**REVIEW** COFFEE - Lavazza Gran Selezione Dark Roast

 I'm still trying to find my regular coffee groove. Lavazza is a brand I've been seeing on Amazon for almost as long as I've had a membership. Finally, I broke down and gave the Gran Selezione a try.

"Intense and chocolaty"
their description

The coffee is not bad at all and the price is great. It comes in a 12-ounce bag and at $0.53/oz is less than 7 bucks a pop on a Subscribe and Save plan. I tend to write really detailed Amazon reviews but I kept this one short:

"This is a great price so I'm not mad. The flavor is not as "dark" as I'd like but it is good coffee. I do make it "Euro-style" (measuring by grams and milliliters instead of tablespoons & cups) and that helps boost the flavor.

I can smell them but only taste a little bit of the chocolate notes. The price, the price, the price is what will have me buying this again. I mix it with some of my other coffee that is more expensive to add flavor & save money."

Y'all know I am long-winded so for me to do such a short review kind of says it all. The coffee had me at hello with the price but I wasn't sure at first about a long-term relationship. I might end up doing a subscription just because I am tired of looking for something affordable...

Anyway.

I have been drinking the Lavazza every day for about 2 weeks now and it's growing on me. It is kind of  "chocolaty" but not that "intense". However, every time I look at the prices of other coffee, this one looks better and better. I have one more coffee to try before I give up. The next coffee I'll be trying was bought with a gift card but the non-discounted price is $1.18 an ounce so... that's going to have to be some really good coffee to win me over.

The thing with the Lavazza is that I really do have to measure the coffee out at 2 tablespoons (24 grams) for every 2 Ninja-size cups (or 360-370 milligrams) of water to get the best flavor. The bag doesn't last long at the rate that I drink coffee. This is why I need something at a better price.

When I get the Lavazza made perfectly, it's really good. It has some of the dark chocolate "bite" to it that I love in a dark roast. It's just not a true dark roast if that makes sense. It's like the Kid & Play of coffee where I prefer some Public Enemy strength java.

Unless I love (and can afford) the next coffee, the Lavazza will be my steady while I cheat every now and then with Jim's Sweet Love. They're both Subscribe and Save items so I can get the Lavazza monthly and the Jim's every three or four months.

I've already got plans for when I decide on a regular coffee. Every year, the nieces & nephews ask what I want for Christmas. I was going to ask for one of those little Bissell carpet cleaners. Instead, I'm asking for a set of airtight coffee canisters. 

What does that tell you about my priorities?

Coffee snobs will laugh but what I wish is that I could find Yuban Dark Roast on a regular basis.

Yuban survived the Civil War

The Yuban I've found lately is not the lovely Yuban it used to be (or the lovely Canadian Yuban of today?) but, if I make it just right, it is still the best coffee for the price. And I'm not exaggerating when I say that I have some 2-year-old Yuban vacuum-sealed in 1/2 cup amounts and stored away that still tastes great. I always open up one of the little pouches of it when I'm waiting for my other coffee to ship.

When I try my gift-card coffee, I will, of course, write up a review here.

Peace

--Free

**REVIEW** ProFoot Original Miracle Insole

This is the short version of this review for Profoot Original Miracle Insole:

Pros: 

• Very lightweight & thin. Won't cramp your toes or alter the fit of the shoe as much.
• Good for heavier-weight people (I can testify to that!)
• Affordable. Around $10 when I got them on Amazon. Might be cheaper at Walmart.
• Work to make the hardest-soled shoes comfortable & great for combat-style or workboots.
• Size variety (with trimming) are for U.S. women's size 6-10 & men's 8-13. (If men need smaller, just get the women's version.)

Cons:

• None that I know of after a week but I don't know how long they last.

Now, my long-winded rant and the review!

I needed new winter boots. I bought new winter boots. The boots are cute. They are exactly the right color and style I was looking for. And they were very affordable. These are the boots.

Everything about these boots is all that I love in a boot. Except for the insole.

The minute I tried these on, I knew I had a problem. The insoles made it feel as if I was walking barefoot on concrete. 

Like with apparel or footwear that I get from Amazon, I chose the Try Before You Buy option. I'm really awful at shopping for clothes and shoes online. Nothing ever fits the way I expect. The sellers' ideas of sizing vary so much. I've sent back more clothing than I have ever owned. I think out of the past 3 years, I've only kept two items. These boots were NOT going to be the third.

But I really really liked the boots and I could actually afford them. I decided to see if I could make this work out for me so I went hunting for a good insole option.

In the past, I've usually gone with Dr. Scholl's or one of the other brands of insoles that I could easily find. This time, I wanted to be sure to get the best without going broke. Finally, I found these:

The insoles cost around $10 and I was mad at those boots because I was out more money. Then when I took the insoles out of the package, I was even madder. They look so thin. And they have a cheap and papery feel to them. I just knew I was now going to be returning both the boots and these insoles. 

Still, I figured, it wouldn't hurt to try them out. I decided that between the built-in insoles and these, maybe, just maybe, I would be able to wear the boots without being in pain. So I gave it a try. I didn't have to do any trimming because I'd gotten the boots in the size 9 (women's U.S.) that Amazon suggested. I normally wear an 8.5 but, like I said, you can never really tell how things will really fit.

Anyway. I took a walk around the living room. Then I took a long walk down the hallway outside my door. Both those surfaces are carpeted though because I wanted to be able to return the boots if I needed to. But I wanted to see how they would feel on hard surfaces so I went down one of our halls that has hardwood flooring (it was freshly mopped and pretty clean). The verdict:

Let me tell you something! These insoles are a-ma-zing.

My boots now felt like they should have in the first place. I have a pair of more expensive and better-made boots (that I save for better occasions) and these cheap, man-made boots now felt just as good.

