Wow!!! Have you checked out your area 99Cent/Dollar Tree/Big Lots store lately. It had been a while for me and boy was I MISSING OUT! It seems lately, I've been sharing my excitement over all the great stuff I found for a buck with just about everyone I know. The response is usually "Oh, I know!" What... you know?!?!?.... am I the only one who hasn't been shopping at the Dollar Stores!

Anyhow, if you haven't been there lately... check it out. For a tid bit on 4th of July decorations, picnic or BBQ grill items and toys check out my latest "Your Family" report.

We had Two Moms Catering on the show for ways to stretch you food dollar.
A great suggestion... Kebabs! Your meat and veggeis go farther and your children will likely want to help put them together..
"Two Moms Catering" Co-owner Julie Ann Twynman offered up these healthy tasty recipes.

Kebab Recipe
marinate sauce: 3 cups teriyaki sauce, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/4 honey, 1/2 brown sugar and 1tsp. garlic powder, 1/4 cup lemon juice, pineapple juice, and 1/2 tsp cinnamon. fridge for 1-4 hrs.
save half the sauce for the grill. Use other half to marinate meat and discard after.

Dipping Sauce
Use berry or pineapple yogurt and (honey optional) for your fruits.
Use plain yogurt mixed with ranch dressing mix, a pinch of Cayenne chili and lime juice for your meats.

Curious to know whether your Pre-K kid is ready for the monumental jump to Kindergarten? Check out my latest "Your Family" report. KidZKount Child Development Specialist Vickie Treadway offers ways you can help your child fine tune their motor skills, listening skills, social skills.... the list goes on.
In addition here are few cool ideas I found:

Numbers:
Have your child look for numbers on street signs. Count grocery items. Count the windows in your house. Play "War" with a deck of cards. Because the higher number wins the hand, your child will quickly learn to distinguish between the numbers.

Letters:
Give your child an old catalog and have them circle or cut out all the A's, then the B's, etc.

Listening Skills:
Talk to your child all the time. Narrate your everyday chores. When you're making dinner say the measurements out loud. When reading to your child, before turning the page ask, what they think is going to happen next?

In my "Your Family" report there are great ways to make use of junk mail and advice on teaching your child how to write their name.

Also, consider whether your child is a Visual, Auditory or Physical learner.

Have fun!

Isn't there something so relaxing about growing fresh herbs?!... that is until it starts to die and you can't figure out why?????

Marina Roney, a UC Master Gardner is full of great advice. She says the two most common "improper growing techniques" are too much or not enough watering.
As she so cutely put it... "herbs like to be watered but they don't like to have wet feet!"... meaning, soak the plant then let it dry before watering again.
Marina suggest a clay pot over plastic because on the clay, you'll be able to see when it starts to dry. You can also stick a pencil, wooden skewer or other water gages inside the pot.

If you're thinking about growing an herb garden inside your home... pick plants that are not too tall or too wide. A few choices maybe, chives, basil, lavendar, parsley, mint, thyme.

When picking your indoor area, chose a windowsill that gets at least five hours of sunlight a day, a 6-12" deep container, soak once or twice a week, letting the plant dry out before watering again.

When it's time to snip... never trim more than a third of plant foliage.

For a ton of info, including which plants are perennial and which are annual,
check out the UC Master Gardner website http://groups.ucanr.org/sactomg/

Children will be headed back to school in the coming weeks. In their lunch boxes will be those convenient juice boxes, loaded with sugar.
On the Morning Show Monday, we helped to identify which pack the most.
Dieticians recommend the real juice options over the sugar flavored water, but in strolling down the grocery aisle myself, I found most of the boxes, unless it was promoting less sugar, contained just about the same amount.
In case you're wondering, the fruits carrying the most natural sugar are said to be, Grape, Cherry, and Apple.
In any event most of the fruit juices boxes I saw carried anywhere from 21grams of sugar to 23 grams of sugar.
Here's a calculation good to know... 4 grams of sugar = 1tsp. of sugar.
Do the math... and yep, each box of fruit juice can have close to six teaspoons of sugar... Wowza... no wonder my daughter will shamelessly pull an all out beg and plead for another cup of pink lemonade! Although, the pink lemonade did a lot better than some.
I also spotted a fairly new item on the shelf called "Roarin Waters," by CAPRISUN.
One juice pouch contained 9grams of sugar. May be a good one to look for.