How many times a week do you ask yourself, What’s For Dinner? How much time a week are you planning out your family’s dinner meals, shopping lists and grocery shopping?

A lot! I know that I was spending more time than I wanted to in planning for our meals – probably just as much time or more as I did in cooking & eating them! Then a few months ago, I came across Menu In A Box. I won a free one year membership to the site by simply entering a giveaway on the blog. I was thrilled at the thought of it and trust me, it’s came in handy!

My favorite part of the membership was actually the free gift that came along with it, an e-book. Menu In a Box 200 Weeknight Dinners Budget & Family Friendly includes 40 weeks of meals along with shopping lists. All organized and ready to print for shopping and preparing your meals! You could add one night of leftovers and one night as a take-out or go out to eat and print a page from this ebook and you have an entire week planned in seconds!

Example of How to use 200 Weeknight Meals

If your family is easy to please in the meal department, you could print the lists off and use them in the order that they are. Everything, and I do mean everything, sounds great! I, however, have one child that eats everything in sight and one that is allergic to eggs as well as has some sensory issues (picky about way certain foods feel and/or look in his hands and/or mouth). While he seems to be doing a bit better lately with those sensory issues, I do usually have to make sure I have something else on hand that is most likely microwavable or quick to throw together like a sandwich. As there are 40 weeks to choose from, I have been known to skip through a few of them and print out ones in which everyone in the household is more likely to eat all or close to all the meals from that week. And others I have used a blank printable meal planner of my own and created the shopping list for a few of the meals from the e-book and a few of my own recipes. Since my children are toddler/preschool age, I’m sure they will out grow the picky stage and I’ll have more opportunity to use each and every one of the recipes!

Advantages of 200 Weeknight Dinners

Now here’s your chance to get a copy!

3 of my lucky readers will win a copy of 200 Weeknight Dinners!

Contest starts today May 20 and ends May 25 at 11PM EST

Winners will be announced on May 26th

You may visit Easy, Quick Dinners where you can find more information about this e-book.  

To enter this giveaway, Leave a comment below and tell us how this could help your household’s weeknight meal planning. For an extra entry (must have done the above first), Follow myself @LifeAsMama and Ruthie of Menu In A Box at @MenuInABox .  Tweet out the following, then comment below that you did so.

Win a Free E-Book, @MenuInABox’s 200 Weeknight Dinners | Enter: http://bit.ly/7JYiOT | via @LifeAsMama #MealPlanner #Giveaway

It’s that simple!

I have two children.  The last one born almost a year ago now.  I’ve definitely had my share of the ups and downs in the weight-loss and health related departments.  I have been reading a bit on the net since my doctor hasn’t been of any help other than to say “exercise”.  With a leg/foot injury that is kind of hard to do and he had no suggestions as to what type of exercises I should try.

I am following a few people on twitter now that are fitness guru’s or weight-loss professionals.  A lot of the tips are great but they all scream “buy my product!”.  I’m wanting to improve my overall health, not just my weight so I’ve been looking to follow a few twitter-ers or blogs that are into the natural health community.  I found one healthy fellow that I will be following (subscribing to the RSS feed of his website).  The site looks rather interesting and is not in your face about buying a product.  It includes a few topics of interest to me: depression, allergies and healthy recipes.

Do you have any suggestions/links to websites related to health & fitness?  Have you started a weight-loss program or routine this year?  If so, feel free to leave a comment to share your story.  Or if you have suggestions of exercises for someone with leg/foot injury, please leave those as well.

If you’re a parent, I’m sure you have heard of Jo the Super Nanny. From the start of her tv series on ABC, she has taught the parents to be consistent with a time out spot.

For busy moms on the run, this can be tough to do at times. Where do you put them in time out when you’re shopping? At the Grandparents? The park? Let me introduce you to the Take Out, Time Out Mat.

It is a 20 inch circular rubber mat with a fabric top that is bright in color – almost resembling a target. The Take Out, Time Out Mat is great for use in the house as well as on the go. Being consistent now doesn’t mean you have to place your child in the same one spot in your house, but you can place them on the same mat wherever you may be. It is able to be folded up and placed in a purse, backpack or diaper bag. While you’re in the house, place the mat where the child will still be within your sight. Cooking, place them on the mat in the kitchen or dining area where you can keep an eye on them. In the living room? Again, place them in view on the same mat. Going to the park or Grandparents? Pack the mat up with you. When needed, pull it out and place the child on the mat. Same rules apply no matter where you go; keep the same mat and the same time limits as you would at home.

Even Kelly Ripa uses the Take Out, Time Out Mat. She says “Take Out Time Out is my new traveling naughty mat. It works, I swear! And my children do not know that they can get out of it.”

I received this mat about a week ago and have began using it with my son. I don’t leave the mat sitting out all day. When my son acts up, I tell him that I will bring out the mat as a warning. So far his response has been well. He knows that if he continues doing something “naughty” that the mat will be brought out for a time out.

If you are an on the go parent, or just looking for a specific time out routine, I do highly recommend you visiting My Precious Kid to grab yourself a Take Out, Time Out Mat.

Last but not least, check back soon for a contest sponsored by MyPreciousKid!

Many people know that I was homeschooled through my high-school years.  Those years were definitely a success for myself and I plan to homeschool my children when they are of age.  My son is now 3, so I’m always on the look-out for books, software, supplies and tools.  By tools, I mean anything that will be of use in their education.

The internet can play an important part of learning these days.  From educational games and print outs to videos and research, you can find just about anything you would need online; you can even save money by not having to invest in an expensive curriculum.

Whether you homeschool or have a private/public school child that is doing research online for homework, I suggest this nifty kids search engine.  Kids can enter their keyword or phrases of choice and find the information they need through a number of trusted kid safe search engines.  These search engines are preset to filter out bad words and topics that you would not want them to access.

This kids search, http://www.kigose.com, is free and effectively used by K-12 students and particularly for those between the ages of 6 – 12.  There is a video tutorial on how to use the site available for new users which is helpful for those children and parents that are new to the web.  There is nothing to download (like many of the search tool bars) and the navigational search bar stays at the bottom of your browser page so that you can perform new searches at any time without having to stray away from this page.

As always, for added precaution, parental supervision is suggested when children are using the internet.

A few days ago I posted a review for the Take Out, Time Out Mat from MyPreciousKid.com.  Being the very generous company that they are, MyPreciousKid.com is giving away a Child Carseat Safety ID Card to 5 of my lucky readers!

The Child Carseat Safety ID Card allows you to place contact and emergency information in one place and attach to your child’s carseat or booster seat.  The card contains areas to place a recent photo of your child as well as the child’s name height, weight, date of birth, emergency phone numbers and other contact information.  It also has a place for your approval for medical personel to treat your child even if you are not there or unable to speak at the time.

Eligibility:

1. Must have a mailing address in the USA.
2. Must complete # 1 of the “How to Enter”.  Others listed are for extra entries – but #1 is a must!

How To Enter:

1. Visit MyPreciousKid.com and tell us what your favorite product is. Must!
2. Follow @MyPreciousKid on Twitter
3. Follow @MommyPlayground on Twitter, then let me know in a comment (with your twitter link for verification)
4. Twitter about this giveaway and get 1 entry for every time you tweet it!  Let us know that you did in a comment with the status link.

Contest Deadline: Saturday, February 28, 2009

Winner will be announced: Sunday, March 1, 2009