Linda @ Linda’s Lunacy

In the Kitchen with Linda – & a Life Update

September 11, 2017 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

It seems like forever since I’ve shared an In the Kitchen with Linda post. I have indeed been in the kitchen. My family sees to that. lol

I do cook different during the summer months. So I haven’t spent as much time in the kitchen as I do the other months of the year.

Back in January, I shared What Do I Want My Second Act to Look Like? I recently decided to get back into the work force after not working for 32 years. Oh, I was a consultant for a kitchen wares company a couple of different times. I am currently an ambassador for a health and wellness company, as well as working for this blog and on social media. But it’s been 32 years since I have had a regular, full time, work schedule.

I have accepted a job as a customer service representative. I will be working full time from home answering calls. This is for a legit company that I had to do the same pre-employment checks as if I was working on-site for a company. Drug test, background check, etc. (Yes, I passed both. lol)

It’s going to be an adjustment for my husband and our one remaining under 18, homeschooling, son. I will be working afternoons & evenings. We are still homeschooling. I will still have plenty of time to homeschool him. He mostly works independently anyway.

What does this life update have to do with being in the kitchen?

Well, I now need your help! What are some quick and easy, nutritious meals that my meat and potatoes husband and prefers fast food teenager will like?

I’ve got the meat and potatoes in the slow cooker covered. And the fries and chicken strips in the oven covered. lol

So please share your ideas for meals that can either be made ahead, put in the slow cooker, or would be super easy for my husband & son to put together.

A big thank you for sharing ideas with me!

Say Yes to The Cake!

August 28, 2017 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

We humans celebrate with food. Think about it.

Can you name any celebrations that don’t include food? Whether they are religious holidays, community events, birthdays, anniversaries, sporting events, and any manner of parties. Food is not only included, but is an integral part of the celebration.

Say Yes to The Cake!

Let’s focus in on family celebrations for a minute. How many birthdays have we refused to eat the cake? Are our kids going to remember how much fun they had with us or are they going to remember that mom never ate their birthday cake with them?

Yes, of course we need to focus on our health and what we eat. I’m not saying eat cake every day. Just as a celebration with your family. Most hostesses will honor your request for just a small piece of cake. Sometimes, though, we all will run in to a hostess that will give us a large piece of cake anyway.
Here’s my solution. Eat a bite or two. Celebrate. Comment to the hostess, or to your kids, how great the cake is. Then throw the rest of the cake away. We needn’t feel guilty for throwing away something we didn’t ask for.
I recommend celebrating all occasions with your kids. They will be grown and gone before you know it.

Celebrate with them! Have fun!

Say yes to the cake!

Fun Eclipse Projects, Maps, Simulator, and Viewing Tips

August 18, 2017 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

In case, you have missed the news, there will be a total solar eclipse on Monday, August 21, 2017. This will be the first total eclipse to be visible from the continental US in 40 years. The path of totality will travel across the length of the continent.

The next total solar eclipse visible from the states will be on April 8, 2024. You can check out this website for other future solar eclipse dates, as well as maps.

Use this website to check the Eclipse Time in your area.

Use this Eclipse eBook from Apologia to help the kids learn more.

Check out these eclipse viewers to make:

Printable Pinhole Projectors

Make a Box Pinhole Projector

Make an eclipse viewer out of a cereal box

Or try using your hands to view the solar eclipse.

Eclipse Mega Movie Simulator – This is so cool. Type in your city and state, and it will play a video showing what the eclipse will look like where you live.

Check out this video from The Weather Channel

Now that we covered the fun stuff, lets cover solar eclipse viewing safety.

NEVER look directly at the sun. Make sure your kids know this, too. If you are in the path of totality, you can safely remove your viewing glasses for the brief moment that the sun is in total eclipse. Then put the glasses back on to view the rest of the eclipse.

Don’t use do it yourself viewing glasses or solar filters to view the eclipse.

