Cooking at home doesn’t have to be a chore, especially if you are using the right tools. Before I had the right equipment, I was often switching between various brands in hopes of finding the perfect one. With this comprehensive list, you can rest assured you are investing in products that will last you for years.
Blueberries are a treasure trove of antioxidants and flavor. I've always loved them in muffins because they're so easy to cook up on Sundays and grab on the way to work each morning. Good warm or room temperature, you can even slip a bit of flax seed oil into the mix...
Creamed chipped beef on toast is one of the most common things my mom made for my breakfast when I was a kid. (It also happens to have been a pretty popular item for serving to U.S. soldiers starting in the 1900s because the ingredients to make it could be stored for...
I'm always working on new recipes--so when my son and I got on our cream puff kick, I worked on some different recipes for icings to use on our new favorite pastries. This recipe is one of my favorites at the moment because it's got a great chocolate flavor, and...
On September 18, I ordered a 24-pack of strawberry SoyJoy bars. Amazon shipped the package on September 19. The package arrived on-schedule on September 23. M y order arrived at about 3 p.m., delivered via standard USPS with tracking; the outer carton showed no damage...
Soy is widely considered to be one of the world's healthiest foods. Soy comes from soybeans--a crop indigenous to East Asia--and is the key ingredient in soy sauce and tofu. The people of Japan consume more soy than anyone else in the world; in fact, the the...
In 2006, I bought a 2.2 cubic foot Panasonic microwave oven: model NN-T995SF from Best Buy. The microwave cost me $299, which I thought seemed kind of expensive at the time. However, I bought it anyway--for three main reasons: at 1250 watts, it was one of the...
To watch Amazon Instant videos--whether they're the free movies or TV shows you get with your Amazon Prime account or one's you pay for--you've got to have either a TV that's already compatible with the way Amazon delivers their instant (over-the-Internet) videos, or...
A while back, Ebay started up their Ebay Bucks program. In a nutshell, this program allows you to earn credits called Ebay Bucks with every purchase you make on Ebay. These credits will then be credited to your Ebay account once per quarter, at which time you'll be...
Amazon.com's Subscribe and Save program saves you as much as 30 percent on items on consumable items you'd buy anyway: 15 percent off eligible products for all customers, plus an additional 15 percent off select diapers and wipes. Sign up for (or learn more...
On August 12, 2011, Nintendo dropped the price of it's flagship 3D portable game system nearly $100. From the original price of $249, the 3DS video game console is now only $169. The new lower price applies to both of the original versions of the console--cosmos black...
We all know how inconvenient even short power outages can be for our family--even an hour or two without electricity can seem pretty scary for kids and adults, alike. Most of us depend on electricity for so many things in our day-to-day lives that it can be more than...
1. Decide What Features You Can't Live Without--then Price Out Those TV Models. There's a reason you're in the market for a new TV. Maybe your expectations aren't that high and you just want a TV that works--and fits in the space you have for it. Maybe you're just now...
I'm not one of those people who starts my holiday shopping 3 months in advance. No, it's much more serious than that. I buy holiday gifts every month out of the year--because that's the way to save the most money. This works GREAT when you're shopping for adults but...
I was working for a Calvert County, MD employer today when we felt the tremors from the Mineral, VA earthquake. It was at 1:55 p.m. My desk is on the second floor of a warehouse-like building. My fellow employees and I have never believed the building to be...
When the manager of our department announced he'd be leaving, it was decided that we'd have a special potluck luncheon to send him off. With 22 people to serve, I thought long and hard about what the best dish would be to bring. I decided on meatballs because they're...
Amazon recently announced that it's just added another 2,000+ additional FREE streaming TV shows and movies for Amazon Prime members. Included in these new additions is the entire Star Trek series! We're talking the original Star Trek, Star Trek Voyager, Star Trek...
Crab cakes are a favorite in my house. And that's great--because they are a super-healthy source of protein that contains virtually no fat. On the downside, they're super-expensive if you order them from a restaurant. The answer, of course, is to make them at home....
Since I first got eyeglasses more than a dozen years ago, I had regular eye exams--if not every year, then at least every other one. But today was the first time I experienced the portion of the eye exam involving pupil dilation. Pupil dilation is one method eye...