Delicious Cold Corn Salad

This recipe is delicious, easy and it only takes

minutes to toss together. It's the perfect side dish

for hot summer weather.

Cold Corn Salad (Dairy Free)

2 (29 oz) cans corn, well drained

1/2 cup (about 2 oz) sun dried tomatoes*

1/3 cup sliced scallions (including greens)

1 cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

1 teaspoon dried cumin

1 teaspoon dried dill

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and stir until well combined. Cover and place in fridge. Chill 2 hours or overnight, until ready to serve. *If you cannot find or do not like sun dried tomatoes you can use one large, fresh, tomato; seeded, chopped and drained well.

Linked To:

Mouth Watering Mondays at A Southern Fairytale

Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam

Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed With Grace

Tasty Tuesday at The Youngn's

Walmart, Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Last week, I had to make a quick stop at Walmart to pick up some items of a personal nature. A somewhat embarrassing, personal nature. No, I 'm not going to tell you what items I'm alluding to because it's personal. And embarrassing.

No, not hemorrhoid cream. (giggle)

Anyway I picked up the items and arranged them neatly in my cart so they wouldn't stick out, I wasn't too worried about it, but was trying to be discreet. I continued with my shopping.

As I entered a new aisle (Aaaaack!) I ran into a lady from our homeschool co-op. I froze and considered making a quick u-turn and skedaddling out of the aisle, but it was too late, she saw me. Quick, do something! Smile! With a great big smile, I raked my arm down the nearest shelf and filled my cart with a year's worth of toothpaste in an effort to cover the aforementioned items.

Crisis averted.

We stood in the aisle, chatted and caught up, eventually saying our goodbyes.

I strolled out of the aisle, circled back and checked to make sure my friend was gone. Whew. I put back the $400.00 worth of toothpaste I had put in my cart and went on my way.

But what should happen?

That's right. I ran into someone else I knew. This time it was my cousin. And her seven year old daughter. And her husband. (Oh for the love of Pete! Who's next?)

This time I didn't have time to knock products into my cart. So I did the only thing I could. I jumped in front of my cart, blocking their view and yammered away, talking about the latest news.

It never fails. I very rarely run into anyone I know. But when I do, it's when I'd rather not. Like when my cart is full of embarrassing items, or when I haven't bothered to put on make-up.

*sigh*

Please tell me this happens to you too.

A Quick Guide to Cow's Milk Alternatives

As many of you know, Bram (my youngest) and I are allergic to cow's milk. I gets lots of questions about what non-dairy milks we use instead and which are my favorites. The thing is, there isn't any milk alternative that is exactly like milk; so different alternatives work better for different situations. Below is a quick glance of my impression of available milk alternatives and my personal favorites.

Soy Milk - This non-dairy beverage is a popular choice and it's carried by most grocery store chains. Soy milk has a smooth flavor with a creamy finish which is well liked by most. It is high in protein and low in saturated fat and cholesterol. However there has been some controversy over its ability to spike estrogen levels. Plus soy is one of the top 8 most common allergens and may not be tolerated by everyone.

Rice Milk - Rice milk is widely tolerated and well liked. It is smooth, but not creamy and has a sweet finish. It is a good choice for a stand alone beverage or to eat with cereal. However it has very little nutritional value unless it has been fortified by the manufacturer. There are few vitamins or minerals and it is very low in fat. With such little fat, rice milk is a poor choice for cooking or baking.

Hemp Milk - This dairy alternative is relatively new to the American market, but has been popular in Canada for quite some time. Hemp milk is thick and rich. It is packed with protein, omega 3's, 6's and amino acids. Also, many manufacturers fortify it with as much calcium as milk. It has about the same fat content as whole milk, this makes hemp milk an excellent choice for cooking or baking. Hemp milk does not contain THC.

Coconut Milk - Coconut milk is too thick to drink as a stand alone beverage however you can use coconut milk as a base to make your own non dairy drink. Due to its high fat and sugar content and ultra rich flavor, coconut milk is a wonderful choice for baking. Some enjoy it with cooking however the coconut flavor may overpower other foods. It is a good choice for puddings, pies and custards.

