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Juicers: Comparing Breville to Hamilton Beach

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    Juicing is an excellent way to help add more nutrition to our diets. A while back my husband and I decided to purchase a juicer using a centrifugal system, extracting juice from produce while separating the pulp, to make a thin juice full of vitamins and minerals. We tried two different extractor juicers: Hamilton Beach Big Mouth Juice Extractor 67650, $49 at Amazon, and Breville Juice Fountain Plus JE98XL, $145.38 at Amazon. These are the best prices we have found of the two machines. In this post I will compare these two juicers to each other, and conclude whether we thought it was worth the extra money to get the Breville rather than Hamilton Beach. Breville versus Hamilton Beach juicers: Which one is better? Cost: Cost wise, the Breville machine is more expensive by about $100, so we were expecting much better results as well. The results of testing both machines side by side, however, had us surprised! We found the best prices of either machine at Amazon. Sometimes items can be found cheaper on e-Bay, but my experience is that their new items often go for full price, especially if you add shipping. It can be worth looking into, though. Design: The Breville machine is beautiful, with a sleek and expensive look to it. It comes in an attractive box, even! It is taller and wider than Hamilton Beach, requiring a bit more storage space. At the […] Read more »

Which is Better; Blendtec or Vitamix? Why We Chose Blendtec

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  Recently I blogged about using a powerful blender to make whole juices (“Making Whole Juice: Vegetables, Fruits, Berries. Recipes“), and comparing blenders like Blendtec, to the extractor juicers Hamilton Beach and Breville (“Juicing: Comparing Blenders to Extractors.”) In my post “Juicers: Comparing Breville to Hamilton Beach,” I  do a comparison of these two extractor juicers. But first I’d like to point out, regarding our decision to purchase a new blender, why Blendtec was the winner for our household. Our old blender could not keep up with crushing ice or other hard items, so we knew we needed something far more powerful. Blendtec and Vitamix seem very similar to me, though Blendtec has a couple of additional features that we love, and has proven itself more than capable of meeting our needs. Both machines are great options for making whole juices, smoothies, and other foods such as hot soup or ice cream (OK, I don’t know for a fact that you can use a Vitamix to make ice cream, but it seems like you could. You can in the Blendtec.) My husband actually purchased our Blendtec as a surprise, and I couldn’t be happier with his choice!! (And no, this is NOT meant to be an advertisement, and I don’t get as much as a penny for writing this blog entry. I simply love my blender, that’s all.) The best price I have found of the model we own of […] Read more »

Juicing: Comparing Blenders to Extractors

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  After watching the online documentary movie “Hungry For Change“, we decided to start juicing. We figured juicing would be an easy and convenient way to add more nutrition to our family’s diet. Originally we started juicing by using an extractor juicer. Later we went over to a high performance Blendtec blender instead of the extractor juicer, and have found this to be a much better fit for our family. In my previous post, Making Whole Juice: Vegetables, Fruits, Berries, Recipes, I showed how to use a powerful blender to make whole juices or smoothies from fruits, veggies, berries, and more, and how you can easily come up with your own recipes, or make the drinks different every time by using whatever you have on hand. We tried two different models of juicers: Breville and Hamilton Beach. In my post Juicers: Comparing Breville to Hamilton Beach , I write about our experience with these two juicers. And in my post Which is Better; Blendtec or Vitamix? Why We Chose Blendtec ,” I compare the two popular and powerful blenders Blendtec, and Vitamix. In this post, I will compare our experiences with extractor juicers to our blender, and explain why we prefer our Blendtec blender over extractors. On the bottom of this post, you will also find the results of an experiment I did to compare the machines side by side, making juice of carrots and apples. Here’s my Blendtec, an […] Read more »

Making Whole Juice: Vegetables, Fruits, Berries. Recipes

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  Early this past summer my husband surprised me with a Blendtec blender. My first thought was “do we really need such a fancy blender”, but then he showed me what it could do. He had seen demonstrations at Costco, and after doing some research, he felt he had found the right one for our family. He demonstrated it for me here at home, and I was totally sold! I never knew just how easy it is to use a surprisingly large variety of produce to make juices full of nutrition and fiber. And you don’t have to have a fancy, powerful blender to do it, but it sure helps. Our cheap OLD one could never have handled all that this new one can do. Here’s a link to the Blendtec at Amazon that is the closest to the model we own, also the best price out there that I can find. There are lots of reviews as well, on different models. Vitamix blenders are very good as well, so here’s another link, to Vitamix on Amazon, for comparison. I’m sure there are many other brands out there that will also do a great job. The point is, this is easy to learn and will benefit your health greatly. You don’t have to follow a recipe, just get an idea of what to do, then get started with whatever you have on hand. Some related posts I recently wrote, with […] Read more »

Making Homemade Yogurt Using Cooler for Incubation; Recipe

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    Homemade, plain yogurt is easy enough to make. But how do you make sweetened vanilla yogurt without turning it into a runny mess? In this post, I will show you how to make thick and creamy, wonderful homemade vanilla yogurt using a cooler as an incubator, and of course I will share the recipe as well. If you do try this recipe, I would really appreciate a quick comment with a star rating (option found immediately under each recipe). It helps me out tremendously! Thanks in advance! Is yogurt good for you, I mean, really? Yogurt is good and good for you, isn’t that what we’ve leaned? Looking at the ingredients list at the grocery store, one can begin to wonder if this is really true after all. What had me wonder was the high sugar content, “other” ingredients, and live cultures, or rather, the lack thereof. As I’ve read about it and looked more closely at ingredients lists, I have found that store bought yogurt often contains loads of sugar, artificial colors and flavorings, and not all of them contain live cultures. Sure, the culture is alive when it first starts out, but not necessarily by the time the yogurt ends up at the store. According to an article by Dr. Weil, MD, yogurt is sometimes heat treated after the fact to increase shelf life, which kills the precious living bacteria that we need. “Made with” doesn’t mean […] Read more »

