My Excellent Choices

Wheelbarrows and Wagons are limited by their wheels! Sandy Soil, mud and slippery surfaces covered with water and ice are not good for wheeled utility haulers. A sled is a great alternative if you need to move tools, brush, debris, landscape plantings, fertilizer and so much more.

Hunters have used sleds like these for years, but it never occurred to me to use one of these sleds for any of those other purposes until hundreds of wonderful disaster recovery volunteers descended on Western North Carolina with many of these invaluable carriers. (Bless them for all they have done for the people hit hard for hurricane Helene!)

These sleds are just the right size to move anything too bulky or heavy to hand-carry. They can slide in between obstacles that a truck or other motorized haulers cannot pass. You will make fewer trips to your storage and back with one of these sleds!

Oxygen atoms usually come in pairs, (O2). Ozone (O3) cleans and removes odors by readily releasing the extra oxygen and combining with (“oxidizing”) troublesome elements in the air. Ozone has a distinctive smell and you may have noticed its odor after a lightning strike or if an electrical appliance malfunctions and generates a spark or arc of electricity.

An ozone generator should not be used in an area with pets or people. This manufacturer recommends waiting an hour after treating an area with the ozone generator before returning to the area. You do not want to breathe or be exposed to ozone!

Ozone is heavier than air and tend to accumulate first in lower areas of the room. I found it best to place it on a table or counter at least waist high. The internal fan in the generator will easily fill an entire room from this position.

Basements, in particular, tend to accumulate suspicious odors. I have used this ozone generator in basement areas and returned later to a fresher smell and, I think, a reduction in the spider and pest population.

For longer runs, I have placed this generator on the “Hold” position and connected it to a remote switch or timer. The internal timer has a maximum run time of 120 minutes and I have run this machine in large basement areas for much longer.

There are models with a built-in Wi-Fi remote capability and 12 hour timers – but I use these ozone generators so heavily I find that I need to replace them periodically. The high capacity and low cost of this model works well with an external timer or switch.

I’ll post more about timers and switches later. In the meantime, check this ozone generator out by clicking the image or caption at the top of this page. Scroll to the bottom of the page at Amazon to read more about how ozone “oxidizes” bacteria and other pollutants.

This recipe started out as an almond flour recipe for Keto Chocolate Muffins, but we quickly modified it when I became concerned about the high oxalate content of almonds. A combination of coconut flour and oat flour is a perfect alternative, and these muffins have a nice “chocolate cake” texture and taste. (I’ll leave the possibilities of frosting up to you!)

#1: Assemble these utensils.

Utensils:

• 4 quart/16 Cup (or larger) mixing Bowl (For Dry Ingredients)
• 4 Cup (or larger) mixing bowl (For Melted Butter & Wet Ingredients)
• 2 Cup Measuring Cup (For eggs)
• 1 Cup Measuring Cup (For Applesauce)
• 1/2, 1/3 and 1 Cup Measuring Cups (For Dry Ingredients)

• 1 Tsp. (teaspoon) Measuring Spoon 
• 1 Large Mixing Spoon (For Final Mixture and Measuring batter into muffin cups)
• Muffin Pans for up to 24 Muffins and these (Paid Ad) reusable silicon muffin cups!

#2: Add one dry ingredient at a time in this order to the mixing bowl, and thoroughly mix with whisk each time an ingredient is added.

Dry Ingredients:

• 1 Tsp. baking powder
• 1 Tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp.) unsweetened cocoa
• 1/2 cup Xylitol Sweetener (Paid Ad)
• 1/3 cup oatmeal flour
• 1 cup coconut flour
• 1 cup semi-sweet Chocolate chips

(Approximately 4 Cups Dry Ingredients)

Fruit & Chocolate Ingredient:

• 24 Diced Sweet Cherries

(* Try this: Use the NutriBullet To Quickly dice the sweet cherries! *)

#3: Melt Butter in microwave. Do not Overheat.
#4: Add and mix one wet Ingredient at a time in order to the 4-cup mixing bowl in this order.
#5: Confirm mixture temperature has cooled before adding eggs.

Wet Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup melted butter (8 Tbsp.)
• 3/4 cup applesauce
• Diced Sweet Cherries
• 6 eggs

(Approximately 4 Cups Liquid Ingredients)

#6: Combine and thoroughly mix the wet and dry ingredients. 
#7: Scoop into reusable muffin pans lined with the reusable silicon baking cups (above). Makes about 19 Standard size muffins.
#8: Bake at 325 degrees convection (350 Conventional) for 18 minutes.

(Approximately 8 Cups combined Ingredients)

I am sure you have heard about Google Maps, Waze, Apple maps and more. Most of these mobile apps rely on the phone GPS and locations services for point-to-point navigation by car, bus or by foot on city streets.

You may not be aware of a whole other category of location-based mapping tools. These other navigation tools are optimized for outdoor activities on the lake, hiking, hunting and more.

Take a moment to read about Landglide. This location-based map integrates satellite, topography, contour data, flood zone data, and building information with publicly available property records!

As you walk or drive, Landglide will overlay your moving location onto a map highlighting all property boundaries. It provides address, acreage, land use type, valuations and ownership information – based on the publicly available property records that Landglide has accessed.

Don’t expect instant updates when property changes hands, and don’t be surprised if there are occasionally errors in the public databases. Do expect to have your curiosity satisfied about that big beach house or that old mansion on the outside of town.

Of course, if you work in real estate, construction or related fields – you will find this a valuable work aid, and the monthly or annual fee might be justified as a business expense.

Check out the landglide.com website and take a look at the Landglide YouTube Demo. Remember, this is not a substitute for surveying expertise. GPS and location services in a mobile phone are not pinpoint accurate, but certainly sufficient to find markers, survey pins and other distinguishing features of a piece of property.

Can’t wait to tell you more…

Our nutribullet blender got a real workout these last couple of weeks. You may have yet to experience the discomfort of wisdom teeth removal or a similar jaw stretching procedure. If that is so, get a nutribullet before you need it!

This fast, powerful and easy to clean blender turns raw and cooked vegetables, fruits and cooked lean meats with broth into an instant and comforting meal for those “after the dentist” recovery days.

This is not a juicer. you could add a little extra water and strain after blending, but many people appreciate the fiber left after completely and quickly reducing a sliced peach or apple to applesauce.

Now that this is in the front of our kitchen “gadget shelf”, I’ll be using this blender to mix the liquid ingredients for our blueberry and corn muffins.

The nutribullet has a couple of models. There is a standard model and a higher wattage model for those who want “more power”.