The thinness of the insoles that I'd been so worried about is actually a bonus. Most insoles that have worked for me in the past take up too much room in the footwear. These just cushion the foot without cramping the toes. It probably helps that I got these in a 9 but they had already fit with my winter socks (and I got these for winter so I don't ruin my better boots). 

The big test of these insoles - now that I'd decided to keep the boots - was when my SIL and I went grocery shopping and ran some other errands. We did some lightly iced-over concert parking lots, we did wet concrete, and we did those hard floors in Walmart and a couple of other grocery stores. The comfort level was great. 

So, there you go. If you need some good insoles, I can suggest these. 

As for the boots, I don't think that I would buy more from this brand unless I was totally in love with the look. For one thing, when you pull these up in the Amazon search, they show the vegan materials as "leather". That's a blatant and bald-faced lie. Vegan materials are not leather and should be described accurately as being man-made. On the other hand, you probably can know that boots in a certain price range are not authentic leather. But it's a matter of product honesty. Also, if all their boots are as uncomfortable as these were, I can't trust their "Memory Foam Insoles" claim any more than I can trust their claims of the shoe being "leather". But this pair is super cute.

Pro-tip: If you find boots online that are out of your price range, do an image search and try to find those boots on Poshmark or Mercari, or eBay. I found the leather pair that I originally wanted on both Poshmark and eBay - just not in the size I needed or the color that I wanted. 

Peace

--Free

**REVIEW** Thirteen Chefs Cutting Board/Space Maker

If you have a tiny kitchen (as I do) or live in a camper, van, etc., and need to make more counter space, you must check out the Thirteen Chefs Cutting Board. 

My kitchen is, as my Mama would say, too small to cuss a cat in. I have no idea where Mama got the saying but it means really, really small, aka, my kitchen.

I looked, off and on, for over a year and just couldn't find anything (affordable) to give myself more cabinet space. Most good cutting boards are pricey and the extra-large ones are ridiculous. Except for this one:

30 x 18 x 0.5

I just wanted to show how it fits across the double sink area.

(Excuse my messing baking area in the photo!)

The boards come in 4 sizes and there are up to 6 color choices - depending on which size board you select. At the time I ordered mine, the size I wanted only came in white, which I like for the kitchen. With white, you can see how clean or dirty something is. 

I don't use this as a cutting board. I use mine as a space maker for when I'm baking. I can place the board across my double sink (as shown) and that gives me room for kneading and rolling out dough.

It is really sturdy. I keep it from sliding around by putting a damp dishcloth under the sides. The board holds up even when I'm kneading dough or slamming it down on the board. My neighbors probably hate me when I do that, but that board holds up like a champ!

I can push crumbs and things right into the sink

Later, when I'm washing up a ton of pots, pans, and bowls, I place the board across the stove to use as a dish-drying rack. Mostly, I use it when I'm baking. Before, I had to put my mixing bowls and baking tools on the dining table (which is in my carpeted dining-slash-living room) so that I could use the kitchen for the hot pans and the stand mixer. Such a hassle. With the board, I get 30 x 18 more inches of space without having to run from the kitchen to the living room and back.

The board is also great for use as a cooling rack because it's "heat resistant" up to 180F. I never put scorching hot just-out-of-the-oven bread pans directly on the board but I do use it to hold other cooling racks. 

It's not as hard to wash and clean as I worried about. Although it doesn't fit in my sink, I can hold it up and at a slant in order to scrub it down with soap and rinse it. It's not that much of a hassle. The only hassle I had was with finding somewhere to store it...

When I'm not going to be baking for a while, I keep it on top of the overhead cupboards. No problem. However, when I'm in a baking mood and making something every several days or so, I have to keep it behind the bookcase that I made into a pot/accessories storage.

It's resting on a thick piece of 
plastic

Taking it from behind the case and washing it down is a hassle but not as much hassle as using my dining table.

Now, here is the very best thing about the board: it was only $35 when I bought it a few months ago and is worth every copper penny. I see that the jumbo size I got is not currently available - probably it sold out during holiday sales. When I was looking, any decent size over 20 inches was running from $60 to over $100. I don't even remember how I stumbled over this one.

Anyway, if you are looking to make more counter space, this is a great buy. And, nope, I am not being compensated for this review. I just like sharing when I run across exceptionally good buys.

Peace

--Free

**CROSSPOST** Evolution? #ELIF - Part One (Chicken and Egg)

  Q: Which came first - the protein or the DNA? (I think of this like I do "which came first, the chicken or the egg?")

My answer is that protein and DNA were created together when God created man. 

As Chuck Missler points out in one of his Bible study sessions on the Book of Genesis (specifically this video), you can't have DNA without protein and you can't have protein without DNA. So how else does one solve that dilemma?

If the video is removed, you 

can search for and or part of

 Chuck Missler Genesis Session 06 Ch 1 20 23 Day Five

As far as the chicken and the egg, the chicken came first. God created the animals and those animals began to reproduce. The same would go for parents and children.

And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so.

God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, [2] and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

Evolutionists, explain to me what you believe and why.

Peace

--Free

Weird, Fun & Random Childhood Memories

 Blame this one on Reddit. I saw a post about weird soda beverages and had a flashback to my younger days.

Whenever we kids visited my grandparents in Arkansas, I loved going to the corner store. It was a really old-fashioned family-run place. As bad as my memory is sometimes, I close my eyes right now and remember details about that store (except what it was called!)

On the counter, there was a huge carboy-style jar of dill pickles on one end. There was a big basket of lemons and little jars of fat peppermint sticks. One of my cousins and I would each get a peppermint stick. I would get a lemon and my cousin would get a pickle. We'd insert our peppermints in the center of the sour treats and suck the pickle or lemon juice that was sweetened by the candy. 

I also remember that this store had a little of everything. We'd pick up things for my grandma - borax soap flakes, butter, milk, and eggs, cleaning rags, liniment, aspirin powders, etc. For us kids there was candy and soda like I never saw in Alaska: Black Jack and Beeman's chewing gum, flavored wax (in the shape of lips), candy cigarettes, and little packs of black, licorice-flavored chewing tar. The sodas were the most amazing, in flavors like chocolate, peach, and apple. 

