Stuff Parents Need - Easing the chaos in the nest, one find at a time.

18 Healthy Appetizers To Get Your Meal Started Right

October 18, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 5 Comments

Does the term “healthy appetizers” seem like a bit of a misnomer to you? When I think of appetizers, things that are loaded with cheese or deep friend come to mind (or maybe both, in the case of cheesesticks!). But there are so many tempting starters out there that won’t bust your calorie intake. I’ve compiled a list of go-to healthy appetizers that I’m loving, and that I hope you love, too!

Veggie Snack Chips with Black Bean and Mango Salsa by Stuff Parents Need
Flag Fruit Kebobs by Giving Up on Perfect
Avocado Cream Spread by Glued to My Crafts
Sweet Pepper and Hummus Pinwheels by How to Have it All
Crostini with Fresh Ricotta and Roasted Grapes by Wonky Wonderful
Artichoke Bruschetta by Mom Endeavors
Sweet Peppers With Yogurt by Practically Functional
Bacon Avocado Puff Pastry by Stuff Parents Need
Red Pepper Garlic Hummus by Slap Dash Mom
Southwest Turkey Spirals by The Pinning Mama
Eggplant Meatballs by Around My Family Table
Southwest Crab Rangoon by The Freshman Cook
Pesto, Tomato and Feta Straws by Love Bakes Good Cakes
Dilly Chicken and Veggie Cups by Hot Eats & Cool Reads
Prosciutto Rolls by A Family Feast
Avocado Bruschetta by What’s Cooking Love?
Grilled Peach Feta Bruschetta by Call Me PMC
Beet Tzatziki by Watching What I Eat

Want to see the entire 31 Days of Unforgettable Recipes series? Just click the banner below to see the full list!

Amazon Baby Registry: The Most Important Reason Why I Would Choose It

October 17, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 2 Comments

Amazon has had a baby registry for several years now. And I even had registries with them when I was pregnant with my first. But it was one of several registries that I used, and even in 2009, it was the least popular registry amongst the folks who were buying us gifts. I think that was because they were just used to checking out other popular stores (like Babies R Us or Target) to look for registries.

If I were to get pregnant again (totally NOT in the plans, folks!), I wouldn’t have multiple registries. I would only have a registry at Amazon. And I’d pick it for one key reason: you can add ANY product from ANY store to your Amazon registry. For real.

Pretty freakin’ amazing, don’t you think?

There’s simply no need to have a registry at one store because the high chair you like best is there, and then open a second registry because the car seat you want is exclusively offered there. And then a third registry because you couldn’t find the fill-in-the-blank product you really wanted at the other two stores. It’s all in one central location now, baby!

As if that weren’t reason enough to have your baby registry with Amazon, you also get a 10% completion discount to help you out with anything you didn’t get but REALLY wanted. And if you are an Amazon Mom member, that discount bumps up to 15%. Heck yes!

Finally, are you worried that returning stuff will be expensive and a hassle? Worry no more! You get 90 days to make returns, and those returns are totally free. You just print a shipping label and send that exersaucer back from whence it came!!

If you are currently expecting or know someone who is, please let them know about the Amazon Baby Registry. It’s a great way to make life a little less hectic right from the very beginning of the parenting journey.

Affiliate links included. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

photo credit: mark sebastian via photopin cc

Cooking with Kids: 31 Days of Unforgettable Recipes

October 17, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 2 Comments

Most kids are highly aware of and interested in food – just watch preschoolers play at cooking, shopping and eating. Meal preparation provides terrific opportunities for fun family bonding, for kids to learn about cooking and nutrition, and to allow family members to feel and be useful.

At age-appropriate levels, have kids help pick recipes and plan meals, brainstorm and write shopping lists, go shopping, measure or cut food, and set and clear the table. Older children can make a dish for a family potluck or create their own special meal.

The following projects are especially fun, rewarding and easy, both to make and to eat. And if some of the processes involved feel like playing, so much the better! Enlist your young sous chef to help crack eggs, crush fruit, place sprinkles on cookies, and enjoy that tactile mainstay, rolling and kneading dough.

