Unique fruits and vegetables

I'm not sure if this would be accepted in this country maybe if we call them unique fruits and vegetables. But this is what normal food looks like. I remember the first time I saw a perfectly round tomato I was shocked they looked so round. Having eaten tomato from a plant  made me think that the grocery store got the ruts off the plant... LOL Now those tomatoes are call heirloom tomatoes. And are more per pound.




 

Tis the season......

Getting green presents can be a challenge sometimes. I do have a friend who was telling me how she will be getting me a small coffee cup with a lid to have our coffee at work.  I started to look and nothing is under 16 ounces.  Not something we can drink in a 15 minute break.... so I found this:

Cute Stainless Steel coffee mug

I signed up for the  affiliate program but Blogger is NOT letting the code work... meh....

Don't worry she will not see this she doesn't do the whole internet thing (her words...) So if this isn't good for her I guess she could use this for camping...

Wait the last time she went camping or me for that matter we came back saying "OMG we are TOO old for that shit..."  Next time it will be in a windsteam or something else that is on wheels!!

Picnics that what we could use them for.  But hey I like the looks of these and of course I had to get me one.  Is that a bad thing to get something for yourself during the holidays? I thought hey we will match... symbol of friendship.......... 

I finally got a new car!

I did it. Well I kinda had too... I have been driving my old car for over 10 years. I had been saving money for a down deposit having no car payments... so when the old girl was having problems where the body shop had no idea what was happening... I knew she was tired and falling apart.

 I can't afford a hybrid. So I got a new Kia Soul. A nice little compact SUV or is it a crossover? LOL But it gets 30 MPG combined. And yes it has a MPG meter on the dashboard. I am getting between 28-30 MPG. Doing the happy dance. I am still get use to the driving but felt safe during the snow storm I had to drive threw the other night on my way home.

Earth Friendly Gift Wrap. Furochic It!

So much fun... Plus you can use towels and other things to wrap your gifts for eco-friendly wrap.

I'm going to pop some tags!

Warning this is the original version so the language is not for little ones or work.
MACKLEMORE & RYAN LEWIS - THRIFT SHOP FEAT. WANZ (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)




It's a cute little rap about thrift store shopping.  Saying things like I have said hey it was 99 cents! You know for work that my shirts get stained it isn't the too bad to find a shirt that isn't too ugly.

You think this rap might make thrift store shopping more popular?

Reusng those bulk bags

I got somethings in bulk and get some nice bags from Earth Fare  that have the zip type tops.  I usually have a bag in my reusable bag I got from them so I get the same things again.  BUT sometimes I forget to put it back in the bag... so I have a few sitting around.  I also work at a warehouse club were I get some good deals on things like berries. You know when they have too many and more coming in at the height of the season. So I got some strawberries and thought I freeze some for later.  I saw my bags and thought ok it might have a little bit of the sugar in them but then it won't hurt the strawberries. Why not?  I also have a raspberry and  blueberry bag.

A Small Visitor

Look who was enjoying my mulberry bush... Poor thing was soaked from the crazy rain we have been getting.


 

OMG it's a Heat Wave

So the weather man says it's not... but it been over a week with heat advisory that the temps feel like over 100. In this area that is high temps.... goodness.

But my little green heart is thinking I can't wait for a cool night to open my windows!! I was told by a co-worker that that was using more energy (she heard) because the humidity will get into your walls and the air conditioner will have to work even harder the next morning.  Yea I don't believe half I hear and half I read... LOL so off the google.

I found many sites that says that running fans at night is more energy efficient. Because they don't use as much energy as the air conditioner. BUT most of them are not what I would call as a expert site...

So I will keep doing this because my electric bill only went up $10 when I do this... yea that got some raised eyebrows,, AND because I get stuffed up with the air on most of the time.  I really didn't like keeping it on during the night but with the lows in the high 70's and 70% humidity it was unbearable.  UN- BEAR-ABLE!!!

So I guess it is TMI so also tell you I did sleep naked... LOL   BUT it was so hot and sticky in my bedroom.

Now when I am home I have my window air conditioner on and a fan blowing the air to the rest of the house.  When I go to work I turn off my fan turn up  the temp to 75.   Keep the animals from roasted.

Keep cool everyone!!

So Disappointing!

H.R.933 passed!? The same bill that is been nicknamed monsanto-protection act. President Obama signed in the bill.... even after 250,000 people sending the message to him to veto.... Many members of Congress have received $7,450,434 from organizations that use GMO..........Senator Roy Blunt a member of the Appropriations Committee, has received $70,592 from the PACs of these organizations. Read the numbers at Mother Earth News...

