Blog Posts by Yahoo! Contributor Network

Homemade baby food.

Making your own baby food is one of the easiest and most rewarding things you can do for your family. It's also the best way you can control what goes into your baby's body. You can choose organic or non-GMO foods and also be assured that there are no artificial ingredients or unnecessary additives. It's fun, easy, and incredibly gratifying. So let's get started!

Choosing Your Ingredients

For both nutrition and taste, choose the freshest ingredients you can find. Choose fruits that are nearly ripe and free from bruises. Vegetables should be crisp and bright. Quality matters with meats, too, so be selective with your choices.

Feeding your baby organic, non-GMO foods is a healthy choice, but you may not always be able to find these options. Just like everything else in motherhood, you should try your best but be prepared to go to plan B.

Preparing Your Workstation

I suggest getting your work station all set up before you begin. Have your cook pots and steamer out on the

Green foods contain chlorophyll. Who's up for a botany lesson?

Colorful plates are healthy plates! Celebrating "green" is easy in the kitchen and gives us an opportunity to excite our kids about eating healthier. Celebrate Earth Day or Arbor Day this April with these fun and healthy recipes that you can make together. You might even learn something new along the way.

Green Macaroni and Cheese

All kids love macaroni and cheese, and this version adds a healthy bit of baby spinach for a green version just right for Earth Day. Here is some fun spinach trivia you can share with your kids while cooking:

* Medieval artists used spinach to make green paint.

* Crystal City, Texas, which grows a lot of spinach, put up a statue of Popeye.

* Spinach is a member of the goose-foot family. The leaves look kind of like the foot of a goose.

Green Ice Pops

Popsicles are a no-fail way to get your kids' attention. This version uses kale, pineapple, bananas and coconut for a healthier green version that is just as fun to make as it is to eat.

Towels don't have to take over your bathroom!

With four people in my house, the towel situation can quickly get out of control. If everyone were to use a different towel every day, I would have to wash 28 towels a week. That's a lot of laundry. In order to keep our towel situation manageable, I have put several procedures in place. This ensures I'm devoting less time to chores and more time with my family. Here are some of my mommy tricks for keeping the towels under control.

Assigned Towels

I share a lot with my family. However, I don't like to share bath linens (or the germs that may be lurking on the towels). There are plenty of cute towels out there. My children both have hooded towels that they use. This makes it easy for me to find their towels when they get out of the bathtub. For older children and adults, you can purchase personalized bath sheets or monogram the towels. To keep the bathroom looking stylish, I like assigning a different, yet coordinating, towel for each family member. I keep another set of towels

Plastic eggs can be used as placecards.Whether you're planning a large, formal Easter dinner, or simply celebrating each spring day with your little ones, here are some fun ways to bring color, eggs, spring flowers and Easter festivities to your family dinner table. So go grab some paper, glue, scissors - and even some plastic Easter eggs - and learn how to create easy Easter table decor, a perfect kid craft (that you'll enjoy just as much):

1. Recycled Easter placecards - This easy craft is a great reason to save and reuse leftover Easter cards from previous years. To make placecards for your Easter table, help your kids cut out fun, colorful shapes from past cards. Next, glue these images onto small pieces of pastel-colored cardstock, and write your guest's name on each card in permanent marker.

2. Plastic egg placecards - Guests will love this colorful craft, an ingenious way to display Easter placecards. Kids gather empty plastic Easter eggs, then - with adult supervision - hot glue a large, flat button onto one

Create some me-time in your bathroom.

For many moms, one dream far surpasses all others: enjoying some guilt-free "mom time" in the bathroom. Taking a nice bubble bath without desperate cries for "Mama!" or tiny hands reaching under the door probably seems as likely for many moms as having a lottery check delivered personally to their homes by Brad Pitt. If you share the fantasy of "mom time" in the bathroom, consider these secrets that might possibly turn your dream into a reality.

Adjust your schedule. When my daughter was a newborn and I hadn't yet figured out her rhythm, I'd no sooner set foot into a long-awaited shower than her cries would echo through the house. Now that she's older and has a predictable sleep routine, showering before her wake-up time or during naps ensures me a nice, full-length, blissful shower and some primping time to boot.

Create a baby safe zone. For babies and younger toddlers, set up a baby safe zone that includes some well-loved or novel toys. My daughter thinks it's a hoot when I

Make a just a few tweaks to your mom makeup routine for great results!

If you're stuck in a beauty or makeup rut and are ready to try something new this season, add a few new products to your makeup bag. Any busy mom can enjoy a mini makeover just by adding a few new color palettes or basic makeup products to her routine. Whether you want to amplify the eyes, create a radiant glow, or achieve flawless skin, you'll need to employ a few simple makeup tricks and techniques for a fresh new look. Here are some things you can do to freshen up your standard "mom" beauty routine:

Create a Smoky Eye by Day

You don't have to wait for date night or a girl's night out to glam up your eyes. Use a lighter shade of shimmering grey, blue, or green to create a smoky eye for daytime. This can be a great match with virtually any outfit and will add a glamorous twist to your look. Keep things simple but add a sultry twist with a thicker liner that you can smudge slightly to create the smoky effect. Add a few sweeps of volumizing mascara and you'll be good to go.

Don't forget to clean your windows!

It's that time of the year when you can't ignore that to-do list any longer and decide to tackle your spring cleaning. Generally speaking, most moms don't relish the time spent doing it, in addition to the long list of other tasks at hand, not the least of which is spending much-needed quality time with the family.

Moms in the know are willing to share their favorite and best time-saving cleaning secrets. They'll maximize your cleaning power and minimize the time you spend on this tedious (but necessary) seasonal chore.

Tackling Bathroom Cleaning Naturally

Give your tub an extra thorough cleaning. Mom and math tutor Angelique Haas shares her tip for a wonderful do-it-yourself household cleaner that has a number of uses, but really makes the bathroom shine. "I started using these because I have pets and these will not harm them," says Haas. Mix 1/2 cup organic white distilled vinegar or lemon juice with 1/4 cup baking soda into 1/2 gallon of water. "It's great for bathroom

Does your family's snooze-button habit have you down? No one ever plans on chaotic mornings, sleeping late, rushing the kids out the door, or missing breakfast, yet for many moms, this is a daily reality. If your family's morning routine leaves you stressed and ready for a change, consider these five tips for re-gaining control of your mornings and stopping your family's snooze-button habit:

1. Move alarms - Hitting the snooze button two, three or four times every morning is easy to do when your alarm is next to your bed. To ensure your family gets moving at first ring, move all alarms far away from the beds. Place clocks or phones on the opposite side of each bedroom, requiring every family member to get up out of bed to turn their alarms off. If needed, set alarms in the hallway or somewhere else out of easy reach.

2. Reward getting up on time - Encourage your kids to rise and shine on time by offering an incentive or reward that works for your family, at least until good habits are