Coconut Milk Beverage - With a texture and flavor very similar to cow's milk, ready made coconut milk beverages are becoming very popular. It's a wonderful choice for baking, cooking and well liked as a stand alone beverage. Caution must be taken because the FDA considers coconut to be a tree nut, however many people with tree nut allergies are able to tolerate coconut. Coconut milk beverages are generally a good source of B12 plus low in trans fat and cholesterol.

Oat Milk - This non dairy beverage is not as popular as others but is similar to rice milk in consistency. While it is a good choice for cereal, oatmeal or sauces it is generally not a good choice for baking due to it's low fat content. Oat milk is a good source of fiber and is generally well tolerated; however, it may not be a good choice for those with Celiac Sprue as the oats may be contaminated with gluten.

Almond Milk - Almond milk is light with a creamy texture and somewhat sweet finish. It's texture and flavor are somewhat similar to cow's milk and well liked. Almond milk (and other nut milks) are wonderful choices for baking and cooking, especially for chowders and soups. It is high in protein and antioxidants. Unfortunately almonds (tree nuts) are one of top 8 most common allergens so caution must be taken.

My Picks?

Stand Alone Beverage and Smoothies - Coconut Milk Beverage or Hemp Milk

On Cereal - Rice milk or Hemp Milk

Cooking - Coconut Milk Beverage

Baking - Hemp Milk, Coconut Milk Beverage or Coconut Milk

Health Benefits - Hemp Milk

Best All Around - Coconut Milk Beverage or Hemp Milk

Submitting to Our Husbands

When did submission become a bad word?

Was it through the bastardization of the feminist movement? The sad truth of battered women? Legalism in the church? I don't know where it began. But I do know that if I use the word submit in conversation pertaining to my marriage, people usually look at me as if I've suddenly grown 3 extra heads.

Ephesians 5:22-23 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.

Let's look at a few synonyms for submit: abide, acknowledge, agree, bow, cede, defer, humor, lay down arms, quit, relinquish, surrender, withstand, yield. Why do none of those words sound bad? Submission is not a bad thing. We're not taking about blindly following a cruel, domineering, unforgiving leader.

We're talking about our husbands.

We're talking about respect.

We're talking about trust.

Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her...

This is not a one way street. In our submission to, our respect of and our trust in our husbands, they are to love us. They are to give themselves up for us. To sacrifice. They are to sacrifice in love and work and provision. Again, this is not a one way street.

Ephesians 5:21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Submission and Sacrifice. Both these words can have such negative connotations. But when submission and sacrifice are done out of love, in marriage and in accordance with God's plan, then neither is negative.

But where do we start? How do we begin to be submissive in a culture rife with pride, a twisted interpretation of feminism and greed? It's not easy and I don't have all the answers; but join me next week when I share ways to prepare your heart for submission in marriage in this modern world.

*This post is meant for married believers only. This is the first in a series I plan to do on submission. In no way am I suggesting women should accept abuse of any sort. That is a wholly different issue, not addressed here.

Linked To:

Wifey Wednesdys at To Love Honor and Vacuum

Naturoli Extreme 18X Soap Nuts Liquid : A Review

During my 31 Days to a Somewhat Crunchy YOU series I shared the importance of using natural detergents. In my research for the series I came across a fascinating natural option from Naturoli (pronounced 'naturally'), Soap Nuts.

What are Soap Nuts? Soap Nuts are the dried fruit (not a nut!) of a tropical shrub. The fruit is plucked from the plant, seeded and dried. That's it, no complicated, synthetic, chemical laden compounds here. Soap Nuts have 100% natural surfactant with anti fungal and antimicrobial properties and are completely biodegradable.

This intrigued me, so you can imagine my excitement when I was granted the opportunity to review Naturoli's Extreme 18X. This product is super concentrated soap nuts extract liquid. It has all the benefits of actual Soap Nuts, but in liquid form with a handy micro-dispense pump. Why a micro-dispense pump?

Because Extreme 18X is Soap Nuts on steroids, extreme doesn't even begin to describe it!

For an average load of laundry, one teaspoon of Extreme 18X is all that is required. For HE washers all you need is 1/2 teaspoon. A little goes a very long way. It's hard to believe that such a small amount can get your clothes clean, but let me assure you, it can. Load after load of laundry came out clean and fresh smelling, not masked with heavy perfumes. And in a household full of people with sensitive skin, there were no breakouts or adverse reactions.

