It really works!

 Have you ever heard of cleaning the bottom of your copper cooking pots with ketchup? I have read about this many times but never tried it until now. It really works!

before

 

squirt some ketchup on

rub it around...wait 5 minutes or so...

 ...and after! scrubbed and washed

Apple Orchard

Do you love going to the Apple Orchard? Save money by picking your own apples!

Ask if they have a price for picking them off the ground to save even more money! Lots of time you will find perfectly good apples on the ground that get knocked down by other pickers. Same price for whatever variety of apple you want. We picked them for 50 cents a pound!  Great way to try different types of apples!

                                      hmmm....is this a good one?

Bosch Basic Bread Recipe

Bosch basic bread recipes: Ingredient quantities for three batch sizes

BATCH SIZE	HOT TAP WATER(115'F)	STEP A PORTION OF FLOUR	OIL	HONEY	YEAST	STEP B PORTION OF FLOUR	SALT(HEAPING MEASURE)	MAX. TOTAL FLOUR REQ.
FULL:	6 CUPS	8 CUPS	¾ CUP	½ CUP	4 TBSP.	4 CUPS	2 TBSP.	15-17 CUPS
MED:	4 CUPS	6 CUPS	2/3 CUPS	1/3 CUPS	3 TBSP	2 CUPS	1 TBSP	8-11 CUPS
SMALL:	2-1/2 CUPS	4 CUPS	¼ CUPS	¼ CUPS	2 TBSP	1 CUP	1 TBSP	6-8 CUPS

Full batch= 6 loaves
Med. batch=4 loaves
small batch=2 loaves

With dough hook in bosch bowl, pour in hot water. Add the "step A" quantity of flour. (this can be any combination of whole wheat flour, white flour, cracked wheat, oatmeal, hot cereal like malt-o-meal or Ralston, etc.) then add the oil, honey, and yeast. With splash ring installed, jog switch to "pulse" several times to prevent splashing, then mix well on speed 1. Stop and add the "step B" quantity of flour (again, any combination) add the salt on top. Turn on to speed 1 and within 1 minute, gradually sprinkle in more flour until the sides of the bowl come clean enough to see bottom of bowl. This final amount of flour depends on the humidity of the air and the protein content of the wheat. 

After bowl sides come clean, knead on speed 1 until gluten is developed, generally 8-10 minutes(if using white flour, kneading time for gluten development may be much shorter)

Shape the loaves by hand or by rolling out. To roll out, use a greased rolling pin on a greased surface and roll to 8"x16". Then starting at the far end, roll up tightly in a spiral like you would a cinnamon roll. Tuck each end under and slam dough down hard on the counter a couple of times to get rid of air bubbles between layers of dough. 

Put in greased pans.(I use a metal pin pan, to get nice round loaves.)
Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubles(about 30 minutes) 
Bake in preheated oven 350' F for about 25-30 minutes
Remove from pans, cool on racks.
enjoy...yum!



 

Photos of my square foot garden

                                  Spinach, lettuce, radish, carrots   ↑

                                                carrots ↑

                                               beans ↑

                                              broccoli ↑

                                                   jalapeno  ↑  ↓

Baby Gizmo 15 Strollers in 15 Days Giveaway Extravaganza

Baby Gizmo 15 Strollers in 15 Days Giveaway Extravaganza

It’s like Christmas in June here at Baby Gizmo.  We are having our biggest giveaway yet!  It is the Baby Gizmo 15 Strollers in 15 Days Giveaway Extravaganza!  We are celebrating the launch of the Britax B-Agile by giving away 15 strollers!  We seriously feel like Oprah right now. “And a B-Agile for you!  And a B-Agile for you!  You get a B-Agile! And you get a B-Agile!”  15 lucky moms (or dads!) are going to get a brand-new Britax B-Agile Stroller over the next 15 days. 
I know…I know…just when you thought our giveaways couldn’t get any better and we go and throw 15 strollers at you!  And not just any strollers!  The fabulous new B-Agile strollers that are lightweight, easy to fold and super easy to push!  We are giving away 15 of the B-Agile strollers before you can even buy them.  Ridiculous, right?! 
Now, before we tell you how you enter to win – you must check out the B-Agile.  Yes, it’s a requirement to check out our full review and watch our video review to learn all about the stroller.  We are giving away the strollers – so we make the rules!  You can’t win if you don’t know what you are winning!    Plus, you know we love to throw Baby Gizmo quizzes around.  So, go ahead check out the stroller and we’ll wait.  Here is our full review of the Britax B-Agile: 

