Maestro Market: New Business Connects Moms with Experts

MaestroMarket.com

In my inbox this morning was a press release about MaestroMarket.com, a new venture by Ian Shea. I was instantly intrigued by the concept of easily being able to connect with experts. As someone who is a parent coach and often hires coaches to help me improve different areas of my own life from nutrition and fitness to growing my business, I was excited to find a site that pulls a variety of experts together in one place.

Maestro Market, a unique and first of its kind platform that connects people with their ideal experts, or even heroes, today announced its official launch.  The new platform facilitates a variety of engagements (e.g., in person, using Skype, via telephone, etc.) between talented experts and anyone interested in learning a skill, solving a problem, getting inspired, gifting an experience or indulging a desire.  The experts span numerous categories including parenting, writing, women in business, social media, blogging, entrepreneurship and many more.  The company is also announcing initial partnerships that will help to drive both supply of and demand for its growing list of maestros.

Book Review: Molly Kite’s Big Dream

tam veilleux

by Minette Riordan

I recently received a review copy of Molly Kite’s Big Dream by Tam Veilleux. This is a very charming story about dreaming big and having faith that our dreams will come true. The main character, Molly, wants to be a potter but she doesn’t have any idea how to make that happen. She is joined in the story by her special doll, Faith, her brother and a bird. The illustrations in the book are gorgeous and will capture your child’s attention.

One of the things I admired most about Molly is her resilience and her trust that her dream will come true. Veilleux does a wonderful job of showing us how to nurture a child’s imagination and remind our children that we have to believe that our dreams will come true and take the right actions to make that happen.

In the introduction, Veilleux shares this about her book:

Leftover Turkey Recipes: Nanny’s Turkey Curry Plus 12 More Recipes

Thanksgiving Leftovers

Leftover Turkey Recipes

Love Thanksgiving Leftovers but Tired of the Same Old Turkey Recipes?

Leftover turkey is almost as popular in my house as the Thanksgiving feast itself! Are you tired of the standard leftover turkey recipes yet? In our house, we tend to cook turkey several times a year, just so we can eat leftovers. My mother-in-law is famous for her Turkey Curry, in fact on every summer vacation, we beg to cook a turkey just so she will make curry the next day.

While I love curry, I also like soup and my husband loves hot turkey sandwiches the next day. So, I searched the internet to find many recipes for leftover turkey. I am only sharing 12 with you here, but each of these links will lead you to dozens of additional ideas for leftover turkey. I tried to pick the very best ones with the best reviews or that I thought were creative, different and easy. Who wants to spend a whole other day in the kitchen? I usually wait until Saturday or Sunday after Thanksgiving to make the stock and either soup or curry.

Here is Nanny’s turkey curry “recipe.” The truth is she doesn’t have a recipe. These are just guidelines. The secret is to cook the bones for as long as possible to create a rich stock and to use a good quality curry powder (or make your own.) We usually get a pot of soup and a pot of turkey from the leftovers, which we means we stretch our grocery dollars and get to eat great food for several days.

4 Tips for Stress Management During the Holidays

stress management tips

4 Stress Management Tips for the Holidays

by Minette Riordan

Yikes, it’s already November 5. Thanksgiving is just around the corner and Hanukkah and Christmas are not far behind. I don’t know about you, but I am already planning meals, thinking about gifts and wondering who is coming and where are we going to put everyone. We are trying to stay within our budget and still have a fun holiday season with our kids and extended family. Trying to manage the holidays on top of regular day-to-day activities, work, kids’ schedules and keeping up with the housework can feel overwhelming. In this article I want to talk about 4 stress management tips for the upcoming holidays.

I adore Thanksgiving! It’s one of my favorite holidays and I spend hours pouring over cookbooks and food magazines to come up with the perfect menu. Not everyone enjoys the cooking, planning, the endless dishes and the endless crowds of people. Are you feeling stressed just thinking about it?

Here are 4 stress management tips to help you sail through the holidays with grace and ease! These tips are not necessarily easy but they are important, so I ask that you do what you can and free yourself from the stress and worry of the holiday season so that you can enjoy time with friends and family, because that’s what the holidays should be about!

6 DIY family projects for a good cause

homemade chalkboard craft

  6 DIY family projects for a good cause

Need some family fun time? Good news! The Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity ReStores want to help give families creative projects to work on together. They offer an abundance of materials perfect for families on a budget – and best of all, these crafty projects teach kids about giving back, as all ReStore proceeds support the Dallas Habitat mission. Here are a few fun, easy and affordable weekend projects you can do with your kids:

Halloween Safety: How to Keep Your Kids and Pets Safe for Halloween

halloween safety

Safety Tips for Kids and Dogs at Halloween

 

Here are some great tips on how to keep your kids and pets safe for Halloween from our friends at Guardian Pet Sitters.

Halloween is a fun time for kids (free candy, scary masks!) but if you have a dog it can be very stressful. When children come to your door, are you worried about your dog constantly barking at the doorbell? Is your dog worried about all these scary looking strangers intruding on his territory? Here are a few tips for you, your dog, and your kids to make Halloween as safe (and bite-free) as possible!