It's a wonder I had such good teeth (well, until I hit 60!). When I think of being young and dusty-kneed, I mostly remember the candy and treats. Laffy Taffy, string necklaces made of sugary candy, rock candy suckers, Tootsie Rolls, plastic rings with huge candy "stones", and - one of my favorites - little cloth bags filled with little "gold nuggets" of candy-coated gum.

One of my older brothers has always had a sweet tooth and when he and my other brothers and I went back for my dad's funeral, he made sure to stop at that corner store on the way out of town. He loaded up on sodas - chocolate, grape, and peach -  peanut patties, and honey buns for the long drive back to the airport. I got a stomach ache just watching him. This is pre-9-11 so he could pack his carry-on with all his goodies. Speaking of my dad, he loved those cinnamon toothpicks from his youth. He somehow always managed to find a place to buy them, no matter where we were stationed.

For a long time, I thought I would never be able to enjoy those treats from my childhood. Then along came the internet. Over the past 8 or 9 years, I have been able to track down most of those things.

• This is one website for old-fashioned treats
• This is another (I've ordered from them in the past but just right now noticed that they have cinnamon toothpicks)
• Amazon carries Dickies peanut patties (I'm not sure if that's the brand of my youth though)
• Here is a place I also just now discovered. I might have to see about getting my brother some "soda water", as we called it!
• Or I could buy Grape Nehi soda here...
• And, of course, you can shop for weird & crazy soda & retro candy at Blooms.  If you're into strange soda flavors, this is the place. They have the bacon-flavored soda mentioned on Reddit. Also... peanut butter and jelly soda???

Really, for just about any "retro" items you can think of can be found on Amazon or one of those other sites.

Since Christmas is soon to be here, I might have to find something retro and edible for my brother with a sweet tooth. Give him a map to a walk down memory lane.

Peace

--Free

**CROSSPOST** Evolution? #ELIF Explain Like I'm Five

 **This is from a series I will be posting on my other blog Free & Faith. Thanks to Reddit for the hashtag idea.**

When I talk to most people who don't believe in God, it's because they think the Bible is a book of fables and myths. 

I've heard all the usual things from non-believers about God. They call Him "the old man in the sky" or refer to Him as mean and unloving and unjust. 

When checking Twitter recently - mainly to see if the rumors of its demise were possibly true - I saw this:

Many, many agnostics and atheists present arguments to do with people being "good" or "bad", poor, sick, sad, etc. They wonder how a loving God could "allow" such situations as the rich getting away with things or the poor being mistreated. 

The main argument I hear from some people right in my own family has to do with sexuality. "Why does a loving God hate gays?" is one I've heard several times. One person I am close to has decided that their gay lifestyle is just fine with God.

Probably the main thing I hear from people in online forums has to do with evolution. A lot of people can't bring themselves to even consider the idea of a Creator God. They can easier believe in the "Big Bang".

I can talk about all those other things another time but, I want to deal with evolution in the next few (or more) posts. In my opinion, evolution is harder to believe in than anything. To me, evolution is almost a ridiculous theory. Even when I was in school, hearing about a Creator God in church and being taught evolution in school, neither idea seemed to outweigh the other. Of course, I was young and had never thought critically about either belief.

This is what I want to hear from people who believe in evolution to do: Explain like I'm five (thanks Reddit) why you believe in evolution. Or why you don't believe in a Creator God? And I want details.

I've said before, here and elsewhere, that my faith is not blind. I don't believe based on feelings or emotions. I do feel joyful that I have come to believe in God. Without that belief, I would have no hope outside of living this life here on earth. It's not been a really bad life, but if this is all there is to be, how sad that would make me.

So the next posts will all be some of my questions and some of my opinions.

Peace

--Free

**REVIEW** Zinus 12 Inch Green Tea Memory Foam Mattress

 Since I cannot update the Amazon review for this, I figured I'd make this post.

I got this bed over 5 years ago when I moved here. It's the best mattress I have ever slept on - better than in any luxury hotel or some wealthy person's home I've spent time in. This thing is still as firm (not hard) as when it was brand new. It's a green tea memory foam mattress.

It actually did arrive like this! The instructions were to unroll it and let it "decompress" for 1 to 3 days. Yeah, well, I'd been sleeping on a pallet of blankets for over a week. I let this sit open for about 16 hours before I had my family set it up on the frame!!!

The Zinus frame 
now costs as much as the bed did.
I paid about $90 at the time.

By the way, I really do love this frame. It's minimalist and sturdy. And sits high enough that the bed linens don't (usually) touch the floor. One of my nephews even made up the bed for my first night in it...

I don't think I just went to sleep. It was more like I lapsed into a kind of semi-comatose state of bliss.

Every now and then, I will take a peek at what other queen-sized mattresses cost and the prices are ridiculous. This one was a steal at under $200 (lightning deal or something) and is still a great deal at the current price of around $350.

A couple of things about this mattress:

• You can't flip it - well, you can but you're not meant to. The mattress is encased in a nice, thick zip enclosure that is not meant to be removed and is made to sort of velcro to the frame. The flipside is much more firm (almost too firm) and I know because I tested that out. At any rate, I don't need to flip it. I simply rotate it every now and then because I tend to sleep to one side of the center. #singlelifeprivileges
• At 62.5 pounds, it's much heavier than any "regular" mattress I've owned. Every time I rotate it, I count it as 2 days' worth of exercise.
• I learned from experience that the mattress has good "motion isolation". Other than sleeping, I do almost every stationary thing sitting on my bed - writing, reading, and watching videos. I have a wooden bed table where I sit my computer and cup of coffee. I can almost jump on the bed without spilling that coffee.
• The foam definitely has good bounce-back or shape recovery. After sitting on one side for a couple of months, I can rotate the mattress and the "worn spot" recovers its original shape and firmness.
• The "tea" part truly does work to keep the mattress fresh. I'm not a stinky person but a regular mattress will hold odors from normal night sweats and other normal body residues. 
• I'm not sure if I buy into the claims that the green tea infusion helps sleep. I think I rest better overnight because of my comfort level on this mattress. Who really knows?

