Mom's Special Day ... 10 Gift Ideas to Celebrate Mom at Home

This year Mother's Day will be different...with many people still on shelter in place orders and practicing social distancing, there will be no celebrating out at restaurants, or getting a manicure/pedicure with mom.  

While I love a great gift be that my favorite cosmetics, a personalized phone case, a new purse, wall art and home decor, I think some of these good old classic "home gift ideas" would bless any mom.  

One thing I sure am going to miss this Mother's Day are the homemade Mother's Day gifts the kids make at school, I love a great handprint gift, I may just have the kids create one at home.  

Here are ten at home gift ideas to gift mom this Mother's Day.
1. Breakfast in bed, this is a classic idea.  Although I personally do not want to eat breakfast in bed, I would rather sleep in a little later and enjoy breakfast/brunch around the table.  If the mom in your life loves breakfast in bed this would be a great gift.  Since mom's most of the time are making breakfast I am sure she will enjoy having breakfast specially made for her.  You could create a waffle bar or pancake station, have her favorite toppings out.  An Oatmeal Bar would be fun too!  You could also set up diner style, make a menu print out and have her place her order.  You could do this the night before like on a cruise and have her breakfast request placed on the door. 

2. Clean the House. Especially right now with everyone at home, the house and kitchen seem to constantly need to be cleaned.  Let mom take the weekend off and have everyone else handle the cleaning.  Tackle a specific thing mom has been meaning to clean or organize and do it for her.  

3. Start a Garden.  One year my husband and boys did this for my Mother's Day gift, they went and bought the soil, and planted all sorts of veggies and goodies.  This is a great gift idea!

4. Spa Day at home.  Make mom a foot bath with warm water and Epsom Salt.  You could do manicures and pedicures at home.  Set up soothing music and a dark room, and give mom time to relax.

5. Movie Night for mom.  When is the last time mom picked the movie or show?  Let mom pick the show and bring out her favorite snacks and treats.

6. Write a letter.  Take the time to write a thoughtful letter or card thanking mom for who she is in your life.  I know over the years, my boys have written letters and notes of appreciation and I have saved them, they are precious to me.  

7. Cook her favorite meals.  Why stop at just breakfast in bed, make mom's favorite meals all day long.  Food is definitely one of my love languages.  

8. Record a video sharing all the things you are looking forward to doing with mom once this is over.  Where will you go together?  What stores do you want to stroll with her?  What restaurant, coffee shop, or ice cream parlor do you want to take her to?

9. Wash and clean out her car.  I have a car wash membership, but the vacuums are not in service since they are practicing social distancing.  I love when my boys clean out and vacuum my car, this is a a huge gift to me.  

10. A Personalized Kit.  If your mom loves baking, then put together a baking gift basket, if she is a coffee lover, include her coffee favorites.  If you have a Keto eating mom, put together Keto friendly snacks and treats.  

I hope these ideas help you celebrate Mothers Day this year at home while still practicing social distancing.  The important thing is to let mom know how much she is loved and appreciated.  It really is true, "it is the thought that counts", Mother's Day gifts do not have to be elaborate, as long as they are thoughtful.  Fill the refrigerator and pantry with her favorite treats, make a cupboard shelf for mom only and have things especially for her.  Download some family pictures and create a slideshow for you all to watch together, create a playlist of mom's favorite tunes.  I happened to accidentally open my Mother's Day gift, my husband ordered a new lens for my camera, since I usually open the mail and packages, I opened it, ooops.  Thank you honey, I love my new lens! 

If you are local here to Sacramento check out my friend AshleyNewell.Me a blog post with great Mother's Day Gift Ideas that also support local Sacramento businesses.  

