Monthly Archives: April 2012

Apr
11
2012

One Of The Best Cough & Cold Remedies

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One Of The Best Cough & Cold Remedies

I have a cold. A pretty bad one actually. And I’ve been to the doctor and got my prescription of antibiotics in order to attempt to get better. But in the meantime, while the anti-biotics are doing their magic, I still need some kind of immediate relief. OTC to the rescue!

Ever since the taxman took a big chunk of our savings :( , we’ve been going to Walmart more often, and this remedy fits the bill and is a good price – last we checked it was $2.34 – its got all the usual suspects:

  • Acetaminophen – (Tylenol) for pain
  • Phenylephrine HCI – for sinus pressure
  • Gualfenesin  - for chest congestion

Yes, it has the dreaded G word in there – you know that horrible tasting thing. They put “Cool Blast” flavor into the capsules but it still like Airwick over garbage.

This was a good choice for my cold, congestion and pain – but we aren’t doctors, so please talk to your medical practitioner before you take anything. Just saying it worked for me – as long as you keep to the schedule of 2 caps every four hours as per the directions.

PS: There’s only about 600Mg of Tylenol in a dose so we throw in a 500Mg Tylenol to help me out on that front. Add that to my antibiotic and put it all in a little cup, I’m getting flash forwards that I’m in some kind of old folks home already!

Apr
09
2012

How To Make The Perfect Cup Of Coffee

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Toss Your Coffee Machine

Well, maybe not toss your machine – keep it around for dinner parties and such. If you are like most of us, you probably don’t really make more than one or two cups in the morning to take to work on your morning commute in a travel mug, so why make a full pot – you make 10-12 cups, take 2 , and then the rest just sits there until the thing clicks off after a few hours of non-use. Why not make a fresh cup of coffee every time, in usually less time than it takes to make a pot. You will need:

  1. A hot water pot. Our favorite one is the Zojirushi - get one that is sized for your family. Most of them even have a timer so that the water is boiled just before you need it
  2. A ceramic or plastic filter holder
  3. Cone filters – you need a #2, usually Melitta brand filter, for a single cup
  4. A burr grinder for best coffee taste
  5. Coffee – we recommend Blue Bottle, any of theirs will do, but you can use your favorite whole bean blend from your favorite coffee shop. Starbucks Tribute blend, which is in stores now for a limited time, is really nice.
  6. A spoon
  7. A mug for the coffee to go into – travel mug or ceramic
Step by step instructions
  1. Make sure that you have enough hot water already boiled in the pot
  2. Set the grinder to the middle for a medium grind
  3. Grind the beans for about 20 seconds per cup of coffee.
  4. Put the filter holder over the mug
  5. Put a filter in the holder
  6. Put a small amount of boiling water from the hot water dispenser in a teapot with a spout
  7. Thoroughly wet the filter with the hot water in the teapot. This does two things – it heats the mug and it helps the filter to stick to the side of the holder
  8. Spill out the water after it drips into the mug
  9. Replace the filter holder with the wet filter on top of the mug
  10. Refill the teapot with hot water, enough for a cup of coffee
  11. Pour the ground beans into the wet filter
  12. Using the teapot, pour the water around the edges of the filter, between the top of the filter and the grounds of the coffee, until the filter is full of water
  13. Take the spoon and stir until the coffee gets creamy looking
  14. Once the coffee has run into the cup, refill the filter again, this time without stirring. Try to run the water around the edges of the coffee again, between the coffee and the edge of the filter
  15. Watch out! If you are using a ceramic filter holder then you will not be able to see if your cup is overflowing. Check it periodically to make sure that you haven’t put in too much water.
And that is it – in about the same amount of time it will take you to setup a coffee machine, you have a single cup of fresh hot coffee. Enjoy!
Apr
06
2012

Savory Leek Pie

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Leeks

Our organic box brought us leeks week after week so we found and adapted this recipe as a nice change from leek soup – although not really Eat To Live friendly, so you can only have a tiny piece, but our kids enjoyed it…

  • 3 Tbsp butter
  • 4 large leeks – sliced
  • salt/pepper
  • 1 egg – beaten
  • 1/2 cup grated Kefalotyri or any other kind of hard cheese like Parmesan
  • 1 refrigerated whole wheat pie crust – this was our nod to the diet…

Saute leeks in butter for approximately 15-20 minutes or until soft and translucent. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Once leek mixture is cool, add egg  and hard grated cheese. Mix to combine. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spread leek mixture into tart pan. Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes until crust is golden brown. Allow to cool prior to serving.

