Fire up the blenders! Cold soup rocks! http://www.salon.com/food/kitchen_challenge/2010/07/26/cold_soup_recipes/index.html

Got some giveaway sponsors for your blog (go on, take 'em) Hey all. I run a community site called bloggerdise.com. Essentially we link up bloggers with businesses and artists that are looking to be reviewed, do giveaways or promote their offers. Our site is totally free to register and use. We have over 800 businesses to choose from. Though I figure I'd offer up some of my personal picks on this thread. Again, to actually view all the business contact info you just need to register on bloggerdise.com first, for free. Ok, here's my first batch ... [oh, and if you have any questions you can reach me @ jesse@bloggerdise.com] Awesome popcorn company that is into sampling. Love their caramel corn ! http://www.bloggerdise.com/offer/?offer_id=501 Novelist with a quirky sense of humor... http://www.bloggerdise.com/offer/?offer_id=982 Skincare brand that is in to doing sampling of different kinds of products. http://www.bloggerdise.com/offer/?offer_id=1422 Eco-lips (premium lip care) open to giveaways – http://www.bloggerdise.com/offer/?offer_id=531 About Abby (award winning web series) looking for interesting promotional ideas – http://www.bloggerdise.com/offer/?offer_id=1263 Vegan Web series starring Eric Roberts http://www.bloggerdise.com/offer/?offer_id=1206 Marcal tissues (open to giveaways and reviews) – http://www.bloggerdise.com/offer/?offer_id=872 Delicious Tea co. Open to sampling – http://www.bloggerdise.com/offer/?offer_id=1319 Charitable search site – http://www.bloggerdise.com/offer/?offer_id=1207 Applegate Farms (open to couponing) – http://www.bloggerdise.com/offer/?offer_id=1233 I got a bunch more, but interested to get your feedback (like if you want me to keep posting these.) Best, Jesse Bloggerdise.com

Any thoughts on this? ___ Dr. Pepper Ten 'not for women' By Mae Anderson, Associated Press NEW YORK – Dudes don't drink diet. Or at least that's the idea behind Dr Pepper Ten, a 10-calorie soft drink Dr Pepper Snapple Group is rolling out on Monday with a macho ad campaign that proclaims "It's not for women." The soft drink was developed after the company's research found that men shy away from diet drinks that aren't perceived as "manly" enough. To appeal to men, Dr Pepper made its Ten drink 180 degrees different than Diet Dr Pepper. It has calories and sugar unlike its diet counterpart. Instead of the dainty tan bubbles on the diet can, Ten will be wrapped in gunmetal grey packaging with silver bullets. And while Diet Dr Pepper's marketing is women-friendly, the ad campaign for Ten goes out of its way to eschew women. For instance, there's a Dr Pepper Ten Facebook page for men only. And TV commercials are heavy on the machismo, including one spot that shows muscular men in the jungle battling snakes and bad guys and appear to shoot lasers at each other. "Hey ladies. Enjoying the film? Of course not. Because this is our movie and this is our soda," a man says as he attempts to pour the soda into a glass during a bumpy ATV ride. "You can keep the romantic comedies and lady drinks. We're good." Dr Pepper Ten is not the first diet soda aimed at men. (Think: Coke Zero and Pepsi Max.) But Dr Pepper Ten's ad campaign is the first to be so overt about courting men who want to drink a soda with fewer calories. The ads come at a time when overall sales in the $74 billon soft drink industry are slowing as more Americans buy healthier options like juice and bottled water. Volume has fallen from slightly more than 10 billion cases in 2005 to 9.4 billion cases in 2010, according to Beverage Digest data. "Regular sugared soft drinks have declined in recent years, and some consumers have taste issues with some of the diet sodas," said John Sicher, editor and publisher of Beverage Digest. Dr Pepper said men, in particular, are dissatisfied with the taste and image of diet drinks. The company wouldn't disclose the formula of Dr Pepper Ten, but said that the drink has 10 calories and 2 grams of sugar, which gives it a sweeter taste. Dr Pepper said there are 23 flavors in its regular soda, (which has 150 calories and 27 grams of sugar per can) and Dr Pepper Ten contains all of them. Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/story/2011-10-10/dr-pepper-for-men/50717788/1

How do you know if your child, especially a toddler, shows signs of being gifted? My 25 month old has known his whole alphabet for a while, can count from 1-10 forwards and backwards, knows colors and pretty much all shapes, even ones that aren't "typical" (like octagon, rectangle, oval). And just recently, he's started identifying states on a map....I think he is up to 40 or so now, in just a couple of weeks. It almost seems like he doesn't forget a thing, and remembers a lot of things from the first time he learns them....starting to wonder if he might have somewhat of photographic memory! Are there any resources for how to raise a child you think might be gifted? He seems to love to learn constantly, and I'm not sure what kinds of things to introduce to him next....I don't want him getting bored or start to feel I'm shoving anything on him. I prefer for him to learn new things through play, rather than rote, so info geared in that direction would be great. Thanks in advance!