I spent more money on the mattress and bed frame than any other furnishing when I moved here - and I got them both on a huge sale. I mean, people, I have a futon sofa sleeper! Cheap, cheap, cheap. But like I said, I use my bed more than any other furniture. This was such a worthwhile purchase. When I got them, as I said, I'm sure they were on sale so I paid under $300 for both. I don't know if it will qualify as #BIFL (buy it for life) but it's definitely a buy it, buy it, buy it.

If God is willing and I'm living in another 5 years, I will do an update.

Peace

--Free

P.S.: No, I am not being paid for this review. I wish!

Chasing the Perfect Dark Roast Coffee

 Hi. My name is Free and I am a coffeeholic.

When I gave up smoking a few years back, I thought I wouldn't enjoy coffee as much. Wrong. Coffee has become my main addiction. Sometimes, that can be a problem. For instance, the only time I have trouble with intermittent fasting is during that last 30 to 40 minutes before I can have my coffee with sweet cream. It's kind of sad. I go into special ops mode to avoid even looking into the kitchen. Otherwise, I catch sight of the coffee pot and get tempted. 

My apartment is barely big enough to cuss a cat in (as my mama would say) so the coffee machine is visible from everywhere except behind the closed doors of the bedroom or bathroom. There are times I try not to come out of the bedroom until I can have my morning coffee. Once, near the end of a 24-hour fast, I started to hallucinate about that first cup of brew.

I usually spend those stressful last minutes of a fast just pretending that coffee is not even a thing. I will avoid looking toward the kitchen as I get ready for the morning. I keep my head averted as I go through the apartment - opening the blinds and turning on plant lights and the humidifier -doing the general morning stuff. At that time of day, my muscles are still half asleep and I'm like mud flowing uphill. But when my phone chimes to let me know that my 16 (or 18 or 20 or 24) hours of fasting are ... I'm moving at warp speed toward that coffee pot. No kidding. 

Nothing smells or tastes as good as that very first sip of morning coffee. 

It's not just the first cup. Any time of day, I love a good cup of coffee. And a dark roast is preferred - probably because I have to have sweetened creamer with mine. I love a good cup of coffee more than I ever loved any kind of food.  

In my opinion, the best coffee is strong and rich. I love a little bit of dark chocolate flavor coming through the brew. I'm not talking bitter or burnt but just enough chocolate "bite" to hit the back of my throat. 

What I absolutely hate is a weak cup of coffee. Especially coffee that is so weak that you can't make it stronger without getting a taste like bad office coffee. I'm talking about coffee that is nasty in a non-descript way. The old, rank, stale coffee you get in the lobby of a car dealership or emergency room. 

Lately, I've been trying to find a brand of ground coffee to replace the Gevalia I've been drinking on the regular. I'm not crazy about all the Gevalia coffees like I used to be. They changed something since I used to get that subscription service way back in the day. Remember back when you could get a free coffee pot if you signed up for a monthly delivery of Gevalia? That's how I discovered the brand but that has to have been 20 years ago or more. There'd be these little subscription cards inserted in a lot of the women's magazines.

These days, the only Gevalia I love is the Dark Gold Roast. I was usually able to find the 11-ounce bag for about 11 bucks and change (or around $0.90/oz). That Gold Roast is tasty. It's extra bold and has the chocolate/brown syrup notes that are so yummy. However, that particular roast has just gotten too unreliable in availability. I think they might be phasing it out or something...

So.

I've been on the hunt for a new favorite brand of ground coffee. Coffee that I can afford, can easily find and don't have to work too hard to make. Price is important. I drink at least 7 cups a day so I cannot be playing around with anything that's going to cost more than it should. I've found a couple roasts I like. I just have to figure out how to work a regular purchase into my grocery budget.

Here's what I've tried so far:

1. Kaladi Brothers Waykan (Guatamala). $17.95lb or $1.12/oz. This is definitely a favorite, and it's from my favorite roaster - an Alaska-based roaster. However, it only comes as whole bean. I like freshly ground coffee but I don't always have the time, energy, or motivation. (I still might get the occasional bag though.) Notes, according to Kaladi are "warming spices, raisins, and chocolate". That sounds about right to me. This is what made me fall in love with Guatemalan coffee.
2. Jim's Organic Sweet Love. 11 ounces for $12.34 or 1.12/oz The first time I had this, it tasted so good that I set up a Subscribe & Save. It's much better than the Gevalia. The problem is that I go through the bag too quickly (for the price). It reminds me a lot of the Waykan except I get a lot more of the chocolate note. The brand describes it this way:  "Ambrosian aroma with full-bodied, smoky taste". 
3. Tim Horton's Dark Roast. 12 ounces for $7.59 or $0.63/oz. First of all, that price... Second of all, I happen to find Canadian-made products of all kinds to be of a higher quality overall. Having lived in Alaska all those years, I've driven through Canada many times. Everything I bought there - from aspirin to coffee - was just top quality compared to American-made stuff.  I think the last time Yuban coffee still tasted good was when I bought it in Canada. Anyway... Tim Horton's coffee is tasty. It's not as richly flavored as the K.B.'s or Jim's but it's good. The description I found from Horton's is simply "Rich and full-flavored". I think they are being modest.  Elsewhere, I found this description of the flavor: "subtle notes of chocolate, cedar, and even hints of fruit and floral characteristics". 
4.  Fresh Roasted Coffee's Dark Guatemalan Huehuetenango. 32 ounces for $26.99 or $0.84/oz. This is the next one I am trying. That price is good but I worry about ordering in a 2-lb bag. I will have to let you know what I think when I try it. I wanted it because of the price and because it's another Guatemalan. The brand describes the flavor profile this way: "Full bodied with dark chocolate notes. A bold and spicy body, and a smooth finish. A wonderfully rich dark roast with little to no acidity" except they used a lot of capital letters. The worrisome thing is that of over 3000 Amazon reviews for the brand, none is for this Huehuetenango. Oh boy.

