Blog - In A Tickle

Melinda’s 5 Favorite Inspiring Blogs: Weekend Wonderings

Posted on May 4, 2013 by Melinda PrinceMay 7, 2019

Today, I wanted to share my current top 5 blogs that I follow and that keep me inspired. Next weekend, mom will share her top 5 with you.

(In no particular order)

Becoming Minimalist–This blog has inspired me to take a closer look at how I view stuff and pursue a healthier relationship with material things and commitments so that I can thrive in my personal goals and relationships.
The Complete Guide to Imperfect Homemaking-I discovered this blog because of a tutorial for a car seat blanket for my daughter. I started browsing and was hooked. She talks about everything a homemaker would be interested in: organizing, decorating, family, recipes, and simplifying, etc.
Maybe Matilda-I think this blog writer might be me. Sometimes the things she says, does, or how she says it feels like it could’ve been me saying it. She talks about life, crocheting, and sewing, etc. She is very real and down to earth in her writing.
100 Days of Real Food-I’ve been on a journey the last few years to eat real whole foods that are good for my body and for my family. This blog has recipes and great information about food and ingredients. She has challenges at different levels to get you motivated to start eating fewer processed foods and more REAL foods.
MADE-One of the highlights of this blog is the Celebrate the Boy series. It’s not always easy finding cute sewing projects for the boys. She has tutorials and patterns for sewing, as well as some recipes. Each post has beautiful pictures that bring me inspiration.

Hope you take a look at these blogs and find a little inspiration for yourself.

{Create Your Own} Coconut: Foody Friday

Posted on May 3, 2013 by Melinda PrinceMay 7, 2019

I remember as a kid not really liking coconut. All I ever knew of it was shredded coconut in desserts. I think what I didn’t like about it was the texture. I would eat foods that had coconut in it, but I didn’t enjoy it much.

However, my opinion of coconut has changed in the last year or so. It all started when Miss Tickles was just six weeks old. She started breaking out all over her face with red, rough dry patches. Our doctor told us right away, cut out all polyester and for me to stop drinking milk because I was breastfeeding. Every time I drank dairy milk or ate ice cream, she would break out and spit up a lot. I switched to soy milk but decided that I didn’t like the taste as much and didn’t want to worry about too much soy in my diet. I tried coconut milk, and, while it took a little bit to get used to it, I enjoy the taste now. Since drinking and using coconut milk in recipes (most often baking) that call for milk, my taste for coconut has developed more and piqued my interest to more coconut products.

I’m sure many of you have already heard of the benefits of coconut oil. And if you haven’t, I encourage you to do some research. We picked up some coconut oil at the natural foods store one day because I was intrigued and wanted to try it. We started off using it when we popped our popcorn. YUM! I don’t want popcorn any other way now. In fact, even when I am using coconut oil for other things, my first thought when I smell it is popcorn. Here’s a quick How-to on popping popcorn with coconut oil:

When the oil is melted, place two kernals in the pot and cover. After those two pop, add 1/3 cup kernals and cover. As the popcorn starts to pop, lift the lid slightly and shake the pan back and forth as it finishes popping on the stove. Remove from heat and pour into a bowl.

Sprinkle with a little sea salt and enjoy!

It comes as a solid but as you heat it, it melts to liquid. Most of the time in baking and such, you want to melt it first or it won’t mix in with the recipe. The first time I made muffins with it, I didn’t melt it first. They turned out ok, but every once in awhile there was a pocket of air in the muffin and a more distinct oily taste. The muffins also didn’t turn out as moist because the oil was not able to work throughout the batter.

Since then, I have started using coconut oil to replace anything that calls for vegetable or canola oil. I think it tastes better and prefer the health benefits to the possible negative affects of the vegetable/canola oils.

Just this week I picked up a bag of coconut sugar. Mom made some brownies with it recently, and since we stopped using white sugar and brown sugar, I have been trying to figure out another substitute other than honey and maple for certain recipes that require a non-liquid sugar option. My Hubby is quite the tea drinker, so I was hoping that it would be a good replacement in his sweet tea. Unfortunately, he and our adopted daughter (FYI: she is 20 and doesn’t live with us) made it abundantly clear that they did not prefer it…I think the exact words were that it tasted like vomit. I tasted it and couldn’t figure out what was so bad, but my viewpoint was quickly discounted because I am not a “sweet tea drinker.”

