Just Your Everyday Mama Blog
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#HACKS no. 4
2-Minute Rule
Okay friends, this is a game-changer for me some days. Do you ever have a moment when you look around and see so many things that need to be done? Dishes in the sink, clothes to be put away, the floor needs to be swept, something needs to be organized, and toys on the floor need to be put away. You look around, and you don’t feel like doing any of it. Here’s my trick… Look around. Pick one thing to do that will take less than 2 minutes to complete. Do it. Now you have one less thing left to do. Look around again and repeat the process for 20 minutes. In less than 20 minutes, BAM!! You have completed 10 things!
If this is something you like, you can even implement it into your everyday schedule!
Hope you like this awesome little hack! Have a great day, friends!!
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Fixing My Mental Health
Ways I am Improving My Mental Health
Hello there, friends! I hope you are having a fantastic day so far!
I wanted to take this time to write about some changes that I have made that have helped improve my mental health. I am by no means an expert. I will only be sharing MY experience, so take it with a grain of salt.
Declutter/Minimize/Organize
This was a must for me. Regularly, I am a set-it-down-and-forget-it type of person. This makes for a lot of clutter and piles everywhere.
When I started feeling stagnate recently, I knew I needed a change. So I started going through my rather large and full closet. After three days of taking it apart numerous times to rearrange and minimize it, I was able to get it just right.
Then, I did the same to every other room in the house. Six large trash bags and three big boxes of stuff later, I took it all to Goodwill and haven’t looked back.
It feels so awesome to have all that extra stuff gone and have space available if I need it. And having everything organized feels AMAZING. I have made quite a lot of my day to day routines easier, just by having things organized.
Planning
This is another must for me. If it’s not written down, I won’t remember it. Everything goes into my planner. Everything. I use it to keep track of our day-to-day stuff, cleaning schedule, blog stuff, workouts, lessons and activities for Barrett, and more. As I said, everything goes in the planner.
We make a meal plan and grocery list weekly so that we don’t have to figure it out last minute and that is our guide for meals for the week and grocery shopping.
Prepping
I prep everything I can ahead of time. It makes things so much easier in the long run. So much stuff can be done ahead of time to save you the trouble and time later on. Prep food, and clothes for the next day, coffee for the morning, and pack your bag (if needed) for the morning so you can just grab and go. It is so nice to have a little less on your mind.
Twice a week, I prep food for the next couple of days. I cut vegetables, and fruits, cook whatever is needed, etc. This way, it’s ready when you need it and you can grab and go. So easy and helpful and saves so much time later on.
Setting Goals
Sitting down and planning out my future goals is one of my favorite things to do. I love getting to put all of my goals on paper and organize them. I tend to be pretty ambitious, so I never make things too easy on myself.
Previously, I only wrote out my goals for the year, but I have started writing them out yearly, monthly, and weekly.
Once everything is written out and organized how I want it, I can look at the things that I want to accomplish and make a plan. It’s a beautiful thing.
Taking Me Time
As a stay-at-home mom, for almost four years, alone time is not something I have gotten much of in that time. I never really pushed for it, either. I could not imagine being away from my little man!
Well, now that he is a terrorist three-nager, I run away any chance I get, HAHA! Now I make sure that in the evenings, I take at least thirty minutes of just for me time.
It can be anything from reading, yoga, etc. It does not matter what it is. As long as it is something that you do for you. Just you. Something you want to do.
Since I started making time for myself a priority, I have noticed a huge difference in myself. I feel more like old myself.
Diet, Exercise, and Water
I know these things are repeated often as things that can help with mental health (again, I am NOT an Expert or professional). But let’s be real: we all know how much better we feel when we nourish our bodies better. I am terrible at being consistent with all three of these things, but I know when I make them a priority my head feels more clear, I have way less anxiety, and overall more energy and motivation.
Outside Time
This has been something that has helped our whole household. Getting outside in the fresh air and sunshine is some of the best medicine form mental health. A quick walk during the day or after dinner can turn the whole day around. I now realize how much better I feel on the days that we get out of the house for extended periods. I really try to carve this time out everyday.
Alright friends, that’s all I am going to write for today. I hope you find this post useful and I look forward to sharing more in the future on the topic. Have a great day! See you next time, friends!