Since I need to get something for my daily brew, I came up with a plan:

If I love the Guatemalan Huehuetenango, I will order that every 3rd month since it's a 2-pound bag. If not, I will do a Sub & Save on the Tim Horton's monthly and Sub & Save on the Sweet Love every 4 months as a treat. Of course, I will order some of the K.B.'s a couple of times a year as a treat. I'm done with the Gevalia. As I was writing this post, I checked and see that it's currently unavailable. Again. I've only been able to find it twice out of the past 2 and a half months.

By the way, because I am intermittent fasting (it's been over 8 weeks now), my grocery list tends to be lighter. I'm not baking every week or cooking larger meals. I haven't fixed spaghetti in at least 4 weeks now. So all this cutback on groceries leaves a little room in the budget for a decent coffee. If only I could learn to drink coffee black...

I will continue to be on the hunt for a dark roast coffee with that chocolatey, rich, sweet taste to it. Let me know if y'all have any suggestions.

Peace

--Free

P.S.: I seriously do NOT like Starbucks coffee. How did it get to be so popular? Just saying.

Mama Cozzi's Pizza Kitchen Pizza Dough

 Since Aldi is so much cheaper than the local Hyvee (and I mean so much cheaper!) it's my preferred Instacart store. Of course, Walmart is also cheaper than Hyvee and has a wider variety than either Aldi or Hyvee in every department. What Walmart does not have is a frustration-free membership program...

Anyway, I love my local Aldi store and have ever since I discovered their core brands. I'm not crazy about their line of coffee creamers but the ground coffee's not bad at all. It's the coffee that I keep around for any visitors who are not as picky about their java as I am. But the Aldi brand I love the most is Mama Cozzi's Pizza Kitchen.

If you have never tried one of the MCPK take-and-bake pizzas, you may have heard not-so-great things about them. But, if you use a few tricks when baking the pies, you have no idea what you're missing. When I went through a period of the blues, I would order a couple of those to have around. I would only fix half or a 4th of pizza at a time (the 16-inch pizzas barely fit my oven and done fit any of my pizza pans). 

As I said, you have to put a little spin on the basic baking technique with these pizzas. Personally, I like a crispier crust and bottom to my pie. I will sprinkle a little Italian seasoning and maybe some bacon bits on top of the pie, then oil the baking pan and the pizza crust with a little EVOO before baking. I find that EVOO works better for a crisp and chewy crust than I get when using butter.)  I'm having flashbacks of joy just thinking about it.

To be honest, though, because they are so huge, the take-and-bake pizzas are a little much when I'm not battling the blues. Having a much smaller option is possible if I make my own. Have you ever made pizza dough? I have and it was a nightmare. It's supposed to be so easy but... I can bake bread so I'm not sure what my problem is with pizza dough. By the time I get the dough ready, I'm out of the mood for the pizza. Well, Mama Cozzi has solved that dilemma...

This is a photo from Instacart because
my dough is frozen into a weird lump right now.

This dough is so versatile and I can sometimes get 3 small pizza crusts from the one 16-ounce bag. Depending on what I'm using the dough for, I can get a week's worth of snacks and nibbles from one bag. I've made pizza, garlic knots, and some weird-looking little pepperoni and mozzarella monstrosities that look horrible but taste amazing. Here are some recipe ideas from elsewhere.

The best thing is the price: $1.95 for the 16-ounce bag of dough. (Someone on Reddit says they found it for $0.95 so the price might depend on the store location.) Considering the fact that I can get at least 3 personal-sized crusts from one bag, I'm not complaining.

This dough keeps well in the freezer but I find that once you thaw it in the fridge, it's best to use it within a week unless you seal it really well. If I open and don't use a whole bag, I heat-seal the rest in an airtight bag. I usually use the rest of a bag within a couple of weeks at the longest. Also, I can use a whole bag to make garlic knots, freeze them to thaw and bake at my leisure.

Garlic knots

Not only is this dough perfect for pizza and other savory dishes but I've been able to use it with fruit and fruit spreads. I think the best sweet treat I made with the dough was a sort of baked peach rollup. You know, one of the tasty monstrosities I mentioned. I just rolled out the dough, brushed it with a little butter, and sprinkled it with a cinnamon-sugar mix before adding some peaches (small-chopped and well-drained) and rolling up into a log. I brushed the outer crust with a little butter halfway through baking, then sprinkled more of the sprinkle mix on top as soon as it came out of the oven. That was yummy. Next time, I plan to try incorporating some cream cheese into the recipe.

7-in pan pizza

When I'm feeling lazy, I go really simple by making some seasoned strips to nibble on. I roll out some of the dough and cut it into short, narrow strips. I brush the strips with a little EVOO and use whatever seasoning want - usually some Mrs. Dash garlic and herb or whatever and maybe a little sea salt - before I bake them up. I will eat them with a dipping sauce of Prego, Ragu, or whatever tomato-based product is on hand. 

That's what I mean when I say the dough is versatile. Now that I'm regularly doing intermittent fasting and only have so many hours in which to eat, I really like being able to whip up a quick meal. I just make sure that I keep some mozzarella, some pepperoni or ground sausage, and a sauce base around. 

Anyway, I just wanted to post about the dough. It's great for singles or families. Personally, I used to keep eggs and tuna around for quick meals. I'd make eggs and tuna for sandwiches or have eggs with rice or eggs and pancakes or waffles. That was before eggs became so pricey. The last time we were at the store, my brother joked that he was going to buy and raise chickens. At least, I think he was joking.

