Home Is My Happy Spot

All of My Friends Have Cell Phones! Has your child been begging you to get her a cell phone?  Is she lamenting she's the only person in her peer group without one.  She may be right. A study by Common Sense Media , an organization that conducts original research to ensure the digital well-being of kids, reports these mind-blowing statistics: By age 11, more than half of U.S. kids possess a cell phone. By age 12, two-thirds of kids have a phone. By age 14, teens are as likely as adults to have a cell phone. About 20% of kids as young as eight have cell phones! What's a parent to do? Cell Phones Are an Artificial Form of Communication Buying your child a phone today isn't like it used to be when rotary and touchtone phones were the standard forms of communication.  If you grew up in the age when extension cords from a wall-mounted phone could stretch to nearly every room in your house, you remember spending hours on it talking to friends, family, and love interests. The b...

Train Up Your Children Proverbs 22:6 directs parents to train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it . We are living in a world that seems to have gone insane.  We are told men can give birth, people can pick their own genders, and pregnancies can be terminated without regard to human life.  Patriots are dubbed oppressors and racists, while domestic terror and fascist groups like BLM and Antifa are considered heroes.   Our culture is completely upside down from how God originally created it! The Ideal Children's Bible Trivia game is scripturally sound. Yet, here we are, trying to raise our kids in a climate that is growing increasingly hostile to people of faith.  It's imperative we use all tools available to root and ground our children in the Word of God so they will have the fortitude to stand firm against the enemy. As a Christian parent, you are undoubtedly doing your best to teach your kids to swim upstream agains...

Broccoli Salad Tastes Especially Good In Summer Broccoli salad is delicious any time of the year, but on warmer days, it is the perfect, light accompaniment to summer dishes, especially grilled ones. While some people consider eating broccoli a punishment, this delicious salad might make them a little more receptive to acquiring a taste for it.   The health benefits of broccoli are vast.  Being part of the cruciferous vegetable family means broccoli can help prevent cancer, offer heart protection, support brain health, promote bone strength, fight inflammation, and act as a natural detox with antioxidant protection. While none of those health advantages will help sell broccoli salad to your kids, you can serve it to them anyway, knowing it does their bodies good.  Adding the bacon might even tempt your spouse to try it.  We will pretend the broccoli goodness overrides the unhealthy attributes of bacon.   Broccoli Salad with Bacon and Cheese, coated wi...

The Secret Ingredient In Wilted Lettuce Back in grandma's day, culinary delights were made with heart-stopping lard rather than butter.  Maybe you've never heard of lard, but it comes from pig fat, and as gross as that sounds, makes the best biscuits and flaky pie crusts you've ever eaten. In the era of big gardens where families saved money on meals by freezing and canning their own homegrown produce, wilted lettuce during the growing season was a special treat at dinner.   Wilted lettuce is a summertime specialty. Simmering wilted lettuce dressing on the stovetop fills the kitchen with a pungent, mouth-watering aroma.  It takes me back to my own childhood when I'd come in from playing and find mom busy preparing some for dinner.   What makes this old-fashioned recipe so delicious?  The secret ingredient to wilted lettuce is bacon grease .  Before you slap your hands to your face in horror, let me remind you that paradoxically in our ultra, heal...

So Many Strawberry Recipes, So Little Time Strawberry season arrives at different times for all of us, depending on the region and climate in which we live.  June, however, is the primetime strawberry slot for many, with festivals being in full-swing in small towns across the country to celebrate this delectable fruit.   Prize-winning strawberry recipes abound, since there are seemingly endless ways to enjoy this versatile berry--in salads, smoothies, jams, salsas, and desserts.  It's nearly impossible to fit in all the ways you can serve strawberries within such a short harvest season, so you have to be choosy.   Sure, you can buy strawberries at the grocery year-round, but using fresh strawberries during peak season is when your taste buds will really savor the fireworks of sweetness. Strawberry pie is a "must" for your menu at least once during the season, but there are so many pie recipes circulating online, which one is most deserving of the splurge...

Just Like Grandma Made In today's busy world, cooks are looking for meals that can be fixed quickly.  Between working, soccer games, and other commitments, no has time to spend hours in the kitchen.   Cookbooks, magazines, and recipe sites abound that target people with hectic schedules, promising fast fixes that are simple but delicious. While some snap meals requiring only a few ingredients are tasty, many of them aren't.  Let's be honest.  The faster a meal comes together, the less likely your family will like it. Yet, when you think back to the meals your grandma made, especially if your granny grew up during the Great Depression, do you remember how mouth-wateringly delicious they were, even though her meals were nothing fancy and very basic? How did she do it? For one thing, she used whole foods and made everything from scratch.  Today's cooks cut corners by using canned broths, frozen vegetables, and other pre-packaged foods to save time.  It...