Cocoa Banana Nut Bread

A little cocoa powder can improve many things; banana bread being one of them! When I make this recipe I substitute canola oil for the butter, add a couple of teaspoons of cinnamon and leave out the chocolate chips. I use good Texas pecans for the nuts. Some dried cranberries would be delicious in here too. If you prefer muffins, this recipe will make 15 full-sized muffins (it's never 12 is it?). The baking time for the muffins is about 15 minutes.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter or margarine at room temp.
1 cup sugar
1 cup ripe mashed bananas
1/4 cup milk
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup Hershey's cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350'. Grease and "flour" (with confectioner's sugar) a 9x5 inch loaf pan.

Combine butter/margarine, sugar, bananas, milk, eggs and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat for 1 minute at medium speed. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl, stir into the banana mixture just until dry ingredients are moistened, do not overmix. If desired, stir in nuts and/or chocolate chips. Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, remove from the pan and cool completely.

I made a batch of the muffins on Friday in advance of the big snowfall under which I'm now buried. So tasty and I'm working off the calories shoveling snow!

Sun-Dried Tomatoes - Favorite Thing

I decided to use my Saturday slot to share with you some things I really like. These are not going to be solicited reviews and I don't have a giveaway. It's just stuff I like, use and want to tell you about!


I love sun-dried tomatoes but I tend to use them in spurts. I use them in everything and then I forget about them for long periods of time. I used to buy the ones in the jar packed in oil and, during the lull in my sun-dried tomato usage, they would go bad. I was forever throwing out spoiled half jars of sun-dried tomatoes, which I hated.

I recently found sun-dried tomatoes packed like dried cranberries. What an amazing thing! No extra oil and I think they'll last a lot longer. Christopher Ranch is the brand in my grocery store, though there may be others. I'm in a big sun-dried tomato usage period right now. I've been julienning them and putting them on pizza and basically chopping them up and throwing them in everything. Last night I made a delicious dish with barley, collards, raisins, pecans, onions and garlic and put a bunch of chopped sun-dried tomatoes in there; yum!

If you love sun-dried tomatoes and didn't know, or hadn't tried them packed like these. Look for them in your grocery and give them a try!

How to Save Your Own Life: A Review

All of us who have children know that there are lessons they have to learn for themselves. We wish we could tell them and save them the pain and suffering but if we try, they won’t listen. Such may be the lessons in Michael Gates Gill’s little gem of a book, How to Save Your Own Life: 15 Lessons on Finding Hope in Unexpected Places . Although the lessons he is trying to teach are not new to him, they are powerful, inspiring lessons, nonetheless.

I don’t know if it is possible to tell someone who works a fifty plus hour week and then spends all their “free” time over scheduled and running from place to place that if they’ll just slow down life will be better. Mr. Gill was a high-powered ad executive from a very well-to-do family who had, by his own admission, been given everything and accepted it as his due.

“I expected the world to hand me everything…and then I thought I had done everything required by thanking the world politely for being so understanding.”

In very short order he was fired from his job, went through a divorce and was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Like so many of us, he was forced to slow down. Through his metamorphosis, Mr. Gill discovered the joy of living a simpler life at a slower pace.

“I had come to see that there was a kind of joy in serving others that was not possible when you were trying to control others.”

The gift of time, even when forced upon us is a thing of beauty and Mr. Gill is trying to help us by sharing the message. Are these lessons we can be told or are they ones we must figure out on our own? Gill’s first book, How Starbucks Saved My Life was a New York Times bestseller so clearly people are ready for the message.

If you are a follower of mine you know that this is the lifestyle that I have been striving to achieve. In me Gill is “preaching to the choir”. I loved this book so much it’s difficult not to gush about it. I found it inspiring and uplifting. He has an important tale to share with us, which he does masterfully through gentle stories and numerous quotations divided into fifteen “lessons”.

Lesson 1 deals with both sharing your troubles and listening to others who need to talk about a problem. This chapter is headed with an English proverb, “a problem shared is a problem halved”. Gill is not advocating that we unload on everyone else at every opportunity. Rather that if we are faced with a problem, we should find someone with whom to share it and should ourselves be open to sharing the problems of others.

“A tragedy shared becomes less of a trauma and more of a way to experience a new and deeper emotion that can lead to a better way to live.”

Lesson 2 deals with finding happiness. Gill urges us to stop a moment and ask ourselves if we are really happy with our lives and our jobs. If the answer is no, he urges us to make some big changes. You know that off-repeated quote about how, at their deathbed, no one ever wished they’d spent more time at work? Don’t leave it too late!

“I believe that a unique road to happiness is given to each of us, special for each person – we just have to listen to our hearts to follow.”

Lesson 3, in a perfect follow-up to Lesson 2 tells us to take a leap of faith. Even though it’s scary, move forward!

“Move forward confidently, and your faith will help you create a better future.”

Asking for and letting ourselves be helped can be hard to do. Lesson 4 says we need to learn to do both. Helping others and receiving help from others creates some beautiful energy. Both parties benefit.

“By opening your heart to help, and by helping others, you will find a more fulfilling life and a new path to happiness.”

Lesson 5 reminds us to look with respect at every individual we see. Gill would like us to remember that every person deserves to be seen and respected as an individual. Take your blinders off, stop judging and SEE the people around you.

“Today I know that every individual I see has the potential to uplift my life.”

Lesson 6 is to learn from children. We normally teach our children; we need to also be open to learning from them. Gill uses this chapter to describe some beautiful lessons he has learned from his children.

”Stop advising your children about life for a moment and learn from them. Children often have a new approach to life that can help you find a new way to live.”

Lesson 7 – Learn from your father. This chapter is a beautiful tribute to Gill’s father, Brendan Gill, longtime writer for The New Yorker. His regard and love for his father shines through every word. Clearly Mr. Brendan Gill was a wonderful, inspirational person and this chapter makes you sorry you won’t get a chance to meet him.

“And since all parents are imperfect, don’t judge your father too harshly, but love him as a person who brought you into life and can show you new ways to live.”

Lesson 8 – Learn from your mother. As Chapter 7 was a tribute to Gill’s father, this one is a tribute to his mother. He was truly blessed.

“Remember that a mother’s hopeful, never-failing love for you is one of the greatest gifts you are given. Pass it on the best you can.”

Lesson 9 – Lose your watch (and cell phone and pda…). Our overscheduled lives are the focus of this chapter. Don’t be a clock-watcher, urges Gill, enjoy life!

Lesson 10 – Let Go and Let God.

“Your life is like the weather. You can talk about it a lot, but in the most profound way, you can never completely control it. Do the best you can and then let go and let God.”

Lesson 11 – Laugh…with New Insight. Laughter, says Gill, especially when shared with someone else, can be the best way to regain a healthy mental and emotional perspective.

Lesson 12 – Live…Each Day with Gratitude Like It May Be Your Last. Such an important lesson. Be grateful, don’t hate or be bitter. Enjoy life!

“It is important to treat every second as a gift to be grateful for and to enjoy.”

Lesson 13 – Late Bloomers – The Last of Life Can Be the Best. I don’t know if this is a universal truth but it certainly is proving to be the case for me.

“..be prepared for these next years to be the best of your life.”

Lesson 14 – Less is more. Lose All Your Stuff and Find Freedom. I hope you know this one. That big salary, new car, that big house and all the stuff in it are the anchor not the wings. As Gill says, “Somehow in recent years we have let the American Dream become defined as an aspiration for possessions. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness do not mean the greedy desire for more stuff”.

“Liberty and independence can be granted to you at this minute by finding yourself a way to live without so much stuff.”

Lesson 15 – Love the ride and let your light shine. That says it all!

Although many people are trying to teach us these lessons, everyone’s story is unique. Michael Gates Gill has added his beautiful voice to the chorus. I hope we are listening!

