Natural Living Tip

Extending the life of your car's exterior paint is important. Not only does it improve the beauty of your car, but it saves on expensive paint jobs and/or body repairs.

A natural way to extend the life of your car's paint job involves bird droppings. As soon as you notice a dropping, place some water onto a cloth or other wipe-able item. Apply pressure to remove the dropping. The sooner you do this, the less effect upon your paint job.

I carry around an extra bottle of water in my car for just this purpose. Plus, I carry around extra napkins in my glove compartment that can easily be used to clean off any bird droppings.

As much as I love birds, I don't like their droppings on my car. So.. take preventative measures to save your paint job. Remove bird droppings..asap.

Find interesting? Kindly share with others...

Why The Larger Tree Fruit?

Something's been happening lately that has got me thinking. When I go grocery shopping for produce, the produce has gotten larger. And, I mean...LARGER. It's next to impossible to find a medium or small size fruit anymore. I don't want a LARGE fruit.

Why is this happening? Is fruit being breeded to produce larger volume? Are seeds being manipulated to produce a larger volume? Is it just another way for the population to consume more calories, perpetuating the obesity epidemic? Is the population requesting this large-sized fruit? Is it being cross-pollinated with something else? What's going on?!

Our society, overall, is becoming obese. Is this a reason for the increased size of fruit? I don't buy the thinking that fruit is calorie-free, so you can eat all you want. I don't care about that. The larger the fruit, the more sugar it contains. Period. I know that if I buy a LARGE nectarine or apple, for instance,it's too much for me to eat at one time. I need to cut it in half. It's not appealing to eat 1/2 fruit. A small to medium-sized fruit can be consumed in one sitting. It's the perfect size.

It used to be so easy to find a small to medium-sized tree fruit. Not anymore. Has anyone else noticed this?

Find interesting? Kindly share...

Naturally Decreasing Coffee's Acidity

There are a variety of coffees available that are labeled as “Low Acidity”. However, did you know that you can easily make your own? The answer comes from the herb world.

Peppermint, or any variety of mint, provides a natural acidity attacker. Either add some dried peppermint leaves to your coffee grounds. Or, pick some fresh mint and add the leaves before brewing your coffee. The amount of mint depends upon your taste. A small amount, the equivalent of three leaves, will not noticeably affect coffee's taste. Of course, a larger amount will provide a minty taste to your coffee.

In fact, mint-flavored coffee is very popular around the holidays. Instead of buying commercially-prepared varieties where you're really not certain what goes into the coffee....make your own.

Store your dried mint in a glass jar. Place a dated label on the jar. This helps prevent confusion once you acquire a variety of herbs. (Herbs have a tendency to look the same when dried.) Keep the jar in your kitchen cupboard.

If growing your mint, well...I'm sure you know how to grow it. Just pick off some fresh leaves, rinse them and use them. You can the leaves whole, chopped or broken apart. The decision is yours.

Make certain to take a good whiff of the mint prior to using it. :) It smells fantastic!

Find interesting? Kindly share....

No Fat, Yet Tasty, Red Pepper Vinaigrette

Usually, a vinaigrette consists of 3 parts oil to one part vinegar.
Oil is replaced by apple juice in this recipe, providing less calories and fat. Half juice, half vinegar plus spices provide the base for this low-calorie vinaigrette.

This recipe makes eight servings. Store unused portion in your refrigerator.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup apple juice
1/4 cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning (mixture of oregano, rosemary and thyme)
1/2 teaspoon mustard
1/2 teaspoon paprika, optional
1/2 of a roasted red bell pepper, seeds removed

Instructions:
Combine all ingredients in a blender container. Blend to mix thoroughly.