2008 July | Mom Blog Magazine

Blueberry Strawberry Muffin Recipe

July 24, 2008 By admin Leave a Comment

Stars and Stripes Muffins

Ingredients:

3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 cup frozen strawberries
4 teaspoons sugar
Instructions:

Place the flour, 1 cup of sugar, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl. Mix a little to combine ingredients. Make a well in the center of the ingredients. In a separate bowl mix the milk, oil and eggs together. Slowly add to the dry ingredients place the liquid into the well made in the dry ingredients. Carefully fold together until dry ingredients are just moistened through. Divide batter into two bowls. Add the blueberries to one and the strawberries to the other. Mix them in well. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease 12 muffin tin cups or use baking cups. Fill each full with batter. Six blueberry muffins and six strawberry muffins. Sprinkle the tops with the 4 teaspoons of sugar. Bake 23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. The tops should be light brown. Remove from tin immediately and cool on a wire rack.

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Filed Under: Recipes

How to Avoid Conflict With a Partner While Working From Home

July 22, 2008 By admin Leave a Comment

By Lama Kalla

Conflict with Partner is one of the major obstacles facing business owners both men and women. Business owners tend to spend countless hours to get their business off the ground and start making profits. Having an angry partner will only cause more anxiety, stress and leave them with an additional obstacle to overcome.[ad]

It is important that you maintain a positive attitude towards your business and if your family is working against you, that becomes almost impossible. On the hand, remember not to devote so much time to your business that you completely neglect your family.

So how do you manage such a critical situation?

The key issues are simple yet very effective. Intensive communication and time management are the keys to considerably minimize such conflicts.

Here are some tips to help you maintain a healthy balance:

1. If you are just starting out, ensure that you have an additional source of income such as a part time job to cover your basic living expenses until your online business takes off.

2. Be honest and tell your partner about your desire to succeed, your ambitions and your reasons for running your own business.

3. Explain that setting up and running a business whether online or offline needs a lot of time and effort to get it off the ground before your start to reap the rewards.

4. Explain the benefits of working from home such as saving on rent, travel time and being able to set your own hours.

5. Keep your partner well informed of your business progress, your ups and downs, your tears and joys. Share with them your business stories.

6. Ask for their help, opinion on certain issues, like their opinion on your website design, your sales letter, and your ideas. Make them feel part of your business and their opinion is important to you.

7. Organize your time, share your morning coffee with them, your lunch, and give them your full attention when you are with them… Of course they will get mad if the first thing you do once you wake up in the morning is rush to your PC ignoring them…

8. Don’t be selfish, always put yourself in their shoes, we all need love and attention whether males or females.

9. Set time limits and a work schedule to accommodate your families’ needs, you don’t need to work 24 hours seven days a week.

10. Help with the house chores; look after the kids, especially if your partner is working out side home.

11. Spend your time online ONLY to grow your business even if you have to give up other interesting things for a start. If you have a spare hour, spend it with your partner not surfing the net.

12. No matter how much your love your partner or they love you, one of the reasons that trouble gets initiated is the fact that you are seeing too much of each other especially if your partner is not working, so why not consider renting a small office or share an office with a friend where you can go and work there during the day.

13. Time spent with your partner should be well spent, give them your full attention no matter how busy you are with your business, make a habit of going out together for dinner once a week, or even book a room in a hotel at least once a month (if you are making enough money online, well… you should be if you are spending endless hours on your computer).

14. Once you start making money online … show them the benefits.

15. Why not consider introducing the online business to your partner, who knows maybe they will be the next online guru.

One last advice and please keep it in your mind:

YOU DON’T WANT TO GAIN A BUSINESS AND LOSE A PARTNER OR A FAMILY

We all need to maintain a healthy balance between our family our business.

Lama Kalla, is an author, mentor, small business owner, wife and a mother. Lama runs an online business dedicated to helping small business owners succeed in their businesses both offline and online. Join Lama’s Private List at http://www.GlossaryInternetMarketing.com

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Filed Under: Working From Home

Lets Go on a Family Summer Vacation

July 19, 2008 By admin 1 Comment

Vacation time will soon be here and families all over the country are trying to decide where to go and what to do. Of course, when Mom and Dad say, “Let’s go on vacation,” the children probably start thinking about fantasy lands with talking mice and princesses.[ad]

You don’t have to save all year round to have a great summer vacation. And you don’t have to spend it all at one high-priced amusement park. There are plenty of low-cost ideas for summer vacation if you look around and think outside of the magic kingdom box.

It might be a surprise that each state actually has smaller theme and amusement parks that you can go to, enjoy your stay, and not have to spend a fortune to do so. Go to your favorite search engine and search for “United States Amusement Parks” and you’ll find there is something in every state.

In Alabama, there is Alabama Adventures which is located near Birmingham in the center of the state. Oaks Park Amusement Park in Oregon is a great place to visit if you live on the west coast. On the east coast, consider Jolly Roger at the Pier. In Tennessee, why not go to Dollywood?

If your state doesn’t have a smaller amusement park, perhaps you could schedule your vacation around your State Fair. This will give you plenty of time to see all of the demonstrations as well as give the children a chance to ride all of the rides. These are often much cheaper than amusement or theme parks but have the same feel to them. The biggest benefit, besides saving money, is that you can sleep in your own bed at night.

Camping is a common summertime vacation activity. It gets the family away from the house, out into the great outdoors, and gives you a chance to reconnect with one another. If possible, try to leave all unnecessary technology at home. You’ll have a much better time without it.

Plan a road trip to a national monument like Mount Rushmore, Yosemite National Park, or the Grand Canyon. On the way, visit historical parks and museums that you pass along the way.

Better yet, make plans to visit Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia or Old Sacramento in California. They can teach your child history as well as inspire them to learn more. If you can tie the trip into genealogical research, it may spark their interest in learning where their family came from.

Summertime vacations don’t have to be a week-long time at one particular theme park. There are so many great places to see in the United States, it’s a shame to forgo seeing them to spend your time in a crowded, high-priced park. Take the time instead, when someone says “Let’s go on vacation,” to see what the country has to offer. You might be surprised at the beauty and the diversity right in your own backyard.

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Filed Under: Featured Articles