Prudent and Practical

August 31, 2009

SKIL RAS900 Router Table Giveaway!

Filed under: fun — Tags: giveaways, home improvement, online — K @ 4:43 PM

I JUST saw that Ethan over at One Project Closer has reviewed the SKIL RAS900 Router Table and now SKIL is giving a brand new one away to one lucky winner!

THIS ENDS AT 11:59PM EST TONIGHT!  So get your butt over there and enter!

complicated route 1 300x155 150x77 photo SKIL RAS900 Router Table Giveaway!

Here’s a little bit about the router from the One Project Closer web site:

This is the One Project Closer August 2009 Giveaway!

SKIL is giving one lucky OPC reader a brand new RAS900 Smart Design Router Table – a $150 value!

On the heels of their recent lithium ion drill driver combo release, SKIL is back at it with two brand new offerings in the woodworking / capentry department: the RAS800 and RAS900 Smart Design Router Tables (official site).

Both of SKIL’s router tables were designed for the junior and mid-level woodworker–someone who wants the capabilities of a router table without the usual $300-500+ price tag.  As a bonus, for those of us without much tool storage space, both tables fold to less than 10 inches high and store neatly on a workbench or garage shelf. For more information, check out the full SKIL Router Table Review.

You must live in the US or Canada to be eligible to enter.

August 21, 2009

Cooking with TVP: Red Beans and Rice

Filed under: food — Tags: food, health, meal — K @ 12:32 PM

I’m happy to share this article with…

Last night I went out on a limb.  I tried something new and in the eyes of my family, weird.  I purchased a bag of TVP during my trip to the grocery store yesterday and made some for dinner last night.

Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP) looks a little like Grape-Nuts.  The ingredient:  defatted soy flour.  According to the package, TVP “is a highly nutritious soy product.  It is incredibly wealthy in complete protein (12 grams per 1/4 cup serving) and contains no fat, so it is an excellent alternative to meat.  It is also a good source of dietary fiber, iron, magnesium, and phosphorus.  Since it takes on the flavor of whatever recipe it is added to, the array of recipes in which it may be used is immeasurable.”

(Added 9/30/2009: Please note that there is currently a lot of controversy on the topic of soy.  While many claim it is nutritious and heart healthy, studies have also shown that eating soy causes a myriad of health problems.  I noted a substitution below.  If you are interested in learning more about the side effects of eating soy, please visit Food Renegade and the Weston Price Foundation.)

Prep:

  • Overnight – soak 2 cups dried beans (red, kidney, or pinto)
  • Or you can do the quick soak described on the pack of beans
  • Drain and thoroughly rinse beans

In a kettle:

  • 2 cups beans
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 6 large cloves garlic, mashed
  • 2 quarts boiling water

Cook for 45 minutes, then add:

  • 2 cups TVP (or instead use ground beef or cubed ham)
  • 3 tablespoons chili powder (I used a mix of mild and hot)
  • 1 tablespoon cumin

Continue cooking until beans are tender, 20-40 minutes.  Most of the liquid should have cooked into the beans and TVP.  I must have been cooking mine on a higher setting because the TVP soaked up the liquid within 5 minutes.  Taste and add salt.  It wasn’t herb-y enough for me so I added more salt and cumin.

You also need to cook some brown rice: basmati or short grain.

  • 1 cup rice
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Once the rice is cooked, mix it with the beans, taste, and add a pinch of cayenne or hot sauce if desired.  I didn’t mix mine together right away, as seen in the photo because I was interested in how the TVP tasted.

Yield: 8 servings

My Opinion

I liked it!  It was easy to use and tasted fine.  The TVP does soak up the flavor of whatever it is cooked with: cumin, salt, chili powder, onion.  The cooked texture made me wonder if you could use TVP to make vegan Sloppy Joe’s.  That is something I would like to try in the future.

The recipe is courtesy of  Bob’s Red Mill.

August 14, 2009

Do Cheaper Wines Taste as Good as More Expensive Wines?

