Posts Tagged ‘gadgets’

30 Aug

simple salsa recipe

Posted by Mel in Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , .

while the carolinas were getting blasted by hurricane Irene – and the Jersey shore was anxiously awaiting her arrival – i thought there was no better way to spend a rainy afternoon than being in one of my favorite places, the kitchen, for a couple of hours with one of my favorite people, (my Grams – one of our hurricane house guests) making some salsa and canning it up for future consumption and gifts for family and friends

i found THIS recipe through Simply Recipes and pretty much followed it to a T. it worked perfectly and the end result was so incredibly scrumptious! just the right amount of spice and the fresh ingredients from the garden tantalized the tastebuds in my mouth like no other

we now have 12 jars of this goodness… yuuuuup – they ALL ‘dinked‘!!!  i think i’m really getting the hang of this whole canning thing now – and my new kit worked awesomely, i love it and highly recommend it to anyone, plus you can’t beat the price – $30!

the bestest part = there was a bowl’s worth of salsa leftover that didn’t make it to the jars and we got to enjoy it ‘fresssssh off the presses’ while we had our eyes glued to the weather channel and listened to the wind and rain beginning to roar by

18 Aug

pure water bottle

Posted by Mel in Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , .

speaking of fresh water … Core77 is highlighting award winning projects and ideas for this year’s Design Awards and the other day spotlighted this dude – Timothy Whitehead

he designed the Pure Water Bottle which filters and sterilizes water from almost any source within two minutes – using no power at all, just a wind up mechanism

he’s currently working on making his idea a reality and has been trying to get funding and exposure… pretty sick idea huh?! i know i’d buy me and my loved ones some of these to get his funds rolling, especially to use when we’re out hiking and camping!

5 Aug

big kid bikes

Posted by Mel in Uncategorized. Tagged: , , .

after completing my first tri last september on BIG RED

yes, i name my means of transportation, dont you?! she def goes by Big Red most of the time, except when im hauling @$$ up a hill i do have a tendency to call her Besse… c’monnnn besse!!

anyways, after seeing all of the sleek and light bikes lined up in the transition area, and maybe the 68 year old woman who went whizzing past me like it was nothing had a large part to do with it, i decided i needed to start saving up  to purchase a big kid bike

all i wanted for christmas and my birthday was money towards Mel’s SUPAFAST bike fund… and that i got! although it took me until june to finally purchase my speed demon

meet AXEL:

aint he a beaut?! it’s a Trek Lexa – and coincidentally AXEL just happens to be Lexa backwards :0) no really, i thought a manly, speedy name was just so fitting for him

i rode for a couple of weeks with the stock cage pedals, not really minding it too much, but the peanut gallery kept telling me i needed to get the ‘clipless’ pedals – which, btw, whoever named them clipless is on crack, you clearly clip you feet into them!! soooo, back to the bike shop i went to get these babies put on:

they’re by Shimano – who the bike gurus told me was the way to go.

I’ll be 110% honest, i was scared to DEATH to try these. me… the person who has a hard enough time just walking was going to now be clipped to her bike?! my brother was right, i needed a football helmet and full body armor to go out with them! but… surprisingly, i took to them in seconds and – i know this sounds soooooo cliché – i really like how i almost feel like i am one with my bike instead of just riding IT. weird concept, and the whole pushing the pedal at the same time you’re pulling up with the other foot, man are there some butt muscles that have never seen the light of day until now!

complementing the pedals are, of course, the biking shoes to go along with it:

which, if it weren’t for the fact that the soles are rock solid, id be sporting them around town on a regular basis – NOT! haha :0)

soooo – i think i’m geared up to the nines for my bike portion of the race on sunday… fingers crossed mother nature holds out on the rain that is forecasted for the morning. speaking of which, any seasoned bikers out there have any tips for racing in the rain?!

catch ya after the weekend with some results – have a good one!

 

29 Jul

if only…

Posted by Mel in Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , .

~*IF ONLY*~

i had thought of this:

will have to put this to use in the beer fridge!

i ❤ books – where do you buy this thing?!
would have come in handy this morning, walking to work in the rain… water splatters all over the back of my pants!

~*IF ONLY*~

it were a perfect world:

i dont know… wouldn’t life be so darn boring then?!

~*HAPPY FRIDAY*~

8 Jul

workin it while workin

Posted by Mel in Uncategorized. Tagged: .

why didn’t i think of something like this?!

i could be making millions, or just $8,000 per sale, off of this bit of goodness

leave it to the peeps at Hammacher Schlemmer ~ home of the COOLEST and most expensive gadgets every lottery winner wants ~ to be selling something so quite remarkable as this elliptical machine/office desk. i wonder how i could work this one into the department budget?!

10 Mar

>powa gelz

Posted by Mel in Uncategorized. Tagged: , .

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ive been doing a lot of researching lately on proper fueling for this race ive been training for… there is just so much information out there i almost feel inundated at times!
does anyone have any input on proper fuelage?! please tell me, i’m all ears!!

i did pick up some of those power gel packs at our local running store… i still have yet to try them out, as i’m thinking a 5 miler is not quite conducive for needing a mid-run fuelage of any sorts… altho, this coming weekend i start kicking up my milage and i want to get this fuel stuff figured out (i.e. does my stomach like it?!) before the BIG DAY!
then i got thinking… why would i want/need to put these fabricated products into my body when mother nature has a miraculous way of doing just the same?!

id been holding on to this snippet from the desk calendar i had last year… if i remembered the name of it id tell you, but for some reason i cant find any credits for the author anywhere… sorry bout that (if you are the author and read this, tell me and i’ll put in the creds where due!)

so here it is, quite simple and packs all of the fuelage stuff thats in the store bought ones, minus the ingredients you cant pronounce:

add one of the following to 2 T honey:
2 T. peanut butter
2 T. apple butter
half a banana
combine these in a blender until smooth and creamy
add 1 t. lemon juice – to cut the sweetness – and blend again

this can be carried in a fuel bottle (found at a sporting goods stores) or a small ziplock baggie (you can bite/tear off the end when ready to consume)

how easy is that?! tasty to consume, easy to make, and you actually know exactly whats in it – LOVE it!

oh, and dont you know it, i picked up a palm sized fuel bottle this past weekend… you know me and my gadgets! 


word on the street is to down this at about the 6, 7, or 8 mile mark (depending on how you feel) out of the 13.1… i’m trying it out this weekend on my longie, will let you know how it goes!!

27 Feb

>spring sprang sprung

Posted by Mel in Uncategorized. Tagged: , .

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todays beautiful weather has been longggggg awaited! i just love the time of year when there is still a little bit of crisp in the air but the suns rays warm you right up… the heat can be turned off, windows ajar for the first time in months, the pooch living life on his hilltop outside, so conveniently positioned in a sun filled spot…
look who else is equally as excited that spring is just around the corner
crocus‘ in the front beds… i get so excited just thinking about digging back into the dirt in the garden soon!

speaking of plants, i have been meaning to write about this,
but i needed a few weeks to show some progress
i started beets in my aerogarden 3 weeks ago

last year it seemed like it took forever to grow any eatable sized beets, so i figured id get a big jumpstart this year by planting one round of crops now, then starting up another round in a couple of months… 

but they seem to be growing so fast! this is just one week in


and here’s this past week’s progress

hopefully they like the greenhouse theyll be moving to if they keep this up!! looking forward to some beet salad… i heard dwight shrute may come to taste test
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