Life is What Happens When You’re Busy Making Plans After falling ass backwards into marriage with a wonderful man, really more than I could have ever asked for in a person to love me, 5 years later I was getting a little worried. I wasn’t worried about the marriage; it was rock solid with the exception of one not so small issue. I had always known what I wanted in life. There was no time frame on any of it but I knew, in my heart, that I would be married with children and successful at whatever I chose to pursue. Yes, my self-confidence runneth over. One small problem, I met the man of my dreams when I was least expecting it. He asked me to marry him, when I was even less expecting it. I said yes, to the shock of myself and everyone else. You see where I am going with this? Life just kept tossing me those lovely wonderful curve balls. I went with it and it all seemed to be playing out perfectly. My life was everything I never knew I’d always wanted, served on a silver platter. One thing was missing, a baby. It wasn’t missing because I had misplaced it or some unfortunate fertility issues. We weren’t so busy with our careers that we had forgotten about it. What happened was I married a man who wasn’t sure if he wanted children or not. I know it sounds crazy that I would have even considered marriage when I was so certain about this one aspect of my life. I knew I needed to be a mother, at some point, the way I know I need to breathe air. But he wasn’t totally sure that he didn’t want children, I am an eternal optimist, and we took a chance. Actually, I’d say it was more like the biggest gamble of my life because if things hadn’t worked out as they did, my story would be very different. Probably a lot more like Elizabeth Gilbert’s and a lot less like Truthful Mommy’s. I remember feeling a lot of trepidation the summer of 2004. It had finally sunk it that maybe this wasn’t going to happen and then big decisions were going to have to be made. Decisions that neither of us wanted to even consider. So we vaguely discussed and kind of decided to plan to plan to have a baby. You know…maybe sometime in that not pre determined future. Personally, in retrospect, I think we were biding our time. He was trying to put off something he still wasn’t sure about and I was trying to give him the benefit of the doubt. I was trying and praying to keep hope alive in my heart. That was the summer of our 5-year anniversary. We planned a romantic getaway to New Orleans. It was magical. I’m sure it had a lot to do with the “we’re on vacation” mojo and the ginormous hurricanes they serve in the French Quarter but we had a heart to heart and decided that we were both on board to plan to plan to have our mythical baby…one of these days. We walked around the Garden district holding hands and talking about how awesome it would be to live there. Spent nights walking together, gazing at the stars, eating rich foods on Jazz cruises in the Mississippi. We lingered in the French Quarter drinking all that life had to offer before coming back to our hotel to bask in one another’s love multiple times* wink*wink* Then we returned home. Our marriage stronger than ever, our faith in each other renewed, our love undivided and then…I started puking and puking….and puking some more. Our plan to plan had been foiled and replaced by actual living in the now! We were both scared witless and excited. Me more excited him more scared witless. For a couple months, I was wondering how this was all going to play out. Don’t get me wrong, he was very involved. We did everything together. I read the pregnancy journal to him every night, so we knew what was going on with our baby. He read and sang to my belly. He was at every appointment. He got choked up at the heartbeat. He catered to my every pregnancy whim. He did everything right but for some reason. I felt like he felt like I had sprung this on him. I was too afraid to bring it up because, honestly, I was afraid of what his answer was going to be. Then I wasn’t sure if it was really fear or some kind of crazy hormonal paranoia. So I just went on basking in my glow and praying every night that he REALLY was too. It felt too good to be true, so I was sure some thing was afoot. Then 3 days before Christmas we went to have a 3-D confirmation ultrasound done because I HAD to know what the sex of the baby was going to be. They had told me a girl but said they could be wrong because of leg placement. The doctor had tried 3 times to get a definite sex reading and always the same. She was a good Catholic girl even in utero, closed legs and a middle finger to the world. I was so nervous, I vomited. It was the big day; I was going to finally know the sex of our baby…our accidental, planning to plan love child. The image came up and we saw our baby in 3-D and I knew…we were ready. He was ready. He was happy. He was ECSTATIC. I had my answer, not about the sex of the baby but the answer to a much bigger question. Then Christmas came. I didn’t care what I received under the tree because I had already gotten my gift, three days earlier in the ultrasound room. I had gotten peace of mind. All the gifts were open and the Big Guy disappeared. Then he came back in with a huge, beautifully wrapped box and he placed it in front of me. “For me?” I asked. “No, it’s for the baby. I bought it a few months back to surprise you!” I opened the box and inside it was the most beautiful Burberry diaper bag that I had ever seen, through my tear filled eyes. He said, “a few months back”. I had worried for nothing. This is one of my favorite and most cherished holiday memories of all of my existence.