Thank you for reading, feel free to e-mail this post link to your husband, lol.  If you’ve enjoyed the content you’ve read above please share with your friends.  I appreciate you sharing on social media.  
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Sacramento Republic FC Indomitable Hands

The Sacramento Republic FC team has partnered with Raley's to provide Ready to Eat bags for more vulnerable Seniors (age 65+) that are in self-isolation or quarantine. 
You can nominate a Senior in need by clicking this link: 
http://priority.sacrepublicfc.com/senior-essential-bags

I nominated a senior I know and they were very blessed by the Ready to Eat bags.  
The bag contains a mix of freshly cooked, heat-and-eat, entrees and salads.  
Product mix depends on availability.  
Ready to go Chicken Alfredo
Ready to go Mac & Cheese
Ready to go Enchiladas with Verde Sauce
Fresh Green Salads
Chicken Tortilla Soup
Chicken Noodle Soup
Purely Made Sacratomato Soup
4-count Blueberry Muffins

To nominate an individual (age 65+) to receive a delivery, complete the following form. 
 http://priority.sacrepublicfc.com/senior-essential-bags

After nominating a senior, I received a phone, call letting me know they received the nomination and they would contact the senior to schedule a delivery.  They let me know know the delivery driver would take safety precautions, wearing a mask, leaving the grocery bags on the front door at the scheduled time and they would ring the doorbell.  

They scheduled a delivery for the following week.  

If you would like to contribute this program and give towards a Ready-to-Eat Bag, you can donate!

$35 covers the cost of one bag, $60 for two bags, $150 for five bags.  

To donate click here: https://www.raleys.com/about/giving/food-for-families/donate/

Sacramento Republic FC announced that it will begin taking pre-orders for a limited-run scarf raising funds to extend the club’s Indomitable Hands program providing free meals for vulnerable, home-bound seniors during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

By purchasing a scarf, supporters will be funding a Raley’s Ready to Eat Meals Bag to be delivered to a senior in the Capital Region. 100% of the net proceeds will be used to immediately support the 42,000 food-insecure seniors in the region. The scarf is now available at the club’s online team store– shop.sacrepublicfc.com. In addition to the scarf proceeds, Republic FC will also direct 15% of all online sales through April to Raley’s Food for Families in order to purchase more bags to be delivered. 

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Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs

I love my Instant Pot, our favorite things to use it for of course are soups and meats.  I had not yet tried making hard boiled eggs, with Easter around the corner, I figured I should give it a try.  I love the way the eggs turned out in the Instant Pot.  

A ton of people tell me they have an Instant Pot, and have not actually used it.  Many people I know received one as a Christmas gift or purchased one on a Black Friday deal.  I highly recommend you get it out of the box and use it!  Cooking with the Instant Pot is a huge time saver, or perfect when you forget to thaw out meat, it will cook up frozen meats.  I'll have to do a seperate blog post on the Instant Pot itself.  

Back to Instant Pot hard boiled eggs . . .
Pro's:
Super quick, 5 minute cooking time.
Shell peels off quickly and easily.
No waiting for pot to boil.
Timer beeps right from Instant Pot.

Con's:
Some of the eggs cracked, we could not use those eggs for Easter egg dyeing, for eating this is no problem at all.  It actually worked to have a few eggs to snack on while we dyed eggs.

How to use the Instant Pot for Hard Boiled Eggs:
Place one cup of water in Instant Pot.
Insert trivet and place eggs on top.
Set on manual time for five minutes cooking time.  Make sure valve is set to seal. 
Once 5-minute cooking time is complete, let set for additional 5 minutes.  
Release steam and open. 
Place eggs in a bowl of cold ice water to stop cooking process.  

If you enjoy eating hard boiled eggs as we do, enjoy them right from the Instant Pot.  My husband's favorite way to eat hard boiled eggs is in egg salad, he loves an egg salad sandwich. 

I will definitely continue to make hard boiled eggs in the Instant Pot, it was quick and easy, used less water, and I love the way they turned out.  Normally I would fill a large pot with water, place the eggs in, wait for the pot to come to a boil, I have to keep checking on it to catch when it is boiling, turn the boiling water off, wait 12-15 minutes, then place the eggs in an ice bath.  Not that it is difficult, just definitely requires more of your attention. I don't know about you, I seem to always miss my microwave timer, which is what I would use.

With the Instant Pot, it only called for one cup of water, put the lid on, set the timer for 5 minutes and ignore.  There is just something about that Instant Pot timer that I have never had to ask "did the timer go off?"

Well if you are like many others and have not used your Instant Pot, I hope this encourages you to use it.  We enjoyed decorating and coloring eggs in preparation for Easter.  I am so grateful I always buy holiday clearance items, because I had plenty of egg coloring kits from last year, I did not have to go out and purchase any.  We also used our Egg Mazing, which we love, for more info, check out this previous blog post https://bit.ly/2RrFc62.

