blissfullydomestic

May is National Salad Month and I'm sharing my version of the delicious Olive Garden Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad over at Blissfully Domestic. 

What role does the pollen tube play in pollination, and how does it really work? The Department Molecular Biology, at Brown University, has illuminated the intriguing process of pollination in new research published today in Current Biology.

(May 17, 2012)  Sunday May 20, Marquee Dayclub at The Cosmopolitan hosts Wet Wonderland with Above & Beyond!  The British DJ Duo will be performing live!  Party Starts at 10am!

(May 17, 2012)  Sunday May 20, Rehab, the pool party at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino that remains one of the best and biggest Vegas pool club experiences you could ask for, presents Z-Trip and LL Cool J!  The legendary mash up artist will be spinning and the legendary rapper will perform!  Grab your swimsuit and a bloody mary, this party starts at 10am Sunday!

Plants can’t bench press a few pounds more every day, or scarf down a protein shake to bulk up. However, they can and do work with other organisms in their environment to get nutrients that enhance their growth.

Why is the obesity epidemic growing, with all the weight loss drugs and diets we have? The answer may be as plain as the clock on the wall - a new study shows that mice lost weight simply by restricting eating to an eight-hour period - not just by restricting calories.

1. It’s finally here! Tomorrow, I’ll head to Boston (I’ve never been there!) for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer and I’ll walk 39.3 miles (or somewhere over 40 miles in Avon miles… their mile measurements never seem quite right!) to support breast cancer research and programs to help those with the disease. I’m SO excited (but still a little freaked about the airplane because y’all…airplanes). It will be a good weekend, the weather looks like it’s gonna be great (maaaaybe a bit too warm, but, I’ll get over it), and I can’t wait to spend time walking with friends for a good cause.

2. In anticipation of my trip out of town and a bit of missed time at work, I haven’t been out and about as much during my lunch hours to take pictures. I haven’t even really taken lunch the past few days. I miss that time mid-day with my camera in hand. It means that my picture of the day could very well be… my lunch? Yawn. Sorry.

3. The Home button on my iPhone is being severely cranky and a bit of a Google search tells me that this is a) common and b) likely easily remedied by cleaning it out. I should probably try giving it a whirl with the cleaning idea because it’s DRIVING ME NUTS to push that button and have NOTHING happen.

4. Yesterday, The Princess made cookies for me to take on my trip. She knows I love cookies – she recently made me cookies for mother’s day. However, she was following a Rachael Ray recipe and mid-process realized we didn’t have enough flour and there were no chocolate chips (I think they’re just hidden in the fridge… seems like we have some). My girl altered the recipe, omitting the chocolate, mixing all-purpose flour with whole wheat and you know what? They’re PRETTY GOOD. Kinda proud of her getting creative with baking.

5. I asked for some recommendations for new music to add to my iPod for my trip, and got several recommendations. One of my favorite recent additions is “It’s Time” by Imagine Dragons (h/t to Amanda for the recommendation).

6. Found out yesterday that the awesome card thing that has been going on was coordinated for me through Hallmark’s CARD SHOWER program (You can find info on their website). I can’t even describe how cool it is, and how much it’s lifted me. The Card Shower makes it easy for someone to set up such a thing – for whatever the occasion – and I’m grateful someone took the time to do that for me.

7. And also in the music category, that which is old is new again? Added some old stuff to the music library this week, which is why Dido’s “Here With Me” has been stuck in my head all morning.

8. I need to go bathing suit shopping. I bought my last suit at an outlet mall somewhere in Maryland while out of town to shoot a wedding (it’s a Gap suit, I think), and if I’m remembering correctly, it was a mildly traumatic experience. Nooooot so much looking forward to doing it again.

9. The airline called me this morning to check in for my flight. It kind of freaked me out and I hung up on them. That was probably an inappropriate reaction. Also, I hate flying. But, I did check in online and am good to go now.

10. How many times have I listened to Augustana’s “Boston” in anticipation of my trip? Eleventy, but mostly because of shuffle. Love that song. I wonder if it annoys the people in Boston. I think I need a sunrise, I’m tired of the sunset…

Dear Home Ec 101,

Lately I’ve been hearing about using cold water when doing laundry, in order to save energy. I have always washed everything in warm water. Can my socks, my toddlers clothes, and my husbands workout clothes really get clean using cold water?

