Rose Hips


Green Rose Hips

Welcome to Food Friday. Today we are going to talk about a little known food item: Rose Hips. Yes, rose hips do come from those rose plants you have planted in your yard. After the flower blooms and dies back the fruit appears below the flower. It will be green at first and then turn red. This berry is very high in vitamin C, even higher than oranges. Rose hips were a staple item in many cultures throughout time, but in recent years they have become more know for their beauty than their flavor and health benefits.

Several culinary uses are found for rose hips. You can make jam, jelly and syrup from them. You can also make tea, soda or wine. There are also recipes for bread, soup and pie. But where do you find them?

At many stores you can get rose hip pills, but if you want the actual rose hip for cooking with, it is harder to find. I've never seen rose hips at Freddies or Safeway, but I unexpectedly found rose hips on Amazon. You can also find them at many natural food stores. The best bet might be to grow it yourself or harvest them from the wild.

You are not going to get the best rose hips on every rose you plant. Your hybrid tea roses in your yard may well produce hips (mine are pictured) but they are not as good as their wild brethren. Wild roses (Rosa rugosa) produce the best and most prolific hips. You can often find them in the wild, but you can plant them in your yard as well. The hard part for me is to let them grow long enough for the fruit to ripen. They will turn red when ripe. If you can keep yourself from cutting them back, harvest the berries and see what you think.

On preparing them. The seeds have tiny hairs that are used in itching powder. You don't want to eat that part. Dry them a little, split them open, and remove all the seeds. Once the seeds are removed, dry them for later use. You can eat them as is, or use one of the above recipes. Enjoy!


Tightwad Tuesday: Stopping the Tax Leak

Do you get money back at the end of the tax season? Do you get a lot back? Then you are paying too much during the year. You can change your W2 to show more dependents and they will take less of your money, so you have more for yourself. Some might ask, why? I like having that big chunk back all at once. Others might think that they will get fined or have to pay taxes. I am not a tax expert, but I have been following these guidelines for 10 years and have no problems.

Here is what you do. Walk into your HR office and tell them that you need to do a new W2. A W2 is the IRS form that you will out when you get a job that tells them how many dependents that you have. I put down seven last year and still ended up with a big chunk of change back at the end of tax season. Do whatever sounds best for you. If you are only getting a little back, don't push it too far. If you are getting a lot and only have one or two dependents listed, bring that up. There is not a magic number and what is perfect for you will vary from year to year.

If you like the big chunk all at once, there is not much argument for that, except that you are paying Uncle Sam to use your money during that time. Why not put what you would be paying in taxes into a interest baring account and let it sit there till after tax time. That way you will have the money in case you do have to pay some taxes AND you will be earning the interest instead of Uncle Sam. After you pay taxes, write yourself a check for that money that has been collecting interest in an account and use it however you think you should. I suggest paying down your credit cards.

As for being fined. The number of dependents you put on the W2 is totally up to you. Read the form. They will not get upset if it is not correct. However, do NOT use that same number when you do your taxes. Your taxes MUST have the correct information on them. The W2 is solely so that your employer knows how much money to take out of your paycheck and send to the IRS.

I don't want to pay taxes at the end of the season either. I don't want to pay taxes period. Income tax is like a pleasure of working here tax. I have to pay in order to work. It's not fair. But I have to pay it and so do you. If you don't the IRS will come after your and they WILL get their money in the end. Now, I can't guarantee that you will not end up paying taxes in the end, but if you are careful it should be fine. Like I said before, if you are only getting a little back, just knock your W2 dependents up a little. If you are getting $1000 back each year, push it up a few. I also suggest taking that extra and putting it into savings. This will allow you to build up a little savings (everyone should have three to six months expenses in the bank, just in case) and if you end up paying taxes, you don't have to scramble. Even if you do pay a little taxes, YOU were earning the interest on the money during the year, instead of the government.

Basically, don't go wild. Take it easy. If you bump up your W2 and you still pay taxes next year, bump it up some more. If you bumped it up too far, either say "oh well" and keep earning interest on the money before you pay or pull down the dependents. You don't have the money right now, right? You won't miss it if it goes into your savings account then, right? Don't raise your spending, raise your savings!


Cheap Admission to Children's Museum and Portland Pilots

in

Groupon is offering a deal today on the Children's Museum in Portland. Normally admission is $8 each. Today only you can get two tickets for $8. If you like it, you should buy a membership, it is well worth it.

If that doesn't make you happy, perhaps the Portland Pilots would make you a little more enthusiastic. Groupon also has a side deal right now offering $30 for 10 General-Admission Flex Tickets to Portland Pilots Soccer ($75 Value). I have a membership to the Children's Museum, so won't be getting that deal, but I am interested in the Pilots. Been a long time since I've been to a professional sporting event. Could be a lot of fun!


Eggs Recalled!

Today is Friday and its been a while since I've done a Food Friday post, so I thought I would. I'm going to try to make a Food Friday post more often. My goal is every Friday, but I'm not going to promise anything.