I made corn on the cob the other night in the Instant Pot, it was so nice not to have to wait for a giant pot of water to come to a boil.  This Instant Pot is definitely one of my favorite kitchen gadgets!  I often share my Instant Pot adventures on my Instagram Story, if you want more Instant Pot inspiration give me a follow over @BlogAboutItAll. Thank you for reading if you’ve enjoyed the content you’ve read above please share with your friends. BlogAboutItAll.com

Dalgona Coffee Keto Style

I hopped on the Dalgona Coffee craze that has taken the internet and social media by storm.  I had seen so many pictures of this gorgeous, fluffy, coffee goodness piled on top of milk, I just had to try and whip some up.

As a Keto eater I wanted to keep it Keto-friendly.  Dalgona Coffee only takes three simple ingredients. The only thing I had to purchase was the Instant Coffee.  

2 Tablespoons of Instant Coffee
2 Tablespoons of Sugar
2 Tablespoons of Hot Water

Pour whipped coffee goodness on top of a glass of iced Milk (leave room for whipped Coffee)

To make this Keto-friendly you need to use a sugar substitute of your choice, Monk Fruit, Swerve, or whichever you use.  Depending on how sweet you like your coffee, you can adjust from 2 Tablespoons on up.  I have made this a few times and I like 3 Tablespoons of sweetener.  

You will also need to use a Keto-friendly milk option.  I chose to use Almond Milk.  For the first time, I was concerned the Almond Milk would be too watery, I added in a splash of heavy whipping cream into the Almond Milk.  Obviously that is a first timers mistake, there is no need for heavy whipping cream.  Once you add in the thick, fluffy, creamy Dalgona goodness the heavy whip is definitely not necessary.  

I had seen most people hand whisking, I wanted to try some quicker options.  I first tried my hand mixer and it worked perfectly, I absolutely loved how it turned out and it was quick.  

Next I tried to use my mini Magic Bullet blender, that did not work.  The mixture did not whip up nice and fluffy, you could still pour the mixture into the Almond Milk and have the flavor combo but not the fluffy picture perfect topping I was looking for. 

Here is my quick version video making Dalgona Coffee.  For a longer version and to see my Magic Bullet fail check out my YouTube Channel!
https://www.youtube.com/c/BlogAboutItAll

If you want to whip up this delicious concoction I highly recommend using a hand mixer.  Dalgona Coffee is rich and packed with flavor.  I am pretty basic when it comes to coffee I use my Keurig and add Almond Milk or Heavy Whipping Cream and Jordan's Skinny Syrups.  Before Keto I loved Mocha Blasts from Baskin Robbins  and I loved all the Starbucks Frappuccinos.  I now love Keto-Friendly Frappuccinos, this Dalgona Coffee definitely hits the spot for a satisfying sweet coffee treat.  

Ingredients: 
2 Tablespoons of Instant Coffee
2-4 Tablespoons of Sugar Substitute (Swerve or Monk Fruit)
2 Tablespoons of Hot Water
Glass of iced Almond Milk (leave room for whipped Coffee)

Directions:
In a glass bowl mix the Instant Coffee and Sugar Substitute. 
Add in 2 Tablespoons of Hot Water
Use a Hand Mixer to whisk until fluffy and creamy peaks form.
Fold on top of a glass of iced Almond Milk.
Stir slowly into Almond Milk or let sit and stream down into Almond Milk.  

 

This drink is perfect for a busy mom, I don't know about you, my hot coffee is usually never finished while hot, and even if I have an iced coffee, usually ends up watered down.  The nice thing about Dalgona Coffee is it actually taste great after it has had time to mix into the Almond Milk, so I take a few sips, stir and am able to accomplish other tasks and come back and sip and it's still fantastic, not reheating, and it's not melted and watery like a typical iced coffee.  The flavor is so rich, I have not yet experienced a watered down version.  

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Soft & Chewy Easter M&M Cookies

We love cookies, who doesn't?  We love all types, oatmeal, sugar cookies and a basic chocolate chip cookie, yum!  With Easter coming up we wanted to make some Easter treats so today we made these yummy Easter cookies and since we had all the baking stuff out we even baked up some basic chocolate chip cookies too.  For the regular chocolate chip cookies we used the recipe directly from the chocolate chip packaging.  