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Berry Storage Hacks
Hello there, Friends! I hope you are doing well today! It’s my very favorite berry storage hack. I know this one was made pretty popular recently, but it’s something that we use all the time in my house so I figured I would share it.
We always buy a ton of fresh fruit and vegetables. Sometimes though, we aren’t always as good as we should be about eating them right away. So, instead of having these items go bad within a few days, I’ve been spending some time finding the best ways to store them for longer shelf life.
All of our fruit gets washed and soaked in a vinegar and water mix. After about ten minutes of soaking, I rinse them really well and pat dry.
So here’s the hack…. for storage that will help them stay fresher longer: place a folded-up paper towel in the bottom of a glass jar, place strawberries in the jar, and close the lid. They will stay fresh for so much longer this way.
If you do not have a glass jar, any airtight container can work, but I do find they stay fresher in the glass.
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6 Money Saving Tricks You Can Start Today
Hi there, Friends! I hope you are well today! I come to you today with a little post to help you save up a little money or help to pay off some debt. I have paid off a decent amount of debt over the years by implementing many of these tricks.
I will preface this by saying that some of these tricks may be outdated, but could still be easily implemented. A few of the saving tricks were used when cash was still used a bit! But having that money tucked away where I couldn’t easily get to it was really helpful!
Always start by making a list to know exactly what you are working with. Document everything in and everything out. No Exceptions. Total it all up. Make sure you set aside extra for gas, groceries, fun time stuff, etc.
Then, go through your expenses and cut out everything unnecessary. If saving is the goal here, it needs to be a priority and you will have to make a few sacrifices.
Trick #1- Budget- this seems basic, but it’s going to set the foundation for what you have to spend between paychecks. Sit down with a calendar and figure out when every payday is and when every regular bill is due. Plan out which paycheck will cover which bill and how much will be left over afterward. Then figure out how much you need for gas and groceries, etc. with whatever is leftover, you will figure out how much of that you will put in savings each paycheck. That part is completely up to you and your motivation level. The more you save, the faster you will reach your goal. If you are paying off debt, this leftover amount can be an extra payment you send to help pay off the debt faster or double your next payment.
Trick #2- List out your top 3-5 savings goals. Get one of those little receipts or coupon accordion-style files. Write out one savings goal on each file tab. Start with the priority savings goal, i.e. saving for a house. Then move on and label them in order of decreasing importance. Each paycheck, take out a certain amount to put into each savings goal. You can choose how you want to disperse the funds. You can put a lot into one, and a little in the rest, or equal parts, etc. Set a certain amount of time to do this and then reassess when that time arrives. If you are saving to pay off debt, once every three months or so, you could put that money towards an extra payment towards the debt.
Always leave this at home. You don’t want to tempt yourself to spend it!
When I set mine up I had priority one was paying off debt, then saving for nursing school classes, general savings, and emergencies. Always have one spot for an emergency! I would put a little less into this one because I never touched this one so, theoretically, this one wouldn’t get used and would build up. This was saved for real emergencies. Like when my car battery died. Having this bit of money set aside was so helpful. I didn’t have enough to cover the entire bill but having something extra to put towards it was less of a strain on regular finances. Also, I didn’t have to take anything out of my regular savings to help cover it. It seems kind of redundant, but this way worked for me.
Trick #3-Side gigs- Online surveys, playing games, submitting receipts. There are a ton of these sites out there now. You won’t get rich, but it can be a help to have a little extra “Beer Money” sometimes. And that is always a good thing. I will have a post on my blog with descriptions and links for the sites that I like the best. If you’re in a mom group with me, I’m sure you’ve seen me post these before. Anytime anyone asks for ways to make extra money or for a second income option, I also recommend these sites.
Trick #4- Evaluate where you shop.
-Shop Famer’s Markets. You get a fresher product and help support your neighbors.
-Buy store brands and shop at cheaper grocery stores. We save a ton by shopping at Aldi and using their store brand. We can find a substitute for just about everything there.
Trick #5- Evaluate how you shop-
-Use store brands whenever possible. They are usually pretty similar but cost less.
-Buy in bulk when you can. We eat a lot of rice, so we buy the 10lb bag every time. It saves us a little bit there.