Signed,

Tepid in Topeka

Heather says:

When I first launched this site, I had no clue how often my chemistry background would be used.

I cannot give you a simple yes or no answer to this question. I know “Can I use cold water to do laundry” sounds like a simple question, but there are many factors at play. How cold is the water in your area? The cold water in Minnesota is much colder than the water in South Carolina. How hard is your water? How dirty are your clothes? What kind of detergent do you use?

Your clothes washer uses three forms of energy to remove dirt from your laundry. Chemical, physical, and thermal energy all work together to bring the dirt on your clothing into solution (the wash water) where it can be rinsed away.

Chemical energy is provided by the water and the soap of your choice. If your water is hard, it already has a lot of minerals in solution and your detergent won’t be as effective.

Physical energy is provided by the movement of the water through and past the fibers of your clothing. With physical energy you don’t necessarily need the particles to be dissolved, sometimes the dirt is just rinsed away (it would settle out of the water if the water were not being swished around)

Finally, thermal energy comes from the temperature of the water in your machine. Particles (soap, dirt etc) are more soluble at higher temperatures. Soluble simply means that the particles can go into solution (in this case, your wash water). If your cold water is particularly cold (around 40°F) your detergent may not even fully dissolve. If your detergent isn’t even in solution, do you think that dirt is going to join it?

All of that basic chemistry will help you as you experiment to find the balance of energy that is good for your wallet (and the environment) and still has the ability to get your clothing clean.

And on a side note, remember that cold water is best for protein type stains (think body fluids and blood) as the stain undergoes a chemical change when heated and is more difficult to remove.

Apparently I’m feeling quite parenthetical today, but I hope it was helpful.

Send your questions to helpme@home-ec101.com

 

Click here to leave a comment on Can I Wash Clothes in Cold Water? . We'd love to hear your say.

This is a post from: Home-Ec101 ©Home-Ec 101.com 2007 - 2011

I am finally posting the Autism Auction Winners.  So sorry for the delay.  With a funeral on Monday and having to replace the cars transmission, it’s been a hectic week.  Thank you for being patient with me.

First was 2 $50 Gift Cert’s to Amy’s Printables. 

1- Mandy Boles

2- Teresia Bellamy

 

 

Small Bird Studios “hope” Canvas

Amy Cornwell

 

 

 

Allora Handmade Package of goodies

LOL- Me, Leigh.  (Sorry girls, I love a good cause too!)

 

 

 

The NEW Pioneer Woman Cookbook {SIGNED}

Teresia Bellamy

(thank you Teresia for your double bidding)

 

 

Lisa Leonard “feed your soul” Necklace

Unfortunately I did not get one bid on this necklace.  So I will be donating $25 for it.

 

 

 

Thank you to everyone who bid on these items and helped spread the word about this Auction.  Once I receive all of the funds, I’ll donate them online.  Then I’ll be able to post and show y’all where the money is going to.

 

Free garden ideas can be had when visiting local fast-food restaurants or highway rest stops.  Created to be maintained with little extra care on a low budget, beginners are encouraged to take notes.  Similar plant ideas are especially dependable for a first-time gardener.

Keeping gardens looking good, where high foot and tire traffic is constant, is a challenge no matter how green, or professional, a landscaper’s thumb.  Whether it is a fast food restaurant selling its umpteenth burger or a roadside stop-over kept by a state forest service, the budget and the environment are challenges much the same as gardeners face at home.

Successful gardeners habitually search out planting beds wherever they travel.  Beginner gardeners will find easy ideas at common places; consider carrying a journal to record plantings found. For gardeners unsure of plant names, photos taken with a phone or point-and-shoot camera will help with asking assistance at local garden centers.

Landscaping Lessons from Fast Food Restaurants

Budget and time drives the design and plant choices for landscaping around fast food restaurants.  Lining flowers around the curves of fast-food drive-ins have to be some of the toughest environments for plants.  Imagine what the pretty petunia blooms are feeling sitting in direct aim of idling cars, their motors pouring exhaust out the tailpipe.