Don’t put on solar eclipse viewing glasses and look through binoculars.

There are a lot of counterfeit eclipse glasses on the market. Several brands of eclipse viewing glasses have been recalled. Please check where you purchased your glasses to make sure they haven’t been recalled.

You can find out where to purchase eclipse glasses approved by the American Astronomical Society here. NASA also has a list of eclipse viewing safety here.

Please Don’t Do This To Your Child!

August 14, 2017 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

The other day I was visiting someone at their house. They had other company as well. I saw one of these women pick up their child by one arm. I was surprised. I have very rarely seen someone pick up their child by one arm. I can’t even remember the last time I saw someone do this.

Picking a child up by one arm is painful for the child. It can lead to bruising, dislocation of the wrist, elbow or shoulder.

Even if the child doesn’t experience a dislocated joint, they could suffer pulled muscles, tendons, and ligaments. All of which are painful for the child.

Did I say something to this woman? No, I did not. Because I didn’t know her. If I saw someone I know pick up a child like this, I would tell them. I do not recommend telling a complete stranger how to take care of their child. In this day and age, telling a parent what to do with their child does not always end well. You will have to judge your situation for yourself.

This child that I saw was 3-4 years old. Except age doesn’t matter. Size doesn’t matter. A child should always be picked up using two hands.

Never by one arm. Please don’t do this to your child.

My Family’s Favorite Homemade Pancake Recipe

July 21, 2017 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

*This post contains an affiliate link

My family loves pancakes. My kids always loved them for breakfast, lunch, & dinner. My husband doesn’t like to eat them as often as the kids always did. He loves blueberry pancakes, though. With no syrup. Me? I like extra real maple syrup on mine. 🙂

I like to have a bunch of pancakes in the freezer. Flash freeze the pancakes on a cookie sheet, then bag them. Or put waxed paper between the layers of pancakes so they don’t stick together.

That way, everyone can get their own for breakfasts or lunches. Or even snacks!

My Family’s Favorite Homemade Pancake Recipe

1 1/3 cups flour

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg

2 tablespoons oil

1 cup milk

Combine the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Set aside

In another bowl, beat the egg. Add the oil & milk.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Stir just until moistened. Batter will be a little lumpy.

Drop 1/3 cup of batter onto a lightly greased, hot pan or griddle. Cook until bubbles form on the top of pancake, about 2 minutes. Flip, and cook an additional 2 minutes, or until golden brown.

Makes 8-10 pancakes

Recipe can be doubled, or tripled. I usually triple it.

For mini pancakes, use 1 tablespoon of batter

*This post contains a affiliate links. If you click the link & make a purchase, I will receive a small commission. Your price doesn’t change.

A Great Gift Idea – EntertainArt Wall Decor

July 17, 2017 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

A while back, I received this Star Wars wall decor from EntertainArt. EntertainArt offers exclusive, limited edition and ready-to-hang wall decor from some of the most popular movies, comics and TV shows.

EntertainArt has growing selection of officially licensed and exclusive designs. So when you purchase a wall hanging from them you can be sure it’s authentic.

I found this to be high quality wall decor. The canvas is wrapped around a solid wood frame.

See all the detail on the canvas? It really is a high quality canvas.

As you can see, the picture on the canvas wraps all the way around the sides. This canvas looks awesome hanging on the wall.

My husband loved this Star Wars wall decor. I gave it to my teenage son, though, to hang in his room. He was so excited to get it. He is a huge Star Wars fan. I like that while he thinks it’s cool now, it can go with him when he moves out on his own. It looks great in his room, and will look equally great in a living room, family room, or media room.

Head on over and check out all the available designs on EntertainArt. They make great gifts!

*Disclosure: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” My opinions are my own.

A Unique Wedding Shower Idea

July 6, 2017 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

My youngest daughter is getting married in September, so I recently hosted a wedding shower for her and her fiance. Fiance didn’t really want to come. My daughter told him he had to, though. lol So I endeavored to make the shower as guy friendly as I could so he wouldn’t feel uncomfortable, and would have a good time.