Today's Food Friday post is about eggs and salmonella. With the recall on eggs from Wright County Egg of Galt, Iowa which effects eggs from all over the US, I thought I'd talk a little about this nasty disease and how we can protect ourselves.

First, I think that fears need to be set aside. This recall effects a small percentage of the eggs being produced. You should check your eggs, but this recall effects less than 1% of eggs. Still, 1 in a hundred... If you eat a lot of eggs, that's a good chance... There are ways to protect yourself. I'll talk about the two best ways to protect against salmonella in eggs: raising your own and cooking the egg well.

The best way to avoid issues with bird diseases is to grow your own. If you have a small flock of chickens you have limited the possibility of getting any diseases. Think about human disease. Where do we have the highest percentage of diseases per human, in crowded cities or in rural communities? People in cities, especially schools, hospitals, community centers and malls where people are all packed in with poor circulation have much higher chances if getting sick. The same is true for animals. If they live in a crowded facility, crammed in there with a bunch of other birds they are going to have a much higher chance of being sick than if they live in a yard with just a couple of other ladies.

If you can't have, or don't want to care for a backyard flock, then you should cook your eggs through. Your whites should be solid at the very least. Really the yolk should be cooked through too. I'm not a fan of hard cooked yolks, so I scramble my eggs when I have to buy them from the store. Of course, the chances of getting salmonella from eggs is slim, but do you really want to take the chance?

Refrigerating store bought eggs is very important, but if you have your own flock it is less important. Eggs left outside can last weeks. Many people harvest their eggs only every few days, or once a week. Store bought eggs have probably been cleaned though. Cleaning eggs takes off some of the protective membrane. Also, store bought eggs might be a couple weeks old before they reach your store. Keeping them in the fridge is best to protect them. I also refrigerate my yard eggs, but if I find some laying around, I don't worry too much about them being bad. Float test them if you are unsure. (bad eggs don't float in water)


First Day of Ramadan

Today is the first day of Ramadan. Do you know what Ramadan is? I didn't. I knew that it was a month of fasting, but I didn't know anything more than that, so I took a look. If you celebrate Ramadan and notice something I said that is wrong, please let me know. I don't want to spread miss-information.

Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic Calendar. Like many groups, Islam has its own calendar. This month is considered a month of fasting and Muslims are supposed to refrain from eating while the sun is up. This fasting is used as a way to teach Muslim principals such as patience, modesty and spirituality. Not fasting during Ramadan is considered a crime in some countries with punishment ranging from community service time to up to 4 years in prison.

In addition to fasting, Muslims pray more during the month of Ramadan. This month is a time to become closer to God. Muslims use this time to ask Alla for forgiveness and guidance in keeping away from sin.

The history of Ramadan can be traced back to before Mohamed and the beginnings of the Muslim faith. Ramadan has been the Arabic name for the ninth month since the time of the Old Testament. In the Qu'ran Mohamed wrote "fasting has been written down (as obligatory) upon you, as it was upon those before you." This became the basis for the month of Ramadan, but fasting did not start there.

I don't know Islamic history well, but I do know that much of the early history of Judaism and Islam are closely aligned or shared, with both tracing their history to Abraham. Islam is referenced in the Old Testament. Fasting is a key to growing closer to God in both Old and New Testament books. In Jewish culture one fasts for 25 hours during Yom Kippur. Jesus fasted for long periods. Many Christians fast for periods as a way to grow closer to God. I can guess that fasting was a part of Islamic culture prior to Mohamed and the Qu'ran, as it was for their Jewish cousins.


Keep Enovations Coming, Even if Unrealistic

I have been reading around about some of the outlandish ideas that people are working on, such as the Solar Roadways Project. The idea being that you replace roadways with these special solar panels that can be driven on. There are a lot of benefits to this system, one of which is not the low price tag.

A lot of people are taking hits at such ideas, without reading the material available for them. For instance, many people have stated that it would be unsafe, as the surface would be slick. Well, if you read the material available, they use a surface which is not slick. There are many other complaints that don't stand up. It would be nice that if you make comments about something being a bad idea, you researched your claims first. But people don't.

People say it is far fetched, unrealistic, and not viable. The airplane was all this. That did not stop the Wright Brothers from working on it. Or Leonardo Da Vinci prior to them. Space travel was all this, we have been to the moon, have a space station, and have sent probes all over our solar system. Heck, at one time the wheel was probably considered far fetched, unrealistic and not viable. I'm glad that these inventors did not listen to their critics.

Please, keep working on these crazy ideas. Even if it does not work, as Mr. Da Vinci's did not, someone may come along later, use some of your ides and make something really cool out of it. Keep it up!


Contest: 50 Laptops to your school

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Charter. All opinions are 100% mine.

Laptop1

Charter is a cable company that offers TV, Phone and Internet service. They have service in a lot of places, but they do not offer service in my area. Do they have service in your neighborhood? Even though I can't get service with them, I can still get in on their contests. Charter is currently offering to give away 50 laptops to 2 schools. Not only that, but they are giving away a laptop a day individuals and up to $300 cash back on a gift card when you sign up for service.