I doubt I will be able to convince them to try it again, but the coconut sugar won’t go to waste because it tasted delicious in the brownie recipe I subbed it in (I used 1 cup coconut sugar and 1/2 cup honey instead of the 2 cups brown sugar. I also would cut the salt to 1/2 tsp or less if you use salted butter. And completely disregard and laugh hysterically when it tells you to let them sit overnight before eating. Are you kidding me??? Who makes brownies to not eat them till the next day). Grab a plate, a nice glass of coconut milk, and a good book. Delicious!

My next venture in coconut is using shredded coconut in some recipes. We tried this one, which also uses coconut oil, and it tasted so yummy! My kids devoured them, well, at least the ones that were left after mom and I ate half of them. At least I think mom had a few of them.

Energy Bites with shredded coconut and coconut oil

I have never tried coconut water or coconut flour, but I am sure I will at some point. Coconut water is supposed to be a great natural alternative to sports drinks. And even though we haven’t had issues that caused us to pursue a gluten-free diet, I am always up for new things, so I am sure the coconut flour would be fun to try. Besides, I have friends who have to deal with it. There are differences though in how you use it in replacement of regular wheat so be sure to read up on that.

If you have never liked coconut or just don’t think about using it, I encourage you to give a try soon. Start with one thing and then maybe you will want to try even more.

Let’s Talk Fabric–Wrap Up: Thoroughly Thrifty Thursday

Posted on May 2, 2013 by JanMay 1, 2013

We have spent the last four weeks talking about ways to save money on fabric for your projects. You can read those posts here:

What we want to talk about today may not seem to fit exactly with being thrifty, but we think it’s something that should be shared.

We want to encourage you today to NOT look for a sale for fabric.

Lots of bright, fun fabric at Marimekko’s in NYC

Go to a fabric store and just look at the fabric without looking at the price. Feel the fabric, look at the textures, look at the colors. Be inspired by the fabric and choose something that you love. Choose something that you feel is especially beautiful.

We obviously want you to stay within your budget, but we want to give you permission to save up some money to just go buy exactly what you want. Not because it’s on sale. Not because it’s a deal. Because you love it, and it feels wonderful!

You can have all the fabric in the world, but if none of it inspires you, then creativity will be harder to muster up for a project.

Marimekko Fabric and Home Decor store in NYC

Marimekko’s in NYC- a colorful, creative store full of fabric and other fun home decor!

Maybe what you need is a super soft minky for a baby blanket, a designer interlock knit for a maxi dress, or a stylish crushed taffeta for your throw pillows. Whatever it is that you are inspired to make, make it to last, make it beautiful, make it with the color and texture that makes you feel lovely.

And of course, if you just happen to have a coupon to use for it then it’s all the better!

What kind of fabric have you had your eye on lately but haven’t bought yet?

What the Blind Man Saw: Draw With Me Wednesday

Posted on May 1, 2013 by JanApril 30, 2013

Do you remember the story of the blind men and the elephant? Each man felt a certain part of the elephant and thought the elephant consisted only of the part he felt. If you want a refresher on the story, watch this video:

You can draw all kinds of moral lessons from this little fable, but that is not what we are going to do today. Just like the blind men in the story who only “saw” one small part of the elephant and let their imaginations fill in the description of the elephant, you are going to receive one small part of an image and let your imagination help you fill in the rest of the picture!

I started with a drawing of an object or animal and removed parts of the image to only reveal a portion of the whole. When you look at the part that is left, you can try to guess what the original picture was and then draw in your version of the rest of it. Even if you think you know what it started out as, you can let your imagination fly and see what you could make out of the portion drawn.

I don’t want to show you all the drawings that we made because I want your imagination to be free to create. But here is an example of one. This is the partial image:

What was this? what else could it become?

