3 Seconds to a Tastier Turkey!

In just three seconds you can transform your Christmas turkey from simply tasting good, to being the juiciest and best bird you've ever cooked. This cooking tip requires no additional ingredients or difficult cooking strategies and it literally takes only three seconds.

What is this great tasting turkey tip? It's simple, all you have to do is flip the turkey over when you cook it. Yes, that's it! Just place the turkey breast side down in the roasting pan. Cooking it this way instead of the traditional way of having the breast facing up, allows all the juices of the dark meat to permeate to the white meat. Why let all the wonderful juice of the dark meat just drip to the bottom of the pan when you can use it to make the white meat the moistest you've ever tasted?

Use this tip and your friends and family will think you worked for hours preparing the perfect turkey when really all it took was an extra 3 seconds. That's the kind of tip us busy moms really need!

Happy Holidays!

Great Tip for Christmas Eve!

Christmas Eve is one of the most exciting nights for children. The festivities that lead up to the big day and the anticipation of Santa Claus arriving is almost too much for a little child to take. It certainly doesn't make going to bed very easy. My family has a tradition that can get even the most excited child ready for bed and into a deep slumber before you can say Merry Christmas! (OK, maybe I exaggerated just a little but it does help make for a much easier bedtime.)

On Christmas Eve my children get to open two presents each. Every year they're the same two items - a new pair of pajamas and a new book. The kids are so excited about the new pajamas they eagerly get cleaned up so they can sport their new sleepwear; this is also great because you have nice new pj's for Christmas Day pictures. New pajamas accomplish step one of getting the kids to bed.

Next, they also open up a new book and are excited to read or flip through the pages. I love to read each book to all four boys together and by the time we've reached the last page of book #4, their eyes are as heavy as bricks. Having sleepy children is step two of getting the kids to bed. All that's left now is tucking them in so you can do all that is needed to get ready for the big day.

These two gifts help my children get changed for bed and help them wind down so they go to sleep quickly and sleep well. They also know that if they get up in the middle of the night, it might scare Santa away and they might not get their presents. ;) This prevents overly anxious children from getting up at 2am looking for their gifts. This has happened to me MANY times before I came up with the "don't scare Santa away" speech.

If your kids are still having a hard time falling asleep, another easy trick is to tell them that the first person to fall asleep gets to open the first present. That one works like a charm!

Christmas Day is my favorite day of the year but I've learned it's even better if my boys have had a good night's sleep. We all know when your children have a good night's sleep, YOU have a good night's sleep! A well rested family can enjoy all the fun of Christmas just a little bit more.

One step closer to an easier life!