CSN Stores!

I've been seeing mucho mucho CSN Stores giveaways buzzing all around the blogosphere for months now and have even entered a few (fingers crossed!). CSN sells almost anything at their 200+ linked stores with one "shopping cart" and at lowwww prices. From a much needed stylish coffee table for my living room (lovin on the cocktail ottomans and not just because we call Otto "OttoMan" sometimes) to the world's darlingest John Deere toddler cowboy boots for my OttoMan!

CSN Stores is giving me the opportunity to do a review, which I'll post here soon (and which will probbbbably be for the above mentioned cowboy boots). I'm no cowboy but Ot can rock those bad boys Billy Corgan style, gents!

Wordless... Underwater With Mermaid Zora

-Kate

Guest Blog Post by Punflay - Save a Frog, Dissect an iPad!

Feeling pretttttty cool about having a guest blogger - it's our first time! Please enjoy this post by Punflay, a super friendly company I've gotten to know a few people from on Twitter. They are so nice and their apps are educational & geared for kids of all ages and seem to be in the $1-$5 range. You can check their blog out online here. Man I wish my high school had offered the following frog dissection alternative, I would have been ALL OVER IT! Of course that was 250 years before the word "app" even existed!

 

Guest Blog Post by Punflay - Frog Dissection App

My images of frogs have been largely influenced by Arnold Lobel's beloved Frog and Toad series. Their adventures and heart-warming tales of friendship have always kept my kids and me in splits. Who can forget The List, Ice Cream, Cookies, etc! Long story short - that's the extent of my knowledge about amphibians. I felt that frogs and toads belonged belonged only in the classroom when teachers and dreamy kindergarteners discussed Frog and Toad's friendship over milk and cookies.

Until I heard that we were going to develop an app called Frog Dissection.

I had nearly forgotten that there was a thing called animal dissection. Since I had opted out of high school biology, I skipped dissecting frogs. I had only a vague idea about dissection and I never gave it a serious thought.

After doing a bit of reading on the subject, I learned that animal dissections are still part of the science curriculum in most parts of the country, but there are some states in the US that offer alternatives. As for suitable substitutes, there are models, simulation software and now, apps that can help you learn the procedure. We are happy to say that our Frog Dissection app was released earlier this year and has been received extremely well.
In a Schooling Setting:

If you are curious about Frog Dissection's use in the classroom, imagine this situation. The teacher could begin the dissection lesson with an introduction to amphibians and why scientists use this model to study anatomy and physiology. They could then move on to a demo of the app and explain the procedure. Bonus: no shrieks and wails because it is completely virtual. Even the most faint-at-heart can participate. And the app has updates such as interactive quizzes.
It's easy to see why such apps can be very effective in the classroom. I am glad to see that frogs and toads can still remain in the classroom where they are welcome. Besides teaching us a thing or two about friendships, they can also allow us to learn through a virtual world. Three cheers for Frog and Toad!

-Punflay (Guest Blogger)

You can also check out ABC Numbers and Number Sense HD.

A Delish Dish! Egg Free Banana Bread Recipe

This dish was an impromptu discovery the other day when I started peeling a banana for Ot & all 3 bananas on the bunch broke open at the top. The stars had aligned, I was required to use the other 2 bananas for banana bread, I had to! But then halfway through getting all the ingredients stirred together I realized I'd thrown out all our eggs in fear of the Dreaded Salmonella Eggs! Even though we always buy organic eggs, the whole recall thing just freaked me the [beep] out so I'd tossed ours "just in case"... Back to the dramatic banana bread story... (I know you're on the edge of your seat)... So, I thought back to my vegan days and decided to do a little subbing: applesauce for moisture/sweetness/binding and cornstarch for add'l thickening/binding. The result was eggless and sooooo good - extra moist and just 100% a success! Obvi from the pic, Otto couldn't wait to get his chubby little paws on it and he/we gobbled it up!

1. Preheat over to 350'
2. Get your ingredients together:
- 1 1/2 cups flour (I used whole wheat) (but for a gluten-free bread use brown rice flour - you may need a smidge more flour)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 5 Tbsp butter - melted (salted butter)
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 2 ripe bananas mashed
- 1/4 cup applesauce
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch mixed into 2 Tbsp cold water
3. Stir it all together and pour the gloppy batter into a greased bread pan
4. Bake for 50-60 minutes (until a fork stuck into the center comes out clean)
5. Then set oven to "Low Broil" and broil just a minute or so until the top is nice and browned. You can also brush a little extra butter on top before doing this step. Nom!

My prediction: Just like Van Gogh, you'll eat it all up! Unlike Van Gogh, you'll smile!

Serving suggestions: I lovvvve banana bread crumbled up over yogurt! Or heated and topped with a scoop of vanilla icecream!

-Lindsey