Here is what Melinda made of it:

Do you know what she drew? It is a Newton’s Cradle! I will tell you that was not what the original picture was, but it is a very creative interpretation. Way to go, Melinda!

Below is an image with all of the partial pictures. However, you can download these pdf files and print them from your computer to draw on. Each page has two partial images.
Mystery Drawing 1
Mystery Drawing 2
Mystery Drawing 3
Mystery Drawing 4
Mystery Drawing 5

Some will be easy to figure out, some may be harder. Grab your pencils! Use your imagination and have fun creating!

After you have finished your drawings, you can take a peek at the rest of the drawings Melinda and Ninja Boy made.

Star Wars T-Shirts: Transform it Tuesday

Posted on April 30, 2013 by Melinda PrinceMay 7, 2019

When we found out that Ninja Boy also had a polyester allergy like Miss Tickles, we went through all of his clothes and got rid of anything 100% or part polyester. Unfortunately, this meant that we had to toss the favorite Lego Star Wars pj’s. I felt terrible and promised him that I would somehow replace them. It was bad enough that we were dealing with this allergy issue but to then have to get rid of his favorite pj’s! Torture!

It took me awhile to get it done, but I finally made good on my promise and replaced the pj’s with some t-shirts.

I found a big boy sized t-shirt that had nine Lego Star Wars characters on it. Then I bought a package of plain white t-shirts. I cut out the circles, and using some heat and bond, attached the circles to the shirt. I applique stitched around the circle with the sewing machine to keep them secure and finish off the look.

I don’t have a picture of the original shirt but it was black with 10 pictures of Lego Star Wars

Plain t-shirt

Three new Lego Star Wars shirts

He now has three new shirts in place of those pj’s and the possibility of a couple more if I get around to it!

He loves them!

Outwit Outlast Outplay–Baby Shower Advice: Real Me Monday

Posted on April 29, 2013 by Melinda PrinceMay 7, 2019

This last weekend, we went to a homeschool conference. My Hubby, my mom, and my mother-in-law were able to come with me. It was an encouraging, inspiring, sharpening time. There were moments of laughter when a speaker described my son and oldest daughter to a tee, and moments of tears when I spoke to a speaker, sharing issues I have been facing and getting wisdom from one who has been there. All in all, this weekend was exactly what I needed. It has made me think about things in a different way and remind me of things that I have already established in my heart.

One of the things that I love about homeschooling conferences is that 75% of it (I realized lately that I like to make up percentages! Just go with it) is about parenting and 40% is about education (see what I did there!). Since, as homeschoolers, we spend a lot of time with our kids, it’s a necessary thing to get encouragement as parents. Yesterday, I started thinking about some of the best parenting advice I have received, which might have been brought on by the fact that I have had many friends having first baby’s lately. Often, when a new mom has a baby shower, the ones throwing the party encourage guests to share some kind of advice. Or just the fact that she is clearly a new mom, anyone and everyone feels the need to share a tidbit of their own parental knowledge even without prompting!

Two of my best friends and me when we were pregnant with our first babies at Ninja Boy’s baby shower. There were 8 and 11 weeks between Ninja Boy and their babies.

My Princess’ baby shower (no pink bags for Ninja Boy)

I have personally had plenty of people share their own parenting stories and advice. Some have been very helpful, others maybe not so much. The three best pieces of advice I have gotten, though said in slightly different words, were OUTWIT, OUTLAST, OUTPLAY. You thought that those were tagline words from the show Survivor, and in a way it fits here too. How do you become the ultimate survivor as a parent?? OUTWIT, OUTLAST, OUTPLAY. (Yes, I know it’s actually outwit, outplay, outlast, but I like to say it the other way).

OUTWIT:

Kids are smart. Smarter than some people think. They remember things that you barely have any recollection about from when they were only 2 years old. Like when my son reminded me the other day that he colored a pumpkin coloring sheet at the bank, which was three years ago (he’s 5!) They understand more than you think. Like when people try to talk baby talk to my niece, who we will call Songbird, and who, at not even two, can remember and sing back more songs from musicals than you might have even heard.

Now if you look up synonyms of outwit they are not very nice like deceive, swindle, lead astray. Not exactly what we want to do to our kids, but there are a couple words in there that do fit: circumvent, outmaneuver, and sometimes even trick.