Plants used are inexpensive and easy to find. Chided for its overuse on the grounds of businesses the Stella de Oro daylily has been maligned over the years. But say what you will, the common daylily has proven its worth, not only surviving but thriving in tough environments. Stella de Oro has a yellow flower on a short plant and is an inexpensive perennial.  New gardeners will find it a worthwhile bright color and repeat bloomer, which will last much of the summer.

Lately, a frequently seen plant is the Knock Out® rose.  It was developed in Wisconsin for some of the toughest environments rosarians face; frigid winters and hot humid summers. But the Knock Out® rose has proven itself in tough growing conditions around the United States. This is valuable information for gardeners who want to try a rose bush in their own garden but have been afraid of failing.  Knock Out® rose bushes are found with red, pink or yellow flower colors, in single and double blossoms.

Interstate Highway Rest-stops with Roadside Plants

 

Rest-stops, relied upon by travelers to refresh and replenish along interstate highways, are also used by states to brag, that includes about their natural environment.  Along with maps and chamber of commerce public relations styled posters, visitors will frequently see a mixture of native plants and wildflowers on the grounds.

Whether new to the hobby of gardening or new to a state, these locations may be excellent places to get basic first-time ideas on what grows well.  Like the landscapes around family restaurants, there is a limited budget to expend time and money on upkeep.  The long distance between roadside rest-stops makes grounds maintenance, including the gardens, a challenge.

Hot Dry Environments for Gardens

No matter the state or region, most gardens at fast food restaurants and other roadside stopovers have some characteristics in common; exposure to full sun, made doubly hot surrounded by concrete or asphalt and car and truck exhaust spewing into the plant’s surroundings and a reliance on less frequent garden care.

Gardeners are well known for exchanging plant ideas and making friends with neighborhood gardeners, a beneficial habit for those new to the hobby.  Commonly visited public places like shopping malls, fast food restaurants, banks and beyond the city limits; landscaped public parks and roadside stopovers are replete with suggestions, too.

While George Gallup did not invent the notion of polling, he did apply statistics to improve the accuracy of his organization's predictions. Can statistics help determine the most reliable pollster in today's competitive market?

Everyday You ask me. Everyday, you quietly approach, Your hand extended. You ask me to dance with You. I hadn't realized Your perseverance until the day came when the music suddenly became too loud, the lights from the disco ball infiltrated my eyes and I was lost on this dance floor of life, overwhelmed and abandoned. But You came still, even though I had started to move without You. You still picked me. I tried to look at my feet to make sure my steps were sure, but You whispered: Just look into my eyes. Eyes locked on Yours, how could I go wrong? This floating, cascading, iridescent feeling of being captivated by The Most Holy One, spun around gracefully on the dance floor. The music stays the same, the decibels remain but I'm transfixed by Your movement and the power to save that resides in Your arms. This welcome invitation to be swept up by You. How could I have turned this down? You dip me and I gracefully lean back, taking in this stretch, the rest, this feeling of being held and never dropped. I love You, I whisper. My Protector, my Strength, my King. Who can satisfy like You? No one else, nothing else loves me like You. But another day comes. I sit on the edge of my bed and I see You coming for me and yet... I move on through the day. Another day comes and I forget. Another day comes and I forget. Another day comes and I forget... until I remember. And I place myself by the wall, a shy girl who thinks she's not going to be chosen again. But You still come for this wallflower. There is no place I can hide from You. Everyday You ask me. Everyday You quietly approach, Your Hand extended. You ask me to dance with You. And I will say, yes.

Yesterday Jack’s class had a field trip to a place nearby called the Winner’s Circle – mini golf, laser tag, the works!

We had a great time and I was pleasantly surprised at how well Addi did being in the stroller for a long period of time.

I even joined in the fun and played laser tag with the kiddos – I died more than I got points, but it was still fun!

He was so excited – see the face? And we noticed that the lights make him look like he has a green mustache

Such a mess – she entertains herself!

Looking at the… umm.. water? Looks like a green mess to me! Eww.

Jack loves being with his friends – we will have to make sure and keep in touch thru the summer and years ahead!

Tomorrow night is The Big Show in Karate and then Friday is Kindergarten’s Teddy Bear Picnic/graduation~

busy, but fun week!

