Mom Hacks: Healthy Meals, Beauty Tips & More

Use simple "Mom Hacks" to make your life easier

From the LifeMinute Team

February 13, 2015

No one said making wholesome, healthy family meals -- and looking fabulous while doing it -- was easy. But Lifestyle Expert and Papa Murphy's "Resident Mom" Dannielle Kyrillos says taking a few shortcuts, or "Mom Hacks," can help save you time and just help you feel better in general.

"A little bit of glamour is all any of us are looking for, right?" says Dannielle, "Especially those dark circles under my eyes. I just want to get rid of them for one day." If tons of extra sleep is out of the question -- and for most of us, it is -- Dannielle suggests using Preparation H as a quick temporary fix to deflate under eye bags. "You heard me right," she explains, "[Use it] in a bit of a different way, being very, very careful not to get any in your actual eyes. Smear a tiny bit under those dark circles, leave it on for about 15 minutes, clean [it off], and I swear, you'll look and feel 10 years younger. All the puffiness is gone."

"And on those days that taking a shower seems like an effort that's impossible, let alone do something with your hair, I want you to meet my new best friend Dry Shampoo," says Dannielle, "You can find it at any drugstore, usually for less than $10, and it's a way to save your hair without dealing with it. You spritz it on your dry, nearly greasy, tired hair, and it lifts and texturizes. You're saved from dealing with your hair for one more day, and you'll have a movie star bounce."

But after you've de-puffed your eyes and re-puffed your 'do, there's still the dinnertime dilemma to be dealt with: how to get your family enjoying wholesome, fresh foods night after night. Dannielle admit this one was her biggest stress...until she found the right hack, that is. "My secret weapon in this department is Papa Murphy's Take 'N' Bake Pizza," she explains, "They make it so easy to make every pizza you get there your own. I have a little invention I'm going to share with you; I call it the Sneaky Spinach. To get everyone to eat their vegetables, I go in, I order spinach as my topping. And I ask them to put the spinach underneath the cheese. Take it home, 15 minutes of love at 425 [degrees]. You pull the pizza out of the oven, your family has devoured half of it, loving it, loving you for giving them fresh-made pizza that you made before they even realize you packed all those vitamins and nutrients right in there...Papa Murphy's is my saving grace on many dinnertime nights."

So you've made it through the day. But what about tomorrow when you have to do it all over again? Dannielle says that going into the morning with a breakfast plan at the ready can get the day off to a great start. "Every mom's goal is to serve a fresh, healthy breakfast but mornings are a zoo at my house," she tells us, "[I take] fresh fruit, cut up bananas, sometimes I throw in Chia seeds or oats. I pour the contents in the blender, add a little yogurt and in less than 20 seconds, I have a caf quality smoothie, fresh and wholesome for everyone in my family for a fraction of the price."

A hack that saves you time AND money...now what could be better than that?

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