Link Love 1.28.2010

Various things that interested me around the web this week -

So, the Supreme Court took a serious, stunning wrong turn. In a good synopsis, As Time Goes By summarizes it in The Supreme Court's Awful Decision. How could that have happened?

Another great piece by Ruth Pennebaker of The Fabulous Geezersisters, A Different Time. Is was a tough week last week and she's drawing some historical comparisons.

If you're on Facebook, you need to check out this article in the New York Times about privacy settings.

Jeff from My Super-Charged Life has an affirming post up about Making Positive Choices. All of life is a choice. Make some good ones!

Have you ever considered a composting toilet? I have and was happy to see Living Off The Grid take a look at a few of them.

I'm saluting Green Panda Treehouse for her idea about giving up eating out for a week and then donating the proceeds to charity. Her 2010 Charity Challenge is a great idea! I don't eat out much but I'm going to find something to give up and follow her lead.

Tomorrow I'm reviewing How to Save Your Own Life by Michael Gates Gill. I love it. Come back and find out a little more about this wonderful, inspiring book.

The Osprey - updated!

I mentioned the Osprey on a link love post a few weeks ago. It was unveiled at the International Homebuilders Show this past weekend in Las Vegas. Here's the information from Palm Harbor's site -

Designed to meet the needs of Baby Boomers, Echo Boomers and RV enthusiasts seeking an affordable Green weekend retreat, the Osprey is approximately 513 square feet of efficiently designed living space with one bedroom, one bath, a large great room and integrated decks that provide a generous living area for a weekend get-a-way or year round living.

The eye-catching, low maintenance metal exterior of the Osprey exemplifies the home’s defining contemporary design. Bamboo, cork and other natural materials are layered in throughout the interior to accentuate the home’s clean lines. The galley kitchen is the model of efficiency, integrating solid surface counters, a steam microwave, a lift oven, a barbeque griddle and modular refrigeration. The relaxing spa shower features a push button control to activate the heated floor when stepping out. Naturally, the latest in technology has not been overlooked, including programmable structured wiring, multiple zone audio and stylish LED lighting to create the perfect mood at the end of a long day.

An abundance of sustainable features allow the Osprey homeowner to go completely off the electrical grid if they so choose. Components such as SmartSun glass windows and doors, closed cell foam insulation and SIS panels that wrap the exterior provide a water resistant barrier and enhance thermal efficiency. A dual zoned ductless heat pump featuring Inverter technology ensures even interior comfort throughout. Endless hot water is available due to an integrated energy saving tankless design. For those seeking supplemental energy, the Osprey even provides the latest thin-film solar technology integrated within the standing seam metal roofing panels.

Here's the floorplan.

Here is a slide show of the Osprey, and Palm Harbor's other two modular homes being set up at the International Builders show. The Osprey is the first bunch of slides.

IBS International Builders Show 2010, Las Vegas, NV

View more documents from palmharbor.

Pricing for the Eco-Cottages reportedly runs between $25,000 and $90,000 but I don't know where the Osprey falls in this range. Here's what Palm Harbor has to say about site set up -

"The Eco-Cottages are designed to be “complete when delivered.” Depending on your intended use, they can be placed on either a permanent or temporary foundation. The utilities will need to be connected (water, sewer, gas/electric) and you may need to pull a building permit. If you are near one of many company owned stores or independent builders, they will be happy to arrange all of this for you. We [will also] arrange the transportation for you."

TreeHugger.com reports that -

It has a very high level of insulation, (Walls- R 24 , Floors - R 29 and Ceiling - R 49) and Energy Star rated windows; sited properly it could almost act passively. The show model has thin film solar integrated into the standing seam roofing.

Interior finishes are appropriately green as well; they have also used recycled wood, low or no VOC paints and formaldehyde free insulation. "Bamboo, cork and other natural materials are layered in throughout the interior to accentuate the home's clean lines."

Preston at Jetson Green calls it an off grid home, but that is questionable. It has a solar roof but that won't power their appliance choices. It is certainly not off pipe; it has a dual flush toilet, and that Rinnai tankless water heater is gas fired, whereas solar hot water heating is the lowest hanging fruit around. None of the appliances shown make much sense with an off grid home but hey, it is a show model, they have fancy stuff to show and sell.

There is no reference to a heat recovery ventilator either; even though this unit is small, it is well insulated and tightly sealed. Two people living, cooking and showering in that small a space would need the fresh air.

My friend Funny About Money pointed out the serious lack of closet space with this little house and she's right. If you were intending this to be your year-round home I think you'd have a problem. Let's face it, no matter how simple your lifestyle, you still need cleaning supplies, a vacuum cleaner, etc., and I don't know where it would go. There seems to be one little closet in the bedroom, which also contains a stackable washer/dryer. I think you'd need to have a little storage building out back somewhere.

Lack of storage notwithstanding, I still love this little house and I'm looking forward to getting cost information and seeing it in person.

Check out these other neat little "eco-cottages" from Nationwide-homes, a subsidiary of Palm Harbor.

Do The Honeybee

This was so cute I had to share it. A different approach to focusing attention on the bee colony crises we are currently facing.



I found this video on The Huffington Post.

The No Phone Zone Challenge

Oprah did a show the other day on the dangers of talking on your cell phone while you drive and, even more dangerous, texting while you drive. She highlighted several stories of people being killed by someone texting or talking on their cell phone and also people texting who were responsible for killing someone else. There were three guests on her show who were quite convinced, as are we all, that they had conquered driving and texting and were perfectly capable of doing both with no trouble. All three of these guests were tested and all three of them failed miserably, much to their surprise. They were given a car and told to drive over a fairly simple course, first without their phone and then while texting. All three participants were visibly shaken by the results. Three down; several million more to go.

When I lived in Texas the majority of the roads upon which I drove were long, flat and empty. I could easily drive for an hour without ever passing another car. I admit it, I both texted and talked on the phone pretty constantly. I didn't think about it too much. If I got into trouble, at least I was only endangering myself. When I moved to southwestern Virginia, I moved out of AT&T land and had to give up my iPhone and go back to a flip phone. I have to say that texting on a regular phone is way too much trouble for me so I stopped. Talking on the phone is another story. I talk on my cell phone pretty much whenever I'm in my car. I have no cell service at my house so when I go to town I turn on the phone and call one of my sisters, or my son or one of my friends and basically talk the whole time I have a signal.

My younger sister calls me from the road all the time too. She calls when she's running errands and on her way to and from almost everywhere. She's got a lot of cell phone minutes and no discount long distance service on her landline so calling on her cell phone while she's out and about is our opportunity to be in touch.

One of the sound bites on the Oprah episode was, "It's not where your hands are, it's where your head is that matters", in reference to the relative safety of using a hands-free device with your cell phone. I've noticed this phenomenon myself. Even if I'm using my Bluetooth headset, I get involved in the conversation I'm having and, on occasion, zone out from my surroundings. I say, "Hang on just a minute", get myself refocused and then continue on with my conversation. Not so safe, I admit.

I'm pondering the No Phone Zone Challenge. No phone conversation is worth the clear risk involved in talking on the phone or texting while driving. The last few days I've not even turned my phone on while I've been in my car. I'm wondering about all the angles of this challenge. If I take it, by extension does that mean everyone with whom I talk are also taking it, at least as it applies to me? My sister leads an extremely busy life and her drive time is just about the only chat-time she has. If I'm home but she's driving and she calls, do I refuse to speak with her? Clearly neither one of us think chatting on the phone while driving is worth having a wreck, but just as clearly, neither one of us think that's going to happen. Does anyone think it's going to happen to them?

Oprah feels so strongly about this issue that she has banned her entire staff from using their cell phones, Blackberries and iPhones while driving. One of her staff members made an appearance on the show and talked about how difficult that has made things. One of her producers has to toss her Blackberry into the back seat of the car while she drives in order to fight the temptation to use it.