Blessings ~

How well can you see at night? A pilot, flying at night, must scan the sky steadily; focusing on his or her peripheral vision in order to avoid common night-flying hazards, such as a central blind spot, night illusions, and adjustment to bright lights.

Let’s say that you have a special message you want to pass along to the followers on your Facebook business page.  It may a promotion that you want to push, a link to a post that you’re especially proud of, an infographic that you’ve prepared for your clients, important news for your business or even for the pet industry in general.  There are two Facebook features that you can use to make your individual posts stand out and be more noticeable.

Highlight Your Facebook Post

The first option is to highlight your Facebook post. Prepare your post as you would normally. Upload a photo or a video if desired, write your status update and post. Once posted, you’ll find two options in the upper right hand corner of the post. One allows you to edit or delete the post. That’s the icon with the little pencil. We’ll come back to that one in a moment. For now, we want the icon with the star. This allows you to highlight your post.

When you highlight your Facebook post, it stretches the post across the entire page rather than assigning it to the right or left hand column. In the image below, the top post is highlighted. The posts beneath are not. You can see the difference and how the highlighted post stands out and immediately draws the eye.

You can highlight as many posts as you like. To remove the highlight feature from a post, simply click on the star icon again.

Pin to Top Feature

Another option that can grab more attention for an individual Facebook post is the Pin to Top feature. As the name implies, this feature pins the post you choose to top of your Facebook business page. Additional posts published will appear beneath the pinned post. This is perfect for promotions or other news about your business that you want to make sure your Facebook followers see.

To use this feature, choose the pencil icon that appears in the upper right hand corner of the post. Then choose the option that says “Pin to Top” and you’re done. Your chosen post will stay pinned for 7 days or until you unpin it. To unpin, simply choose the pencil icon again and click on “UnPin from Top”.

Unfortunately, you cannot use both the highlight and pin to top feature simultaneously. However, either feature can be used to make a Facebook post more visible.

I still recall the day I got my first cellphone – a Motorola. It was huge. And heavy. And ugly. And honestly, it didn’t do much other than allow me to make and take calls and get messages.

But it did free up my life.

Fast forward to present day and today, my husband and I rely on our smartphones for relaxation and recreation, thanks to something simple called Mobile Internet. He’s already shared how the Internet helps us live a frugal life, so I had to chip in as well. **smiling**

Here are 5 ways to use mobile internet to free up your time and have more fun as a family this summer season:

1. Read Books on the Go

Downloading the FREE Kindle app for my Android is probably the best thing I’ve ever done. Thanks to this, I can read eBooks while waiting in the car, at the clinic or just about anywhere else. Yes, your smart phone can make you smarter!

 2. Listen to Music Whenever, Wherever

For those of us who are music buffs, mobile Internet makes it possible for you to download and listen to your favorite tracks wherever you may be. You can create your special playlists depending upon genre or mood and tune in whenever the fancy strikes. Bliss!

3. Cook Healthier Meals

Ooh, yes, did you know using your smartphone and obviously, the mobile Internet can help you eat and cook healthier and better meals for your family? Download the free Allrecipes app – Dinner Spinner and you’re all set. You can put in the ingredients you want or simply search for a particular dish, create your grocery list as well and get ready for adventures in the kitchen!

 4. Boost Productivity Instantly

Yes, as much as we’d like to have more hours in the day, it’s not happening. So, what we can do is boost our productivity by using tools and applications that help you stay organized and on track. Astrid, a fun to-do list application, helps me jot down things I need to do during the day and ‘check’ them off as I move through the list. Fun! Here are some more productivity boosting applications that you can use as well.

 5. Make Socializing Online Super Fun

Finally, let’s face it. We love our Facebook and Twitter-time, right? But it isn’t possible to stay glued to the laptop or comp all day, tweeting and posting. Instead, you stay social but also sane by using Facebook or Twitter on your smartphone. I “use” otherwise wasted bits of time to catch up with what’s happening with folks in my online social circles. Think, standing in a long queue at the post office. Instead of staring at the bald patch in front of me, I can whip out my phone and check out activity in my Twitter stream or Facebook groups or upload the latest photo of my daughter.