Start at 1:20 for the info not all the news intro stuff...

 

Cast Iron

Guess what I am doing today?? LOL just ignore the bottom of the oven there... I know I have to clean it. But the cast iron skillet on the left on top is a new one. Why waste the energy for one pan.  I decided to season all my cast iron pans. Re-season so to speak. Is that a word??

I did clean the new pan cause I work at a store and know how dusty a store can be... by habit I used salt to remove the dirt with a wet dishcloth.  Then I air dried. The old pans where already seasoned but then you should re-season them once in awhile.

I used some lard (make sure it is a rendered type of lard) to spread all over the pan. I did the handle too; cause of a spill once that had me doing a work out to get the burnt something off the handle. sigh.. Learning by mistakes.

I left them in the oven after the timer went off just cause I thought it might not be a bad idea with all those extra pans in there... then wipe off the oil on the top of the pans..

re-seasoned pans.

I love  pan seared  steaks.  Well it was a Rachael Ray hint (by the way the link doesn't take you to the Rachael Ray site but to another link I found from pinerest)

Some of the pans I got from family.  My grandmother cook many things in the cast iron skittles.  I do have a griddle that is cast iron and I used that for pancakes and grilled cheese.

Frustrated

So I know that it's been busy time for the home improvement business. I know Sandy helped get more business for them. I do understand but I can still can be frustrated that it is taking this long for my roof to be fixed! I understand that my little bit of roof missing isn't as bad ad many someone that has a big hole.... My little bit that got blown off isn't too bad a half a day work.  That and it freaked me out they kept saying it's not a expensive job.. I don't know many people that have a couple thousand to spend on a roof... But I guess it better than the whole roof or repair of a hole.

Today they were suppose to start to fix it...almost 2 months later.... but the foreman is sick.  My dad is out of town taking my nephew back to Florida. So all week I work... and no one to be here if they need a ok to do something that isn't covered my insurance.... grrr. I have my mangers ok to have my phone with me encase they called for that ok.

So I guess I will be waiting till tomorrow I hope...

Holiday American Made Man sized...

So as I said earlier from Diane Sawyer and Nightline:


 "The average American will spend $700 on holiday gifts and goodies this year, totaling more than $465 billion, the National Retail Federation estimates. If that money was spent entirely on US made products it would create 4.6 million jobs. But it doesn't even have to be that big. If each of us spent just $64 on American made goods during our holiday shopping, the result would be 200,000 new jobs."

Oh yea I am backing this totally. To buy products made int his country helps the environment because there is less energy used to ship products. Even more our economy needs us to back our local USA made products.... guess I am on a kick here....

I found a few male sporting type gifts... Ok you can give some of these gifts to a female sportsman too... but it the fact I am looking for Dad gifts now....

Leatherman Multi-tools 
They even have a few pink tools that also support Breast Cancer Awareness!
Buck Knives 
Remington


Plus I found a couple more basic companies...
Cutco Cutlery
Coats and Clark (thread and sewing)
Tootsie Rolls.... 

Honey Lemons, Echinacea and Vicks Oh MY!

I had a head cold. Ok I still have a little cough but I can talk. A few days ago I had no voice. Was so much fun when I work with the public. It was kinda funny when I would talk and people would get this horrified look on their face as to say OH shit she is sick... and quickly back away.. But hey you won't be able to hear me... Plus if I had a dime for every-time some one told me "Hey you have Laryngitis!". Yep I do. Gee thanks Captain Obvious!

My adventure in trying to feel better was interesting....

OK You know this is not medical advice. That common sense will tell you if you are very sick go to the doctor not read my blog ....I am not a doctor or a nurse. disclaimer....... Just my adventure in laryngitis and cough my head off land..... 


 I quickly figured out that I have not started my winter echinacea regiment of 15 days on and 15 days off.  Seeing how it was like what 60 something last week I can see how I forgot to start taking it....

I started to drink a ton of tea cause the warm water did a great job on my throat. Crazy think is it didn't hurt most of the time (just when I weak up in the middle of the night). I would add honey (honey is suppose to be good for sore throats plus help fight infections) and lemon. (same thing with the lemons) I would take honey and lemon to work to add to my tea at work.  LOL I think I still have a little container of honey in my locker!!

