Coconut Cracking

How to open a coconut

Required:
A kid (or a kid at heart)
A coconut
A hammer
A screwdriver
A mason jor of other glass
A kitchen knife or clean paint scraper
An oven

Directions
1. Find a kid
2. Give the kid one coconut, a hammer, and a screwdriver
3. Punch holes in the eyes of the coconut (find the soft ones) with the hammer and screwdriver
4. Drain coconut water into a mason jar
5. Heat coconut in oven for 15 minutes at 350 degress
6. Remove coconut from oven and drop on concrete a few times
7. Rinse the meat under cool water for about half a minute (this cools the meat but not the shell)
8. Slide a kitchen knife or a clean paint scraper between the meat and the shell, the meat will 'almost' pop off

Enjoy the coconut water over ice and nibble on the meat. If you are feeling brave dehydrate the meat and make coconut butter.

Caveats
Trust me on using the oven, it is so much easier. The coconut expands when heated and the cool water contracts the coconut meat making it easier to remove from the shell

Lost Art of Interactive Entertainment

Most entertainment in American culture involves a solitary response to something, even when the entertainment is within a group setting. Electronic gaming, watching TV, going to the theater, even reading a good book. Now I am not saying that any of these are bad or wrong. Only that the fine art of conversation and interaction is lost on most generations and is difficult to achieve with most American entertainment. Social Interaction often occurs on a hike or at the fishing hole when we away from the hum drum beat of everyday laundry and schoolwork. But think about how often we get to together as a family or a group and do something interactive. Where conversation flows and it is fun entertainment. Does it occur often? Conversation happens during dinner but there are always milk spills, food fights and dishes. I would like to suggest boardgames. Now I am not suggesting any of the games you grew up with. In the games I want to recommend there is no passing go, chutes and ladders, or spin and roll. I grew up with these games and find them lacking in anything fun. I will run screaming if any of these games are suggested as being fun. A decade or so ago in Germany a revival of boardgames began with strategic, fun games unlike what most people have seen. This new wave of games are known as eurogames, german games, or designer games. Games with weird sounding names like Carcasonne, Citadels, Tikal, Torres, Niagara, Blokus. All well thought out, strategic and most of all fun games.

Time Well Spent playing games

Why do we believe that 'any time spent playing games is time well spent'?
In today's world, there are many ways to spend our time.
The benefits to spending it playing games are abundant.
Here are a few:

• Time with family
• Time with friends
• Economical (a few games on your shelf can provide a lifetime of playing)
• Develops strategy and thinking skills
• Great party activity
• Something to do on a rainy day
• Anyone can participate
• Teaches kids (and adults!) valuable lessons like:
  • how to win or lose gracefully
  • patience
  • critical thinking
  • creativity
  • academic skills (reading, math, geography)
  • planning/anticipating
  • making choices
• Fun! Fun! Fun!

With so many games available, for all ages and interests, we hope that more and more people will “get hooked” on this favorite pastime. We can personally attest to the above list of benefits. We see it in action during our family nights when we play games with our 3 kids… We see it in action
during our game parties, when dozens of friends show up to participate… date night…vacations…visits from grandparents…when the kids are bored (never happens in our house!)…Any time is a good time for playing games. 

This was written by the owners of Time Well Spent my favorite online source for board games and it is a family owned business. They have the best prices and customer service is superb.
Check out what they have to offer. Over a thousand games, most which you have never heard of, and toys R us doesn't carry. Dave will also give personal recommendations if you give him some idea of who will be playnig the game.What better way to spend the afternoon than playing  games with the family.

Square Meals – America's Favorite Comfort Food Cookbook

A book review on Square Meals – America’s Favorite Comfort Food Cookbook
You never know what kind of book is going to fall into your hands at a yard sale. Last Saturday while taking our daughter P to a church event I stopped at a yard sale, though technically it should of been called a driveway sale, though I doubt I could have fit the driveway or even the yard into my van. But I digress, I picked up and paid the nice lady 2 quarters for a cook book called Square Meals. I love to peruse a good cookbook. Of course my oldest K later rolled her eyes and asked why since she seems to think my cooking repertoire is repetitive. It might be but she will never know since she rarely eats at home and seemingly never with the family.
This cookbook has no color pics for those of you who grew up with the instant gratification of cell phones, dsl, and ipods. But the book does have this great nostalgia feel for an era of hot cocoa and homemade meatloaf. The pages are rife with retro pics and nostalgic prints. Recipes are not for the faint of healthy hearts, it is comfort not calories that counts in this book. To give you a feel for the types of recipes I will mention a few of the chapters. Where else could a person find recipes for Nursery Foods, Victory Dinners, Ladies Lunches, to name a few. Ending with the final chapter being the Cuisine of Suburbia. This book reads less like a cookbook than a tourbook of the kitchens of yesteryear.
The recipes are basic and down to earth and who knows maybe I will even give the recipe Queen for a Day Noodleburger Casserole or the Purple Poodle Drink a try, but more than anything I enjoyed the trip through culinary time. This book has earned a place on my library shelf.

A Parent Journey

In a Land Far Away a long time ago, a child was born. The parents didn't know what kind of adventures this
child would create. But the journey and adventures started right away and have not stopped. At first the parents did not know what to do with a child, and had to learn the ways of the parent. If the parents knew what the journey would entail, perhaps they would have screamed in fear. But the smile of the child blinded the parents to the dangers of taking the 'parent journey.'