I could go on, because I was very impressed with this product. But rather than telling you what it is, let me tell you what it is not. Extreme 18X does not have:

• Dyes
• Fragrances
• Phosphates
• Formaldehyde
• Petro-Chemicals
• Chlorine
• Animal Testing
• Parabens

And to top it all off their shipping is as environmentally friendly as shipping can be. They ship in the smallest boxes needed, use PETE (recyclable) plastic and being that Extreme 18X is so concentrated, an 8oz bottle takes the place of over 2 40oz bottles of other laundry detergents. No wonder NaturOli has been twice awarded the Green Dot Award!

Please visit NaturOli to view all their wonderful Soap Nut products and other products such as moisturizers, facial wash, massage oils, soap bars and more!

Hilarious Video

I know you all have probably seen this video because it's gone viral, but I just can't get enough of it. It's hilarious. This poor girl was high as a kite after having her wisdom teeth out. Her mother was kind enough to record her talking about unicorns and rapping about Jesus. Love it!

New Digs

So what do you think if the new look? If you're reading this in a reader you'll need to click over to see what I'm talking about. I used Blogger In Draft (thanks Kris!) for the new layout and background, uploaded a stock photo for the header and added tabs for different pages. I love having pages for contact, about me, etc. instead of a bunch of buttons cluttering up my sidebars. Now I have space for advertising and affiliate links. I hope you like the changes, I tried to make everything easier on the eyes and more user friendly.

Don't Mind Me

I'm going to be playing with my blog layout a bit this weekend. So, if you should see anything a bit out of whack rest assured that it should all be back to normal soon :)

Handling Negative Comments and Accusations

Being homeschoolers does not mean our kids will never be exposed to difficult situations. Negativity, bullying and name calling can be found at playgrounds, homeschool co-ops, culdesacs and even (gulp) in our own homes. Life isn't always pretty and I think it's important to teach our children positive and productive ways to handle negativity aimed at them.

That's why when one of my children (or I myself) have been attacked, we walk through a list of reflective questions which help us put things in perspective and weigh the validity of the situation. I have found this list to be invaluable when dealing with difficult situations and teaching critical thinking skills to my children.

Next time your child finds himself in a situation where they stand accused, ask:

Is there any truth to the accusation? It is so important to teach our children to be reflective, not defensive. Stand back and look at yourself honestly. If someone accused you of being selfish, were you? Have you been in the past? (Psalm 4:4 In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent.)

If there is truth to the accusation, how much? Just how selfish were you? Is this a pattern for you, an issue you need to address? Or has the accuser blown the situation out of proportion due to their own personal issues? (John 8:32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.)

Is it a bad thing if they're right? I have been accused of sheltering my children and being overprotective. My level of involvement in my children's lives is not micromanaging or crippling them in any way. So this accusation is one of those where I can say no, it's not a bad thing if they're right. (Isaiah 26:3 You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.)

Consider the source:

From whom is the attack coming? I'm sorry, but if you have three children, two in jail and the other a crack addict I'm not going to take your attacks on my parenting skills seriously. (Matthew 7:3 Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye, and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?)

Is it from someone I look up to and want to emulate? On the other hand, if your kids have grown to love God and be productive members of this society, I will listen when you lovingly tell me I may be doing it wrong. (Proverbs 11:14 For lack of guidance a nation fails, but many advisers make victory sure.)

That's it. By taking a deep breath, a step back and asking a few basic questions you can easily decide whether the attack is (a) one you need to chalk up to being unfounded and let go or (b) having truth and needing attention. There is no need to sit and fret when you take these steps because you will know whether you need to work on yourself or pray for your attacker.

Finding Educational Activities in the Most Unexpected Places : A Review

I recently had the opportunity to review the ebook FINDING EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES IN THE MOST UNEXPECTED PLACES by my friend and fellow homeschool mom Angie from Many Little Blessings. This ebook shares "200+ Activities and Ideas for Young Children". And it delivers!

The information is separated by everyday household objects like cotton balls, paper cups, lids and cookie cutters. Angie then displays her impressive creativity by listing a plethora of activities for using each object in fun and educational ways.