Well, I have to go move some dough from the freezer to thaw in the fridge. Tomorrow I'm making spinach and mushroom pie.

Peace

--Free

Losing Our Motivation (to be or think or speak)

 Let me just vent, please. I have so much stuff to get off my mind. I'm so tired of "culture" and "social media" and the general wastefulness of brain power by everyday people. It's my opinion that all our technological progress is being wasted on so much that is meaningless. 

• Stop focusing on random, dancing and singing and the see-me, see-me, and wanna-be-me crap. If I see one more #nextlevel post about someone showing off their skill at rocking out or rapping or "sick" dance moving...
• Detox from Facebook and TikTok and Instagram for at least 3 hours a day. Where are people finding the time to post a photo of every meal they eat or every move they make or every thought they have in a day? Do you folks have anyone you talk to just one on one without sharing the conversation with the rest of social media?
  
  
  

• With access to the internet and all the wonderful technology we now have, how many people are using it to learn and grow and improve themselves as individuals? (I know that there are a lot of people using it for useless entertainment and brain-frying distractions.
• While all the attention is focused on the 85-95% of us doing makeup videos, true crime podcasts, and non-news news shows, there are people still trying to learn how to actually think critically and dialogue productively about meaningful things. No one hears so much about that. We hear more about MAGA and BLM and being "woke" or being Christian nationalists than we do about people trying to be peaceful and calm and neighborly. 
• If you are Christian, stop thinking that this world is the "Kingdom".
• If you are anti-Christian, stop thinking that all Christians are every Christian.
• If you are Christian, stop thinking that all non-Christians are any more sinful than yourself.
• If you are non-Christian, stop thinking that every Christian hates you. 
• Stop saying that you are anti-this or anti-that and work on being a better individual citizen.
• We have too many wanna-be revolutionists and feminists and "bros". Be a person first.
  
• While so many of you are learning lyrics to the latest raps and songs, who is reading classic literature, the Bible, and history? Who is learning a second language (I'm talking to my fellow Americans)? Who is learning why math is important - or biology or economics or physics?
• For all of you who talk about "my body, my choice", are you treating your body with respect? For those of you talking about being anti-abortion, are you taking care of unwanted children - or the hungry, wounded, traumatized children?
• Of those who call themselves Christians, are you reading the Bible? Studying the Bible? Trying to understand the message of the Bible? Or are you just sitting in a pulpit and listening to whatever someone else tells you about the Bible?
• For those of you who think of yourselves as beautiful/handsome, what does that matter in the final scheme of things? Are you helping anyone with that attribute? What would you do if you lost that attribute?
• For the so-called "influencers" - what are you influencing? How are you using your influence in any positive or meaningful way?
• If you are a "Have", are you content - or do you want more? And why or why not?
• If you are "Have Not", what do you really want more of - other than food and shelter and kindness? Why?
• For all of you living the bulk of your lives via the internet, what would you do without it? Could you do without it? Could you be happy without it?
• When is the last time you lived a phone-free life - even just for a few hours?
• 
  What was the last positive thing you did for someone other than yourself?
• When was the last time you spent time just thinking - not reading or eating or distracting yourself with devices and material things?
• Do you think of yourself as unique? What's the last thing you did unselfconsciously? When is the last time that you didn't dress or act out of being trendy or out of being totally rebellious to society?

I rant about these things and I am guilty of some of them myself. But I'm so tired of everyone losing themselves to trends. 

It's not "trendy" to speak your mind anymore. It's not trendy to say how you really feel about something. (I'm not talking to the people who are rude and call it being "blunt".)

Somehow, in our society, it no longer seems that it's okay for people with opposing opinions to have a discussion about anything without there being a fight. 

People have forgotten how to debate in a thoughtful and meaningful way. That's because we all have to apologize for or violently defend every viewpoint.

Recently, I saw (for the zillionth time) saw a post in a forum about the effect of "billions and billions of years" of evolution. My instinct was to voice my disbelief in evolution (I hold a Christian and biblical worldview of all creation) but I didn't include my comment on the post. Why? Because I would have been verbally attacked for my views. No one would have engaged me in a debate about why I believe as I do. There would likely not have been a civil or thoughtful back-and-forth discussion. Ideally, we should be able to voice our views and walk away (whether or agreeing or not) with something to think about on both sides.

Since we do have the internet and all these social media platforms, I wish we wouldn't waste them on thoughtless and meaningless things. I wish that there was more robust and honest discussions happening - more content that exercised our brains instead of our sarcasm or hidden-behind-a-keyboard bullying. 

Because I am tired of being pinned down by whatever this society is becoming, I am going to do another post where I voice my opinions and viewpoints - no matter who they might offend. I won't be doing this to offend. I will be doing this because I think it should be a thing. Anyone is free to agree or disagree - because that should be a thing. I hope that everyone who reads the post will - even in private - consider thoughtfully why they agree or disagree.

Since this rant is mostly about the internet, I will leave you with this:

Q: How many of you know where, how, and why the internet started? Here's a teaser: It has to do with CERN.

A: Click Here (for the long answer)  Or here, for the simplified version.

I can't change how other people behave and interact but I can change how I behave and interact. It starts now.

Peace

--Free

Chrome Gel Nails With Eyeshadow

Because I am now obsessed with doing gel manicures at home, I absolutely wanted to try doing a chrome/shimmer look. The thing is nail powders are so pricey - apparently only because some are called "nail powder"!

As I mentioned in another post, I remembered that I have an old (like 7 or 8 years old) shimmer shadow in a deep copper bronze with a tiny touch of gold. I'm not big on using makeup but I hate to throw out pretty things. Plus, this belonged to my late sister.

This color is so gorgeous, right? 

This is a Sally Hansen brand

I would never be bold enough to wear that color but my sister would. For me, it's a perfect color for chrome nails. And I thought I was such a frugal genius for thinking of this but... the method has been around for a while! See? I'm not the only cheap thrifty gal out here.