Book Hound, book hoard, home library?

I love books. My first job out of high school was in a bookstore, but it started much earlier than that. I remember going to the public library after school and riding my bike to the library on Saturdays and checking out the absolute maximum number of books. So I always wanted alot of books in the home. I think now I am bordering on to many. Sound impossible? I buy them at yard sales, used book sales, thrift stores, Costco occasionally, and anywhere there is a bargain. I have bookshelves in every room. Other homeschoolers
come over just to look at what I have on the shelves, or they say, “Hey can I see everything you have on Egypt?”

Fantabulous Find of the Week *June 19 -Mini Wooden Croquet Set

Nothing terrible big, in fact quite small. This super cute wooden croquet set to play indoors. The wickets have little wooden feet so it can stand up on the carpet. The little mallets have matching balls. Totally awesome set for a mere $1 and no missing pieces.

Fantabulous Find of the Week *June 12 - Pottery Barn Sandbox

Fantabulous find of the week.
It has got to be the Pottery Barn teak sandbox boat.

With Delivery $10
The joy it will give my littlest munchkin - priceless.

My Fav Kitchen Tools - Sharks

Ok, one shark in particular. The Shark steam mop. Last week when the kitchen needed some mopping as often occurs with six kids running around the house, it was a bit messy. But this thing is easy to whip out to do quick clean up or a whole house clean. It is easy enough for an 8yo kid to use, and do a decent enough job I don't have to redo the job. The Shark uses nothing but water to clean so it is economical after the purchase, no special cleaning liquid or disposable pads to purchase. So thumbs up to the Shark steam mop.

Menu Planning

I can't tell you how many days dinner time rolls around and I throw something together and it ends up being the same ol thing or boring pizza. Pizza is great but not when it is twice a week. When even the kids groan at pizza night we have had the cheese pie way to much. This goes also for spaghetti and plain old chicken with rice. I tend to get in a rut when it comes to meals. So this week was my trial of scheduling meals. Now I can't plan out a whole week of specific meals. But I can plan out types of meals with maybe a few specific ones. So this last week the meal line up was as follows:

Monday - Beef made burgers with black beans and sweet mesquite seasoning (This was a hit)
Tuesday -  Tacos with corn tortillas gently crisped with a wee bit of olive oil (got a thumbs up)
Wednesday - pasta  (pool party and had hot dogs)
Thursday - Chicken made with onions, salsa verde, pineapples and some mesquite seasoning (even the neighbor kid liked it)
Friday - Pasta  (had leftovers from Thursday)
Saturday - Fire Pit Surprise Foil wrapped meal of burger, onion, potato slices and a big dollop of baked beans (yep the kids were clueless until they unwrapped the foil packet, thumbs up)
Sunday - Pot Roast in a pressure cooker

The planning worked well and I will be doing it again. Funny how we never had pasta.

This Summer

This summer my list of projects are as follows:
* Geocaching with the Kids

* Teach Kids to Sew
* Boardgame Night
* Clean my Craft Closet
* Clean the Playroom
* Redo & Organize Bedrooms
* Paint Front Room
* Paint Bathroom
* Rewrite & Organize for Sunday School
* Prep and Prepare for the Next School Year
* Update Transcripts for High School
* Learn to Bake Gluten and Allergen free

Obviously not all the same weekend, but they can't be left till the last week either.

The Return of the Yard Sale Season

Actually we have been yard saling for over a month or more, but since school is almost out it feels like the season is in full bloom. The competition has increased and the variety of stuff seems a bit more expensive and perhaps not as varied. Now I am not sure if that is a reflection on what interests me when I am out shopping or that I am just in a different phase of my life. Oh and a teenager who shops with me. She perhaps tempers my impulsivity and I encourage her to take a chance more often. I have seen her contemplate $28 shoes in the store when she wouldn't give them a second chance at a consignment store for $4 dollars. Today I had to encourage her to consider a cute shirt that came from London. It seems a woman in town wanted a souvenir while she was in London and bought the shirt. When she returned home to the west coast the shirt wasn't a good fit and ended in her yard sale box. It is now my daughters favorite shirt. All the way from London via a local yard sale for $2, matched with the Citizen of Humanity jeans for $3 and she picked up a cute outfit for the price of a Starbucks Venti something or other.

Upcycle Recycle New from Old

Since getting a new sewing machine last year I have realized I have a ton of raw material waiting to be renewed. Fabric can get expensive and I don't always know what I will make with a yard or two of some fantastic looking yardage. Since loosing 30 pounds last year I have almost a whole wardrobe of magic waiting to happen. It started innocently with a bootie bag one week before Christmas and realizing Christmas Eve I couldn't find all the Christmas Stockings. My daughter suggested using the denim from the pants I had set aside that no longer fit. So I quickly stitched up 4 stockings sometime after midnight. Since then I have stitched up the cutest bags for birthday gifts.

Penguins

I thought it started out as a passing thing. One of those interests that come and go. You know the type, I love apples this week but next week I prefer oranges kind of thing. My daughter loves penguins. It started I think about almost 2 years ago. I think she has at least a dozen stuffed penguins, penguin socks, penguin pillowcase, penguin clothes. You get the picture. So since we homeschool I made a penguin lapbook for her. None of the other kids were interested so it was all hers. But you get to enjoy it also, especially if you have penguin fans in your house.

www.lulu.com/content/1828361

If you like it, could you rate it on lulu and give me some comments here.