I am no expert baker, but I thought I would share some tips that I find helpful.  

Tip one, always use room temperature ingredients.  This sometimes can be tricky because if you are like us, we don't always plan on a baking day, we just say "hey we should bake some cookies".  Then you have to wait for your butter to soften and remember it helps to have the eggs at room temp too.  You can always use the microwave to help soften the butter, I think the best way though is to let it come to room temperature. 

Tip two, while I agree most baking is exact, feel free to improvise.  I know in my experience, sometimes I can follow a recipe to the exact and yet the cookie dough is too crumbly so I will add in another egg.  Sometimes, I run low on certain ingredients so I will google "substitute for butter" or "substitute for cornstarch", feel free to experiment and improvise when baking.  While the recipe may not be perfect, I can't say I have ever thrown out cookies.  They may have been too flat, or too cakey, but never gross. 

Tip three, refrigerate your cookie dough before baking, this is especially important during the warmer months.  Refrigerating the cookie dough keeps the cookies from spreading too thin.  Again this requires patience.  Today we started this Easter cookie dough in the morning, let it sit in the refrigerator until after lunch to actually bake.  

Ingredients:

2 Sticks of Butter

3/4 Cup of Light Brown Sugar (I used Truvia Brown Sugar because I ran out of regular).

1/4 Cup of Sugar

2 Teaspoons Vanilla 

2 Eggs 

2 Cups of Flour

2 Teaspoons of Cornstarch

1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

A Pinch of Salt

1 Package of Easter M&M's

1/2 Cup of White Chocolate Chips

1 Cup of Nuts (optional)

Directions:

Blend together the butter, sugars, vanilla and eggs.  

Add in flour, cornstarch, baking soda, salt.  Combine by hand or lightly mixed, do not over mix.  

Stir in M&M's and chocolate chips. 

Place dough in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  

Use a mini ice cream scoop to place on parchment paper and lightly flatten with the palm of your hand.

Bake for 8-10 minutes.  

These cookies came out moist, chewy and delicious.  Hopefully we do not eat them all before Easter arrives.

There is something so comforting and satisfying as a fresh baked cookie right out of the oven.  Absolutely delicious.  I am very grateful that all of my boys enjoy cooking and baking and are happy to help. My two oldest boys actually made the regular chocolate chips cookies pictured below, all by themselves, they came out scrumptiously delicious.  

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Easy Crockpot White Chocolate Easter Candy

Many times over the years we have made crockpot chocolate candy.  These are easy to make and easy to make festive depending on the holiday you are celebrating.  With Easter being this Sunday we are making this white chocolate candy Easter Style.  

I normally purchase Almond Bark, since I am avoiding extra trips to the supermarket, I used white chocolate chips and some white chocolate candy melts I found in my pantry. 

What you need: 

1 1/2 Cup of Easter M&M's (reserve the 1/2 cup for topping)

12 oz Bag of White Chocolate Chips

1 pound of melting White Chocolate (you can use melting chips or almond bark)

1 Baking Bar of White Chocolate

1 Cup of Peanuts (Optional)

2 Cups of broken pieces of pretzels.

Parchment paper or Silicone mat

Mini ice cream scoop or spoon

Crockpot Liner Bag

You definitely want to use the crockpot liner bags, one melted this chocolate gets everywhere, the bags make for easy cleanup.   

My husband and I love peanuts in this recipe, this year I am mostly making them for the kids so I left the peanuts out.

I placed all the chocolate in the crock pot and set it on low.  You let the chocolate melt for one-hour.  I stirred the chocolate half way through at thirty-minutes.  

Once the chocolate was melted I then mixed in the Easter M&M's and pretzel pieces.  I stirred, coating all.  I used a mini ice cream scoop and placed small scoops onto the parchment paper, then I used the reserved 1/2 cup of Easter M&M's and Easter sprinkles to top it and let it set, about one hour.  

These make great gifts, place them in a mason jar, or include them in a tin of baked goods and deliver them to your neighbors and friends.  

This is an easy treat to make while you are watching a holiday movie or doing some Holiday Crafts with your kids, I hope you give it a try.  Thank you for reading if you’ve enjoyed the content you’ve read above please share with your friends. BlogAboutItAll.com