Yes, life with mobile internet does not mean staying glued to your phone. It means using the Internet to create a better, more fun life for everyone. This summer, make sure you’re using your mobile Internet to have fun, enjoy the small things and do more with your time.

Are you a fan of using smartphones smartly?

 

Photo Credit: Phil Roeder

Disclaimer: This post is a submission to a contest organized by Vodafone India and Indiblogger.

 

According to this article in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA), new preventive measures that have been proposed in the pet food manufacturing industry are aimed at improving the safety of pet foods.

In early April of 2012, the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA), the Pet Food Institute (PFI), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) all came together in Schaumburg, IL for the Petfood Forum during which they discussed their work to improve pet food safety. According to the JAVMA article,

“The American Feed Industry Association recently rolled out voluntary programs to certify that facilities that manufacture pet food or pet food ingredients meet certain safety standards. The Pet Food Institute is expanding model manufacturing principles that it developed after the melamine contamination. The FDA has begun to implement provisions of the Food Safety Modernization Act that will impact pet food manufacturers.”

Leah Wilkinson, AFIA director of ingredients and state legislative affairs, third party certification programs, the Pet Food Manufacturing Facility Certification Program and the Pet Food Ingredient Facility Certification Program, are based on the principles of risk management. Offering audits for US- and Canadian-based manufacturers, these certification programs cover a variety of important areas, including hazard analysis, preventive controls, corrective actions, record retention, supplier standards, and safety specifications for ingredients and final products.

The Model Commercial Pet Food Manufacturing Principles was compiled by the members of the Pet Food Institute after the melamine scare. They are now working an expansion of those principles.

The Food Safety Modernization Act proposed by the FDA offers new preventive controls for manufacturers of pet foods as well as other animal feed manufacturers and human food manufacturers. The act also provides for the verification of foreign suppliers. According to Michael R. Taylor, FDA deputy commissioner for foods,

“The rule on foreign suppliers will call for importers of food not to rely on FDA inspectors to detect problems at the port of entry but to verify that foreign suppliers produce the food in accordance with U.S. standards. The FDA will propose another rule by which the agency will recognize accrediting bodies for third-party certification programs in the international arena.”

While I think it is important to remember that this latest pet food recall resulting from Salmonella contamination is nothing like the melamine scare of 2007, it is still good to see that additional safety protocols and procedures are being put into place for the well-being of our pets as well as their human caretakers.

Out in the distance the sky smoldered as the sun attempted to drop below the horizon.  When Galiena entrusted the youngling with the secret maps, she never dreamt it would lead to this. She was trying to prevent a revolution, preclude the uprising of the under world.

Galiena wanted to change the outcome she saw in her dreams. Vivid pictures flashed through her mind, instantly chilling her to the core.

Ur insisted she didn’t mean to do it. That she never thought her callous action would change the fate of the world.  Sadly, she could not have been more wrong.

100 Word Song is a writing challenge from Lance based on a weekly music prompt. This week’s challenge was inspired by ‘Revolution‘ by The Beatles.

 

And in more ways than one. I am angry that I left this blog unattended for so long, but man does getting divorced and selling a house occupy a solid chunk of my time. BUT, those are all good things – even all the trips to government offices I made this week to legally change my name. I was waiting in traffic today trying to find some hidden (probably on purpose) government office and I saw a momma duck walking her ducklings across the sidewalk. It was just one of those sweet pure moments that can bring you back to the present and reminds me of my best friend’s favorite quote by Robert Frost, “In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.” It really does. There will always be heartache, hard times and never-ending to-do lists, but life will keep going and the only control we really have is how we respond; what attitude we choose to have. I spent hours on the phone today (and not texting or emailing – like, actual conversations) just taking care of necessary items now that the divorce is final and I followed that up with some errands and cleaning. And normally a day like that would leave me in a pretty foul mood, but I am pleasantly calm – just another example of the 9th Step Promises coming true. 

If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are half way through.     We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness.     We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it.     We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace.     No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others.     That feeling of uselessness and self pity will disappear.     We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows.     Self-seeking will slip away.     Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change.     Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us.     We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us.     We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.     Are these extravagant promises? We think not. They are being fulfilled among us—sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. They will always materialize if we work for them.

3rd ed. Big Book pg. 83 & 84

Photo Credit