-Use coupons. You can easily get them from your regular mail or the weekly newspaper or even print them off the internet. And store apps allow you to simply load the coupons onto your loyalty card for use at checkout. Some stores will even double coupons on certain days of the week.
-Shop sales and stock up when you can. I always grab extra meat and chicken when it goes on sale and freeze whatever we don’t use within a few days.
-Sign up for the store’s loyalty card and usually receive all kinds of extra deals. Sometimes, these in-store deals can be combined with coupons for an added discount.
-Shop the clearance aisle first. If you start there, you can see how much of your shopping list you can use discounted items for.
Trick #6-Only pay with cash. I used to pull out the money that I needed for the week and divvy it between groceries, gas, fun money, etc. I kept each one separate from the other and only used it for what it was meant for. This helped me stay within my grocery budget. If I knew I only had a certain amount of cash with me to pay for groceries, then I was more thoughtful about how I shopped.
Alright, friends! I am going to cut myself off there for now. But I have a feeling there will either be a continuation of this post or possibly an update to this one in the near future.
Please do keep in mind, I am in no way a financial expert. These are just tricks that have helped me, but I hope y’all find some of this information useful. Have a great day!!!
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Plastic bag trick
Kitchen Hack
Hello there, Friends! Thanks for checking out my second post of the #HACKS series! I hope you enjoyed the Bacon grease hack from my first post! If you haven’t seen it yet, give it a look. It’s a super useful little trick that we use all the time.
For todays #HACKS post, I have another super useful little trick that we use regularly in our kitchen. This one is even more simple than the last, but it’s a little bit of kitchen help that we like.
When you are opening a new package of chicken and know that you are going to save the rest in a plastic bag, this is a little hack to help. Open the ziplock bag all the way and fold over the top of the bag. This holds the bag open and stops you from getting raw chicken all over the bag!
Hope this is something that you can utilize in the future!! Until next time, friends!!
PPPSSSSSSSTTTTTTTTTTTTT……. I promised a bonus recipe today. I figured if you went through the trouble of reading my blog, then you deserved more than just a bag being folded over Haha! but seriously, its a good trick. But, without further ado, I give you an easy-peasy one post insta meal. Im not calling it a recipes because, I’m gonna be upfront with you. I don’t usually measure anything. I’ll try to do better!
One Pot Insta Meal
Honestly, this is so easy, it should be considered a hack!
In our house, Josh is the cook. It’s by his choice, but we are way better off with him in charge in the kitchen! So on nights that he isn’t home or doesn’t feel like cooking, I have something we can throw together and not have to worry about it.
We have the Ninja Foodi something in something combo air fryer/pressure cooker, so some things may be a little different on your machine.
I pretty much always have frozen meatballs, pasta, and sauce on hand so that’s helpful for this because that’s all you need! And this always makes leftovers for us so it saves me from having to make lunch the next day, which is always a win!
A friend of mine actually told me about this a couple of months ago so I cannot take credit for the idea. But here goes:
- Step 1: Line around the perimeter inside of the big pot with meatballs. Cram some in the middle if you need more.
- Step 2: Pour about a half a box of pasta into the center of the ring made by the meatballs.
- Step 3: Cover ALL of the pasta with sauce. This is super important. If some pasta doesn’t get covered, it could end up being undercooked.
- Step 4: Pour 1 cup of water or broth around the outside of the ring made by the meatballs. Try not to let it splash around or it could uncover the pasta.
- Step 5: Place pressure lid on and locked, seal vent and turn her on. Let it build pressure and set the timer for half the time required on the pasta box.
- Step 6: Once done, let it natural release for 10 minutes, then control release until it stops. If you release too soon, it could cause the sauce to splash up and the meatballs to not be fully cooked.
- Step 7: serve it up and EAT!
Again, I’m not calling this a “recipe”, just an idea! Have an amazing day, friends!
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Fur Babies
Meet My Fur Babies
Hello there, Friends! I hope you are having a fantastic Monday so far! If not, then I have just the thing! What’s the one thing that we can all agree is the real reason we stick around the internet? Cute, adorable fur babies!
Lazy Sunday mornings. I figured that today would be a good day to give you what you really want to hear about. No one wants to read an introduction post about me or my human family, or rant about the price of eggs or something. You want the cute furry friends that are always by our sides! And sometimes even on our laps!