What do you think? Would you consider taking the No Phone Zone Challenge? If not, why not? We can all watch a television show and be moved by the message but does it really apply to our everyday lives? What do you think? I'm contemplating it.

Not All Deals are Created Equal

This is a guest post from Mr Credit Card of www.askmrcreditcard.com. Today, Mr Credit Card is going to talk about why cheap stuff and deals may not be the best thing. In case you are curious, one of his favorite credit card issuers is Discover credit card and he also recommends checking out the SPG Starwood Preferred Guest program.

If you would like to submit a guest post for SimplyForties check the guidelines here.

Lots of folks in the personal finance blogging arena tell us about deals and generally recommend products that cost the least. But from my experience, lots of low price and teaser deals have a hidden cost. Below are some examples I've experienced in real life.

Cheap, but product is out-of-date - Electronics retailers love to lower their prices on Black Friday. Consumers constantly seek out electronic gear during Black Friday and the holiday season. I have found that one has to be very careful when buying electronics on Black Friday. Most electronics retailers sell stuff they want to clear on Black Friday. That means they are selling old models. There is nothing inherently wrong in selling old models, but one of the problems I have encountered is buying an old laptop that had "new software" installed on it. If you looked at Black Friday 2009, there were a lot of laptops going for under $200. Yes, under $200. But the problem was they had Windows 7 installed on them! Unfortunately, there wasn't enough memory in those laptops to really run Windows 7. Folks who bought those laptops would be shocked that they took so long to boot! When they add Microsoft Office and a Norton Security Suite, they will find their new laptop runs like a snail! Additionally, many Black Friday deals lure you to buy a product and then the product does not work until you buy additional software!

Deceptively cheap but with hidden costs - About 18 years ago I was backpacking in New Zealand with Mrs Credit Card. We had to rent a car to drive in the South Islands. We searched for the cheapest deal and went into the rental shop with the cheapest price in their window. We decided to sign up and get the paper work done. But as we signed the papers, we found that there were additional costs. The "cheap price" was the basic deal. Costs like sales tax and collision insurance were not covered. After all the costs were added up, we actually paid more than we would have had we used a different company with a higher advertised price.

The same thing can happen with 0% financing. Check the fine print. It is not uncommon for furniture stores to offer 0% financing and no payments for 36 months. But if you have not paid the item off in full by the end of the 36 months, the interest on the 37th bill can be as high as 29% and the interest charges apply retroactively!

Shopping at Going Out of Business Sales - I once bought a dozen pair of shoes from a shoe shop because they had a closing sale. I really thought I had a great bargain. Many cost just $15! Guess it was too good to be true. Most of the shoes that I bought there either broke or tore within a month of wearing them (and I'm not kidding). I bought a few mocs and within 3 weeks, the side on the outside part of the foot had a tear. The same thing happened time after time. I guess it is no surprise that the shop closed down. They were selling crap products!

Be very careful when you are shopping at store closing sales.

Deals whose terms may change - Ha! This is my area. See all those 0% balance transfer deals. Well, when you get one of those cards, typically the minimum payment required is about 2%. But those terms could change so easily! They could raise the minimum to 5%. For some, that could literally mean doubling your monthly credit card payments! You could lose your reward points you have accumulated if your card is closed for some reason by your credit card issuer. You could even have your credit limit drastically reduced. Sometimes I think it is better to get a charge card with no preset spending limit and pay the bill in full every month even though it has an annual fee.

Where to get the good deals?

Obviously not all deals are bad. Here are a few types of deals that I found to be legitimate without any hideous fine print. Supermarket coupons are the most obvious example. There are no catches with these. Present them and you get your discount. Store coupons work the same way. I find that local business coupon booklets are mostly a pretty good deal. I've taken advantage of restaurant coupons just to check out a new place, or got a coupon that allowed me to pay for one ski ticket and get one free during the weekdays.

One way not to get suckered into bad deals and sales tactics is to only respond to them if you have done research on the product you are buying and really know if the deal is good or not. For example, if you have researched a digital camera you want to buy and a sale comes along on that one, you can confidently take advantage of the sale. Contrast this to someone who just buys it because it is on sale without knowing if it will be suitable for him or her. This is one instance where procrastination actually helps!

Everyday we are bombarded with supposedly good deals. Many such deals have fine print that is not disclosed. We either waste a lot of time or are suckered into getting something that we should not have gotten. Look at deals with a wary eye to protect yourself.

Wolfgang Puck's Pizza Dough

This recipe was included in the Make It From Scratch Carnival at Frills in the Hills!

Here is the pizza dough recipe that I use when I'm making homemade pizza on the Pizzaz!

Use this recipe to make two regular or 4 small pizzas or calzones. It makes the perfect crispy crust.

1 1/4-ounce package active dry yeast

1 teaspoon honey

1 cup warm water, 105° to 115°

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon coarse salt

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and honey in 1/4 cup warm water; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine flour and salt. Add oil, yeast mixture, and remaining 3/4 cup warm water; mix on low speed until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and clusters around the dough hook, about 5 minutes.

2. Turn dough out onto a clean work surface, and knead by hand until dough is smooth and firm, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer dough to a large bowl, and cover with a clean, damp kitchen towel. Place bowl in a warm spot, and let rise for 30 minutes.

3. Divide dough into four balls, about 6 ounces each. Work each ball by pulling down the sides and tucking under the bottom of the ball; repeat 4 or 5 times. On a clean unfloured surface, roll the ball under the palm of your hand until dough is smooth and firm, about 1 minute. Repeat with remaining balls; cover with a damp towel, and let rest for 15 to 20 minutes. Prepare as needed and arrange desired toppings; balls can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for up to 2 days.

Pizzaz Pizza Oven - A Favorite Thing

I know this is going to seem like a strange one but the Pizzaz really is one of my favorite things!



I received the Pizzaz a couple of years ago as a Christmas gift. Smiling my "oh I love it", fake gift smile, I was thinking, "What the heck am I going to do with this thing? I'm no college frat boy looking for a way to heat up a frozen pizza." Thanking the giver profusely, I put it aside for several weeks, contemplating the correct amount of time that would need to elapse before I sold this thing on eBay.

After awhile I began to think that I needed to give the Pizzaz a whirl. I still thought it was a stupid gift but I wanted to honor the giver so I decided to give it a go.

Being who I am, I did not go out and buy a frozen pizza. I got out my favorite pizza dough recipe and made up a batch. Although the pizza wheel part is non-stick, I sprayed it with a little olive oil (another use for the Misto!) and stretched and prodded the dough out to completely cover the surface. I added all my good toppings and put the wheel in place.

The Pizzaz has heating elements above and below the tray and a control on top that allows you to have either the top, bottom or both heating elements on. I always use both heating elements. Another control lets you set the amount of time the heating elements remain on. The timer runs from 0 - 20 minutes. I always use 20 minutes. As long as the Pizzaz is plugged in and the tray is in place, it will continue to slowly spin, whether or not the heating element is on.

Wheel loaded with pizza and in place, timer set for twenty minutes with both heating elements on and the magic starts to happen! The pizza slowly revolves, the dough starts to rise and brown, the toppings start to sizzle and melt...Yum!

After my very first pizza I was completely hooked on this little appliance! I LOVE my Pizzaz. True confession - when I visit friends and family I actually take my Pizzaz with me! Everyone loves the homemade pizza. I'm now a complete fanatic and only recently relented and stopped making my guests stand around for the entire twenty minutes watching the pizza spin!



I bought a Pizzaz for one of my sisters for Christmas and, since she has a family of four, I also bought her an extra pizza tray so she can have a second pizza ready to go when the first one comes out; a purchase I would highly recommend.

I know this seems goofy and I'm not normally a specialty appliance person but I admit it, I really love my Pizzaz!