Sandwich Sushi

Polka Dot Pea Soup

Shrimp Enchiladas Verde

Great Guacamole

50 Easy Pizzas

Lasagna

Soft Pretzels

Jell-O Rainbows and Fairy Burgers

Photos: Martha Stewart, Mark Flickett, Susan Sachs Lipman

Want to see the entire 31 Days of Unforgettable Recipes series? Just click the banner below to see the full list!

How to Find a Babysitter: Two Strategies I have Successfully Used

October 16, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 4 Comments

When we moved to Chattanooga 3 years ago, I had no idea how to find a babysitter. We didn’t know a soul in the city other than the folks who hired Tim for his job. Finding a quality babysitter felt like a pretty insurmountable task, I have to admit.

But we did find a babysitter, and once she graduated from college, we found another one. I’m going to tell you the two ways I found these girls, and hopefully the information will help you out!

Career Services Classifieds

For our latest hire, I checked out the career services office for our local university. I noticed that they offered job postings for their students to browse, and allowed businesses and individuals to post opportunities free of charge. So I put together an ad with what I was looking for (expected hours, pay, ages of my kids, etc.) and I requested interested applicants to send me their resume and their available hours for the semester. Within a week I had 17 applications. What an awesome response! Because I got such a great response, I got to be very choosy, and now my kids have a VERY sweet new babysitter who just started her first year at college, which makes me hopeful that she’ll be with us for 3 or 4 years!

Sitter City

If you don’t have a local university or if they don’t offer a job placement board, you might want to try the method we used to find our first sitter. We got a membership to Sitter City (*affiliate link) and it served us really well. We were able to post a job opportunity there for potential sitters to view and apply for, and we were also able to reach out to sitters in the database who might be good matches to bring their attention to our posting. The website is very secure, and sitters in the database have to go through background checks. It was a very efficient system and it was so nice to have instant access to an entire list of people in the area who were looking for babysitting opportunities. It basically made an impossible task become not hard at all!

Right now Sitter City is offering 30% off its 3 month membership (I think a 3 month membership is a great choice, as it will give you plenty of time to find your perfect sitter). The 3 month plan is $49, but with the 30% off coupon, it is just $34.30. That’s about what I pay for a 3 hour babysitting session at my house…TOTALLY worth it to find the very best person for the job!

So those are the two ways I have successfully found babysitters. How did you find your babysitters?
photo credit: Ioannis Karydis via photopin cc

16 Lunch Ideas to Inspire You

October 16, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 6 Comments

As a work-at-home parent, I get to save money each day by eating my lunch at home. My girls are also usually home at lunch, too. And we live just a 5 minute bike ride from my husband’s work, so most days he is also home. We are so lucky to get to have that time together!

But that also means that I need to actually prepare lunch every day, and I run out of lunch ideas FAST. To help me get out of a rut, I put together a list of 16 great lunch ideas. A few of them I already use and love myself, and the rest of them are on my list to try out in the upcoming weeks.

If you work from home, or if you like to bring your lunch into the office and need to think outside of the frozen meal or the simple sandwich, here’s a great list of recipes to try!

Pasta Recipes that Mix and Match: Easy, Kid-Friendly by Stuff Parents Need
Lemon Garlic Tuna Burgers by Can You Stay for Dinner?
Italian Walnut Salad by Amy J Bennett
Toddler Thai: Noodles in Peanut Sauce with Chicken by Vanderbilt Wife
Mediterranean Tuna Salad by Glued to My Crafts
Mini BBQ Chicken Pizza by Second Chance to Dream
Turkey and Avocado Panini by Marly’s This & That
Apple Gorgonzala Salad with Home-made Italian Vinaigrette by Marly’s This & That
Pico de Gallo Chicken Sandwich by All She Cooks
Chicken Gyros by Cooking on the Front Burner
Gluten Free Coconut Chicken by JaMonkey
Buffalo Chicken Quesadillas by Love Bakes Good Cakes
Chicken Cordon Bleu Sliders by A Family Feast
Green Goddess Pasta Salad by Call Me PMC
Bacon Chicken Ranch Taquitos by What’s Cooking Love?
Loaded BBQ TVP Sloppy Joe by Watching What I Eat

Want to see the entire 31 Days of Unforgettable Recipes series? Just click the banner below to see the full list!

Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies: You Guys….Wow…

October 15, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 3 Comments

On our recent trip up to the Smoky Mountains, and specifically, the Pigeon-Forge/Gatlinburg area, we were treated to a visit to Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies.

Now, it is important to keep in mind that I live in Chattanooga, home of the Tennessee Aquarium, which is one of the best in the nation. So I guess you could say I’m a bit of an aquarium snob. It takes a lot to impress me.

But my friends, not only was I impressed, but I was also totally blown away. Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies is highly entertaining, absolutely breath-taking, and well worth the trip to get to see it. And I plan to show you lots of it right now! Check it out!

What a beautiful waterfall, and a fun “tank” for those fish! Love the creative approach to showcasing an aquatic environment.

This is stingray bay, which is beautiful in its own right. But it is also interactive! You can touch the rays, which is really fun!

The underwater tunnel is perhaps the crown jewel of this aquarium. It has a slow-moving runway you can stand on, or you walk through it on your own. It is a nice long “ride” and it is REALLY cool how close you are to the sharks!

And then we have the penguin exhibit. You get to crawl through a transparent tunnel to see the birds from all different angles (swimming next to you, on the rocks above you, or in certain spots, right beside you!). This was one of the most delightful parts of the aquarium for us, and it was a major kid magnet! The penguins were very curious about all those miniature humans that were crawling through those tunnels. It was pretty much as cute as one would imagine kids + penguins hanging out would be!

Also, you can buy penguin-made art! At this point in the visit, I pretty much exploded with glee. Cutest. Idea. Ever!!!

And what family visit would be complete without a little photo bombing? Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, the true star of Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies: the puffer fish.

And to think…we almost missed him! Good thing he was looking out for us to make sure we got a good look!

We absolutely loved our visit to the Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies and I think it is most definitely worth seeing! Even if you only see that cute puffer fish! 😉

16 Breakfast Ideas Worth Rolling Out of Bed For

October 15, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 3 Comments

I’m a morning person, through and through, so I usually don’t have trouble coming up with breakfast ideas. By the time my family is up and ready to eat, I’ve usually been awake for 2-3 hours! Often during that time, I will try out a new breakfast recipe; it’s really awesome to wake up to the smell of something yummy, isn’t it?

If you love the idea of an awesome breakfast but get stuck on the execution part of it, let me help! Try one of these delicious ideas to get your day started right!

German Pancakes by Thirty-One 10
Pumpkin Pancakes by Glued to my Crafts
Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal by Frugal or Free
Breakfast Pizza by Melissa’s Cuisine
Bacon, Egg & Cheese Quesadillas by Love Bakes Good Cakes
French Toast Casserole by Coupon Closet
Bacon & Asparagus Breakfast Pizza by Hot Eats & Cool Reads
Mini Breakfast Pot Pies by The Grant Life
Gooey Yumminess (Sticky Buns Breakfast Ring) by Covered in Mod Podge
Bacon, Sausage, Cheese, and Potato Breakfast Casserole by Practically Functional
Bruleed Orange French Toast by Mom Endeavors
Apple Cinnamon Breakfast Crepes by The Freshman Cook
Red Velvet Waffles by Slap Dash Mom
Funfetti Monkey Bread by What’s Cooking, Love?
Breakfast Quesadilla by The Springmount 6
Blueberry Buckle by A Family Feast

What’s your favorite breakfast recipe? Is it one you know by heart, or do you like to switch things up and try out new ideas?

Want to see the entire 31 Days of Unforgettable Recipes series? Just click the banner below to see the full list!

Bloomingdale’s Launches #GivePink, Get More Program

October 15, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

Special thanks to Bloomingdale’s/She Speaks for partnering with Stuff Parents Need to make this post possible.

Do you live near a Bloomingdale’s? If so, listen up, because you are NOT going to want to miss this opportunity!

