Best Valentine's Day gifts for women, presents mom, wife, girlfriend will love

Did you put off Valentine's Day for your gal? Now at the last minute, Feb. 14, you grab chocolates and flowers. Sorry guys, thanks for the thought, but boring. Here are frugal, thoughtful Valentine gifts for women--wife, mom, girlfriend--that will delight. Use for women's birthday, Christmas, Mother's Day gifts.   Best Valentine's Day gifts for women, presents mom, wife, girlfriend will love | Examiner.com

Lenten Kitchen: Vegetarian rice recipes for weight loss, Kosher, Halal fasting | Examiner.com

 Catholic families to observe Lenten fasting during Lent and on Fridays by serving and eating vegetarian, meatless meals. Vegetarian meals work for weight loss, too. And a good starch for weight loss is rice. Rice is multi-purpose food source (heck, it must be as half the world survives on it!) But rice gets a bad rap in western cultures for its high glycemic level, starch and calorie content. But starch isn't all bad for weight loss. It fills you up and keeps you going, especially, believe it or not, non-dietary fiber starch. Rice is high in B vitamins that help brain function and slow aging. It's fat-free and has protein, too. Brown rice is generally better than white rice but jasmine and basmati rice taste the best in rice recipes.  Lenten Kitchen: Vegetarian rice recipes for weight loss, Kosher, Halal fasting | Examiner.com

Free printable valentine countdown calendars: Valentines Day activities for kids

Countdown calendars are becoming very popular to help children count down the days to special events and holidays. Here are free printable valentine countdown calendars to number the days till Valentines Day. These cute cut and paste craft works well for preschool, special needs kids, elementary classrooms, homeschool and Girl Scout troop activities for kids.  Free printable valentine countdown calendars: Valentines Day activities for kids | Examiner.com

Free printable blank checks, play money, banking slips, money math lessons

Money math, banking and finance are some of the most practical math applications. Students learn real-world math lessons by writing checks, balancing checkbooks and managing debit and credit cards, savings and checking accounts. To help, here are free printable blank checks, play money, check register forms, banking slips, deposit slips and withdrawal slips. Use to teach hands-on money math lessons Use for consumer math classes, special education lesson plans and homeschool math activities.  Free printable blank checks, play money, banking slips, money math lessons | Examiner.com

Kids who eat healthy food also eat junk food: Curb childhood obesity with diet

 So it's official--kids who eat healthy food also eat junk food. Relax News said on Jan. 12, that this was the finding of Ohio State University researchers. Did that surprise you? It certainly shocked the folks at OSU. They expected to find that kids ate fruits, vegetables, milk and other nutritious foods to substitute junk food. They hoped to prove that childhood obesity could be overturned simply by turning kids on to healthy food. But any parent could have told OSU scientists that kids who eat healthy food will happily eat "unhealthy" if allowed to. Junk food is highly addictive and children are prime targets for addiction, having as yet undeveloped limit switches. Some kids just like to eat, period. And that is much healthier than picky eaters and parents who cater to their weird eating habits. Kids who eat healthy food also eat junk food: Curb childhood obesity with diet | Examiner.com

Take down the Christmas Tree Day: Give Christmas trees to birds or elephants!

The 12 Days of Christmas have past and now it's just a lot of birds and tired lords and ladies. Epiphany came and went on Jan. 6, and with it should have gone your old Christmas tree. Because Jan. 5 is Twelfth Night, the final hurrah of the Christmas season. So yes, Virginia, there is a real Take Down the Christmas Tree Day (reported WBUR NPR). Alas, great weeping and Bah humbugs were heard in Whoville (and across the world) as mourners bemoaned the last rites of the yule season. But now comes another dilemma--what to do with your old dead Christmas trees? Some communities collect them and dump them in the local landfill. But, as nearly half of a landfill is composed (decomposed?) of yard waste, perhaps that's not such a green idea.  Take down the Christmas Tree Day: Give Christmas trees to birds or elephants! | Examiner.com

Christmas trees: Evergreen tree choices for holiday decorations | Examiner.com

Shopping for Christmas trees? Shouldn't be all that difficult, right? After all, Christmas trees are pretty much the same, aren't they? Actually there are several different evergreen trees grown for use as Christmas trees. Here is a guide to choosing Christmas trees, based on style, allergic properties, ease of decorating and cost. This author's hometown of Grand Haven, Michigan is Christmas Tree Central, so you're getting this info from the "roots"--so to speak. Starting with less expensive, here are evergreen tree choices.  Christmas trees: Evergreen tree choices for holiday decorations | Examiner.com

Walmart Savings Catcher comparison shopping app does the math, multitasks, saves money

Raise your hand if you hate buying something and then finding it cheaper elsewhere. But who has time to run between stores or comb through ads? How about a shopping app that does the math for you by comparison shopping between stores? Check out Walmart Savings Catcher. You hear a lot of people protest that they hate Walmart, for a multitude of reasons. But those shoppers protest too much--because there's one undeniable reason to shop at Walmart and that's lower every day prices. This isn't a paid advertorial--it's just common fiscal sense. You can get the same products--not just on Great Value store brand, not equivalent products--the exact brands--much cheaper at Walmart. If you buy Great Value, you save exponentially more! And now, using Walmart Savings Catcher comparison shopping app, you can be sure to get the rock bottom lowest via Walmart's price match. Here's how it works.  Walmart Savings Catcher comparison shopping app does the math, saves money | Examiner.com

Moms work more than dads: Unequal multitasking hurts parenting relationships

Moms work more than dads but enjoy it less, parenting studies have found. Men also object more if they feel forced to multitask. Busy parents handle workloads and responsibility differently and it can affect parenting relationships. How parents juggle multiple tasks may cause rifts if one deems the other "lazy" or "unsupportive." Multitasking studies asked parents to record how many tasks they were performing at one time and also how they felt about multitasking.   Moms work more than dads: Unequal multitasking hurts parenting relationships | Examiner.com

Holiday gift exchanges: Christmas gift exchange planning, gift swap party games | Examiner.com

 Do you hate holiday gift exchanges among people you don't know? The Christmas work party and extended relatives ones are the worst. What do you get someone you don't know? So some of these holiday parties are pretty lame, but you can plan better holiday gift exchanges with these easy tips and fun Christmas gift swap party games. Holiday gift exchanges: Christmas gift exchange planning, gift swap party games | Examiner.com