Anyway, I learned a couple of things my first time doing this:

1. Apparently, powder shadow is the best. I'm not sure what happens with sticks or creams or other formats. I don't have any of those around to test.
2. Because I don't like the way heavy glitter polish felt on my nails (without adding a heavy top coat), I personally recommend using a shimmer-not-glitter powder. Mine is a very fine shimmer powder, thank goodness.
3. You have to use a base, of course, but you also need to get the powder to stick to your color polish. I did a top coat over the base to apply the eyeshadow and I use a no-wipe top coat so the eyeshadow just slid right off. In the end, I used a color under the powder. Basically, the eyeshadow won't stick to a very slick base. Or at least, it won't hold a lot of the color.
4. The color your choose to use as a base for the eyeshadow makes a big difference in the final chrome color effect. You'll see what I mean in a moment.
5. By the way, thankfully, the shadow did not leach onto the brush or into the bottle when I applied the top coat. I was worried about that. And, yes, you need to...
6. ... finish with a nice top coat. It adds shine, of course, and it seals the eyeshadow from staining things or rubbing off.
7. Do wipe down your cuticles, fingers, and all your hand with some alcohol or oil. The eyeshadow - because it is a shimmer - was all over my fingers when I finished.

Okay. For my experiment, I used a bronze-gold eyeshadow. For a base color, I used a medium burgundy - except for on one finger where I used my jet black color.

with the burgundy base color

I thought I would prefer the black as a base but, nope, the burgundy base was prettier in my opinion. The black base made the shimmer look much more flat bronze with a green tinge that I don't like at all. The burgundy resulted in a copper bronze that is really pretty and just overall more "chrome-like". The thing is, the base color does come through a little. That's why the black base gave such a different result.  (It was hard to get a good photo because I did the black base on my dominant hand. I had to try to get a photo using my left hand and bad lighting!)

black as a base color on the left finger

Learning about the base color effect is a good thing because I do have gel polish in shades that, by themselves are too light - or too pink or orange or whatever - for my skin tone. The shimmer shadow I have will be great with those as a base. 

I hate my hands because they have always looked old but I love, love, love this chrome polish look on my nails. It's said that wearing perfume and pretty underwear just makes a woman feel more beautiful. I will add having a pretty manicure to that list. And heels. Heels always make me feel pretty.

The main thing I will say about doing a chrome manicure with eyeshadow is that it can be messy. I was prepared. I put down a towel and had plenty of wet wipes and alcohol nearby. But the results are prettier than the photos show. It's well worth the initial mess. I will probably never bother to buy a powder specifically for nails (what kind of ripoff marketing is that?) unless it's cheaper than plain old eyeshadow.

On Amazon, I found lots of shimmer shadows (like this this 5-color palette) from Wet 'n Wild for around $3.20 (around $0.60 per color) and there are some $0.99 single shimmer pans from that brand. Since I'm using them on my nails and not anywhere on my face, I wouldn't mind really cheaping out and finding some Dollar Store palettes. So, go wild and chrome up. Maybe one day, I will try using non-shimmer eyeshadow on my nails.

Peace

--Free

** BTW - as old as that eyeshadow is, I was able to track down that it's a Sally Hansen product. There are still some colors on Amazon but I couldn't find this bronze shade. I did find something that looks identical. Knowing my sister, she didn't pay more than 4 or 5 bucks for the one she bought!

For Gel Nail Newbies (from a gel nail newbie)

 When I posted about using gel nail polish in memory of my late niece, I didn't get into the details.  If you saw my that post, you can tell that my niece was a naturally artistic person. She did her nails herself - even when she used lengthening tips! And she also had beautiful hands...

And steady hands!

See? She was a lefty so her right hand here looks amazing.

Anyway...

This post is all about what I'd tell someone who is trying gel polish for the first time.

You need some basic supplies.

builder gel kit under $10

Because gel polish is nothing like lacquer, you need some things you might not just have in your beauty box. No one told me this and I had to learn as I went so... I recommend having at a minimum:

• Gel polish - liquid or cream. Color polish is where can stay on a deep budget. (It's the base and top coats where you won't want to totally cheap out! I started with the cheapest but most decent polishes I could find from a couple of well-known brands: Beetles and Modelones. I also got some black polish that I love from the GAOY brand and some jelly polish from Blaico. I really like all of them. I tried and returned a cream palette from Sedbuwza. I found a cream palette from MEFA that is decent. Overall, so far I prefer liquid over cream for opacity and ease of use. (Keep in mind that colors are tricky. What you see on the product page might not be what you get for real. Check reviews because a lot of people post about what the shades look like on actual nails and in home lighting.) BTW, this might help with differences between types of polishes.
• 100% acetone. Regular polish remover will not work on gel polish. (Here are a dermatologist's tips for

  

  So cheap at Walmart

  removing with acetone.)
• Cotton balls or cotton pads to use with the acetone. I find that poly balls don't work as well. Cotton balls are the most economical, IMO.
• Nail files. You need a regular one, one to buff down ridges, one to smooth the top of the nail, and one strong one to file down the top coat of gel polish. Filing down the top layer of gel polish makes it easier to remove the rest with acetone. Or...
• A peelable base coat. This makes it much easier to remove polish (no filing) and I usually only have to use acetone to clean up any color residue. I also find that this is easier on my nails since I change my color often. (This peelable base is the one I use and really like.)
• "No-wipe" Base and top coat polish. "No wipe" means not having to wipe the tacky residue of cured polish with alcohol. I just happened to luck out when I bought my base/top coat set and it was the no-wipe kind. NOTE: Even with a polish of so-so quality, the top coat is the main thing, IMO. It will determine shine and set the entire nail. My top coat is excellent.
• Cuticle oil. Or any good kind of oil to nourish your nails and cuticles. To be honest, it seems that most cuticle oils are made of a combo of oils - safflower, jojoba, flax, etc. I started out using some marula oil and I have used olive oil diluted with grapeseed oil. Don't get caught up in the brands and bottles and cuteness. But you do need to take really good care of your nails. The polish and acetone can be stressing to them.