Not being a member, I can't speak to their service, but I'm nominating a school near me to get the laptops. Visit their laptop-a-day giveaway page and register now, so that your school can be considered. While your there enter yourself to win one of the laptops they are giving away. I'm guessing that if you do they will send you emails every once in a while to ask you to get service or give you news about Charter.

First click the "Enter Now" button to enter yourself to win. Then click on the "Learn More" link to go to the school nomination page. Click on "Enter Now" there and enter your school to win.

Also, Facebook is huge these days. Charter has their own page too, just like everyone else. You can follow Charter on Facebook to get information about their service and other contests they will have.

Visit my sponsor: Charter is giving Free laptops to Schools

Free Jolly-Time Popcorn!

Albertson's is going to stop selling Jolly-Time Popcorn. Jolly-Time is a smaller organization and needs your help to stay in the shelves. They will give you 2 coupons for free popcorn just for showing your support. All you have to do is send an email to makeadifference@jollytime.com by August 15th, 2010 with the following information:

  • State: “I prefer and am loyal to JOLLY TIME Pop Corn and will shop at another store to purchase JOLLY TIME if necessary.”
  • Your name and Mailing Address (so they can mail you 2 coupons for FREE popcorn)
  • Street & City of the Albertson’s store you normally shop
  • Your favorite JOLLY TIME Pop Corn product.
Please remember to send to the email above. Please don't leave a contact below with your address!

Are Frugal and Sustainable Mutually Exclusive?

I try to be both frugal and sustainable and I was asking myself, can I be both? As a frugal person, I do the following:

  1. I subscribe to the newspaper, so I can get the coupons. I sometimes glance through it for blog ideas, but not often. I then recycle the paper. This is a bit wasteful.
  2. I send away for samples. They come shipped in the mail, using energy to transport them, in huge packaging. The samples then end up being tiny, perhaps even single use. I once got two single serve packets of mayo as a sample.
  3. I buy what I get the best deal on. This is not always the most sustainable item. I don't buy anything with phosphates in it, which is easy to do, but I might buy the smallest package or meat that was not humanely treated or chocolate that was grown with slave labor...
  4. I mail away for coupons and rebates which get delivered in the mail.

The one thing that I wish I would do better at is buying foods that were produced in humane ways. I don't want chocolate or coffee that was produced with slave labor and I don't want meat where the animals were treated inhumanely. For coffee, we buy Starbucks beans, which are produced without slave labor, but what about chocolate? I've been meaning to research the options out there and create a list of chocolates which are fair trade or better, but I have not yet. We are getting better about the meat and dairy. We now only buy rbst free products (easy to do in Oregon as all Oregon and Washington farms are prohibited from using rbst). But we do not buy free range all the time.

But I think that frugal can be sustainable. To get the most out of couponing, you need the coupons out of the Sunday newspaper, but if you have friends who get the paper, and actually read it, you can get the coupons they don't use. We get the ones my in-laws don't use and I sometimes get them from others. We still get our own so we can have multiples. The samples are not that great, since they are usually so small, so I don't sent away for them often. You can get discounts on sustainable, humanely produced products, just like other products. You don't need to send away for the coupons in the mail. Rebates you should though, as the savings from them allow you to be more sustainable in other areas.

As for buying smaller products, if you buy the giant can of peaches, how likely are you to eat that entire can before they go bad? Buying the smaller cans produces less waste when you don't finish it all. It is more wasteful to buy a big package and only use half of it than it is to buy smaller packages and use it all, recycling the extra packaging when you are able.


Get the RIGHT Car For Your Needs

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of NMEDA. All opinions are 100% mine.

When I go looking for a new car, I spend a lot of time looking for just the right car for me and my family. It has to have four doors, so that we can easily get Emma in and out of the back. We got a two door before she was born, and while we manage, we want a four door. It has to have a hatch so that our 80 pound lap dog can get back there to go to the dog park. It also has to have some sort of alternative fuel source, or get really good gas mileage. Bio-diesel, electric, hybrid, natural gas...

After working with people with disabilities, I know that it gets even harder to find the right car. Big vans for wheel chairs are great for wheel chairs, but what if your friend, spouse, family member can't get into it with you. What kind of steering control do you need? Or will only the caregivers be driving? What kind of lift? How many wheel chairs will you need to hold? How many others will you need to hold? There are so many things to consider, I would not even know where to begin.

Lucky for us, there are places to help with that. NMEDA is a non-profit organization who realizes how difficult it can be to get the right car and is there to help. They offer personalized, in person evaluations. How easy is it to get the right vehicle over the internet? They don't sell anything. They help find the right products to match the individual. No one person is the same, so they look at the individual and get them the right tools.

If you need a new vehicle and have a disability, check them out and see what they can do to help. If you do, I'd love to hear back from you and let everyone else know of your experience.

Visit my sponsor: NMEDA