It's Official

The next stage of my adventure is secured. When I leave here I'll have two weeks off and then I'll be heading to a small town just outside of Knoxville, Tennessee. I'm excited by this next step and looking forward to getting to know another part of the country. I've enjoyed being closer to my family and I'm glad that I'll get to stay in the east awhile longer.

The new assignment is supposed to last for six months and involves looking after a lovely older home and two indoor cats. The home is in a traditional neighborhood with other houses close by. That will be a big change from my current situation but not an unwelcome one. It's been great here on the farm and I know I will be posting more about it before I go but, like every experience, there are both good and bad sides to it. Although I like being by myself, I've become downright reclusive since I moved out here. I can literally go for days and even weeks without seeing or speaking to another person. I'm not sure that's healthy. Moving to a neighborhood will certainly take care of that problem.

The neatest thing about this new assignment is that by accepting it, my adventure is colliding with someone else's. After some medical scares, my future homeowners took stock and decided they'd better start living the life they wanted to lead. Sound familiar? They bought an RV and are planning a six-month trip around the country and up into Alaska. How neat is that? It's a very inspiring story, which you can read about at Our Great RV Escape. I'm all about people following their dreams and intend to follow along on their adventure. You should too! I've spoken with them on the phone a couple of times and am really looking forward to meeting them.

So, the adventure continues!

Link Love 1.20.2010

(Get the 'possum out of the henhouse...check!)

Here are a few articles I enjoyed around the web this week:

Funny About Money spent five hours burning paper. She's wondering, how much paper do you keep? I always feel like I'm choking on paper. A bonfire is pretty tempting!

Mighty Bargain Hunter took a look at all the flack some credit card companies have gotten recently when their fee structure was exposed in reference to people charging their charitable donations. I have to say I agree with him, credit card companies can profit from Haiti donations all they want. He's right, their risk and cost of doing business is the same whether we charge groceries or charitable donations to our cards. We make a choice to use our cards for this purpose and charities make a choice to accept credit card donations. If you're up in arms about credit card companies charging their normal fees for these types of transactions, let me ask you this: If credit card companies were willing to waive their fees would you be willing to waive your credit card rewards? Just wondering.

In case you didn't see it, I had a guest post up at My Super Charged Life this week. Jeff is on vacation and asked if I'd submit a post about my experiences this past year. Here's my story of radical change.

Do you have trouble saying no? Lots of people do. Women at Forty took a look at the Power of No.

The next stop on my adventure is secured! I'm going to look after the home of Our Great RV Escape in east Tennessee while they go on their great adventure. They're asking for ideas. Do you have any advice for them?

Some other random stuff -

I spent a day down in Pittsboro, North Carolina this week volunteering at the American Livestock Breed Conservancy offices. These people are doing important work and doing it well.

I recently started following @VeryShortStory on Twitter. Their tweets crack me up. Here's an example -

"I answered the ad for "slave wanted", ready for some adventure. That's when I met Sheila, who was celibate, but needed a lot of chores done."

Here's another -

"I looked at divorce as a new beginning, a chance to strike out on my own, until the judge asked me which of my parents I wanted to live with".

and just one more -

"When it rains, I think about you. I regret not making room for you. Did I really need two of everything aboard when there is only one you?"

You need to follow them!

What are you thinking about this week?

Striking Giveaway Winner

The winner of the Striking Giveaway is Jill, who left a comment on the Striking review post. Jill, you have until the 27th of January to get in touch with me. If I don't hear from you by then, I'll have to pick again. Click on the "contact me" link on the far right, near the top on my blog. Congratulations, I know you'll love the product!

Pontificating or Just Expressing Your Opinion?

A few months ago I attended a large party celebrating the 50th wedding anniversary and 80th birthday of a friend of mine. It was a fun party with a very diverse crowd in attendance. At one point I found myself visiting with a women who I would guess was probably somewhere in her 70’s or 80’s. Evidently she publishes a newspaper or magazine that seems to deal primarily with the news and events of several historically prominent south Texas ranching families.

During the course of our visit she mentioned that she was working on an article on Jefferson Davis. Lincoln, she said, had been getting so much press lately that she wanted to write about a true hero. To say I was speechless would be putting it mildly. While I certainly wasn’t going to get into a debate with an 80-year old woman at a social event, I was absolutely flabbergasted. Hard to imagine she was for real but believe me, she was completely sincere.

Texas has an interesting, unique and colorful history. It doesn’t get mentioned a lot in conjunction with the Civil War. It’s such a big state that it’s difficult to quantify. Even today, East Texas and West Texas are so different physically and sociologically it’s hard to imagine they’re both the same state. Throw in Central and South Texas and you’ve got quite a melting pot. Texas was never officially a slave state but slave owners inhabited the Gulf Coast areas and some parts of East Texas. While Texas is neither the Deep South nor the Old South, it’s definitely still the South.

This woman took down my name and address and said she’d send me a few past editions of her newspaper as well as the new one with her Jefferson Davis article when it comes out. I’m always interested in other people’s opinions and I’m sure I’ll read her paper but I doubt I’ll become a subscriber.

Although I don’t usually get myself in trouble over a difference of opinion as to whether Lincoln was a hack and Jefferson Davis a savior, assuming that everyone sees the world the same way we do can be problematic. Have you ever loudly espoused a particular belief to what you thought was a sympathetic audience only to find out you were the only one in the room who felt that way? Have you ever attended a party and then gossiped with your friends later about someone who was monopolizing the conversation with an unpopular topic and how uncomfortable it made everyone?

I belong to a wonderful women’s book club back in Texas. We go off and have a girl’s weekend at least once a year. One year we were reading a David Liss novel and planned a weekend in San Antonio. One of the members got in touch with the author and he agreed to come by, have cocktails and visit with us at our hotel. He writes great period mysteries set in Holland. We all loved the books and looked forward to meeting and talking with him. At the time he was working on a new novel, "The Ethical Assassin", which, amongst other things, dealt with the topic of animal rights. In response to our questions about his work in progress, he spent a good deal of time talking about his decision to become a vegetarian because he believes that everyone who raises cattle treats their animals inhumanely. Most of the women in this group are in the cattle business. We’re all well-mannered Southern ladies who showed him perfect hospitality but we were all fuming inside. Clearly he had no idea to whom he was speaking and had no inhibitions about expressing some pretty controversial views. No doubt he believed what he was saying and assumed we would too.

There’s a fine line between being mousey and unwilling to talk about anything other than the weather and expressing your opinion loudly and firmly at every opportunity. Where do you draw that line?

Procrastination or There's a 'Possum in my Hen House

It's true; there really is a 'possum in my hen house. He's been in there for about a week and, other than worrying about him and being extra diligent about collecting the eggs, I'm not doing anything about it. My chickens are pretty big so I don't think he's a danger to them, but he could be. Mostly he just eats the eggs if he can get to them before I do. He's constantly on my mind. I'm formulating all sorts of plans to eject him but I'm not actually doing anything.

The possum in my henhouse is real but he's also a bit of a metaphor representing all sorts of things I'm currently stewing about but not taking action to resolve. Here are some of the other “'possums in my henhouse”:

- It's been quite awhile since I did any real exercising and I haven't been watching what I eat lately either, with predictable results. I'm unhappy about the few extra pounds but so far, I'm not doing anything to get rid of them;

- My house is a bit of a mess right now and it's making me a little crabby but again, I'm not doing anything about it;

- When I moved to Virginia I got out of the habit of tracking my spending. I had a bunch of receipts to get together for my homeowner and I took that opportunity to finally log most of my expenses. I have a little more to do but haven't picked it back up for a week now;

- I have two more rooms to paint in this house before I leave at the end of March. It’s an easy job but I still haven't picked up my brush

Unfortunately, I could go on but I won't bore you with my whole to-do list. I comfort myself with the surety that I'm not alone in my procrastination and inertia.

