Important Fire Safety Tip

Be sure to watch this video and pass on the information. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSJH21WmALc

This Year

Great Way to Learn CPR

Vinnie Jones may be an unlikely spokesperson for trying to make people more alive, but he gives a great explanation for administering CPR. Hopefully you never have to use it, but this knowledge might come in handy. Obviously you'd dial 9-1-1 in America, but the rest of the advice is universal.

Check it out here:
 http://www.upworthy.com/this-is-quite-possibly-the-greatest-way-to-learn-cpr?c=ufb1

 P.S. - If you're out there in the snow don't forget your cell phone!

Akinator - The Web Genie!

Something fun to start your week. Answer truthfully. 

He'll freak you out!  Hee-hee!

http://en.akinator.com/

I tried Captain Kangaroo, Sailor Jack (Cracker Jacks), Bazooka Joe, and he got them all.
I defeated him on a Ginny and Tressy Dolls. (Oops, showing my age there!)

The Life-Changing Loaf of Bread

 Photo credit: Sarah Britton

The Life-Changing Loaf of Bread 
Makes 1 loaf

1 cup sunflower seeds
½ cup flax seeds
½ cup hazelnuts or almonds
1 ½ cups rolled oats
2 Tbsp. chia seeds
4 Tbsp. psyllium seed husks (3 Tbsp. if using psyllium husk powder)
1 tsp. fine grain sea salt
1 Tbsp. maple syrup (for sugar-free diets, use a pinch of stevia)
3 Tbsp. coconut oil or ghee, melted
1 ½ cups water

In a loaf pan, combine all dry ingredients. Whisk maple syrup, oil and water together in a separate bowl. Add mixture to the dry ingredients and combine until everything is completely soaked and dough becomes very thick, adding 1-2 teaspoons water if dough is too thick to stir. Smooth top and let sit at room temperature for at least 2 hours or overnight. 

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Bake bread for 20 minutes, then remove bread from loaf pan, place it upside down, directly on a rack, and bake for another 30-40 minutes (it should sound hollow when tapped). Let cool completely before slicing.

Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Read more about it here: http://www.yahoo.com/food/the-bread-that-will-change-your-whole-world-73342291256.html

My Wonderbag



I basically followed the directions giving in the link in the original posting with a few tweaks of of my own.

*You need to start with a circle of fabric large enough to center a pot in it and be able to come up and over the top with enough to be able to make a drawstring casing. Mine was 40 something inches.

(Keep in mind the polystyrene beads [plastic stuffing beads] (will take up some of the bulk of the fabric.) (I bought 2 bags. Used a coupon on one. )

*So first I made that outer circle with a drawstring channel all the way around. Don't forget to leave an opening for your drawstring!

*Then I cut a piece of Insul-Bright (Got it on sale. It's used to line pot holders or oven mitts) in a circle just smaller than the drawstring channel.

*On top of that I put a piece the same size of cotton batting, then a slightly bigger piece of cotton fabric, right side up. I folded that fabric all the way around over the Insul-Bright and stitched it to it. NOT attaching it to the outer fabric.

*Now you have your Insu-Bright, cotton batting, cotton fabric sandwich. Center it to the wrong side of your outer fabric, right side of cotton fabric showing (it's your inside fabric)

*Find the center of your circle and trace around the bottom of your pot or use your pot lid. Stitch your sandwich circle leaving an opening to put in some of the polystyrene beads between the outer fabric and Insu-Bright, add beads and sew closed.

*Next you need to make side channels in your circle radiating out from your center circle. I made 8. So stitch lines radiating out but don't sew them closed or over your drawstring channel! I put the plastic stuffing beads in 4 channels, skipping every other one, using the rest of the first bag and all of the second. No they didn't go all the way up. The empty channels bulked up when I cinched it up and remember I used the Insul-Bright too.

*After that is done stitch through the edge of your inner fabric to close off your channels.

*Make a pillow top to go on the lid. (I filled mine with some plastic beading from a pillow that had a hole in it that I no longer wanted.

*I made mine too small and over filled it so it will be a redo as I didn't take into account the lid handle.

*Put your drawstring through making it long enough so you can cinch it closed and not work its way back into the channel. 

Happy Slow Cooking! Be sure to use a food thermometer to check your temp when you open it, AT THE END!
I did place a potholder with silicone dots on it in the bottom before I placed my pot in it. See Below. I was leery of placing a hot pot on top of those plastic beads. 

(The fabric I used for the outside was a bit piece of scrap Marimekko I picked up at a Crate and Barrel outlet for $1 a pound!)

P.S. -  Should Jan from PQW happen to be reading this. This was my "Block of the Month".  : )



The iPersonic Personality Test

What's yours?

http://www.ipersonic.com/test.html

P.S. - I made my own Wonderbag. I slow cooked (4 hours) beef stew in it. Yummy! It was about 160 degrees after the 4 hours and I put it back on the stove and brought it back up to a boil before serving. The meat and veggies came out perfect . (I did put a potholder with silicone dots in the bottom of the bag and placed the pot on top of it.)

See again: TipsAndSafety 

Wonderbag

 

This is so cool. You can buy it on Amazon (and one will get donated to a family in Africa) but I just have to try making one.

I did email Elizabeth Geitz http://www.elizabethgeitz.com/i-am-that-child.html and Sister Jane Mankaa http://www.goodshepherdhome.org/ to see if they knew about it.

So here is the article about it:
 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/02/wonderbag-slow-cook-video_n_4532485.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009
and another one:
http://www.thedailymeal.com/news/powerless-cooking-wonderbag-slow-cooker/111413

Here are directions to make one:
http://newlifenewpurpose.wordpress.com/2012/11/09/diy-bag-style-heat-retention-oven-from-upcycled-materials/ You may find others.

Also be sure to read - Tips and Safety:
http://nb-wonderbag.com/Pages/TipsAndSafety

Change 365 Lives!

Happy New Year! 2014