A while a back I wrote about an innovative parenting product called Kaboost! This is a new spin on the a child’s booster seat that I love - I only wish it was around when my kids were that small. Instead of raising the child, it raises the chair. In effect, it makes little kids feel like big kids, and makes clean up a lot easier for mom too.

Here is an amusing little video that demonstrates the Kaboost:

What do you think?

Is it just me, or do the weekends fly by faster than the weekdays? Here it is Saturday night and I have exactly 52 minutes left to publish this post and keep my NaBloPoMo commitment.

Today we had guests over for dinner.

Why I love it:

• the company
• good conversation
• the fringe benefit of having a nice clean house (somehow we find a place for all that clutter before friends arrive)
• even the kids get excited when there is company for dinner.

Why I don’t have dinner company often enough:

• it really boils down to time, or lack thereof.
• The planning and the cleaning are not my favorite things to do.
• No other good reasons, really.

In the end, we will remember the time spent with friends and family - and our children will remember these moments as well. But one more night relaxing and watching TV will just blend into all the others.

Truly, the good times and good memories are worth the effort.

No, I am not vegetarian. Yes, there are those of you who say I should be. But that argument aside, I found this wonderful cookbook called Fresh From the Vegetarian Slow Cooker by Robin Robertson. I have made a few of the vegetarian slow cooker recipes out of this book and have been very impressed.

I happen to be a big slow cooker fan. In my house, if dinner isn’t prepared by 2:00 pm then it’s a cereal night. Once the kids get home from school my time disappears. With a slow cooker I can prepare dinner in the morning and a hot meal is ready at dinner time.

However, many slow cooker recipes are not that healthy. And I want more flavor than food cooked in a can of cream of something soup provides.

Fresh From the Vegetarian Slow Cooker offers many healthy and delicious recipes using beans and vegetables - something that many of us don’t eat enough of .

The two recipes that I made last week were Black Bean Soup and Tuscan White Bean and Escarole Soup. Both soups were delicious. And the white bean soup used escarole, I have never made anything with that before. I wasn’t sure the kids would try it but they liked it too.

I will definitely be making more recipes from this book.

One other benefit of these recipes is that many of them are dairy free. My son is allergic to dairy products and there are a lot of recipes here that he can eat as well.

You can read more about my experiences withvegetarian soup recipes here.

“Mom, what’s for dinner?” is the question that I hate the most.

Probably because it is hard for me to think that far ahead even if it is already 5:30p.m. Add afterschool activities and sports to that and cereal begins to look like the only option.

Recently I purchased a calendar for the SOLE purpose of meal planning. It is a two page per week layout. Every weekend I sit down with this meal planning book and write down what I plan to serve each evening.

Making kids lunches can also be challenging, so I make notes regarding this as well. By laying it all out I can easily see if they plan to buy lunch, if I must make lunch, or if they can take leftovers from the previous evenings dinner.

If I am feeling really organized, I can even grab my coupons, the grocery store circular and my recipes and put together a shopping list at the same time.

I must stress that I use this calendar for meal planning ONLY. I do not clutter up the space with daily activities and appointments. This helps me to stay focused on my task and is also easily referenced throughout the week.

The calendar that I have chosen for meal planning is the Mom’s Plan-It Calendar. The great thing about this one is that it has a bookmark sized grocery list on the left hand side that is perforated. So, you can make your list as you plan and easily rip it out and take it with you when you go shopping.

So, is there always a hot meal on the table in our house? No - but we have definitely seen some improvement!