Why do we do it? Why do we put off until tomorrow what we can do today? I know I'm going to get everything on my list done but why is it such a struggle to get motivated? We know exercise makes us feel good and yet we put it off. We know we need to stop spending and start paying down our debt but we head back to the mall. Taking any sort of action to resolve our issues makes us feel empowered and we know it; yet we continue to sit on the couch.

There are thousands of motivational speakers out there just waiting for us to hire them to tell us to do what we already know we should be doing. Google “motivational books” and you’ll get 4,780,000 responses; “motivational seminars” returns 967,000 responses.

I think Nike said it best. “Just Do It”. I’m giving that a shot. Wonder if it will work?

What are you putting off? What are your tricks for overcoming inertia?

Digital Cleanse Anyone?

This is a guest post by my very neat niece Leah, who mentioned on Facebook that she was undertaking a digital cleanse and agreed to write about it for SimplyForties. Could you do it? Would you want to?

If you would like to submit a guest post for SimplyForties check the guidelines here.

On December 31, 2009, I was checking Twitter and reading the latest updates from everyone I follow. One of my favorite celebrity Twitterers (Tweeters? Twits?) is John Mayer, also known as @johncmayer. He’s funny and kind of weird, and he likes his fans. He posted a link to his blog describing an idea he came up with called the Digital Cleanse. You can click the link to read the whole post, but this paragraph sums it up pretty well:

“Mention to anyone with computer savvy that your laptop has somehow gotten slower over recent months and they’ll ask you the same thing: “have you defragmented your hard drive?” Defragmenting works by taking small slivers of information stored in various locations and consolidating them so that they’re in the same place on the drive and thus easier to access in larger chunks. Hard drive fragmentation is a great metaphor for - if not a literal manifestation of - what’s happened to our brains over years and years of processing small bursts of information. 2009 took fragmentation to a whole new level given the rise of Twitter and the social acceptance of texting people as a substitute to making phone calls.”

The basic idea: take a week off of technology and give your brain a chance to defragment. It was supposed to start at 9:00a, January 1, 2010, and end at 9:00a, January 8, 2010. The guidelines: no social networks, no texting, and no checking email on your phone. I thought about it for a few minutes and decided I could manage that. I posted a note on Facebook letting people know that I’d be out of touch for a while and boy did that get a response! The responses were funny (“Sounds great, why don't you post a daily blog entry to tell us how you're doing?”), distressed (“nooooo!!! don't do it!! I'll MISS you!”), rude (“Sounds about as valid as colon cleansing does, which isn’t very valid at all”), and skeptical (“Seeing is believing, but good luck!"). Unfazed, I continued with my plan. I’m not sure what I really expected to happen. Mostly I thought it would be an interesting challenge, and it would be nice to not feel tied to my cell phone, constantly checking email/facebook/twitter/etc.

I woke up January 1 and my first thought was to grab my phone and check Twitter. That’s a sign of a problem, I think. I turned it on, but alas, it was 9:20 am and I was out of luck. The rest of the weekend was easy enough. I was on vacation and I tend to be slightly less plugged in when on vacation. The real challenge started Monday. Every time I hit a lull at work, my fingers instinctively began to type ctrl+t, f-a-enter, which is the keystroke combo that opens a new tab and auto-completes facebook.com in my address bar. I was surprised how ingrained that was in muscle memory. But I stood strong! I managed to stop myself every time.

The other thing that surprised me was how often I wanted to tweet. It seems I think in 140-character phrases now – not a good thing, in my opinion. A friend asked me how I was doing and I said I felt lost – “how do I know who I am if I’m not telling the internet who I am?” I was being facetious, but I think there is a grain of truth in that nonetheless. The urges to tweet were always about the most mundane things: the line I was standing in, my breakfast, the sweater I was wearing. Nothing very interesting, but I really wanted to tell the world and hear their responses! I don’t really think that’s a good thing, either. By the end of the week, I was fine without twitter, but I really missed facebook. I keep up with my family and friends through facebook more than any other medium, and I had started to feel very disconnected from them all. They missed me too.

Now that I’m back, everything is pretty much back to normal. I think I’ve been tweeting a little less, and I’ve spent less time on Farmville, which was turning into a huge time-suck for me before. I’m not quite as glued to my phone as I was before the cleanse, although just last night Chris got after me for checking twitter while he was talking to me. (I know that’s really bad. Definitely something I need to stop doing.)

My week of digital silence didn’t drastically change my life, but it did change a few small habits for the better. And really, that’s all I could expect from a week. I might even do it again in a few months.

Leah lives in Texas with her cat Oscar. She spends her time making pretty things with paper, planning her upcoming wedding, and obsessively checking Twitter (though not as obsessively as she used to). She also keeps a blog, which you can read here.

Pasta and Eggs

This recipe appears in the Make It From Scratch Carnival. Make it From Scratch is a great place to find good recipes and fun crafts.

Here’s my version of pasta and eggs. It’s quick, good and filling. I make it from start to finish in under 15 minutes. If you’re sitting around doing nothing, this dish will put you to sleep. If you have some physical work to do, this dish will fuel you through until evening.

Ingredients –

2 servings

Spaghetti-type pasta (I like capellini)
2 eggs
2 Tablespoons olive oil
½ cup diced onion
1 clove garlic, diced
½ cup sliced mushrooms
¼ cup diced red bell pepper
¼ cup chopped pecans
¼ teaspoon lemon zest
Parmesan cheese, grated
Chopped fresh parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

Cook pasta per instructions on the box, set aside. Scramble the eggs in a bowl and set aside. Heat olive oil in a large skillet, add onion, sauté until translucent, add garlic, sauté until fragrant; about 1 minute. Add mushrooms, sauté until just starting to get soft, add bell pepper and pecans, sauté for a couple of minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add pasta and pour the eggs on top. Mix constantly until eggs are cooked; remove from heat, add lemon zest and stir through. Divide between two plates, top with Parmesan cheese and chopped fresh parsley.

Other than the pasta and eggs, oil and salt and pepper, all the ingredients are up for grabs. Whatever you like, whatever is in your fridge, throw it in!

The main thing to remember with this recipe is not to overcook the eggs. Frequently, after mixing the eggs in, I remove the pan from the heat and continue to cook them with the residual heat from the pan.

Favorite Things - Misto

I decided to use my Saturday slot to share with you some things I really like. These are not going to be solicited reviews and I don't have a giveaway. It's just stuff I like, use and want to tell you about.



One of my sisters gave me the Misto for Christmas a few years ago and I love it. It's basically an oil atomizer. You unscrew it in the middle, pour in some olive oil (or any oil) and use the top to pump it up. It stands about 7 1/2" tall and a couple of inches in diameter. It has an attractive stainless steel finish and stashes easily into a kitchen cabinet.

This thing is very handy. You can use it to spray oil in a thin even coating on just about anything. Oiling slices of french bread to toast for bruschetta, oiling a bowl for bread dough, oiling a pan to bake brownies; anything you might normally use a brush or your hands to oil can be oiled quickly and cleanly, using less oil. If you're watching your fat intake, you could use the Misto to spray a very thin coat of oil in the frying pan before sauteing. It's cheaper to use than non-stick cooking sprays.

I love my Misto. If it broke, I'd replace it. It's inexpensive and will make your oil stretch farther, saving you a little money in the process. Quick, easy, handy and cheap; what more could you want in a kitchen gadget?

Do you have a Misto? Do you love it? What do you use it for?

Composting: The Joy of Good Dirt

The lengthy cold snap through which much of the country has been struggling appears to have lifted. Although it's only January, the slightly warmer temperatures and sunshine are making a lot of people think about their spring gardens. Along with laying out your beds and day dreaming about fresh garden peas, give some thought to composting. If you aren't composting, you should be. Composting diverts a lot of waste out of the landfill and improves your soil. Good soil is the foundation upon which successful gardens are built. If you are composting, are you doing it as fully and with as much variety as you could be?

