You know you’re in trouble when you turn on the cold water faucet and what comes out is hot water for the first three or four minutes.  Its supposed to be 102F here today.  That’s pretty hot. And I have two cats. Complete with fur. How do they stay cool in the summer? We always hear how someone left a dog in a car and they had a heat stroke but what about our cats?

From what I can tell from my cats they do stay cool. Though it is a mystery to me how. I have yet to turn the ac on. I simply cannot afford to this early in the year. We are all set for a cool down starting tomorrow so I’m not too worried. And they seem to know what to do for themselves. They stay in the bathroom, laying on the tile, behind the toilet, up against the cool porcelain and in the bathtub.  When it starts to cool down, and it does get cool here at night, downright cold, they come out and stay on the balcony.

I’ve tried batting ice with them, they were unimpressed. I’ve tried frozen peas. I got a yawn.  I’ve watched them like a hawk on a few days while I was home and was a bit horrified when they didn’t drink any water during the day. So just exactly how are they keeping cool. I did the only thing I could do. I …
Continue Reading... Keeping Kats Kool

What do beans and left over salad have in common? Both can be tossed into a burrito for a cheap, filling meal. 

Burritos are also kid friendly and easy to eat. In many cases, they freeze well and can be reheated fairly quickly with a microwave to save time.  Overall, a good choice for busy people.

So what is a burrito really? Nothing more than a tortilla warped around a filling.

The history of the burrito is quite a long one. Here’s a snippet: In the sixteenth century the Aztec people of Mexico used tortillas made of more than just corn, but also squash and amaranth to wrap around food such as mushrooms, avocados and tomatoes In the 1840s southwest America, northwest Mexico gold miners used tortillas to wrap spiced meats.

These days the burrito is pretty much the same thing. Tortilla wrapped around a filling. The only difference is we have more variety of tortillas and fillings to choose from, so what kind of tortilla and what kind of filling is entirely up to you. Meat is probably the most popular American filling. But let’s not stop there. There are many cheap, healthy fillings that you probably never would have thought of. You won’t like them all.  But maybe you will stumble onto a new favorite or an old classic combination that’s just taken on new life in burrito form.

Here are some filling ideas…. And remember, your burrito doesn’t …
Continue Reading... Burrito Madness!!!!!!!

Plasma donation. I does it.

That’s right, twice a week I donate my plasma. Not the most pleasant of ways to make $65 a week, but better than others.

In 1914 the term ‘plasmaepheresis’ was coined by John Jacob Able. Greek for plasma meaning something molded and aphaeresis meaning taken away.

In 1937 the first blood banks were established. In 1964 plasmaepheresis was introduced as a means of collecting plasma for fractionation, the separation process that allows you to isolate three or more components at a time.

In 1966 the first European plasmaepheresis center opened.

In 1972 aphaeresis was used to extract one cellular component and return the rest back to the donor.

What can you expect should you venture into the world of plasma donation? First you must be cleared for donation. Identity and residence verification can be expected. Then you give an extensive medical history to the Medical Support staff. A short physical and pee in a cup and you are ready to go. This will also happen once a year, as time goes by.

Once you are screened and cleared to donate you will be screened each time you come to the clinic. You will verify your name and donor number, be checked for cross donation at other centers and then screened for the day. That includes checking your hermitic rate (percentage of red blood cells), protein levels, blood pressure, temperature and …
Continue Reading... Plasma Donation --- Liquid Gold?

Saving money as a single can be difficult. You’d think it wouldn’t be, since there is only one of you, but cooking for one can be more expensive and time intensive. And when you’re busy and tired you don’t want to spare that extra time. You end up living on prepared foods and take out. After all, who wants to cook for one? So how to save money in the biggest money waster: food?

First you have to be willing to invest some time. How much will be up to you. One of the big money wasters is going to be lunch. Do you buy lunch at work every day? Or even once a week? It all adds up. Its much cheaper to bring your lunch, but that takes a little planning and possibly the investment of an insulated bag, thermos, reusable microwavable contains and everyday preparation of the food.

Some simple lunch ideas:

Peanut butter and jam sandwich (you’re never too old)

Chili in the thermos and corn chips or small containers of cheese, sour cream or whatever topping you like.

Packets of instant oatmeal, a small container of nuts and some fruit.  *you CAN make your own instant oatmeal. But the
savings over a bought lunch would more than justify the cost of buying a convenience product)*

A leftover baked potato and whatever toppings you like

Don’t forget to add some …
Continue Reading... Eating for One

There’s snow on the mountain tops where I live already. Its getting too cold to wear sandals and I need a sweater. The dark will soon do me in. Its winter and these are all normal things, and for me and many people like me, so is the depression that will set in soon. The winter blues. 

Everyone gets down sometimes. And these tips can be useful to everyone. Whether they are just down or flat out depressed. SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder; the winter blues) is characterized by excessive sleeping or eating with weight gain for the last two seasons. It effects up to 5% of the population. Somewhere between 60% and 90% of those with SAD are women. The cause of SAD is still unknown, but seems to be the lack of light. In many northern countries where they do not get sunlight for months on end the suicide rate is the highest in the world. While winter depression is the most common form of SAD there seems to be a summer depression as well, occurring during the summer months and trigger by the intense light and/or heat.  We’ll get to summer SAD next may. ****If your symptoms are excessive or severe please see a doctor right away. These are just suggestions and tips but DO NOT replace good medical care and treatment by a professional.****

So what can we do about this? Depending on the severity of your depression there are many things that can …
Continue Reading... Winter: Turning the blues into pinks