We currently have two fur babies. Boozie Belle and Heath Ledger Lockwood. Heath is an orange Tabby. He’s a complete butthead. Boozie is part german Shepard and part something else. Whatever that something else is, it must have been round. very, very round. Homegirl is a wee bit tubby HaHaHa! Her current diet of “most of whatever Barrett is supposed to be eating”, is really catching up to her!
The most patient cat. I have had Heath for 12-plus years. He’s been all over the country with me, from Arizona to New York in three days. That was a hell of an experience! The story of how I ended up getting him actually ties back to my little love story. He has actually currently parked his rather large rump on my lap and refuses to budge.
Boozie came to live with us when we lived in my grandfather’s house in upstate New York. We needed another furry friend in the house (HA) and I wanted a doggy companion. At that time in my life, I was very interested in trying new beers. In abundance. With great frequency. So my grandfather told me I should name her “Boozer”. That didn’t quite fit my sweet girl, but “Boozie” was absolutely perfect! And she’s been my best buddy ever since. Well, I did get traded in for Josh and Barrett, but I’m at least third on her list. I think.
They are always up to something! Most of the time, it is like we have two dogs. Heath sometimes acts more like a dog than Boozie does. He fetches, comes when he’s called, etc. If I time it just right and say “sit” as he’s already sitting, I can pretend that at least one creature in this house actually listens to me!
Always!! We recently found out that Boozie has canine lupus. It has been a tough few months for her, but she seems to be responding to the treatment well. I will be sharing a post all about her journey in the upcoming weeks. We just changed some of her meds so I want to see how that goes before I post it to the blog.
Well, friends, I think that is it for today. This was a last-minute post so it’s probably still a bit rough. But, I like it. And I hope you all do as well! I hope you all have a great week!!
And don’t forget to stop by tomorrow and check out my latest #HACKS post! A little bonus tomorrow will include an easy-peasy one-pot meal idea.
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Small Business Saturday
Tidal Salt On Main
Photo courtesy of Jenn Banks Y’all, I am so thrilled to launch my first Small Business Saturday with a blog post to tell you about this little gem of a boutique on historic Main St. in Sykesville, Maryland.
I first heard about this store in a local mom group. After seeing a few pictures, I was in! I IMMEDIATELY joined her Facebook group! I have been drooling over her stuff ever since then.
This store is absolutely packed with some of the cutest handmade items you could ever imagine. I spent at least an hour browsing and chatting with owner Jenn Banks, even then, I was still finding new goodies to look at on my way out!
So many beautiful, locally handmade items! Tidal Salt on Main opened its doors in April 2021. With its opening, it has given local makers a space to showcase and sell their stunning work. Working with Jenn, hundreds of makers have had the opportunity to share their brilliant talents with you! At any given time, the store has items from more than 90 different vendors for you to browse.
Inside this little slice of cozy paradise, you can find everything from beautiful handmade soaps, cute comfortable clothing, adorable jewelry, wall decor, and so, so, so, much more. This store definitely has a little something for everyone.
Gorgeous! I cannot believe it has taken me so long to get to this store, but I assure you, friends, it will not be my last trip there. Tidal Salt on Main is an absolute treasure, that is jam-packed with everything you NEED!
So. Many. Stickers!! While you’re getting your shop on, don’t forget to check out the store’s haunted display table and get a little ghost story. Just in time for spooky season!
So go check out Tidal Salt on Main in gorgeous downtown Sykesville!! You will not be disappointed, friends.
You can also shop online at www.shoptidalsalt.com
There are approximately one thousand local, handmade items available on the website, with more being added daily. Tidal Salt also offers size-inclusive boutique clothing that is just EVERYTHING!I hope you enjoyed this, first of many, Small Business Saturday posts. I will also be making a post on the blog’s Facebook page to give all of my small business-owning friends an opportunity to share their business information and get their names out there.
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Bacon Grease Disposal Hack
Hello there Friends! I hope this post finds you well! I am so excited for this new series. A, potentially long, “Hack” series! Everyone loves a good hack, amiright?
I reached out on a few different social media platforms for some hacks that you all have seen and wondered about so I could give them a try. Based on the responses, my experiments, and my previous everyday hacks, I am putting together a series of general life “hacks”. It will range from everyday life hacks, kitchen hacks, money saving hacks, etc.