I was really impressed with the application of everyday objects. This will be my go-to resource for activities with my toddler, and not just for educational activities! This book is chock full of ideas to keep little hands busy in safe ways; the perfect way to buy a few minutes to fold some laundry or keep kids quietly entertained on car or plane rides.

And while this book is geared toward toddlers and preschoolers, some older children may be able to benefit too, especially those who need to improve their fine motor skills!

FINDING EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES IN THE MOST UNEXPECTED PLACES is available for download here. It is reasonably priced at $7.50, but as a special treat, Angie has offered a 20% discount to my readers. At checkout enter the code SCM20 for your discount, but hurry! The discount is only valid through 06/04/2010.

How To Change A Tire : A Newbie's Guide

This post is for all the ladies out there who have never changed a tire. Until last week I was one of you. But no more. I am now officially She-Ra Princess of Power. But for those of you who have not yet reached superhero status, here's a step-by-step guide to help you out.

Step One: Wait until you have somewhere to be at a certain time. Wait until the last possible moment to run out the door and find a flat tire. Not a low tire, a flat-as-a-pancake tire.

Step Two: Locate your jack. Of course, mine is built into the back of my van, buried behind a cooler, the dog blanket, clothes to donate to Good Will and my cloth shopping bags.

Step Three: Remove your jack and separate any parts that need separating. My jack was made up of a lug nut loosener thingy, a crowbar-ish thingy and the jack.

Step Four: Remove your spare tire/donut. Mine is bolted on the underside of the van. In order to remove it I had to pull up the carpet in the rear of the van (near the hatch latch) and use the lug nut loosener thingy to turn the bolt on the left. This slowly lowered the donut to the ground.

Step Five: Next you need to get to the lug nuts to loosen them. They are actually under the cover. Those clean, spiffy looking nuts are not the real lug nuts at all. Sneaky! Use the crowbar-ish side of your tool and slide the flat side in between the thin cover and the thick metal rim under it. I'm guessing this rim is the drum?? I really have no idea. Now twist the crowbar thingy to loosen the cover - don't pry or you'll crack the cover! Insert and twist over and over all around the cover until it is loosened enough to pop off.

Step Six: You removed the cover! Give your self a big round of air claps! I did!

Step Seven: Now comes the hard part. I must warn you, you may sweat. It's now time to loosen the lug nuts. You want to do this before you jack up the vehicle because those suckers are on there tight! You don't want the tire spinning all over the place, up in the air, or shaking the vehicle around while precariously balanced on the jack. Don't take the lug nuts off yet, just loosen them a turn or two. My lug nuts were on so tight I had to whack the ratchet-y, lug nut loosener with a hammer.

Step Eight: Now that the lug nuts are loosened, its time for the moment you've been waiting for. Time to jack the vehicle up! For my van I had to line up a little nub on the underside of the van with a hole in the jack. Then I turned and turned and turned the handle until the jack had just lifted the flat tire clear of the pavement. Don't raise the vehicle any higher than it needs to be and DON'T get under or any closer to the vehicle than you need to in order to get the job done. You don't want to be pinned or worse should the jack fail.

Step Nine: You jacked the vehicle up! This calls for another round of air applause!

Step Ten: Remove the lug nuts the rest of the way (you should be able to do this by hand) but don't lose them! Keep them handy. Once they are off the tire should come off without an issue. Once the tire is off feel free to give yourself a third round of air applause!

Step Eleven: The rest is relatively easy. Slide the spare/new/donut tire in place (I had to jack the van up a little bit more for it to line up). Then put the lug nuts back on loosely by hand.

Step Twelve: Lower the vehicle back to the ground and use the lug nut thingy to very securely tighten the lug nuts the rest of the way.

You did it!! Give yourself a huge round of air applause, a big squee and a big pat on the back. Also be sure to insist that all members of your family now refer to you as She-Ra, SuperMommy or She Who Needs No Man.

But on a serious note, I must say I am so very thankful that this happened in my driveway. Changing the tire was a fun and empowering experience. But it would have been an intimidating and scary experience if I had to do this for the first time along a busy highway or a lonely stretch of road at night. Even though I had a rough idea of what to do, actually doing it was more difficult than I anticipated.

So if you have never changed a tire before I strongly recommend you take the time to safely do so at home. Even if you don't currently have a flat tire get out there and learn how to do it now so you'll know what to do if (heaven forbid) you have a blow out along a busy road!

