May 8th, 2009 admin
This article is from the wall street journal:
“A lot of Americans think they’re eating a healthy diet these days. But it’s easy to be fooled by our assumptions and the ways that food manufacturers play on them.
Take chicken. The average American eats about 90 pounds of it a year, more than twice as much as in the 1970s, part of the switch to lower-fat, lower-cholesterol meat proteins. But roughly one-third of the fresh chicken sold in the U.S. is “plumped” with water, salt and sometimes a seaweed extract called carrageenan that helps it retain the added water. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says chicken processed this way can still be labeled “all natural” or “100% natural” because those are all natural ingredients, even though they aren’t naturally found in chicken.
Producers must mention the added ingredients on the package — but the lettering can be small: just one-third the size of the largest letter in the product’s name. If you’re trying to watch your sodium to cut your risk of high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke, it pays to check the Nutrition Facts label. Untreated chicken has about 45 to 60 mgs of sodium per four-ounce serving. So-called enhanced or “plumped” chicken has between 200 and 400 mgs of sodium per serving, almost as much as a serving of fast-food french fries.
Adding salt water became widespread when big discount stores began selling groceries and wanted to sell chicken at uniform weights and prices. Plumping packaged chicken helps even out the weight. But that means consumers are paying for added salt water at chicken prices — an estimated $2 billion worth every year, according to the Truthful Labeling Coalition, a group of chicken producers that don’t enhance their products….”
Read the whole article
Posted in advertising / marketing, business, dangerous foods, family, food and drinks, food industry, gross, health, parents, truth, warnings | No Comments »
January 13th, 2009 admin
This beautiful set of 6 watercolor paints is a perfect way for your child to express his creative spirit. The colors are brilliant and are based on the natural graduation of the twelve-part color-circle, in accordance with Goethe’s theory of colors. The paints also contain no heavy metals and are completely non-toxic. Colors included: carmine red, vermilion, golden yellow, lemon yellow, ultramarin blue, prussian blue. Made in Germany Ages: 3 years +
Order Your Non Toxic Water Color Paint Set Now
Posted in family, fun, gifts, good value, hobbies, kids, parents, safe products, spare time | 1 Comment »
January 2nd, 2009 admin
Check out the excellent toy sale that takes place every Friday at our favorite online mega store, amazon
. The savings you’ll make are incredible and most items include FREE shipping! I love free shipping. Click below to check out the sale!
Friday Toy Sale
Posted in family, fun, gifts, good value, kids, parents, sales | No Comments »
December 2nd, 2008 admin
The beauty of this table cloth is that it goes well with the holiday season because it’s red and has holly on the pattern, but it also can be used all year long. It’s not like it has Santa Claus on it so you will get your money’s worth by being able to use it for other special occasions during the year. Get it now and click below.
Lenox Holly Damask 60-by-104-Inch Tablecloth
Posted in family, good value, kids, parents, special occasions | No Comments »
December 1st, 2008 admin
Yes, like Black Friday where people go out into the harsh physical conditions of marathon shopping, pitted against panicked and angry shoppers creating stampedes and injuries, Cyber Monday involves mega amounts of bargains. BUT. There shouldn’t be injuries or stampedes or fights or tug-of-wars. You do not have to deal with people. How beautiful is that, people? VERY.
Cyber Monday is a day where you can shop online, free of shoppers angst and at the same time receive some of the best prices on all kinds of items. Many online stores will also offer free shipping on Cyber Monday. There are deals to be had, so get shopping! Online, that is.
Don’t know where to start?
Click here to find the best bargains online
Posted in fun, good value, hobbies, kids, parents, practical | No Comments »
November 22nd, 2008 admin
What is Scrapbooking and Where Did it Come From?
Here’s a little history from wikipedia – In ancient Greece, hypomnemata were a form of notebook for recording one’s own copies of what one had heard, read, or thought that might be worth remembering. There is little evidence in the archaeological and historical record that this sort of method was undertaken anywhere else before. That one had to make one’s own hand-written copies of what someone else had written reflected the expense of hiring a scribe to do so.