I will keep most of these hack posts pretty short. Just the meat and potatoes. And, because I am so excited for this, I wanted to kick it off by sharing my very favorite, everyday kitchen hack!! We use this hack almost every single day in my house. Okay, here goes….
An aluminum foil lined mug for bacon grease. That’s right, of course my favorite hack would have something to do with bacon. But, yes! That’s it! Super simple, no mess, and super easy clean up. Just let it cool down and then wrap it up and throw it in the trash.
We still keep a jar of bacon grease in the freezer to cook with if we need it, but no more worrying about where to put the grease when the jar is full and you don’t want to or can’t start a new one. Love Love Love this hack so much!
I hope you all have enjoyed the first of my #HACKS posts! Keep an eye out for next weeks #HACKS post!
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Launch Day!
Alright!!!! Here we go, y’all!! Thank you for finding your way to page my today. I hope you are as excited as I am for launch day! (Okay, maybe not that excited heehee).
Let me start by saying a big THANK YOU!! To everyone that has reached out and shown support these past few weeks. It means so much to me to know that so many people want to see me succeed. Thank you, Thank you, Thank YOU!!
For those of you that don’t know me, HI! I’m Amanda. Ive been a stay at home mom for the last three and a half years. My boyfriend, Josh, and I have been together (again, but that’s a whole other story) for five years and we have an AMAZING son named Barrett. We live in Maryland currently with our cat, Heath, and dog, Boozie.
Before I was a stay at home mom, I was a medical assistant with various certifications in Dermatology and Orthopedics. I would have thought having that experience would have prepared me a little better for life with a tiny human, but nope! Ha! These little dudes are tiny, smelly savages! And I don’t want to miss a second of it.
Ever since Barrett was very young, he has shown interest in learning and a love for books. We foster that by doing a lot of fun learning activities at home and we also spend ALOT of time at our local libraries. I will have an upcoming series highlighting some of our awesome activities that we have done over the years. I will also share a template for our weekly schedule at a later time.
As much as I enjoy all this time and fun with my little man, some days its so hard to see where he ends and I begin. Ive realized that, over the years, I have kind of just stopped doing anything outside of family or kid stuff. I have no real hobbies of my own. No real outlet anymore. So, here it is, me finding my drive for creativity again.
It has been so much fun already learning some new software for the blog. I will also be trying my hand at photography! That’s something I have always wanted to try and now I have a really good excuse! I can’t wait to share some photos with you along this journey. I am also very excited to dust off my old writing skills. Be patient with me, its been a while!
I have a ton of ideas for this blog and can’t wait to see it grow to its potential. A few that I have upcoming are : Hack Series, Small Business series, Insta pot and air fryer recipes, family friendly healthy treats and meals, easy DIY crafts, and MORE MORE MORE! Im looking to make this blog into something that can help make your life a little easier and have some fun in the process!
Tomorrow will be the first in my Hacks series. This will be a weekly series of super short posts that will include something for everyone! I will cover everything from kitchen, bathroom, storage and MORE! All of these hacks are something I either use on a regular basis or something I have at least tried for the sake of this blog. Either way, I am sure everyone will find something that they find useful or entertaining.
Also check out my Facebook page a for weekly Small Business Saturday post. This will be an opportunity to share and connect with other small business owners.
With all that being said, this is going to be a fun adventure and I am ecstatic that I will have you all along for the ride. See you tomorrow, friends!
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Hello World!
Hello there everyone!! My name is Amanda Lockwood and I am so glad you have found my new blog!!! I will start by saying that I have no idea what I’m doing, but I’m excited to start doing it! I’m hoping to start this blog to share some of the amazing ideas that I have implemented in my 3.5 years as a stay at home mom. I am by no means an expert and I’ve had some terrible ideas along the way (I’ll share those, too), but my son and I have had so much fun on this journey.
I am still getting my thoughts together and getting a feel for the new site. But I will be updating as I can! Keep an eye out for my official launch date in the next 2 weeks. You can look forward to posts on some of our kitchen experiments and experiences, outdoors adventures, some fitness/nutrition info sharing, mom hacks, crafts and more!!