 BABY GIZMO BRITAX B-AGILE STROLLER REVIEW

Okay, now we all know how fabulous the B-Agile is and we all want one, right?  Each day for 15 days (June 16-30), a random winner will be picked from all the entries that we have received from that day to win a B-Agile.  Yes, you have to enter every day to be entered every day! 

How do you enter, you ask?  It’s easy!  All you have to do is log in at BabyGizmo.com to be entered to win! 

LOG IN HERE

Extra Entries:

Want to up your chances of winning?  You have the opportunity to get FOUR additional entries into the giveaway! (You still HAVE to log in to BabyGizmo.com though)

**You will receive ONE extra entry into the giveaway (for each thing you do) if you:

1) All you have to do is leave a comment here on RatedbyMom and tell us one of your favorite features of the B-Agile!  That’s ONE entry!
2) Comment on Baby Gizmo’s Facebook Page3) Tweet about the contest using hashtag #BabyGizmoGiveaway! (add this to your Blog comment so we know you did it!)email us the link or add it to your blog comment so we know you did it!)
4) Post about the Giveaway on your favorite message board! (
One random winner will be chosen each day from the entries THAT DAY! 

So, log in to Baby Gizmo, do your extra entries and let the giveaways begin!

*If you leave a comment here on Baby Gizmo’s Blog – RatedbyMom, please make sure you enter your email address correctly in case you are the winner so that we may contact you!
This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook.

check out this link:
http://www.ratedbymom.com/2011/06/baby-gizmo-15-strollers-in-15-days-giveaway-extravaganza/

Square Foot gardening

What is Square Foot Gardening?

A simple system that adapts to all levels of experience, physical abilities, and geographical locations. Grow all you want and need in only 20% of the space of a conventional row garden. Save time, water, work and money!

These are the advantages to Square Foot Gardening:
*New Method - Easy to understand
*User Friendly - Great for beginners
*Locate Anywhere - Close to your house
*Economical - Reduces everything 5 to 1
*Efficient - 100% of the crop in 20% of the space
*Easy to Protect - From pests and weather
*Earth Friendly - Reduce Reuse Recycle
*Very Productive - Just  as much as you need

Check out these videos!

 For way more information, check out this website:
http://www.squarefootgardening.org/whatissfg#!__whatissfg/what_is_sfg

I also recommend buying this book if you are going to start a Square Foot Garden:
http://www.squarefootgardening.com/products/ALL-NEW-Square-Foot-Gardening-Book.html

This is the kind of garden we started last year. It was our first time planting a garden and it was so easy to do. I couldn't believe it, I didn't have to do any tilling, digging or weeding!

Vitamix giveaway from The Thrifty Mama

Vitamix Giveaway

by Crystal on May 11, 2011

This giveaway is from  TheThriftyMama  (http://www.thethriftymama.com)
To enter this giveaway, click on this link below ↓:
http://www.thethriftymama.com/2011/05/vitamix-giveaway.html

This is from TheThriftyMama: http://www.thethriftymama.com/
You amaze me. Yes, you sitting there at your computer (or browsing on your smart phone), I’m talking to you. My reader. Thank you for your profound support, encouraging words, fabulous emails, Facebook comments, Twitter tweets and for just being all around awesome.
I couldn’t write this blog without you. It’s tough work, but you make it all worth it. So thank you! And as a thank you, I’ve giving back by offering one lucky reader a Vitamix. Vitamix in no way sponsored this post, nor did I receive anything in order to do this. I’m just giving this away ’cause I know a lot of you out there are dreaming of having one of these.
So here it is.. One winner will receive a Vitamix Turbo Blend Countertop Blender ($379 value).

Giveaway ends Sunday, May 15, 2011 at 9pm EST