Mila's Daydreams http://milasdaydreams.blogspot.com/ This is the sweetest blog ever. You have to go check out the pictures!

Originally Posted by Mommysjoy in Mommybloggers I made this sucker!!! And it tasted great!!  Check out my post on how I did it at http://www.mommysjoy.com/2010/02/22/colossal-ginormous-mamoth-rainbow-cake/ Great idea for a baby shower or birthday party!

"When test scores seem too good to be true" ...I can't believe this actually happened! What a story. MILFORD, Ohio — Scott Mueller seemed to have an uncanny sense about what his students should study to prepare for upcoming state skills tests. By 2010, the teacher had spent his 16-year career entirely at Charles Seipelt Elementary School. Like other Seipelt teachers, Mueller regularly wrote study guides for his classes ahead of state tests. On test day last April, several fifth-graders immediately recognized some of the questions on their math tests. The questions were the same as those on the study guide Mueller had given out the day before. Some numbers on the actual tests were identical to those in the study guide and the questions were in the same order, the kids told other Seipelt teachers. The report of possible cheating quickly reached district officials, who put Mueller on paid leave. He initially denied any wrongdoing. Ultimately, investigators concluded that Mueller had looked at questions for both fifth-grade math and science tests in advance — a violation of testing rules — and then copied them, sometimes word for word, into a school computer to develop his study guides. The 50-year-old teacher resigned. He signed a consent agreement with the Ohio State Board of Education admitting that, by looking at the 2010 tests in advance to prepare study guides, he had "engaged in conduct unbecoming a licensed educator." His teaching license was suspended for three months. Read how the school is dealing here: http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2011-03-06-school-testing_N.htm

I wouldn't believe it but these have gone over like gangbusters TWICE for my kids (12,7) and husband.

KALE CHIPS

Ingredients
1 bunch kale
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon seasoned salt

Directions
Preheat an oven to 350 degrees.
With a knife or kitchen shears carefully remove the leaves from the thick stems and tear into bite size pieces. Wash and thoroughly dry kale with a salad spinner. Drizzle kale with olive oil and sprinkle with seasoning salt.
Bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, 10 to 15 minutes.

allrecipes.com

A coupon a day means you can put the scissors away USAToday.com - Wendy Nelson's "gateway into a bad habit," as she puts it, sounds innocent enough: a Stanley three-in-one LED flashlight bundled with two keychain flashlights — $24.95 for the whole shebang — that she scooped up as a birthday present for her husband two years ago off Woot, the housewares-heavy daily deal site. Coming up is a facial and massage as a treat for her wedding anniversary. But these days — when an ad for daily-deal titan Groupon teases, "All your savvy friends are paying half" — "do you really need an excuse (to splurge)?" asks Nelson, 57. "It might be Flag Day." The coupon is cool, having shed its stigma thanks to the rise of sites including Groupon, LivingSocial, Thrillist and Lifebooker, which lure bargain hunters with often achingly cheeky ads (In search of an off-price gynecology exam? "Look out below!"). Also helping is the popularity of the TLC show Extreme Couponing, which wraps its first season June 15. Twentysomethings use them, as do relatively wealthy people — and guys. iPhones are checked first thing in the morning for the day's discounts. Romances are kindled over daily-deal restaurant dates, often at pricey places couples couldn't otherwise afford. Vacations and honeymoons are planned around boutique hotels and unique activities dug up from daily-deal sites. Christmas lists get ticked off thanks to clicking, not clipping. And with no flipping or snipping required, the modern coupon is relatively hassle- and pain-free: Instead of subjecting themselves to ink-stained and paper-cut fingers, today's discount devotees merely need to flash an image of their purchased deal from their Droid X. "No matter how much money you make, you always love a great deal," says Doug Clinton, a research analyst who tracks the daily-deal industry for Piper Jaffray, an investment bank. "There's not a stigma attached to pulling out a Groupon vs. pulling out a coupon you clipped from the newspaper. That makes you look totally out of touch." Keep reading: http://www.usatoday.com/life/lifestyle/2011-06-05-daily-deals-extreme-couponing-groupon_n.htm?loc=interstitialskip

I love these croutons!  Here's the recipe, from http://giverslog.com/ . 

Here's a thrifty tip for all of you moms in the Providence, RI area...here is a discount code for the upcoming Yo Gabba Gabba event at the Providence PAC...here you go!! Get your dancing shoes on and get ready to take your little ones to see Yo Gabba Gabba LIVE! Use the below discount code to get $5 off your ticket and help your community because $1 from every ticket will benefit Habitat for Humanity. Tuesday, September 28th • Yo Gabba Gabba! Live!: There’s a Party in My City • Providence PAC: Tuesday, Sept 28 (3:00 & 6:30pm) • ticketing link: http://purchase.tickets.com/buy/TicketPurchase?organ_val=310&event_val=GABB Discount Code – mom Discount - $5 off HOW TO PURCHASE • Tickets are also available by phone at (401) 421-2787, or at the PPAC Box Office located at 220 Weybosset Street in downtown Providence. Summer Box Office Hours are Monday through Thursday, 10A to 3P.