One of the meanings of circumvent is “to surround or encompass, as by strategem.” YOU have to surround your kids. YOU be their world. YOU hold on to them on purpose. You feel like your child is pulling away from you, and you, however that looks for your family, you hold on even tighter. You outmaneuver them.

My example for this working, is that for awhile this year, Ninja Boy seemed like he was pulling away from me. He kept telling me that he liked daddy better, and more often than not, tried to avoid giving me kisses. Now, I’ve heard people say that it’s normal don’t worry about it, but it affected me. I promised myself that I would do everything I could to make sure that boy loved being with me even as a teenager. I didn’t want to start losing my son at five. So I took him to breakfast. I made special effort that week to get closer to him before it got any worse. And you know what happened? He started hugging me longer, grabbing me for a kiss, and telling me on his own that he loved me. I circumvented his pulling away from me by maneuvering to bring him back in. All he really needed was my extra effort to be close to him.

And as far as the tricking goes…I think that is directly related to getting them to eat, bathe, go to bed, etc by being clever. Like I did with the zucchini. Ninja Boy now eats it like a champion, no complaining! To outwit our kids, we have to tap into our creative ideas that will work.

OUTLAST:

This piece of advice was given to me by my dad when we had Ninja Boy. He liked to fight going to sleep, and good ol’ Pa would rock and rock and rock until he didn’t have a chance. The boy would go to sleep. Whether you are doing the cry it out method, the cry a little method, or whatever other methods there are, you have to outlast. In my experience, day 3-4 are the WORST when you are trying to train in any way, sleeping, taking away pacifier, potty training, etc. Those are the days that often make you want to give up. But you have to outlast. They will eventually eat, they will eventually fall asleep, eventually start going potty in the toilet. You just can’t give up even when you think you are done. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. Call someone, talk to someone, and tell them to not let you quit.

The point is you know what is best for your child. You know that it is better for them to be able to sleep. It’s better for them to stop peeing in their pants. Keep your eye on the goals you have for your children, and outlast their cries, tantrums, and pitiful little puppy dog faces. You are the parent and know what’s best for them.

OUTPLAY:

This is the advice that I have had the hardest time taking. Playing. Since becoming a wife and mom, I have a more difficult time sitting down and just playing. There is always something to wash, make, put away, take care of. But at some point you have to learn to stop and play. The saying is true that they grow up so fast. I am having to challenge myself to learn how to play again, and not just because I have to but because I want to. I want to spend time with my kids in their world and hear their stories and games. There are definite times to get stuff done and to allow them free play on their own without mom or dad right there. But if nothing else, I want to be available to listen to what they are doing and hear their interactions, and when the time comes to play, give it my all and for even longer than they think I will. I may have no idea what Barbie should say to Princess Cinderella, but with some practice, I think I’ll know exactly what to do as Darth Vadar comes in to capture her and take her to the Decepticons lair.

I share these three words of advice, not because I have done them perfectly all the time, but when I have had shining mommy moments, I have had great success. Maybe you can too.

Share your stories of when you OUTWIT, OUTLAST, and OUTPLAY your children.

Do Schools Kill Creativity? Weekend Wonderings

Posted on April 27, 2013 by JanApril 27, 2013

Disclaimer: We are attending a homeschool conference this weekend. My three kids were homeschooled and my grandchildren are being homeschooled, or “life-schooled” as we like to call it. So our slant is favorable to alternative ways of educating our children!

In one of the workshops today, the speaker mentioned the work of a TEDtalks speaker named Sir Ken Robinson. Perhaps you have heard of him. He is a creativity expert and author/educator.

The TED website has this to say about him: “Why don’t we get the best out of people? Sir Ken Robinson argues that it’s because we’ve been educated to become good workers, rather than creative thinkers. Students with restless minds and bodies — far from being cultivated for their energy and curiosity — are ignored or even stigmatized, with terrible consequences.”

“We are educating people out of their creativity.” ~Sir Ken Robinson

Take time this weekend to listen to this video. Perhaps it will challenge you to think differently about creativity.