Filed under: food — Tags: eating out, food, restaurants — K @ 4:04 PM

I began to wonder this during the festivities over the last couple months. I gave a $10 bottle of champagne to my sister as a hostess gift because it was her very first time hosting Thanksgiving dinner. Is $10 enough for a bottle of champagne? Should I have spent extra for a more exquisite bottle? And does it taste as good as those $1000 bottles of wine and champagne that the celebrities and executives drink?

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August 11, 2009

10 Ways to Save Money on Books

Filed under: fun,saving money — Tags: books, discounts, reading, saving money — K @ 4:05 PM

To me, my love of reading is both a blessing and a curse – I have this undying thirst for knowledge. There’s nothing like curling up with a good book and a steaming cup of hot chocolate or herbal tea to learn something new! At the same time, that “thirst” can get overwhelming, especially when I have to put reading on the back burner. I feel like I can’t read fast enough to keep up with the growing list of books I want to read.

(more…)

August 7, 2009

Homestyle Dog Food

Filed under: Headline,food — Tags: DIY, food, natural — K @ 2:31 AM

I’m proud to share this article with…

As I sit here typing, you’d think I would have a cat sprawled across my lap.  Alas, it is my anxious, alpha dachsie, Gunner.  Gunner was born at a backyard breeder then sold to one of my (then) classmates.  In November 2006, the classmate couldn’t take care of him anymore – I’ve wanted a little weenie since forever, so of course I said, “I’ll take him!”  Little did we know that when I brought him home on that icy night that he would have so many problems.

The little guy (then Buster) had not been keeping his food down.  Imagine a 10 pound puppy eating large-breed adult chunks :-(   We thought we solved the problem by giving him Iams mini chunks. Yes, that worked for a while, but by February he was throwing up again.  At that time I worked at a floral shop.  It was Valentine’s Day and since I was at work pretty much the entire day, I came home to check on him briefly.  When I walked in, the house smelled “wrong”.  My break turned into a 45 minute clean up fest.  That night on the news, pet food recalls were the highlight.  We didn’t want to take the risk of commercial food anymore so we looked for alternatives.

When our second dog Reggie came to us, we started feeding it to him too – they love this stuff!  We ran out after the first batch so I got a package of the refrigerated gourmet dog food that seemed most comparable to what we had made.  Gunner eats everything (it seems), but he wouldn’t touch it!  He went to eat it, froze, turned back around, and I swear he was glaring at me!  When he was hungry he finally went back to eat it but not with the same zest as when he eats the homemade stuff.

You can see how it's brimming with nutrition!

You can see how it's brimming with nutrition!

There are so many dog food recipes out there and we picked what seemed to have the most variety.  Please be careful of what goes into your dog’s mouth! There’s a lot more than just chocolate on the bad food list.  What we found is now what the dogs known as “hamburger munch.”  It contains meat, veggies, rice, oats, olive oil, and salt.  So, I have posted the recipe in the recipes section of the site. 

You can get it in a pdf file right here.

I would normally do a price comparison but we try to buy the items when they’re in the ad.  The main cost is the hamburger.  We use 5 pounds per batch – cost ranges from $7.50 to $10.  When it goes on sale, I try to stock up for a couple months.  Five pounds of hamburger lasts us about 1-1/2 weeks.  The dogs are 16 and 26 pounds.

Even the cats like it

Even the cats like it

Downside:

  • The time it takes to make (15 minutes to mix everything together-the food processor grating attachment helps, 25 minutes for the rice, 50 minutes to cook)
  • We had to get Gunner a slow-down dog dish because he eats it so fast

Benefits:

  • You know what’s going into the food
  • No preservatives
  • Whole foods
  • No corn
  • No beet pulp
  • No animal “by-products”
  • Naturally balanced – the recipe was approved by my vet
  • Far fewer medical problems – the goodness of this food might be called preventative medicine
  • Fewer #2s – basically went from 3/day down to 1/day (this definitely helped with potty training)

Both our boys love this stuff

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