  

  No wipe base/top + cuticle oil

• Brushes. Good gel polish application has a lot to do with the brushes you use. And do NOT get caught up spending a lot of money on brushes made "just for gel". I bought a pack of 7 art brushes for just over two dollars. They came in various sizes and work perfectly. Just make sure the brushes are good. I got these and you might even find some cheaper at a local store. Now, if you get into doing gel "art" stuff, you might need to find finer-sized or specialty brushes.
• Tin foil or "nail clips". These are for securing the acetone-soaked cotton on your nails long enough to dissolve the gel when removing it. I tried foil and it's awkward and pricey. I got some good (but fairly cheap) clips. It was a good bargain because the kit included some papers, a couple of nail files, and a "cuticle peeler". The peeler is used to peel the dissolved gel from your nails if needed. The papers taught me that I prefer using cotton for the acetone!

  

  54W for around $10

• *NOT A NECESSITY* Tape. There is tape used to keep your polish from going onto the sides. I'm a messy manicurist but I am not yet using tape. I can remove any mess with acetone. However, tape looks to be really useful for doing artful stripes and lines on your nails.
• Sunscreen and lotion. I use sunscreen before using the UV lamp. Also, I am a lotion fanatic when it comes to my body. Now that I am using a UV lamp on my nails, I go heavy on the hand lotion.
• Patience, patience, and more patience. I have a cheaper UV lamp so it takes a bit longer to completely cure polish. That's fine. That's why I make sure to use sunscreen.

That should get you started before you turn into a complete product junkie!

Of course, I have discovered a couple of things that I wanted to try...

in addition to the basics:

• 

  3 coats of Blaico Jelly Gel
  

  "Jelly" gel colors. Okay. I actually bought my set of jelly polish by accident. I just saw colors I liked and only realized when I got them that they are jelly. Jelly is a milky-looking kind of finish. The color is buildable. There are photos somewhere in this post of how my jelly manicure looked like.
• Chrome/metallic polish. This is sooo pretty in photos. When I couldn't find a chrome color that I liked, I thought of a gold chrome eyeshadow I have somewhere. Looking it up, I learned that, yes, Virginia, you can use powder eyeshadow on gel nails. So there! (In the very next post, I will discuss my experience using this technique...) 
• Match your eyes & nails. It's not just chrome shadow that you can use. You can apparently use any kind of powder shadow to color your nails. There are a lot of YouTube how-to videos out there. To be honest, I didn't know that you could use eyeshadow to color with lacquer polish also. 
• Builder gel. I won't go deep into this until I have used it but... Apparently, this is great for adding shape to your nails and giving them more strength for the length of the manicure. I have flat nail beds and would like more of a curve to the center. I can't wait to see if I can do this using builder gel. You can also use builder gel along with false nail tips to create more length. 
• Ombre nails just involve using stripes of different colors before using a top coat to kind of blur the lines. Who knew?

Tips, time & and money-savers:

• Always apply gel polish in coats as thin as you can. Because it doesn't dry without UV light, I find that if I need to, I can use a clean brush to wipe down excess gel before drying. Applying thin coats is really best if you are building color.
• Wipe any gel off your skin before drying. I have not had problems but I have read reviews where some people do get an itch or irritation. I wrap the tip of a toothpick in cotton and use acetone to remove any gel from my edges and cuticles before drying.
• Another reason not to get the gel on the edges: when it dries, you have a "lift" piece that makes it too easy to pull the polish loose. (I hope that makes sense!) The gel will peel and lift if you pick at the edges.
• Know that most people recommend not using lacquer ("regular") polish with gel polish. Some people say that you can do so and some people say that it causes drying problems. My opinion: I use gel because it dries faster and lasts longer so there is no need for lacquer. So far, any colors of polish I like in lacquer, I can find in gel polish. So... up to you.
• Remember what I said about not getting caught up in labels? Not only can you spend more buying brushes that are labeled as being for gel. The same goes for finding cotton pads and tools. Just look for basic stuff and leave "gel nails" out of the search criteria.
• Not only can you do powder eyeshadow for chrome/metallic nails, but also look for cheaper brands. It's just because I am cheap that I thought of using my eyeshadow. I realized that it looked exactly like the chrome nail powders. Look for cheap palettes from e.l.f., l.a. colors, Wet 'n Wild, etc. I would even recommend checking the Dollar Store and the sale bins at Walmart for this. I won't put cheap stuff on my skin but I will use them in polish for my nails (which are protected by a base coat).
• When looking for chrome powders, search for "shimmer" and "metallic" and more things come up. 
• I personally don't like thick glitter in nail polish. I find that I have to do a heavy top coat to keep the residue from scratching and pulling at fabrics I touch. I recommend looking for eyeshadows with fine glitter - if you are going to use glitter at all.
• If you buy from Amazon or some other popular online stores, make sure to look for off-site reviews. I like adding "Reddit" to the end of any search. Reviews and feedback on Reddit tend to be a lot more honest and less self-conscious.
• If you are shopping on Amazon, don't be afraid to look at lesser-known brands. Remember, you can usually return things. (Make sure to read the product's return policy notes!) I did have that fail and return with the cream polish but I turned around and found another small brand item that works fine.

One thing that using gel polish forces me to do more regularly is to take care of my nails. I take better care of my cuticles for sure. 

I hope that this was helpful to the newbies out there. I am having a lot of fun doing my nails - more than when I used slow-drying lacquer. You can get started with the basics for under $35 - and that's cheaper than most visits to a nail salon.

Peace

--Free

P.S.: I recommend starting with cheaper items until you get the hang of applying gel. Just don't skimp too hard on the base and top coats!

Forgive any bad editing. I was working on this over 2 days and changed up some things.