Sir Ken Robinson

{Create Your Own} Quinoa: Foody Friday

Posted on April 26, 2013 by Melinda PrinceMay 7, 2019

Last week we challenged you to start cooking outside the box! Our first ingredient highlight is Quinoa (KEEN-wah) for the {Create Your Own} series. What is it? Check it out.

Long before I had ever eaten it, I heard random people talking about Quinoa and how much they loved it. I had no idea what it was or what you would do with it. I can’t remember the first time I had it (probably with my sister), but I remember the first time I ever made anything with it was a delicious salad with spinach, feta, and cranberry I had seen on Pinterest. I was hooked! We started using it all the time in salads. I almost won’t eat a salad without it now!

After awhile, we started using it in other things. One of our favorite recipes is for Korean Beef, but we replace the rice with quinoa, the brown sugar with honey, and add in some stir fried vegetables. It’s DELICIOUS! A super easy recipe for when you need dinner fast! We eat some kind of stir fry with quinoa every week, whether its beef, chicken, or just vegetable. Another great sauce I make all of the time for stir fry is this recipe.

Chicken, zucchini, onion, and cabbage stir fry with Quinoa and honey garlic sauce

Because Quinoa is a complete protein, you can use it to replace some or all of your meat in a recipe. One night, in a pinch, I made quinoa tacos! We didn’t miss the meat at all (which is saying something for My Hubby to think that). I didn’t make the exact recipe, but I used this recipe for a sauce to top off the tacos. We have also made Sloppy Quinoa Joes without the ground beef. I have also added quinoa to soups and chilis.

Just recently I have ventured into some new uses for quinoa–baking! I made these muffins. The quinoa keeps the muffin nice and moist. However, I used coconut oil instead of vegetable, cut the white flour in half and added whole wheat to replace it, and subbed local honey for the brown sugar. My kids and I almost had them devoured before My Hubby got home. You could use the same recipe and replace the raisins for another kind of fruit, and I bet they would taste awesome.

Just type Quinoa into Pinterest and you can find lots of recipes and inspiration. If you have never tried this delicious and nutritious food, we hope that you will give it a go. We wanted to share an In a Tickle {Create Your Own} Quinoa Salad Recipe to get you started:

Salad with spinach, quinoa, feta cheese and strawberries

Not a salad fan? Try chopping the lettuce or spinach up and mix it in with your other ingredients. My Hubby likes it better with the spinach whole, but I like it better chopped up. Try it both ways and see what you like best!

Want to make your own dressing? Check out these salad dressing recipes:

Greek Dressing from Allrecipes.com

Poppyseed Dressing from Simple Bites Blog

Comment below with your favorite {Create Your Own} Quinoa salad combination.

Let’s Talk Fabric Part 4: Thoroughly Thrifty Thursday

Posted on April 25, 2013 by Melinda PrinceMay 7, 2019

“Rain drops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens, brown paper packages tied up with string…these are a few of my favorite things”

Sound of Music

Sound of music is one of our favorite musicals. It is such a fun story with great music. One of our favorite scenes is when it’s storming and the kids come into Maria’s room. She sings them a song and makes them feel better. After they have left, she continues the song and has an epiphany! Earlier, she was refused fabric to make the children some play clothes and finds out that the drapes are about to be replaced. Her big idea was to repurpose those drapes for the children! Maria was ahead of her time in the 1930’s and was repurposing before Pinterest was ever invented!

Sound of Music

Maria was not able to go out and buy fabric for the clothes herself, but she had a sewing machine and a passion. Maybe you don’t have money to go out and buy any fabric, but you have ideas and equipment to transform something. Channel a little Fräulein Maria and start looking around your own house.

Do you have a dress that you haven’t worn in a year? What about those stacks of t-shirts you never get around to wearing because you have so many? Do you have a pile of blankets that you don’t use often enough? Scrutinize every piece of fabric in your home and ask yourself, “could this be more useful as something else?”

Take a look in your closet.

You don’t have to have a crafting budget to be crafty. You just have to have a little passion and an idea, and you can create some new favorite things!