Apr
05
2012

Chia Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Chocolate Chip Chia Cookies

Adapted from Super Immunity – we found that the recipe was a little dry so we made a few small changes:

Makes about 22 cookies

  • 2 cups finely ground rolled oats – we used our Blendtec to process regular rolled oats – not the quick cook kind
  • 1/2 cup dried unsweetened coconut – we like the fine as opposed to the shreds
  • 1/2 cup raisins
  • 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips – shoot for 73% if you can otherwise get the highest number you can get
  • 2 Tbsp Chia seeds
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 Tbsp raw almond butter – we like the Trader Joe’s brand
  • 1/2 cup raisins, soaked in 1/2 cup water for one hour or more
  • 1/8 cup Goji berries, soaked with the raisins above
  • 1 medium apple, cored
  • 1 tsp vanilla – make sure that you use the good stuff

Soak the 1/2 cup raisins and the 1/8 cup Goji berries in a 1/2 cup of water for an hour or more.

Preheat over to 200 degrees. Put the apple in the blender and puree until chopped, then add all of the rest of the wet ingredients (soaked raisins and Goji berries, almond butter & vanilla) and process until smooth.

Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir. Using two spoons, form into cookie size patties and place on parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Bake at 200 degrees for 1 1/2 to 2 hours – you are basically dehydrating them – they will not change in size or shape so however you place them is how they will turn out.

Enjoy with coffee or tea

Apr
04
2012

How To Save Money From Junk Mail

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Junk mail comes through our mailbox almost everyday.  URGH!!!  but wait…how do you know if you are shopping at the right store if you never look at what they have to offer.  To save money you need to invest some time and effort to know that you are getting the best deals.  All deals are NOT found at Costco

Saving money on your groceries and household items is easier than you think.  Key to saving money on groceries is sales.  Sign up for online flyers for your local grocery stores.  Buy the Sunday paper for all the local store flyers. Check your mailbox mid week for grocery flyers.

Open safe junk in your inbox.  Maybe you signed up or this at the store and forgot.  I have coupons from DSW and Barnes and Noble on a weekly basis.  When you are at the store, search your phone email with keyword search to get the coupon.  Just knowing you saved the tax is enough to give you satisfaction and more $ in your pocket.

Apr
03
2012

How To Banish Those Telemarketers

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Telemarketing 150x150 1

Banish Those Telemarketers

Working from home has its pluses and minuses – one of the big minuses is all of the telemarketing calls we still get on our home phone – yes we still have one of those because a) my wife Kitty insists that we have a backup – it’s part of the mini-survivalist within her and b) it was free with the high speed internet – I mean its $40 with our without a phone line and since I can’t pass up free stuff, we got it.

One good thing about automation in the telemarketing industry is that most telemarketers have moved to an automated system which simply calls one number after another and only when the phone is picked up, does the call get passed to a human.

Use this “pause” to your advantage: the phone rings, I say “hello” – if there is no immediate hello back – and you know what I mean by immediate – if you hear any kind of pause or hesitation, just hang up. Their system will then mark that call as completed and either take you off the list or move you to the end of the queue. Computers are stupid – they think that the call was completed so they mark you off and move on.

Apr
02
2012

How To Use Bean Coffee On The Cheap : A Sub $50 Burr Grinder

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$25 Burr Grinder

As a coffee fan, you need a burr grinder – those cheapo blade grinders that you see simply chop and heat the beans, thus changing/ruining the taste. Why buy really good coffee beans and then subject them to a crappy grinder? I mean that’s like washing your new car with a dirty old washcloth.

But you say – burr grinders, while better, are a lot more expensive! Not so, i say – we saw this little guy at Target about 2 years ago and its still around the same price.

Don’t listen to the negative reviews: this is a pretty nice grinder for the price, the grind comes out perfect for cone drip coffee. We use is daily on the Blue Bottle and it turns out great.

Dial adjusts so you can set the texture exactly how you want – from very fine Turkish blend to coarse percolator grind. Dual safety mechanism ensures that unit will not operate unless top cover is closed and ground coffee receptacle is in place.

via Amazon.com: Black & Decker CBM210 Stainless Steel Burr Coffee Mill/Grinder: Kitchen & Dining.