Brown Rice and Homemade Drano

I try to do the very best for my family.  I also try to stretch our dollars as far as they can go!

Lately, I have been trying to incorporate more brown rice into our diet.  My hubs is not really a big fan of it, but I have been adding 1/4 brown rice to the amount of white rice I cook.  He never seems to be able to tell the difference.  Most people want to know, why is brown rice so much better for me anyway?  Well, I did some research and this is what I found out:

• The difference between the two lies in processing and nutritional content. If the outermost layer of a grain of rice (the husk) is removed, the result is brown rice. If the bran layer underneath are removed, the result is white rice. 
• Several vitamins and dietary minerals are lost in this removal and the subsequent polishing process. A part of these missing nutrients, such as B1, B3, and iron are sometimes added back into the white rice making it "enriched", as food suppliers in the US are required to do by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). One mineral that is not added back into white rice is magnesium; one cup (195 grams) of cooked long grain brown rice contains 84 mg of magnesium while one cup of white rice contains 19 mg.
• When the bran layer is removed to make white rice, the oil in the bran is also removed. A recent study has shown that rice bran oil may help lower LDL cholesterol.
• Among other key sources of nutrition lost are fatty acids and fiber.
• Besides this loss in nutrients, brown rice is also said to be not constipating, unlike white rice. Although this effect also depends on natural adaptation to the product by its users and whether or not the rice has been washed prior to cooking, brown rice generally allows better digestion.

Source(s):

www.Wikipedia.com

https://leftcoastperformance.com/blogs/news/what-happened-to-mypyramid-gov 

We had some trouble with a sink in the bathroom being stopped up last week.  My friend, Kelly, mentioned that she had seen a homemade Drano recipe on Pinterest recently.  I looked it up and decided that it was cheaper and better for the environment and I might as well give it a go! It worked great!

Here is the recipe and instructions for Homemade Drano (drain declogger):

1/2 cup baking soda

1 cup vinegar

1 gallon boiling water

Carefully siphon (I used a kitchen funnel) all the baking soda down the drain. Pour in 1/2 of the vinegar, covering the hole so the fizz is forced down, not up (omit this for toilets, please!). Add the second half of the vinegar, following the same procedure. Allow to sit for 15 minutes or so, and then flush with an entire gallon of boiling water. Use again for tough ones. 

Taylor Swift, live at Arrowhead Stadium! September 2011

Tips for going on a little getaway to see Taylor Swift at Arrowhead stadium-

• Try to at least pack something the night before, don’t wait until the morning of.
• Kids will be sick.
• Your daughter will get left on the elevator and taken back upstairs. It will completely freak her and you and your husband out. There will be tears.
• Your child will fall asleep during a concert. A live, loud concert.
• Who are we kidding, going to this concert was really for me. The 16 year old living inside the 30 year old’s body.
• You will be sad that you can’t take your nice camera because it is considered “professional” and then you will be mad to see other people who have brought in nice cameras.  I did get a couple of okay pictures, but the photographer in me was dying because I wanted my camera!

The concert was awesome. Really, really awesome.  She sang Mine, Sparks Fly, Back to December, Speak Now, Dear John, Mean, The Story of Us, Enchanted, Better than Revenge, Haunted, Last Kiss, Long Live, Fearless, Fifteen, You Belong with Me, You're Not Sorry, Our Song and a song she had never sang live before, Superman. 

We missed the first two opening acts (Adam Brand and Charlie Worsham) because we didn't want to get there to early.  We did get to see some of NeedToBreathe and they are really good.

Get organized and get your sanity back!

We had a very low key weekend.  


It consisted of going to a couple of parks, eating some good food, watching the Razorback game and generally being lazy.


Sometimes, it's just nice to be lazy.


This week, I'm going to get in a rhythm with our new, busier schedule.  I've already dropped things at Goodwill, checked out some local stores I'd been wanting to see, went to a PTO meeting, dropped off and picked up B boy from preschool and am catching up on some computer work.  I have another meeting at 2 and then I have to pick up C girl.


I posted on Twitter last night that "I feel more organized now than I have in a loooong time."
A fellow Twitterer said "what's your secret?" and "Clutter=stress and boy am I stressed!"
I realized that clutter and disorganization had made me very stressed. 
I finally got fed up with it recently and took some time out to get some things done that would help keep me organized and sane.
Some tips I have are:

• to just start.  Starting the project made me more apt to finish it.
• just do one or two things a day, just to feel some accomplishment.
• stop walking past things that "I would get to later." I went ahead and did stuff as I walked by.
• declutter. I know it's hard to get rid of things, but I have felt so much lighter by just tossing stuff.  If you haven't used it/wore it in a year or two, there is a strong possibility that you never will!
• make a place for stuff. If you have a set place for things, they won't be strewn out everywhere. We made a "launching pad" for school mornings where backpacks, lunchboxes, etc are kept. I also have shoe baskets and designated places where I keep papers and mail.

We had a lot of fun at the park this weekend!-------->

Why Don't they Tell Us About This???

First let me say that I was worried about stretch marks while I was pregnant.  I had seen what happens to a woman's body after giving birth and it is not always pretty. I rubbed on the special stretch mark lotion every night.  I didn't end up getting bad stretch marks and now, my skin looks like it did pre-pregnancy.  This I owed to my special lotion, or so I thought.

I recently read a small article in a reputable magazine about stretch marks.  It was an "Ask the Expert" section.  Question- Can anything be done to prevent or treat stretch marks?  Answer- The marks- usually appearing during puberty, pregnancy or weight gain or loss--aren't caused by stretching, says dermatologist Eric F. Bernstein, M.D.  They're a result of hormonal changes in the skin that cause inflammation.  This damages skin's elastic fibers, and increases blood flow (hence the redness).  Little can prevent this, but promising treatments now exist.  A combo of prescription steroid and/or retinoid cream and alpha hydroxy acid lotion may improve stretch marks' appearance over time.  Laser therapy is another option.  Over-the-counter Mederma Stretch Marks Therapy cream may help.  Whatever your choice, act fast (old marks don't respond well), and avoid sun; it can further break down elastic fibers.

What the heck?!!!  Someone needs to tell women about this!  I know that I have not heard this before.  We are all going around thinking that "stretch marks" are from being stretched.  They need to change what they are called!  Hmph.

A (Not So) New Phenomena

$1 Toys!  We have had the greatest fun lately with these inexpensive gems.  So, go ahead, splurge on dollar toys.  I promise your kids will have a blast!

Dirt is IN

I found this recently and found it very informative and amusing.  I'm always telling my mother that she cleans too much!

Turns out that too much cleaning can be bad for your health.  Using household cleaning sprays even once a week increases the risk of developing asthma by 30-50%, say European researchers who studied 3,500 people from 10 countries.  If participants used cleaning sprays four days a week, their risk of asthma more than doubled.  Glass and furniture cleaners and air fresheners had the strongest effect.

Now I'm glad I only dust every couple of months....