Several months ago I attended the 2009 Heritage Harvest Festival, which was held at Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia. I had the pleasure of listening to Barbara Pleasant, staff writer for Mother Earth News, give a talk on composting. Ms. Pleasant is clearly very passionate about composting and I was impressed with the wide range of methods she used to create healthy soil.

Ms. Pleasant pointed out that when you use purchased compost you run the risk of introducing herbicides into your garden. There are numerous easy ways of composting that you may not have considered. Sheet composting, for example, requires no great effort. Using cardboard and sheets of newspaper, leaves, grass, and other organic material, you create layers of material, which are left to decompose. Sheet composting takes time but very little effort. If you have designs on a particular area of your lawn, you can layer your sheet compost right on top of the sod, piling it several inches deep. After several months, your compost materials will be decomposed, as will the sod below. Dig it all under and you're ready to go. While you are planning what to put into this year's beds, figure out where you would like to expand and start sheet composting in those areas. By this time next year, the new beds will be covered with lovely organic material and ready to dig.

Here are some other tips from Ms. Pleasant for easy composting:

When you weed your beds, throw the material into the pathways. All spring, summer and fall, continue to walk on and throw your weeds into the paths. When you clean your beds in the winter, rake the layers of material in the walkway back into the beds as winter mulch. No need to haul the weeds to another area to compost them and then haul the compost back again. That's pretty smart!

If you have piles of leaves to deal with, run your lawn mower back and forth over them to break them down. Leaves treated in this manner decompose faster than leaves left to decompose whole. Rake the pile of broken down leaves into a heap and put a soaker hose on it. Again, damp leaves decompose faster than dry ones.

Make use of your compost pile by planting directly into it. Growing legumes in your compost pile will help to fix nitrogen. Squash also grows readily in a compost pile. In this way, your compost pile is working for you and does not represent lost garden space. Stick your plants in the sides of your heap and you can continue to pile new material on top.

Pressed for space in which to compost? Ms. Pleasant suggests composting around the edges of your lawn. You’ll kill the grass, produce good compost and create border in which to garden without having to dig them.

In a very clever compost/garden idea, Ms. Pleasant completely covered a section of unbroken lawn with bales of hay, cut side down, creating a solid rectangle of hay bales. She watered the hay bales with as much water as they would hold, cut some holes in the hay, filled them with compost and planted crops right in the holes. This created a raised bed. As the bales broke down, she surrounded them with cardboard to hold them together. She replanted in her hay bed and the hay and cardboard continued to break down and the lawn underneath died and decomposed. Ultimately she was left with a new, very well-mulched garden bed without have had to break any sod.

Ms Pleasant was all about easy composting. She pointed out that most people compost using a commercial model, which is not appropriate at home. She stressed that we shouldn't be worrying so much about carbon/nitrogen ratios and that, unless you have a known problem, you don't have to heat your heap in order to kill pathogens. If you know you have problems, she suggests using a solar cooker to heat the compost. Remember that "cooking" compost will also kill good things and she suggests adding your cooked compost in stages to your worm bin before using it in your garden.

Encouraging us to use what we have, Ms. Pleasant composts her junk mail and uses brambles and sticks to form frames for her compost heaps.

So, what are you waiting for? Get out there and find something to compost!

Ms. Pleasant is a gardener, a writer and a composter who makes her home just up the road in Floyd, Virginia. Get to know her at http://www.barbarapleasant.com . Make plans to attend the 2010 Heritage Harvest Festival on September 11. They hold it up on top of beautiful Mont Alto and it is well worth your time!

Link Love 1.14.2010

(Here's my tom turkey Jackson; he's feeling frisky now that the holidays are over!)

Time Goes By is an excellent blog with a byline reading "what it's really like to get older". They have a very talented group of writers and their articles are always interesting, diverse and frequently entertaining. I was intrigued to read The Continuing Plot to Kill Social Security over there recently. I'm mostly a fan of The Washington Post and was dismayed by what I read in this article.

Most people are familiar with Roger Ebert and his struggles with salivary gland cancer. In addition to being a film critic, Ebert is a gifted writer. This piece, which appeared in Roger Ebert's Journal in the Chicago Sun Times titled Nil by Mouth is well worth the read.

I'm intrigued by the small or tiny house movement. The Osprey, made by Palm Harbor Homes, looks especially promising. Pricing still to come and clearly that's the kicker for most people, but it's attractive, it's green, and it can be off-grid if necessary. For those of you who equate off-grid exclusively with living in the woods, it's also handy when you would like to have a guest house on your property but the cost of running utilities is prohibitive. I'm going to be keeping my eye on this one. If anyone is heading to the International Builder's Show in Las Vegas at the end of the month and would be willing to check out the tiny houses debuting there (including the Osprey) and write about them for SimplyForties, let me know!

I think everyone should read How to be a Better Conversationalist at the Etiquette Expert Blog and then do a little self-check. I sure did!

There's a great recipe for Mississippi Mud Cake at Real Food Fast. As soon as I read it I had to drop everything and make it. It's delicious and quick! You can leave out the whiskey if you like. In her directions she says "add the whiskey through the water", that's not an instruction for mixing a drink, she means add all the ingredients from the whiskey down through the water. It was a funny instruction. I greased and "floured" the pan with confectioner's sugar even though that is not in the instructions.

If you are looking for a way to help with the tragedy in Haiti, Doctors Without Borders is an excellent organization with a proven track record to whom I donated. Flexo, over at Consumerism Commentary has a helpful post about safe donations to victims of the earthquake.

Last but not least (for me anyway) I won a fantastic cookbook this week called The Italian Farmer's Table from Scordo.com. Scordo's got a great blog that you should definitely be reading!

I've got a giveaway going on this week! Read about it here!

In order to get an entry in the giveaway, comment on this and any post running on SimplyForties this week. One comment per person per post will count. So if you comment on every post this week you would get six entries in the giveaway. If you Tweet about the giveaway (being sure to include @SimplyForties in your Tweet so I will be sure and get it) I’ll give you another entry, for a possible seven entries. I’ll use a random number drawing on Saturday, January 16th and your prize will be shipped directly from Striking. Be sure to use a valid email address when you comment so I will be able to get in touch with you.

Water; I'm lucky to have you!

If you follow me on Twitter or are my friend on Facebook (or in real life!), you know that I spent a couple of days last week without running water. I was able to use buckets of water from the creek behind my house to water the animals and flush the toilet. I bought a couple of gallons of drinking water at the grocery store and just didn't take a shower for about a day and a half. Had the "drought" gone on a little longer I would have been able to shower across the street at my neighbor's house.

I never realized how much I use water throughout the day. Obviously my morning cup of tea and oatmeal use water, as does toilet flushing, showering and dish washing. When only facing a day or two without water, they're pretty manageable. I found myself constantly turning on the useless taps for all sorts of other little things that I normally don't even think about.

There's nothing like doing without running water for awhile to make you appreciate it. We know that good hygiene is vitally important in stopping the spread of disease. When you can't just turn on the tap, that becomes problematic. Do you wash your hands in creek water and risk cross contamination? Do you use your precious drinking water? I put a bottle of Purell out and didn't worry about it. What if you didn't have that choice?

What for me was a minor inconvenience, quickly solved when the plumbers showed up is a daily fact of life for millions of people around the world. In fact, according to Charity:Water almost a billion people on the planet don't have access to clean drinking water. That's one in every eight people. Charity:Water is one of my favorite charities. Private donations pay for all of their administrative costs so 100% of donations go towards providing access to clean water for people in developing nations. The first thing I did when my water came back on was to make a donation to Charity:Water in honor (!) (memory?) of my water-less couple of days.

I'm thankful for my little reminder to conserve and cherish my access to clean drinking water, magically delivered at the turn of a tap.

I've got a giveaway going on this week! Read about it here!