    Didn't really feel like eating but knew I should. So I eat a lot of chicken and rice soup. You know the feed a cold thing that chicken soup is good for fighting a cold... but now I am so sick of chicken and rice soup... LOL

I made a cough medicine.

1 tablespoon of honey
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
1 tablespoon of warm water

tasted ok.  I didn't have cayenne. But then I wasn't really congested just coughing and had laryngitis.  I did once in a while just take a little honey and kinda suck on it to cover my throat.  I did that at work sometimes  after I drank all my tea... LOL  Cause honey is so gooooodddd. PLUS the most important part is I got the honey at the farmers market or the health food store not the big box shelves of the "sugar water" honey. They say that it helps with allergies because the bees work the flowers in your area. Helping you build up a resistance.  I know this is not proven to be a fact but it seems to help me (it works for me may not work for others.)
I wore vicks VapoRub on my feet with socks.  This is one of those things that has been circling the internet that helps night time cough. It did the first night then again maybe it was cause I got no sleep the night before because I kept waking up coughing.  Second night nope didn't work... BUT I also raised the top of my bed a little to help me breathe.  I lay down. I cough and get stuffed up... oh yea a head cold...

I now have a sports bottle of water by my bed and in my car. Great for the dry throat feeling. Stops the cough my head off cause I was over heated in that store.... Or cause I have been snoring half the night.
Water is good right? Guess a good habit came out of this fun.

OK You know this is not medical advice. That common sense will tell you if you are very sick go to the doctor not read my blog ....I am not a doctor or a nurse. disclaimer.......

Made In the USA

A quote from Diane Sawyer and Nightline I heard the other night:


"The average American will spend $700 on holiday gifts and goodies this year, totaling more than $465 billion, the National Retail Federation estimates. If that money was spent entirely on US made products it would create 4.6 million jobs. But it doesn't even have to be that big. If each of us spent just $64 on American made goods during our holiday shopping, the result would be 200,000 new jobs."

While buying our hliday gifts we should look to see where that item is made. Why wouldn't Americans want to buy $64 on something made in the USA?.  To help keep and get jobs in this country

 Made in America companies that I have found.

For the Foodie:
 Pyrex
Nordic Ware
 All-Clad
KitchenAid Appliances

Kids Toys
 Holgate Toys
K'NEX
 Crayola 

                                                                                    Decortating or Hostess Gifts:
                                                                                    Yankee Candles

So any more you know of? Share the knowledge

Hydrogen Peroxide Craziness?

I really don't go blindly agree with everything I read. I guess I have the research gene. I read something and think ummm I wonder if there is some study to prove that is true. Really I get on line or I open a tab and search that stuff..  Like this hydrogen peroxide pin craziness... I searched and found no medical site that agreed with the claims.....

So I found this site from Truth or Fiction  that said basically that the cleaning proprieties are on the mark but the beauty parts or "cures" not so much.  I have hydrogen peroxide in my laundry area for the bloody noses and female opps from my daughter so I know it breaks down the blood cells.  Don't think I would drink it or use it as a cure for cancer.   I found a site that a woman died because she was getting IVs of hydrogen peroxide to cure her cancer... scary...

It's like bleach.  It is the ingredient that "oxygen" bleaches contain! So you can use it on clothes, cutting boards, food and counter tops. So I will keep my bottle with the spray head in the kitchen and the bottle in the laundry area. To clean. guess it can't hurt right?

Back to school Lunchbox Kit.

I almost missed the email asking me of I would review the new Rubbermaid Lunchbox Sandwich Kit... I seem to be getting a ton of spam in my email lately. I have tons of money waiting for me to let some lawyer pick up for me... LOL Plus someone told the internet about my weight gain... dang I didn't think it was that big of a deal..   I am getting tons of emails telling me that they have wonderful  products to help me.. lose it.



The Sandwich Kit includes a sandwich container sized for regular and specialty breads, two sizes of snack containers.  Two are smaller and the third is the same size as two of them together.  I Love love love the blue ice thing that fits with the containers. They snap together, saving you space and things getting dumped out.  It is microwave-, dishwasher- and freezer-safe and BPA-free! 

So I did use this for MY lunch..... I took it to work in my built lunch bag which some say it is a small bag and shocked that the sandwich kit fit in my little bag... LOL  I love it.  It is easy to use and I take a salad or sandwich in the bigger container.. treats or another snack in the smaller containers. Croutons. Etc.  If I don't take any snacks I still snap the ice pack on the top but you can snap it on the bottom if need to.  LOL I do after I have eaten what was in the containers and want to make room.