We are in Kentucky, and fiance is from Tennessee. So I came up with the “Kentucky meets Tennessee” wedding shower theme. Once I had the idea, everything else fell into place.

I had my husband draw out a big K, T, and the word meets on poster board. I colored them with markers, and cut them out. We hung them on the focal wall with a poster of one of their engagement pictures that I had made. The poster looks crooked in the picture for some reason, but was not crooked in real life. lol

I put two gift tables on the focal wall. Covering one with a Kentucky tablecloth, and the other with a Tennessee table cloth. My daughter decorated the chairs with blue and orange tablecloths.

I also used blue and orange tablecloths on the tables.

Since I was trying to keep all the decorations guy friendly, I used these blue and orange sprays that I got for $1.25 each. I mixed the colors ups to keep it a little festive.

I served guy friendly food in the kitchen of the hall, using blue and orange paper products and utensils. I forgot to take a picture of the food! I served hot dogs, hot dog chili that I made, along with cheese, onions, ketchup, mustard, and relish. I had corn chips for those that didn’t want a hot dog, so they could put the chili and cheese on those. I also served nacho chips, the ones in the red bag, because those are a favorite of fiance.

I set up the dessert table on the wall to the right of the gift table. My daughter hung some or their engagement pictures on the wall above. I used blue and orange plates & utensils, Kentucky napkins & Tennessee napkins.

I made the “Kentucky meets Tennessee” cake myself. I used boxed mixes, chocolate & yellow side by side, and made the frosting myself. Except the black. That is from a tube. Because black frosting is really hard to make.

I orded 3 dozen cookies from a local person. I had 1 1/2 dozen in the shape of the state of Tennessee that said “TN Boy”.

And 1 1/2 dozen in the shape of the state of Kentucky that said “KY girl”. Unfortunately, the baker didn’t have time to do the writing. She did send along an edible marker. After I asked for frosting to do the writing myself. My husband did the writing on all the cookies. They looked ok. Not nearly as nice as the would have if the writing was in frosting, though. I was a little upset. As the baker still charged me full price. Didn’t even offer any kind of discount or anything. Offering a discount of even a dollar or two a dozen would have gone a long way. I probably won’t use this baker again. Unfortunately.

For a little decoration on the dessert table, we used a stuffed Tennessee dog and a stuffed Kentucky Wildcat. We had them hold the opposite color balloon, and they looked really cute.

On the wall to the left of the focal wall, I put all the drinks. My daughter hung more engagement pictures. Yes, they took a ton! Water bottles, Ale81 (a soda made in Kentucky), and Dr. Pepper, the fiance’s favorite soda. My daughter brought the 2 liter bottles of soda. I also served lemonade and sweet tea. Which is iced tea with too much sugar in it. lol

In keeping with the Kentucky meets Tennessee theme, I labeled the drinks. The lemonade became “Kentucky Moonshine”. And the sweet tea became “Tennessee Fire Ball”. No alcohol in either drink, just the names. lol

I tried to keep the games guy friendly, too. So no clothespin or safety pin games. So I came up with 2 word games. Not as guy friendly as a ball game, but not too bad. lol I came up with 20 words that had to do with the bride & groom, Kentucky, and Tennessee. I used an online word scrambler to do the scrambling. So I didn’t scramble my brain. lol For the other game, I asked them a list of questions, then used their answers to form 20 questions about them. Guests had to answer Abby, Austin, or Both.

Everyone had a great time! Including the fiance! So this unique wedding shower was a hit!

You can take this idea and make it work for any opposite sports teams, color schemes, or to combine the bride and grooms interest into one shower. This idea would also work for combined birthday parties for kids. The decorations, food, and games are all easily customize to your event.

Don’t forget to pin this post for later!

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