With the advent of affordable paper, precursors to modern scrapbooks became available to a wider array of people. Beginning in the 15th century, commonplace books, popular in England, emerged as a way to compile information that included recipes, quotes, letters, poems and more. Each commonplace book was unique to its creator’s particular interests. Friendship albums became popular in the 16th century. These albums were used much like modern day yearbooks, where friends or patrons would enter their names, titles and short texts or illustrations at the request of the album’s owner. These albums were often created as souvenirs of European tours and would contain local memorabilia including coats of arms or works of art commissioned by local artisans. Starting in 1570, it became fashionable to incorporate colored plates depicting popular scenes such as Venetian costumes or Carnival scenes. These provided affordable options as compared to original works and, as such, these plates were not sold to commemorate or document a specific event but specifically as embellishments for albums. In 1775, James Granger published a history of England with several blank pages at the end of the book. The pages were designed to allow the book’s owner to personalize the book with his own memorabilia. The practice of leaving pages to personalize at the end of books became known as Grangerizing. Additionally, friendship albums and school yearbooks afforded girls in the 18th and 19th centuries an outlet through which to share their literary skills, and allowed girls an opportunity to document their own personalized historical record previously not readily available to them.
The advent of modern photography began with the first permanent photograph created by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in 1826. Photography became available to an ever-widening population with the invention of George Eastman’s paper photographs in the late 1880s and the mass production of the Kodak Brownie, a camera designed to be simple (and inexpensive) enough for a child, in 1900. This allowed the average person to begin to incorporate photographs into their scrapbooks.
Old scrapbooks tended to have photos mounted with photomount corners and perhaps notations of who was in a photo or where and when it was taken. They often included bits of memorabilia like newspaper clippings, letters, etc. With the availability of printed material it is likely that the content of scrapbooks shifted away from one’s own hand-writing or drawings or those of one’s family members toward commercially available printed mat ephemera, memorabilia collections and journaling. Modern scrapbooking has evolved into creating attractive displays of photos, text, journaling and memorabilia.
Modern Day Scrapbooking
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Posted in Do it yourself - DIY - Home made, baby / babies, family, fun, gifts, hobbies, kids, parents, practical, relaxing, scrapbooking, spare time | No Comments »
November 19th, 2008 admin
From amazon:
“Out of the thousands of new releases that came into our cubicles this year, we’ve chosen our 100 favorites, from an elegant pop-up alphabet and a deliciously dishy guide to fragance to an enthralling biography of an iconic leader and an encyclopedic history of a sport and the world that plays it. Here they are, so click below.”
Best Books of 2008
Posted in books, essential reading, family, fun, funny, gifts, good value, health, hobbies, kids, parents, people, practical, safe products, spare time, stories | No Comments »
November 7th, 2008 admin
The Amazon Baby Store is offering 4-day Super Sales every Friday through Monday starting November 7. Each weekend the Amazon Baby Store will feature substantial discounts on name-brand baby gifts from Boppy, Lamaze, Baby Einstein, Sassy, Graco and more while supplies last.
Check out the Amazon Baby Store!
Posted in baby / babies, good value, kids, parents, practical | No Comments »
October 27th, 2008 admin
With the impending U.S. presidential elections right around the corner, I thought I’d feature The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream
written by presidential candidate, Barack Obama.
It’s funny how most of the world wants Obama to win, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that American wants him to win. It seems the educated, rational and hopeful people of the world who would vote for Obama if they could, are far from sharing the same sentiments as middle America.
If people had a sense of reason, and could just put their partisan role aside, the obvious person who will turn the U.S. around (from its horrible and colossal downward spiral), would be Obama.
He would not only be good for America, but he’d make the world a better place.
The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream
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October 24th, 2008 admin
Winter season is upon and and that means one thing (for some of you): skiing! This year ski in style
with these absolutely fabulous skis from Volkl Tigershark 12 Foot Power Switch Alpine Skis w/ Motion iPT 14.0 TS Binding.
These skis feature the world’s first on-board power adjustment system. Want to lay it all on the line on the groomers? Turn the Power Switch to the on position. A carbon fiber rod compresses internal springs toward the front of the ski, which gives the Tigershark more power. Leave the switch off for cruising or the occasional tree run. Extended Double Grip construction lends this ski amazing edge hold, while the Tigershark’s iPT 14.0 TS Binding allows for a smooth, natural flex and precise transmission from skier input to the snow. Two layers of titanium make this all-mountain Volkl ski appropriate for advanced all-mountain skiers who Mach down the groom and enjoy the occasional off-piste foray.
Order yours now
Posted in equipment, family, fitness, fun, good value, hobbies, men, parents, sports, women | No Comments »