You may learn some very important facts. For instance I now carry a hammer in the back of my van along with the jack because I learned that I am not strong enough to loosen the lug nuts on my own. Without that hammer I would not be able to change a tire whenever and wherever I might need to.

Linked To:

Tutorial Tuesday at Smockity Frocks

Weekly Wrap Up - Lawyers, Errands and Flat Tires

It's time for another Weekly Wrap-Up. This week was a whirlwind of activity and I feel like it passed us by in a blur. I'll try to keep it short, but there's so much to tell. Let's see, this is how the week went:

Monday was a very long, frustrating day. I did some basic housework, then we all (including my FIL) went to a lawyer to see about allowing Shane and I to have official shared custody of the boys so we can get Tony and Billy on Shane's insurance. We were told that Shane and I couldn't share custody with the parents, that the parents rights would have to be terminated. So needless to say we aren't going that route. We're not trying to take the children, just make it easier to care for them while we're away. The lawyer also told us we could get a temporary custodian letter...but that would cost $5000 to start. So that's not happening either. *sigh* After that disappointing afternoon we popped into the Social Security office to order SS Cards for Tony, Billy and my FIL, then home to make dinner and bake a cake.

Tuesday was our LAST DAY OF CO-OP!!!! I love co-op, but by the end of the year I am ready for it to be done.

On Wednesday Fox went to Virginia to visit his great grand parents. Tony, Billy, Bram and I spent the day at the house. The boys played and I made 5,937,023 phone calls, paid bills and tried to get laundry done.

Thursday was another day of running; Bram had a check-up at the doctors, a follow up to his constipation issues. He's doing better now. I took him in to make sure everything is okay internally because he's still afraid to go and holds it until he can't hold it anymore. Pooping is a big production. After the doctor's visit I took Tony and Billy clothes shopping because they will be going to Alabama next week to visit their mom and half-sister, then all the boys got haircuts. Bram's was the most drastic. He looks so cute, but I wanted to cry when he went from this:

To this:

Friday I was supposed to go to Virginia to pick up Fox. The day went awry first thing in the morning when we went out to the van to find my rear passenger tire completely flat thanks to a big nail stuck in the tread. So I rolled up my sleeves, thanked God this hadn't happened on the highway and I changed my very first tire!! Yay me!! This event will be its own post next week :)

I may or may not have called my husband at work and forced him to stroke my overblown ego and call me SuperMommy the rest of the day!

After I put on the spare donut tire we went to the tire shop to have the old tire patched, Burger King (which Bram calls Burger Time) then down to Virginia to pick up Fox. We had a nice, although short visit with the great grandparents then we all went home and started our weekend!

Linked To:

Weekly Wrap-Up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers

Never Judge A Book By Its Cover...Or A Cake By Its Icing

This week's fail wasn't a complete loss. My cake (which I made to take to the last day of our homeschool co-op) still turned out yummy and pretty (on the inside). It just wasn't what I was going for. THIS is what I was going for; a gorgeous 6 layer, rainbow masterpiece. And I was going to use this recipe so each layer had its own delicious fruit flavor. But....lack of planning and complete exhaustion foiled the results.

You see, I planned to make the cake on Monday afternoon, after some errands. But the errands ran into evening. By the time we got home, I had to fix dinner. So after I fixed dinner, fed the fam and cleaned up the mess I was feeling a lot less inspired.

But on I trudged only to find I had run out of lemon juice...and oranges...and...well, all I had was blueberries left. (Darn those kids and their healthy snacks).

Oh well, I would just color each layer rather than flavoring it. So I broke out my cake decor supplies to find the only dyes I had were blue, yellow, red and black. Not to mention I was running dangerously low on powdered sugar (Darn my lack of organizational skills).

Now let me say, I can tell I've grown up over the years because this is the point where, in the past, I would have slammed all my cabinet doors, then squealed wheels on the way to the grocery store, swearing that I would make that ever loving cake come hell or high water.

This time instead of slamming, speeding and cursing, I implemented Plan B. My beautiful, flavorful, 6 layer rainbow cake became a four layer, vanilla Spring Time cake...without enough icing.

She wasn't much to look at on the outside

But she was inside, and tasted good too!

Linked To:

Friday Fails at My Blessed Life