Bloomingdale’s wants to fund research, support and awareness programs at three organizations: the Breast Cancer Research Foundation,® The Tutu Project™ benefitting The Carey Foundation and the Cancer Vixen Fund™ at Beth Israel Hospital. Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, all this month you can enroll in the #GivePink promotion to help Bloomingdale’s reach its goal.

Now through November 3rd, you can enroll in the program by charging a $15 fee on your Bloomingdale’s charge card. Then it is time to start shopping for anything and everything in the store (even cosmetics and fragrance count!). Once you spend a certain amount of money, you will earn a gift card to Bloomingdale’s as a thank you for your support of the initiative!

I love having gift cards on hand for folks on my shopping list that are tricky to buy for, and this program provides a great way to earn some of those while doing some shopping you need to do for your family or for other folks on your holiday list. And breast cancer initiatives get supported in the process, so everyone wins with #GivePink!

So maybe you need to justify something like this for yourself (I seriously drool when I look at this picture!):

Go ahead and splurge! Breast cancer research will get some funding, you’ll pick up a gift card and mark someone off your holiday shopping list, and you will have some seriously smokin’ hot boots!

If you are a Bloomingdale’s card holder, get yourself enrolled now, and then get over to the store to earn yourself a gift card! And for additional information and inspiration, be sure to follow Bloomingdale’s on Facebook and Pinterest.

HALO SleepSack Review – New Design Line!

October 14, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 2 Comments

by Alanna Peters

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while then you’re probably no stranger to HALO SleepSacks. I first heard about HALO when I was pregnant with my first daughter. We used SleepSacks for her first few months while the weather was still a bit cool, and I loved the high quality of HALO. I knew for sure I’d want to get some more this time around for my second daughter, so I was thrilled when HALO offered me the chance to try out a SleepSack from their new design line!

First of all, if you are unfamiliar with HALO SleepSacks, here’s a bit of info to get you up to speed:

HALO Innovation’s SleepSack® wearable blankets have become the standard for hospital nurseries and parents alike. In fact, 1,000 hospital nurseries use the HALO SleepSack Swaddle instead of blankets through the HALO Safer Way to Sleep Initiative. That is 1.5 million births getting first-hand, in-hospital experience with the HALO SleepSack Swaddle and safe sleep practices! Modeling safe sleep practices for parents in the hospital is the key to safer sleep practices at home. HALO Innovations also offers free Safe Sleep Practices kits to childbirth educators to help further the cause of SIDS prevention.

Now, on to the new designs. HALO has recently released new SleepSack designs available exclusively at Pottery Barn! They are so cute, you guys. And the pure, organic cotton fabric is so thick and soft, I almost want to cuddle my new SleepSack before I put my baby in it. The SleepSacks are available in pink, blue and yellow stripe, and feature cute safari appliques. You can even get them embroidered with your baby’s name! (This would be a great baby shower gift idea, by the way.) I chose to review one of the new Pottery Barn SleepSack Swaddles, which comes in an adorable medallion print. These are also available in pink, blue and yellow and are also available for embroidery.

I am really excited about the swaddle aspect of this SleepSack. My oldest daughter did NOT like to be swaddled. We tried and tried, but she always wiggled free or threw a fit until we unbundled her. I’m determined to try again with my new baby though, and the SleepSack Swaddle makes it so easy. Just zip the baby into the SleepSack and wrap the swaddle fabric around her! It easily closes with a huge section of hook & loop fabric so it’s very adjustable for babies of all shapes and sizes. Speaking of sizes, I was curious about HALO sizing, so I figured some of you might be as well. Here is what I found out:

Newborn		19 to 23 in	6 to 12 lbs
Small		23 to 26 in	13 to 18 lbs

If you are still in the process of designing your nursery, it would be worth mentioning that Pottery Barn offers bedding that coordinates with their SleepSacks. How cute is that? They are available in both organic cotton and snuggly chamois.

One more thing I want to add is this: During the month of October, HALO will donate $1 to SIDS Awareness for every new Facebook “like”. This is awesome, you guys, and all it takes from you is a few seconds to “like” their page! Please stop by and visit them on Facebook if you have a chance. What a great cause! You can also find them on Twitter and Pinterest.