In order to get an entry in the giveaway, comment on this and any post running on SimplyForties this week. One comment per person per post will count. So if you comment on every post this week you would get six entries in the giveaway. If you Tweet about the giveaway (being sure to include @SimplyForties in your Tweet so I will be sure and get it) I’ll give you another entry, for a possible seven entries. I’ll use a random number drawing on Saturday, January 16th and your prize will be shipped directly from Striking. Be sure to use a valid email address when you comment so I will be able to get in touch with you.

Diversifying Your Income for Financial Stability

I am very pleased to share this excellent article by Everett Sizemore, who among other things, is the owner of "my" farm! If you would like to submit a guest post for SimplyForties check the guidelines here.

My wife lost her job several months ago. We’ll be okay. I could lose my job tomorrow. We’d still be okay. It feels good to say that, and I hope this post motivates you to begin down a path that will allow you to say the same.

Climbing the ladder to success – a well-worn cliché – can become more dangerous with every step you climb. Just as mountain climbers put safety measures in place at regular intervals to keep themselves from falling “all the way” down, diversifying your income stream can keep you from “losing everything” during tough economic times.

Most people spend more as they make more. They get used to a certain lifestyle that must be maintained, which makes them vulnerable – hence the dangers of climbing too high. A diverse revenue stream will do little to protect you if you’re spending all of your money every month. This is why the first rule is to either reinvest the money made from alternate revenue sources, or put it into savings. If you have a full time job and still have to dip into your alternative revenue funds to pay the bills you are living above your means.

I’ll go over some of the ways in which we have diversified our income toward the end of the post. However, everyone has different skills and needs so let’s start out with some broad, general advice…

Start Now
Do not wait for retirement or a lay-off to start on a project. If you have an idea in mind, take the initial steps now. Some things you can do right now include: researching the market; obtaining insurance quotes; filing the paperwork to start a business; opening the business bank account; reading up on tax issues; finding suppliers, distributors, vendors; identifying strategic partners; buying the domain name and getting a website started; writing a business plan… The great thing about this approach is that it becomes ok to fail. So what if your idea bombs – at least you still have a full-time job. Imagine what a mess you’d be in if you waited until you got laid off to try that “great idea” of yours!

Leverage Your Strengths
Unless prohibited by your employer, consider consulting for smaller businesses that require your services. A sales manager at a major corporation could hire his/herself out as a sales training consultant to mid-sized businesses in non-competitive industries. An internet marketing coordinator for a mid-sized business could consult on weekends and evenings for small businesses and start-ups. Having these references and relationships built-up over time will provide a safety net in case you ever lose your “real” job. I know an electrician who works full-time for a shopping mall. He puts ads out on Craigslist and does small projects on weekends. Eventually he hopes to have enough of a client-base to quit his full-time job. In the meantime, he’s spreading out his financial risks.

Don’t Get Burnt Out
Do not be afraid to turn down a freelance job or put down a pet project if you feel overworked. Do not work so much that it begins to affect your day-job performance. Remember, this is a slow build-up of income, experience, connections and infrastructure over time. We’re talking years, not months. There is no need to race to the finish line.

Keep It Scalable and Be Picky
Making money on the side can get very difficult very fast if you have to do everything manually and don’t choose your battles. I have learned several ways to avoid this. First, I outsource everything I can, and stick with contractors with whom I’ve developed trust. Second, I don’t take jobs or clients that seem needy or time consuming. That’s the great thing about having a full-time job. You don’t need to take every side-job that comes along. You are the one who is in demand; not the other way around.

I have a full time job doing internet marketing. My wife worked full time doing graphic design until getting laid off several months ago. Below are some of the ways in which we have diversified our incomes:

#1 I occasionally take on clients as an SEO Consultant, but am very picky about which jobs I take and prefer to work on my own websites. It brings in the occasional check, but more importantly, keeps me in the game should I ever have to move in that direction full time.

#2 My wife makes handbags, pillows and clothing from re-purposed fabrics and sells them on Etsy.

#3 I have over a dozen websites monetized in various ways, including Google Adsense, affiliate ads, Amazon.com associate links, banner ads and lead generation. These websites, when combined, bring in enough profit to pay our bills and feed us (but not much more), and only require about 5-10 hours per week of maintenance work. It takes about 20-hours to get them up and running, but 9 out of 10 fail and are cut loose after one year when hosting and domain fees are due again. I’ve found the ones that work best for me are those that keep my interest (see simple living link below).

#4 My wife knits hats, sweaters, and scarves to sell at local markets and on Etsy. She is currently working on her website from which to sell these goods: SalvagedThreads. (coming soon).

#5 We make soap and lip balm, which we plan to sell on Etsy and on one of our websites about simple living skills: Living A Simple Life soon.

#6 My wife takes on freelance graphic design clients. She started doing this before being laid off so that she would have clients right away to bring in some extra income. Most of her business comes from word of mouth, but she also has a website to bring in referrals: Illustrative Solutions.

#7 As a work in progress, we have already started developing a website for our rental cabins, which we hope will be a major contributor to our diverse revenue-stream in the coming years. We aren’t open for business yet, but that hasn’t stopped me from “getting started now” with a website: Blue Ridge Farm Stay . In fact, knowing that we would be involved in the industry, I even started another website for the sole purpose of getting to know others in the industry and developing those relationships: Back to The Earth. When the time comes to take in our first guest, we’ll already have a website ranking well on Google and strategic relationships with dozens of other cabin rental businesses around the world. That sure beats starting from scratch!

As you can see, our house is built on many supports, some thicker than others, but each contributing to an overall greater degree of stability. Combine this with a penchant for living below your means, and you’ll have a recipe for peace of mind in troubled times.

Everett Sizemore is the SEO Manager for Gaiam , a lifestyle company promoting healthy, green living with media and eco-conscious products. He speaks at regional and national marketing conferences and writes about search marketing on his blog, www.esizemore.com. Everett's other interests include balancing technology with voluntary simplicity, sustainable
agriculture and travel. You can follow him on Twitter @balibones.

I've got a giveaway going on this week! Read about it here!

In order to get an entry in the giveaway, comment on this and any post running on SimplyForties this week. One comment per person per post will count. So if you comment on every post this week you would get six entries in the giveaway. If you Tweet about the giveaway (being sure to include @SimplyForties in your Tweet so I will be sure and get it) I’ll give you another entry, for a possible seven entries. I’ll use a random number drawing on Saturday, January 16th and your prize will be shipped directly from Striking. Be sure to use a valid email address when you comment so I will be able to get in touch with you.

Striking: A Review and a Giveaway

Recently I was contacted about reviewing Striking. This product is described as being a new skin care line designed for women over 40. Clearly this was a product that SimplyForties readers might be interested in so I agreed to give it a try. I received a starter kit which I used every morning and night until they were gone.

Multivitamin Crème Cleanser -

Even at forty-eight I still have oily skin and normally use an exfoliating cleanser. I’ve never been a huge fan of cream cleansers, feeling like they don’t clean well enough. I was pleasantly surprised by the Striking Crème Cleanser. It has a luxurious feel, an inoffensive smell and left my skin feeling clean and soft. Striking’s literature states that the, “skin is left clean and comfortable without feeling dry or stripped from moisture loss”, and that is precisely how it felt. Also according to their literature, the cleanser contains age-fighting vitamins, which help to maintain the skin’s moisture barrier.

