italian GrandmamaLeave a comment
Parenting

Holiday Ideas

Give each child their own nativity set. It could be one they can play with or one that’s handmade.  Let them keep it in their room. Teach children customs from another faith or country.  serve smelts, spaghetti with anchovies, and shrimp on Christmas Eve as the Italians do.  You could light a Hanukkah candles to remember where the Jewish and Christian faiths come from.  Families from … Continue reading Holiday Ideas

Unknown's avatarAngela DiCicco, The Italian GrandmamaLeave a comment
Parenting

Peeking Through the Window

A holiday party is in progress and a photo is being snapped.  This is the scene as you watch through the frosted windowpane:  A woman wears a black velvet dress cut to a “V” in back.  Her hair is upswept and perfectly lacquered.  Her nails are perfectly manicured and her smile shows perfect teeth.  Her children, too, are dressed festively.  The girl is dressed in red … Continue reading Peeking Through the Window

Unknown's avatarAngela DiCicco, The Italian GrandmamaLeave a comment