Strawberry Lime Corn Salad

done5Do you ever get sick of the same ole dinner night after night? I know, it’s probably not exactly “the same”, but getting stuck in a dinner time rut is so easy to do.  Tonight I made a BBQ Salsa Lime chicken and to go along with it, I decided to get creative!  Hence the Strawberry Lime Corn Salad was born…

This time of year is so wonderful for fresh fruits and veggies.  My kids both love strawberries and they both gobble up corn like you wouldn’t believe.  So, I decided to combine the two with a little panache.  I actually made this salad right outside by the grill while enjoying my family.  The kid’s played on the swings, my husband enjoyed a cold drink and I was chopping and dicing away (for about 5 minutes because it’s really that quick!)

If you are making your corn on the grill like I did, you will want to start off by timing it out so that your corn will have time to cool well before dinner, just so that you can handle it.  Another great way to make this ahead though is just to microwave your corn.  (To microwave corn: Don’t remove the husk at all, just place as is in the microwave for 3 minutes on high, then allow to cool for 5 minutes before shucking.) Microwaving is a great method for this particular salad because when you microwave corn, what you are doing is sucking all the sweet juice from the cob and pushing it all into the corn kernels; so, you end up with a very dry cob, but super juicy kernels.

Let’s get started:

Place corn on the grill about 1/2 hour before dinner… The corn itself will take about 15 minutes to cook, and then you can allow 5-10 minutes cooling time.

Grab some fresh strawberries, 6-8 or so.

Grab some fresh strawberries, 6-8 or so.

Dice up your strawberries. I would say a medium dice for a strawberry.

Slice up one scallion… discard the tip of the root and the tip of the top.

Add in your scallions.

Zest one lime.

Add your zest into the salad.

Add your zest into the salad.

Aren't those grill marks pretty?  Allow this to cool a bit so that you can handle it with your hands. You'll need two ears of corn for this recipe.

Aren’t those grill marks pretty? Allow this to cool a bit so that you can handle it with your hands. You’ll need two ears of corn for this recipe.

Remove the kernels from the cob be carefully cutting down along the edge.

Add in your corn.

Now take that lime you just zested, cut it in half and add the juice from both halves right into the salad.

Now take that lime you just zested, cut it in half and add the juice from both halves right into the salad. Mix everything together.

 

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Recipe for Strawberry Lime Corn Salad:

(Serves 4-6)2 ears of corn, grilled, kernels removed from cob

6-8 fresh strawberries, diced

1 lime, zested and squeezed

1 scallion, chopped

1 splash white wine vinegar (about a Tbs.)

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a bowl.  Serve, enjoy!

*note – this recipe is gluten-free

**note – this recipe has no added salt

 

Strawberry Hair Bow

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Little girls love hair bows!  I wish fun things like this were around when I was a kid! Handmade hair bows are all the rage right now.  This is something really fun to do with your daughter, granddaughter, niece or any little girl you have in your life this spring break or summer vacation!

Here’s how I did it:

materials1

Gather your supplies. You will need two plain clips, one length of polka-dotted pink ribbon, one length of green ribbon with a white stitch accent and one length of black sparkly ribbon.

clips2

Clips. I ordered these in bulk on-line… But any craft store will have them or something similar.  I use these specifically because my daughter is a year and a half old and her hair is still baby fine and these hold great!

measure

Next, measure your black ribbon. To do this open the clip and place the ribbon along the full length of the inside of the ribbon and allow for enough ribbon to run along both the top and the bottom of your clip and be sure it is able to come right around to the squeezy part of the clip.

apply black

You’ll want to run glue along the inside of the clip first. Then pop the ribbon in being sure not to close the clip until you have the ribbon in place or you will glue everything together, not fun. Then continue along the top and the bottom and finally at the end where the squeezy part is.  Your entire clip should be encapsulated with ribbon at this point both inside and out.

green twist

Next, you will want to build your leaves and your berry. Here is the shape you should make your leaves into. Place a dot of glue to secure.

twist pink

For your berry. Cut a small piece of ribbon to cover about 1/2 the size of your clip when folded in this shape.

glue pink

Now, fold over and place a dot of glue forming this shape.  Then, up with the other side and place a dot of glue there.

apply green

Your clip should have a piece that lifts up higher than the rest. (where the squeezy thing is) glue your leaves on like so.

glue for pink

Add glue to secure the berry like so.

apply pink

Now, secure your berry.

glue down green

Next, cut into your green ribbon as shown here.  Then, place a dot of glue at the top in order to fold down the green ribbon.

turn down green

This is what you should have now.

add jewel

Add a rhinestone to the center of your green, and you’re done!

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Materials:

(makes 2)

2 clips

1 green ribbon with white stitching

1 pink polka-dotted ribbon

1 black glitter ribbon

2 rhinestones

hot glue

scissors

ribbon fraying stuff, optional