Restorative Moisture Crème –

Again, no scent here, for which I was grateful. The moisturizing cream was light and left my skin feeling soft without being greasy. One of my personal pet peeves is moisturizers that don’t contain a sunscreen. I believe that skin care products should all contain a sunscreen. A line designed specifically for the over-40 crowd really should have a sunscreen. I’ve always had a sneaking suspicion that the only explanation for the lack of sunscreen in many skin care products is that the company wants us to have to purchase a separate sunscreen. After I received the product I contacted Striking’s marketing manager and asked her about the lack of sunscreen. She responded thusly:

“The problem with having a sunscreen in a moisturizer is the consumer assumption of how high or low the SPF should be. If you look at many moisturizers with SPF included they are low ranging from SPF 9 to SPF 20. Since there is such a variant with climates the need for SPF does vary in areas. Also when adding the sunscreen it can change the luxurious feel of the products on the skin. At this time, we do not have it included but it is on the list of line extensions and I appreciate your feedback”

Although I think any SPF would be better than none, I felt like her response was an honest answer and it made sense to me. She is certainly right in describing this moisturizer as luxurious feeling. I really enjoyed using it.

Rejuvenating Eye Crème –

Another light, clean, unscented moisturizer described as being an “ultra-moisturizing eye crème that hydrates the delicate skin around the eyes and helps to minimize puffiness and dark circles”. I can’t really address those claims as they are not issues with which I currently struggle. I can say that this eye cream felt wonderful, didn’t run into my eyes and was a pleasure to use.

Multi-Peptide Serum –

I have to say I didn’t quite get this product. It is described as, “A fast absorbing serum that provides hydration.” To me, this is one of those products that is difficult to see what it’s really doing and you have to take it on faith that it’s doing anything at all. According to the literature, “two SmartPeptides have been added to target the signs of aging. Fine lines and wrinkles are less noticeable, skin feels firmer and looks radiant.” It left my skin feeling a little sticky, as opposed to soft and supple. I used it underneath the moisturizer, as instructed, which took care of the slight stickiness.

I'm always looking for new ways to deal with the various issues I have with my skin. I hope the products will live up to their claims and generally give them two tubes before I write them off and try something else. From Chanel's $75 an ounce age-spot lightening cream to inexpensive grocery store cleansers, I have never seen any difference in how my skin looked by the time the two tubes were empty.

A most astonishing thing happened during the time I was using the Striking products. After I’d been using them a couple of weeks I happened to catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror, without makeup, and was surprised to note that my skin looked unexpectedly, noticeably good! I didn’t put it together at first and over the next few days kept noticing how good my skin looked. Then, like a light bulb going off over my head, I remembered that I had been using these Striking products. I don’t know which product gets the credit or if it is a combination of all four but what an incredible thing!

Beauty product manufacturers always talk about things happening on a cellular level, which are very hard to prove or disprove. I would conservatively say that since I began worrying about my skin, around the age of thirteen or so, I have probably used hundreds of different products and this is the first time I have ever been able to notice an appreciable difference in my skin and I’m am very happy to be able to tell my readers about it!

Striking is not an inexpensive product. If you are like me, though, if it works, it’s worth it. Striking is a new product line and is currently available through:

The Striking website http://www.strikingskincare.com

Tips N Trends - http://www.tipsntrends.com/products/striking-multi-peptide-serum

Gold Violin - http://www.goldviolin.com/Striking_Skin_Care_Products_p/91866-fslash-9.htm

Norm Thompson - http://www.normthompson.com/jump.jsp?itemType=PRODUCT&itemID=13816

According to their marketing manager, Striking is currently looking into other online and brick and mortar retailers.

Now for the giveaway part –

Striking has agreed to give one lucky SimplyForties reader the Striking Daily Duo Product set, which includes both the eye and the moisture crème and is valued at $77.00.

In order to get an entry in the giveaway, comment on this and any post running on SimplyForties this week. One comment per person per post will count. So if you comment on every post this week, starting with yesterday’s recipe post, you would get six entries in the giveaway. If you Tweet about the giveaway (being sure to include @SimplyForties in your Tweet so I will be sure and get it) I’ll give you another entry, for a possible seven entries. I’ll use a random number drawing on Saturday, January 16th and your prize will be shipped directly from Striking. Be sure to use a valid email address when you comment so I will be able to get in touch with you.

I’m really impressed with this product and hope that, if you don’t win it, you’ll give it a try anyway. The Striking Daily Essentials set, which I received and recommend, is currently $24.99 (normally $49.99) through the Norm Thompson link.

Poaching Shrimp

Here's an excellent little YouTube video of Chef Michael Pardus from the Culinary Institute of America teaching how to properly poach shrimp. Very informative. I snagged this video from Ruhlman.com.

Pecan Dirty Rice

This recipe appears in the Make If From Scratch carnival over at Got A Little Space to Fill. There are lots of good recipes and crafts over there. Be sure to check it out! If you've come from the carnival, welcome!

One of my friends asked me to post this recipe so he could have it. It's delicious and everyone loves it. Add any sort of diced meat or some shrimp and it makes a fantastic main dish.

¾ tsp salt
¾ tsp garlic powder
¾ tsp dry mustard
½ tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp ground black pepper
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 cup peeled chopped onion
1 cup chopped seeded green bell pepper
½ cup toasted pecan halves
½ cup raisins
¼ cup butter
2 cups cooked rice

Combine salt, garlic powder, dry mustard, cayenne pepper and black pepper in a small bowl and set aside.

Heat a large skillet over high heat. Add oil and heat until very hot, but not smoking. Add onion and green bell pepper and sauté for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add pecan halves and continue cooking for 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and add raisins and butter; stir until butter is melted and raisins are plump.

Add cooked rice and reserved spice mixture. Cook until thoroughly heated, stirring gently to blend flavors, about 5 minutes.

Serves 6

When I make this dish I use a lot less oil, you really just need enough to saute the onions, maybe a couple of tablespoons. I also omit the green bell pepper, because I don't like them. I use red bell pepper or any sort of mild pepper like a cubanello or anaheim.

I've got a giveaway going on this week! Read about it here!

In order to get an entry in the giveaway, comment on this and any post running on SimplyForties this week. One comment per person per post will count. So if you comment on every post this week you would get six entries in the giveaway. If you Tweet about the giveaway (being sure to include @SimplyForties in your Tweet so I will be sure and get it) I’ll give you another entry, for a possible seven entries. I’ll use a random number drawing on Saturday, January 16th and your prize will be shipped directly from Striking. Be sure to use a valid email address when you comment so I will be able to get in touch with you.

Housesitter Anyone?

When I moved north to take responsibility for caretaking a small farm in Virginia I thought I would be here for a year. Due to an unforeseen change of circumstances, the owners of my little farm are moving up here on April 1 instead. When I came here I had no idea what I would do when my time was over but I was completely confident that something would come up and the path would become clear to me. I still believe that but the fact that it has to happen so much more quickly than I expected is a little unnerving.

I have to keep reminding myself that, unlike a lot of people, I'm actually in pretty good shape. I have a job that is completely portable and I have a healthy bank account. I also have a large, loving and accommodating family. If a new opportunity doesn't come up in time, I'm in no danger of becoming homeless. My biggest concern would be deciding where I want to relocate.

I've decided to try and find another housesitting situation and have signed up with a service in the hopes of getting one lined up that I can move to straight from here. I've got some promising leads, at least one of which I imagine will pan out. If not, I'm looking at becoming a roommate. Remember when I was thinking about renting out a room in my house? It turns out there are a lot of people doing just that. They're not all college students either. As a result of the economic downturn amongst other things, there are lots of people with nice homes who are struggling to make their mortgage payments. I'd like to give co-living a try. There are several areas that have always appealed to me and it's neat to think I could go to any of them. Maybe I'll head to the beach. If I didn't like it as much as I expected, I could just move along somewhere else. There's something awfully appealing about that path.

I'm sorry I won't get to plant the big summer garden that I had envisioned. I'm sorry I won't get to raise baby chicks and poults and keets with my batch of birds. I'm sorry I won't get to see the rhododendrons blooming on the Blue Ridge Parkway, which I'm sure are going to be spectacular. Mostly though, I'm excited. I'm a forward-looking kind of girl and I can't wait to see what happens next!

Anyone need a housesitter?