Easy Greek salad

(Modified from this one at mediterrasian.com.) Serves four as a side dish.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 clove garlic -- minced

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 pint of cherry tomatoes (or substitute 1 medium sized tomato diced)(Cherry tomatoes keep better in the fridge, should you have leftovers.)

1/4 medium sized red onion diced

1/2 - 1 large English cucumber (sliced into thick disks and then quartered)

4 oz (120g) feta cheese --cut into small cubes

16 kalamata olives

Method:

• In a small jar with a water-tight lid, put the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper.
  
• Shake to combine.
  
• For best results make dressing a day ahead (store in fridge) for flavours to blend.
  

• Put remaining ingredients in a large salad bowl.
• Just prior to serving, pour half of the dressing over the salad and toss gently to combine.
• Add remaining dressing to taste.

[Cross-posted at Easy Greek salad ]

This is a good thing, right?

You know you've been selling personalized children's labels for a long time, when your offspring refuse to wear their new back-to-school clothes until they've been labeled with their name!

And while we're at it,

thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you to

Mabel's Labels for your Tag-Mates™! These no-iron, no-sew clothing label are a real sanity saver!

Rerun: The plan vs reality

[Originally posted June 30, 2007.]

The code for this doodle and other doodles you can use on your blog can be found at Doodles.

Maple Leaf Voluntary Product Recall

"Ontario confirms one dead, dozens sick from bacteria."

For the most recent updates (and a complete listing of affected products), go to www.MapleLeaf.com

From the MapleLeaf.com site:

• list of all recalled Maple Leaf Foods products (PDF)

• To view the most recent news release, please click on your preferred language: English or French.

• To view the recent news releases, please click on your preferred language: English or French.

• For further information, please contact the Company's Consumer Affairs hotline at 1-800-568-5801.

[h/t: Joey deVilla]

Baby Bottoms By CassKnits!

Any knitters out there?

Check out Baby Bottoms by CassKnits!

From her site:

Includes instructions for soaker, shorts, capris, and pants (all gauges included!) All you need in one easy pattern, and suitable for all knitters, from novice to advanced.*

You get the pattern, and as much email support as you need for $20.

Cass is a full-time mom to eight children.

(You know how I love supporting mompreneurs.)


--
* I'll have to take Cass' word for that. My knitting skills are even worse than my drawing skills!

How do you hop?

Growing up, I never thought twice about the hopscotch pattern. At the local schools it was drawn as depicted under "A" below. Isn't that how everyone does it?

Flash forward to reading blog posts as an adult. Design "B" is clearly illustrated in (Ottawa) Andrea's post How to play hopscotch. A quick and by no means complete survey of children's toys revealed design "C."

What are the cultural and geographic variations for drawing a hopscotch board? Drop me a comment ... which pattern is familiar to you and where do you live?

The code for this doodle and other doodles you can use on your blog can be found at Doodles.

Strange ad copy

I was watching the Olympics, and a T Y L E N O L spot came on air. I can't be certain, but the voice over sounded remarkably like:

"T Y L E N O L. Get back to normal -- whatever your normal is."

Huh?

Did the marketing department come up with "Get back to normal" and then the legal department add in the tag line?

Team Canada

Congratulations Team Canada on your medals to date!

• Gold - wrestler Carol Huynh
  
• Silver - rowing pair Scott Frandsen and Dave Calder
• Bronze - wrestler Tonya Verbeek

Go team, go!

(Am I the only one out there who gained weight just reading about Micheal Phelp's 12,000 calorie / day diet?)

The code for this doodle and other doodles you can use on your blog can be found at Doodles.

How to train for an environmental marathon

Do you think it's too much trouble to do good things for Planet Earth? Think again.

Have a read through Andrea's Green Family How To Train for an Environmental Marathon Guide. In summary:

1. The Introduction, introducing the ecological footpring calculator and breaking down the basics of what level of environmental action corresponds to what level of physical effort.
   
   
2. The Slow Walk, some very easy and basic lifestyle changes to knock a few hectares off of your footprint.
   
   
3. Walk Fast, being slightly more challenging lifestyle actions.
   
   
4. Walk/Run, more challenging lifestyle actions plus a little self-education on local environmental issues and resources.
   
