Parent's Time Out

Parent's Time Out
November 30, 2001

Time Out for the Week	What's for Dinner?
Just for You	Site of the Week

This weekly feature of the Online Exchange is committed to helping parents take back quality time and devote it more fully to spending it with their children. Here is where you can start to take a Time Out from the TV, computer, housework, and bills. It only takes a few minutes to do fun and memorable things with your children and we will lend a hand each week to get you started. Tune in here for encouragement, fun and easy things to do, and other tidbits, all geared just for you and your precious ones.

~ Time Out for the Week

Snowman Soup

Here is something fun for you and your kids to put together as winter care packages for inexpensive gifts or fund-raisers.

The Soup:

1 package hot chocolate mix
3 Hershey Kisses
15 (or so) marshmallows
1 candy cane

Put the above items in colored plastic wrap
The Poem :
Put on paper
and give with items in a mug

Was told you've been real good this year
Always glad to hear it
With freezing weather drawing near
You'll need to warm the spirit
So here's a little Snowman Soup
Complete with stirring stick
Add hot water, sip it slow
It's sure to do the trick!

(A printable, ready to go label can be found at http://homeschoolzone.com/pp/crafts/snowmansoup2.htm)

Other things you can do:

Use a permanent marking pen on the cup to personalize it.
Find mugs with a snowman on them.
Use mini-mug salt shakers
For coffee lovers, use a cappuccino cup and a small packet of hazelnut (or another flavor) coffee with a chocolate covered spoon instead.

Use your imagination and have fun!

~ What's for Dinner?

Sausage Chili        Crock pot recipe, cook time 8-10 hours

You need:
1 lb. ground beef                                         1 lb. pork sausage
1 large onion, chopped                                1 cup sliced celery
1 cup chopped green pepper                        2 garlic cloves
1 lb. 12 oz. can tomatoes                            2 tsp. chili powder
2 (15 1/2 oz.) cans kidney beans                 2 tsp. salt
6 oz. can tomato paste

In skillet, brown ground beef and sausage, drain. Transfer to crock pot. Add onion, green pepper and celery. Stir in un-drained kidney beans, un-drained tomatoes, tomato paste, garlic, chili powder, and salt. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.

~ Just for You
and your family- Part 4

Environmentally Safe (and kid safe)
products to clean your home:

Five basic nontoxic ingredients that can be used as cleansing agents:

These ingredients, supplemented with vegetable-oil- based soaps, lemon juice, herbs or toothpaste, can be mixed together and used to bring a natural, economical and safe shine to your home.

baking soda washing soda
borax salt
white vinegar

Here are some of the compounds you can make:

Other hints:
Ironing Clothes
To get crisp results when ironing clothes, combine 1-2 tablespoons of cornstarch in one pint of water. Pour into a spray bottle, shake and spray clothes before ironing.

Bug Control
To keep bugs out of flour, pasta, rice, pancake mix and other wheat products, put 2 to 3 bay leaves in the containers. Rather than pesticides, you might foil roaches by placing bay leaves around cracks in the room and leaving out dishes of equal parts baking soda and powdered sugar. The last resort is a mix of powered sugar and boric acid (a poison). For other pests, a soapy water spray can be an insecticide, and a shallow pan filled with stale beer will kill snails and slugs.

To protect the family pet, alternatives to toxic flea collars include eucalyptus ointment, herbal baths and a pinch of brewer's yeast or Vitamin B with dinner.

Removing Grease
To remove grease or hair from the drain, use equal parts of vinegar, salt and baking soda. Pour mixture down the drain and let stand for 15 minutes. Then pour boiling water down the drain.

~ Recommended Site of the Week

ClueFinders

Calling all kid detectives! Cool site based on the ClueFinders series.
http://www.cluefinders.com

Thank you for joining us for this weeks Time Out! Now the rest is up to you. Take the time to do the things suggested, or think of your own ways to spend precious time with your family. But most importantly, HAVE FUN!!

Be sure to tell your friends about us! Highlight the parts of the page you like the best and print it. Then keep a folder of ideas and recipes.

We would like to hear from you! If you have a favorite family site or craft, send it to us and we might share it with our readers. Or, just let us know what you think of our feature.
Contact Sara.

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Giving Credit were Credit is Due...
We search all over for great tips, ideas and recipes and don't want to forget to let you know where it all comes from. This week we would like to thank the following:
www.homeschoolzone.com
www.pinksunrise.com
www.cluefinders.com