Instant-read thermometer a must have USAToday.com - What's the best present to give the cook who has everything? The one thing they don't have, and the one thing both chefs and food safety experts say they desperately need — an instant-read thermometer. "It's something you can be pretty sure most people don't own, or if they do own one, they don't own a very good one," says Jack Bishop of America's Test Kitchen, a popular cooking show on PBS. Old-fashioned meat thermometers rely on metal actually expanding and turning the temperature dial. Digital instant-read thermometers use electronics and are faster and generally more accurate. The instant-read digitals use slightly different technology than a regular digital thermometer, so be sure to look for ones that say they are instant-read. Older dial thermometers take "forever" to register the temperature, says Bishop. And they're not always accurate. But a quick-read thermometer can make your food taste better and help you avoid killing your guests from a food-borne illness. Caroline Smith DeWaal, food safety director for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, has "a drawerful" of food thermometers because they're always being handed out at conferences she attends. One night she decided to test them all "and the only one that gave me a meaningful reading was the instant-read," she says. Asked if she actually uses them, she says "of course I do. The other night for dinner we were making New Orleans Cajun Whiskey Sauce for bread pudding, so we had to make sure it got up to 160" to kill any possible salmonella in the egg yolks. Out came the thermometer and the dinner party finished with a flourish and no worries that anyone would end up in the hospital. The thermometers, costing anywhere from $20 to $89, pay for themselves, says Bishop. "If you buy a 50 lb. roast for the holidays, do you really want to overcook it?" he asks. Continue: http://yourlife.usatoday.com/fitness-food/safety/story/2011-11-29/The-perfect-gift-for-any-chef-an-instant-read-thermometer/51473068/1

Looking for child care in Canada? Skip the agency fees and try www.CanadianNanny.ca. Low cost to register and no additional fees once you've found someone.

5 real, fast, delicious meals from around the U.S. Eatocracy - Rachael Ray, Robin Miller and Martha Stewart all whip up some quick-and-easy meals on TV, but for those of us who aren’t gifted in the culinary sense, they might not be that simple. Well folks, CNN iReport has answered your cooking prayers. We’ve collected real recipes from real people as part of the cultural census for CNN's Defining America. For each night of the busy workweek, we’ve selected five fast, delicious meals that won’t eat up too much time or leave you scratching your head. Arturo Navarro of Chula Vista, California, can make a meal of scrumptious salmon, brown rice, and spinach salad in 15 minutes flat. The salmon cooks in virgin olive oil for three minutes on each side. In the meantime, he washes and prepares the spinach, tomato, bell pepper, and avocado salad – a favorite he makes a few times a week. “I’ve changed my diet since last May, so I’ve been eating salmon; better nutrition than what I ate before,” he said. He now prepares fresh meals each day. Michelle Chu’s typical weekday dinners usually consist of a protein, veggies and of course, dessert! She and her boyfriend, who live in Richmond, Virginia, recently visited Omaha Steaks for the first time and were sold on the tender meat. “It’s something we eat frequently because it’s filling, easy to prepare and tastes great.” Chu’s meal of steak, asparagus and whipped sweet potatoes took about 30 minutes from start to finish. And, she ended the meal on a sweet note – angel food cake drizzled with raspberries and Biscoff spread. Are we in heaven yet? Keep reading: http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2011/07/06/ireport-5-real-fast-delicious-meals-from-around-the-u-s/?hpt=hp_bn8

24/7 MOMS is on the road this week in Hawaii Join www.247moms.com & Trisha on Tuesday night at 7pm/9pm PST for a taste of life on the Island. 247moms #1 webshow for moms!!!

I'm Sara, and I just wanted to take a few minutes to introduce myself to you, and let you know a little about what I do. I'm a Disney vacation planning specialist. My services are completely free because Disney recognizes the value of experts helping families plan their vacations. Here are just a few of the things that I can do: **assisting in making reservations and monitoring for new discounts **least crowded parks recommendations ** a custom itinerary showing park hours, parade times, crowd levels, and dining arrangements **tips on best viewing spots for parades and fireworks ** photo pass tips **attraction tips **fast pass tips **a list of free things to do at Walt Disney World ** unlimited access to me via phone or text to answer any questions that may come up during your vacation! You can reach me by email at sara@magicalmemoriestravel.com or by phone at 815-214-9832. You can also check out the blog for fun tips or to request a quote at www.disneyinstyle.blogspot.com