Herbs & Flowers for Natural Pest Protection – Update

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This past spring of 2012, I started looking into various flowers and herbs etc. that might help deter and prevent pests in my vegetable garden in a natural way. I wrote a post on this subject early on in the season, Herbs & Flowers to Naturally Control & Deter Pests, in which I described a few plants believed to be helpful as pest control, and made a decision on which plants I wanted to try for my own garden. In this post, I will give you an update on how things went, and whether it seemed to work. All in all it was an interesting project, and though I did had some pest problems, I still think it was worth adding these plants to my garden. PETUNIAS The small section of green beans definitely took the biggest hit, this year as in previous years; the petunias I planted were supposed to help control Mexican bean beetles, but I would say the effect was very limited. The plants seemed just as attacked as before, but the difference was that (amazingly enough) I did not actually see any of the worms this year. I did see one beetle, but no worms, although the evidence of them were all over. So if I decide to plant snap beans next year, I will have to do something more drastic. For some reason, and I’ve also noticed this before, later in the season the beetles […] Read more »

Tomato Hornworms and How to Get Rid of Them

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  Several years ago I used to keep tomato plants on my deck (before my fenced in garden.) One summer I saw that my plants were wilting and not looking healthy, losing a lot of leaves and twigs. I figured I wasn’t watering enough. Despite better efforts, my plants continued to go downhill, looking worse every day, until they were missing most of their leaves and dying. I also noticed several partly eaten tomatoes still on the plants. I couldn’t understand what was wrong. While studying my plants, pondering what might have gone wrong, I suddenly discovered two large, fat, brightly green worms on one of the stems! I was both shocked and horrified at the sight! I had never seen anything like it! My husband did a quick search on-line and discovered that these two hungry caterpillars were tobacco hornworms, and that they are extremely common in North America. They cause a lot of damage to tomato plants, and will destroy them completely if left alone. These worms are often mistaken with tomato hornworms, which is closely related. It doesn’t matter much which type they really are, as they do the same damage, feed on the same plants, and are controlled in the same ways as well. If you really want to know the difference between these two worms, there are a couple of things to look for: The tobacco hornworm has white stripes along its body and has […] Read more »

Creamy Blueberry Pie Recipe w/ Crumble Topping

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  One of my favorite pies, and an easy one to make, is the Creamy Blueberry Pie that I found on AllRecipes years ago. With a few changes that I have made to this recipe since then, the result has been excellent; a pie that quickly becomes a favorite whenever served at gatherings. The changes include using less sugar, as the original recipe was a bit too sweet for my taste. I also added more salt to the filling for extra flavor, as well as a pinch of salt to the streusel topping, and adjusting the oven temperature to allow for shorter baking time. Most fruit pies seem to contain a filling based on berries in a heavy syrup. This pie, however, has a creamy, custard-like filling, adding flavor and a smooth texture by using eggs and sour cream in addition to other ingredients. Filled into a pie shell and topped with a crumbly streusel mix, the layers add variety in flavors and texture. If you do try this recipe, I would really appreciate a quick comment with a star rating (option found immediately under each recipe). It helps me out tremendously! Thanks in advance! This pie should be baked on a cookie sheet, preheated in the oven to 375° F. To prepare the pie, I start by spraying a 9-inch pie dish quite heavily with cooking spray, making sure to spray all the way to the top along the […] Read more »

Hot Dog Octopus & Seaweed, a Kids’ Party Favorite!

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  Hotdog Octopus with Seaweeds were a favorite of my kids when they were younger. This meal was usually served on special occasions only, which made it extra yummy and fun when I did serve it. As an amusing part of a children’s birthday party, or for any occasion with children involved, you are likely to get smiles and giggles from excited kids. The green noodles and the hotdog resemble a happy octopus sitting on top of seaweed. If you do try this recipe, I would really appreciate a quick comment with a star rating (option found immediately under each recipe). It helps me out tremendously! Thanks in advance! I originally found this recipe in Taste of Home years ago when my kids were little. I have made some minor changes to this recipe, but either way will work just fine. This recipe is very easy to make; in short, you prepare Ramen Noodles, adding green food coloring to make them resemble seaweeds, and slit a hotdogs to look like an octopus. (ETA: It is now many years later, and one of my readers pointed out that you can now find naturally green noodles, eliminating the need for green food coloring. This is obviously a much better alternative, instead of using artificial colorants. In addition I believe there are also natural dyes that can be purchases; I have never tried these, but that too would be a much better way […] Read more »

Front Loading Washing Machines, Pros & Cons

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    Growing up in Norway, front loading washing machines were extremely common. In fact, to my knowledge, they were the only machines available in our area at the time, and I believe them to be the norm in several other European countries even today. These front loaders would usually take an hour or more to complete a cycle, and the water was heated by electricity. You could heat the water as high as 90 degrees C (194 F), which is 10 degrees C away from boiling (212 F). When I moved to the United States, I was surprised to find that not only could the water not be heated as high, but the cycles were typically done in a half hour. For me, that just doesn’t cut it for certain loads, like bedding or underwear. When my husband and I moved to a new house and had to purchase a new washer, we decided to get a front loader. The reasons behind this decision was past experience, and information we found through research. The pros we found with front loaders, were: Front loaders often have the option of much longer cycles than top loaders, which can help significantly in getting a load clean. They clean better as a result of the position and design of the drum. The drum sits in a vertical position rather than horizontal, so clothing spins and drops down into the water as they reach […] Read more »