Having a fire pit at your home or at a campground is a great way to relax and enjoy the great outdoors once the sun sets and it can be a great social activity for the entire family. But because this is such a popular family activity parents must take extra care when their children are around fire pits. And of course once they are old enough to understand, there are several important points you need to make about fire pit safety.

 
Make sure your children understand basic fire safety.
Before teaching your children about fire pit safety you need to first …read more

Guest post by Sarah Russel
BMR (basal metabolic rate) is a way to determine how many calories you need per day according to your height, weight, and age. It is similar to determining your body mass index, in the sense that you can find many online calculators, although this calculation presents a new alternative toward losing weight. Your BMR is what your body needs to maintain normal functions like breathing, digestion, etc., so it is important to figure out what yours is before constructing a workout routine which may burn too many or too few calories. Determining the balance between calories …read more

Do you enjoy McDonald’s iced coffee?  Do you find it’s an inexpensive treat in which to indulge?  Before your next coffee, you might want to read some interesting information about the ingredients in a McDonald’s iced coffee.  Rachel from Small Notebook gives us some food for thought.

I’ve been working on a recipe to make my own iced coffee and frappuccinos at home.  Reading this article is a good reminder of the preservatives and chemicals in the food we eat.  It seems almost impossible to get away from it.
Do you drink McDonald’s iced coffee?
image from sxc.hu

Today is Iced Tea Day. Yes, it seems there is a day for everything. Nevertheless, I live in North Carolina and I know how much southerners love their sweet iced syrup tea.  
In the past few years, the tea market has exploded.  You can buy bottled tea in many different flavors and some of them have herbs such as ginseng.  The question is, Do these bottled teas have the same health benefits as brewed tea?  Unfortunately, no.  Studies from Oregon State University, the US Department of Agriculture, and Consumer Reports report that bottled tea has lower levels of polyphenols and antioxidants. 
Here are some …read more

For the past 10 years, I have owned a dishwasher.  And now, I can’t imagine my life without one. 
At first, I was clueless on how to load my dishwasher.  lol  I guess I wasn’t truly clueless.  I was just hesitant because I thought I wouldn’t do it right and the dishes wouldn’t be cleaned properly. 
Long gone are those days of worry and hesitation.  I’ll put just about anything in the dishwasher now.   Here’s a few of the things I have put into a dishwasher.  Of course, most things I would recommend on the top rack only.
1)  Bottles and sippy cups …read more