day 2

more pics

OLIVIA IS IN NY FOR A VISIT!!

Olivia in Ohio

So Collin's daughter, Olivia is here for a visit. She finally made it , her mom drove here with her, around 7pm. We had a small get together and family got to meet her. These are the first pics i got... WAY more to come!

Olivia and her poppop

Olivia playing with a stick and hitting daddy

She was shy at first

watching daddy cooking

7 kitchen tips

1. How to Open Stubborn Pistachios
Pistachios are way too expensive to waste. Yet many of the delicious roasted nuts arrived in shells with little to no opening. Rather than attempting to bite them open or ruin your nails in a struggle you can’t win, next time try this foolproof method for opening stubborn shells: Take one half of a shell, stick it into even the littlest opening of an unopened pistachio, and turn the shell half like a key. The pistachio will pop right open!

2. How to Easily Remove Egg Shells Dropped into Eggs

It happens to all of us: You crack open an egg and a tiny piece of its shell falls into the bowl along with the raw egg. If you’ve tried to get it out with your finger or a spoon, you know the slippery dilemma you face. Next time, wet your finger with water before attempting to fish it out. You’ll be shocked at how easily it can be grabbed and eliminated.

3. How to Make Burnt Pots Look New Again
Considering how much a nice set of pots and pans costs, you’d expect them to be easy to clean. But even the best stainless steel cooking gear gets black with use and cooked-on remnants. If you’ve attempted to scrub them clean you have probably succumbed to the notion that they will never glisten again. But, if you spray pots with oven cleaner and leave them for a couple of hours the grime will wipe right off! Likewise stainless kettles.

Gadgets That Make Cooking More Fun

4. How to Refresh Crystallized Honey

You know that jar or bottle of honey that’s hardened and crystallized on your shelf? It can easily be brought back to its easy-to-pour glory if you let it sit for 15 minutes in boiling water that has cooled for five minutes.

5. How to Soften Hardened Brown Sugar
Brown sugar hardens as its moisture evaporates over time in the cupboard. But you can easily re-moisturize it by placing the open sugar bag in a microwave with a cup of water next to it and zapping it on high for three minutes. Or you can place the sugar in a bowl, cover the sugar with a double layer of wet paper towels, and then cover the bowl with foil or plastic wrap and let it stand overnight.

6. How to Remove Stains from Wooden Cutting Boards
Can rings and wine and strawberries stains don’t help the style of your cutting board. To get out stains, try sprinkling the board with salt rubbing it with lemon. For more stubborn stains, try an abrasive antibacterial kitchen cleaner and scouring pad. For the toughest, reach for sandpaper! And of course wash thoroughly afterward!

Beautiful Clocks for Every Room

7. How to Salvage Overripe Fruit

Fruit is expensive, yet it goes bad so quickly and easily. But you don’t need to toss your bruised or overripe bananas, peaches, or strawberries. The minute you see your fruit going bad, wash it, slice it, peel it (in the case of bananas) and freeze it in sealable bags. Then you have instant smoothie or pie makings anytime!

Useful healthy tid bits

So doing Laundry at the local laundry mat sucks... but they usually have at least one good magazine to read and i got some good out of this Good housekeeping that i want to share.

Drinking Tea is the easiest on your teeth without milk, lemon, or sugar. Flossing is proven to reduce plaque. Eating yogurt is healthy for your teeth because of the probiotics it has in it. And eating plenty of fruits and veggies stop your gums from bleeding.

Cardio before meals (about 2 hrs) cuts your hunger by lowering levels of ghrelin an appetite stimulating hormone. A short walk for as long as 15 mins will cut calories and curb your cravings.

The good about coffee : lowers risk of type 2 diabetes, better memory, reduced chances of non melanoma skin cancer and wider awake days; drink 2 ounces every hour or so through morning and lunch time then stop early afternoon. Gulping large quantities of coffee early in the day calls for a crash later in the day.

#1 veggie is Kale

Little changes equal big weight loss:

cook pasta al dente. when you boil spaghetti for five minutes, it's glycemic index is 38 after 20 mins it shoots up to 61. The higher the glycemic index, the sooner you'll be hungry again.

Munch around the clock. a healthy snack mid morning and mid afternoon will keep you from overdoing it at lunch and dinner.

Keep a food diary. It was proven in a study that you will loose more weight if you keep track of your food intake than people who did not write it down.

Eat slowly. You'll consume fewer calories.

Chew gum while cooking. It burns 11 calories an hour and can prevent you from taking taste test bites.

To cure a nervous headache, Walk backwards.