   
5. Run a 5k, the last of the lifestyle changes plus some online resources on environmental news for your edification.
   
   
6. Run a 10k by reading a book. A whole book on an environmental issue.
   
   
7. Run a Half-Marathon: activism for beginners!
   
   
8. Rest and Regroup, including environmentally-themed fun for the whole family.
   
   
9. Run 20 Miles: more challenging and time-consuming forms of environmental activism.
   
   
10. The Marathon.

Sure, you may not be an environmental marathoner, per se. But how good would it feel to know that you could run a 5K?

Thanks Andrea, for putting this resource together!

Mom math - big helpers

This was based on anecdotal evidence collected (over years) from at-home moms. At-home dads were not surveyed to see of the corollary is true.

The code for this doodle and other doodles you can use on your blog can be found at Doodles.

MLF&H: I was in the middle of my order and the power went out!

We've all been there. Right in the middle of placing an online order and suddenly you've lost everything because the power went out! (Or the computer crashed, or your 2 year old pulled out the internet cable.)

To borrow from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, don't panic.

If you regain access to a computer, look for the "Chat with a live operator now!" graphic in the top left hand corner of the Mabel's Labels website. Click on it to connect with someone online, during business hours.

If e-mail is your thing, send your questions or concerns to info@mabel.ca

Alternately you can call the order desk (toll-free in Canada and the US) at 1-866-306-2235, Monday through Friday, 9am – 8pm EST. (Business hours are subject to change without notice.)

Mom math - little helpers

Some of the best advice I ever heard, "Just accept it."

The code for this doodle and other doodles you can use on your blog can be found at Doodles.

Show and Tell: Nature's canvas

I can't think of a better way to end a summer's day, than to have a meal as a family, take a leisurely after dinner walk through a lightly wooded area (en route to acquire an ice cream dessert) and come home to find a rainbow over your street!

In case you haven't been able to do any of the above in the past while, for your viewing pleasure, here's our rainbow!

(It looked better than this in real life, but much worse than this in the photo. The photo has been digitally enhanced. Shhhhh.)

Go see what everyone else brought to show and tell this week

Updated: Motivation and happiness

Yes, yes. I know. I ran this last week. But with Neatorama's recent post "Why Materialism Makes You Unhappy" and Seth Godin's post "When in doubt, (don't) follow the money" I felt the need to add "material things" to the diagram.

To clarify, I believe a certain amount of money is required for happiness. Money for food and shelter as examples. I seem to recall Deepak Chopra saying something to the effect of "giving away all of your money and material things will not make you happy."

In that same talk, he said that money doesn't bring happiness and that good health doesn't bring happiness. He said that happiness brings money and happiness brings good health. (I'm paraphrasing in wide strokes.)

Something to think about.

The code for this doodle and other doodles you can use on your blog can be found at Doodles.

Save Mister Rogers Neighborhood

Details at SaveMisterRogers.com.

From their website:

"In June 2008, Public Broadcasting Service announced that it intends to soon change the way Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, the beloved children’s television program, is distributed to member stations."

"PBS will cease transmitting the program as part of their daily syndicated lineup beginning in September. Instead, PBS will provide member stations with a single Neighborhood episode on weekends. This unfortunate decision essentially silences the special nurturing voice of Mister Rogers in the daily lives of today’s children."

"We’re asking PBS to please reconsider their decision, and allow Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, with its timeless expressions of care for children, to remain a part of their syndicated Monday through Friday schedule."

How can you help? ContactPBS Headquarters and Your PBS Station and tell them how much this show means to you!

For more information and for updates, visit SaveMisterRogers.com.

Quotable: COMMIT to The Lazy

This is from Julie and was left in a comment over at Moxie's post on what "no gifts" really means.

"If you're going to be lazy, COMMIT to The Lazy. It's a sin to do lazy half-ass."

Love it!

Gift idea: pop-up colouring card for kids

Recently, Ask Moxie had a post titled "Q&A: Does 'no gifts' really mean no gifts?" Should you feel uncomfortable going completely empty-handed, making a personalized colouring card like this (optionally including a selection of appropriately themed stickers) is a nice compromise.

Instructions for creating this Pop-Up Colouring Card For Kids can be found at Craft Day.

Rerun: Motivation and happiness

Something to dwell upon as we enter a long weekend. Have a good one everybody!

[Originally posted February 25, 2007.]

(Items with a variation of this image can be purchased at Cafe Press.)


This doodle and other doodles you can use on your blog can be found at Doodles.