What do you have in your house that you could turn into something else? Post in the comments below.

Check out all the Let’s Talk Fabric posts:

5 Random Words: Write With Me Wednesday

Posted on April 24, 2013 by Melinda PrinceMay 7, 2019

When I was a little girl, I used to write stories all of the time. I even typed them all out and made them into books to give to my family. Some of the stories didn’t make any sense at all, but I was so proud of them. Somewhere along the way, I became more self conscious about my writing. Somehow I figured out there was good writing and bad writing, writing that made sense and writing that didn’t. Maybe a little bit of that kept me from writing as often as I should or wanted to. Even in college after majoring in English, knowing how much I liked to read and write, I still was timid about my writing. I felt good when a professor praised my work, and it affected me deeply when they had negative comments or when they would highlight a peers work. I felt like they were pointing fingers saying, “This is good. Yours was not.”

Now that I am out of college, I don’t have anybody giving me grades for my writing, but I think sometimes those feelings still keep me from writing. That feeling that maybe I am not good enough. That nagging feeling keeps me staring at a empty page, mind blank, and not knowing where to even start. The epitome of writer’s block is when you can’t even start.

Writing can be so intimidating, especially if you haven’t done it very often. One of the ways I have found that helps push past the blank stare is having some kind of prompt. Today, I want you to pull out your paper and pen or open up a word document and write a short story. To help get you started, you get to go to a Random Word Generators to get five words that you must put into your story. This can be so helpful to give you an idea that you might never have thought of just sitting and staring at a page. You can find these online, or if you have a smart phone, you can even find word generator apps.

Go to Creative Random Word Generator, and click on the number 5 to generate five words for your short story. You can choose up to eight on the site, but for this exercise, you can just choose five. Then using those words, come up with a story. You can focus on one particular word to base your story on then add in the rest, or you can just start writing and add those words in as you see them fit in.

When I tried it, I got the words DIGGING, BARGAIN, HANGERS, TROPHY, and MOUSE. This is the short story I wrote:

Melody’s Treasure

Digging through the New Item Bargain Bins at the thrift store, Melody methodically searched for the one thing she wanted the most. She had been at it for a half hour already, tossing aside a package of hangers, a scrub brush, and old trophy, and a stack of pot holders. She had that hopeful feeling in her stomach that today she would find it. She came to this thrift store every week at the same time after finding out when they put their new donated merchandise out every wednesday morning. So every wednesday after school, Melody came to look for it. Three weeks ago, her mom had finally had enough of her messy room, picked up all the stuff that was on the floor, threw it all in trash bags, and donated it to the thrift store. Sure, it bothered her to lose so much of her stuff, but more than anything, she was most affected by losing one thing in particular. Most people wouldn’t think much of it, but this thing in particular was special.

When she was ten years old, her best friend gave her a small porcelain mouse to show their friendship. The next year, Lola moved away, and it was one of the hardest times in Melody’s life. Normally the mouse sat on top of her dresser, but that day her mom had put her foot down about keeping her room clean, it had somehow gotten knocked down by her pesky little brother onto the floor into a pile of clothes, trash and who knows what else. She didn’t care about the clothes or other things that she lost, all she wanted was to get that mouse back. It meant everything to her. It meant friendship and happy times.

Tossing aside a pencil holder, she thought she caught a glimpse of a pink tail under a purple dish cloth. Was it? Had she finally found it? There it was! And just a measly $.25. Such a small price to pay for such a priceless treasure–to have spent weeks looking for it. Melody knew that keeping her room clean was much easier than searching through other people’s old useless junk to find her treasure.

Now it’s your turn to write a short story with five random words in it! Write in the comments what words you used.

Check out these FREE Apps on iPhone or iPad to help you get past writer’s block:

WordDot:a random name and phrase generator by Endless Dot Lifestyle (This app gives you two words at a time in fun fonts and colors, and you can change one word to always be a name that you input. This app can also be upgraded to be ad free).

InspireMe–Inspiration Generator by myice92 (This app gives you three words at a time, and you can copy or email them).

WordGen by Antillas dev (This app will give you one or five words at a time and has a timer with game ideas to play).