OMG I went to the Rubbermaid site and see they are sold out but they have a coupon if you buy at your local store.  It on the right hand side of the page.... PLUS they have more Lunchbox items than just the sandwich kit  (hey it can be used for more than just sandwiches).

But I love Rubbermaid for their reusable containers and even their Adventures in Organization Blog.  You can find some great ideas there. Check them out!!

 This video is crazy cool...
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The LunchBlox Sandwich Kit is currently available for purchase at Target, Kmart, Kroger, Safeway, Bi-Lo, Winn-Dixie, HEB, other grocery stores and select Wal-Mart stores.  Don't forget to get your coupon on the Rubbermaid site!!!


Save money on lunch bags and paper bags check out the new Rubbermaid Lunchbox Sandwich Kit...

 I did receive the sandwich kit for review.  I was not paid for this review. these are my opinions.  Pictures and video are property of Rubbermaid.

 

Sneaky....

After reading an article on Care2 8 Healthy Swaps You haven't heard of  I tried the tip of using some shaved zucchini instead of pasta.  And to use spinach as pasta...Ok so my MO was to sneak it in the finished product and that way my family gets to try it but keep a little bit of it familiar.  I did this years ago when I was married.  When the reports kept saying we should stop drinking whole milk and drink 2%.  I slowly added 2% to whole milk so that family would get used to the taste. (oh yea I am that old...LOL) When Miss Animal Rights decided to become vegetarian I would sneak some TVP into our meat dishes to make them healthier...


Plus who am I kidding I think I have to train my taste buds too.  Cause you know you expect it to taste the way you think it will taste... LIKE pasta...  


I used to sneak spinach into stews and things.  Now that they are grown they do it too... but when they asked what is that green stuff I would say; umm I think it is parsley, oregano... maybe basil or something like that.  I used frozen spinach and put just a little in.  It looked like spices... ;) 


I have been  trying to eat less processed foods and I feel great less bloated.  I think I will keep this up!! 

So tonight I tried some sauce that I put in some shaved zucchini and some frozen spinach.  The zucchini seemed like tasteless... I thought it was onion most of the time so I guess I won't replace the pasta with either I will still do that: add some to the sauce and eat less pasta...  Boasting the veggie power to my pasta sauce.

Honey I am home...

I went shopping today and  I told them I have my own bag.  And this is what they hand me....

ummmm ok I know most of us know the red bulls-eye bag... they give you what something like a dime for using your own bag...

Guess I have to shop this little shop more and show them what it means to bring your own bag means...

Happy 4th

I have had a little fun with pinerest and thought I try some of the ideas I saw on one shirt... LOL  I did have a fail with the blue shirt I tried to spray paint white stars on. Doesn't work too well. The beach pen just made pink stars. Which was very upsetting.  I made a blue t-shirt with the beach pen and left it over night and it bleached it white... BUT that was a different shirt..... Oh well.  This one didn't want to bleach white!!!! 

I started with a white t-shirt.

 I printed star on sticker paper.  I just googled star stencil and found a site with the t-shirt idea!!! LOL so she had one that had 6 stars on it.  I thought too cool I could do 6 stars on front and 7 on the back.  I used fabric paint for the blue... I didn't have blue spray paint... so I thought I try the blue paint die and found fabric paint.  Yea... but then I didn't get to try the regular paint used as a dye... giggles I guess I can try that some other time...

The strips are old t-shirt material.  And the bottom of the t-shirt
I cut to have only the top blue.

Pet Accidents Spray

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Oh yea Pin it!! First Home Love Life post about Pet Oder Be Gone..With animals it's a good thing to pin. Wait after reading the comments I see that many have found that if you add something it to it can make it even better....

So even better write a blog post about it!!! So I don't have scroll threw the comments.  And I can share with my readers.....



2 parts water 
1 part mouth wash
squirt of Dawn
 splash of vinegar
splash of hydrogen peroxide

The mouthwash is said to help lift the fats out. Dawn helps remove them.  I am hoping that eco-friendly dish-soap will work too... Vinegar cuts the ammonia. Miss Animal rights hate the smell of vinegar hopefully lemon will work too.   Hydrogen peroxide cuts the proteins.

Some are saying to use Scope some say use original Listerine. Mint washes are said the menthol or other mint extracts help remove the orders. Listerine has thymol and eucalyptol make it similar to the "thieves oil".

But I say use what you have on hand to try it....