Boostcase Smartphone Battery Life Extender

December 12, 2012 By 20 Comments

We are excited to share our thoughts about the Boostcase!

Details …

What is the Boostcase?

A detachable battery sleeve charges your phone all day long, doubling battery life for longer on-the-go usage. Works with any Hybrid Snap-On case (sold separately).

The Boostcase is designed to be ON all the time because when the iPhone is 100% full (such as after recharging), the iPhone will draw power from the boost battery first. Once the battery in the case dies then the iPhone will finally use its own battery, otherwise it will be in standby and will not be used. This means that you will recharge your iPhone about half as much as you normally would, hence it will double the life expectancy of the battery. There is nothing wrong with leaving the case OFF and not using it until you want it, as this will also achieve the desired effect of doubling the amount of time to use the iPhone. However just note that to also increase the life expectancy of your iPhone battery we recommend leaving the case ON (it automatically turns on when you connect).

Boostcase has an internal battery about the same size as the iPhone, so it will take around the same time to fully recharge the case as it would your iPhone (2-3hours). We recommend charging both case and iPhone together at night so when you wake up you are fully recharged both case and iPhone ready to go.

Our Thoughts…

I love the Boostcase!  Beth thinks it is too heavy and too big, but I have to roll my eyes at her a bit because she keeps her iPhone in her purse all day.  I tend to keep mine in my pocket and, while it does give the phone a bigger footprint, I am more than willing to make the trade-off for all day Twittering, Facebooking, texting, etc.

I recently went to the Mixed Conference, a weekend retreat for food bloggers.  The signal at the hotel, when it did decide to show up, was extremely weak.  That means that my phone spent the entire day searching for a signal.  Normally, that would completely drain my phone.  Instead, the Boostcase kept my phone charged all day.  I was up and moving at around 7 that morning and did not go to bed until around 1 the next morning.  When I finally plugged my phone in for the night, the phone still had half of it’s battery left!  That was after all day on Twitter, taking pictures, texting, and searching for the elusive signal!  The best part was that, the next morning, it was all completely recharged.  That’s right!  The battery and Boostcase were almost completely drained and it took less than a full night to completely recharge them both!

All in all, I fully recommend picking up one of these.

We are excited that the folks at Boostcase have offered  to give a Boostcase to one of our readers too! Are you excited?! Good luck!!

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review Disclaimer

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$100 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway

December 7, 2012 By Leave a Comment

What would you buy on Amazon with a $100 Amazon Gift Card? My first pick would be a Kindle Fire Skin. I love the Kindle Fire Cupcake Skin … what do you think?

After I made my Kindle Fire all girlie, I would probably go buy a bunch of ebooks … if only I could buy the time to read them too! How about you? Good luck!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway brought to you by MRO Stop. Visit the giveaway page here.
 

 

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A Welcome Home Project

December 7, 2012 By Leave a Comment

We are excited to welcome a neighbor back with our welcome home project! They moved away over a year ago and as life would have it, they are back! Maybe it was a blessing they didn’t sell their home after all. To let them know how excited we are to have them back, we made them a banner … OK, it took two tries but we made a banner to welcome them back.

This was the start of version one which became scribble mania … but look they were ALL working together!!!

This is version two that we hung after some effort and I was certain wouldn’t last due to the wind that day …

It did hold up until they made it home and actually I don’t know if it has been taken down yet. LOL

What would you do for your neighbors that moved back? As I find time to bake something, it will end up their door too but we thought this was a good start. Leave me your neighborly giving ideas as a comment!

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College Financial Planning

December 6, 2012 By Leave a Comment


What do you think about when you hear about the topics, Education Planning and& Student Loans? 

For me it makes me think about the student loans that I am still paying off! I am not saying student loans are bad. I think bearing part of the cost education does make students more responsible on a general basis. I also that education takes some planning. For my graduate work, we have done a fair amount of financial planning so I can take advantage of benefits from work and make the remaining payments ourselves. Since I am still paying off undergraduate loans, I did not want to add more loans to the picture. The Spring semester is my last semester and we will have met of goal of no additional loans. As we went through this process, it would have been great to get some added advice and support. We are excited to share the following details with our you so you have an added resource in this area and many other financial topics!

Education planning has become increasingly important both due to its impact on lifetime earnings and its rising costs. Many people find the planning process confusing and the amount of information overwhelming. We want to make things simpler.

The Wells Fargo Community is dedicated to helping you understand your education planning options by:

  • Bringing students, parents, college counselors, and financial advisors together so they can share their knowledge, advice, and experiences – all in one place.
  • Spanning the entire college experience so you’ll find relevant conversations whether you’re preparing for college, in college, or done with college.
  • Addressing key topics including saving for college, finding the right college, choosing a major, and preparing for life after college.

Check out the Wells Fargo Community to get insight to questions around this topic and so many more!

What is it?

The Wells Fargo Community is an online forum where you can ask questions and share knowledge about financial topics. It’s a place to get help and help others in a convenient and safe environment.

The current focus of the community is education planning. We expect to add additional topics over time.

Who can use it?

The community is free and you don’t need to be a Wells Fargo customer to participate. In fact, you don’t even need to be a member to browse and learn from discussions. But, if you want to post your own questions or answers, we’ll ask you to sign up.

How are you preparing for the financial cost of college for yourself or your child? Leave us a comment and let us know!
For more information about the Wells Fargo Community, please visit Wells Fargo Community’s site. I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own. #WFCommunity #spon

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Metro Cooking DC Preview

October 23, 2012 By 2 Comments

Can I tell you just how excited I am to spend a weekend up in DC with my honey at a food show?  The weekend of November 3-4, Beth and I are headed up to the Metropolitan Cooking & Entertaining Show in Washington, DC.  They will be featuring at least 8 food celebrities as well as a number of area chefs demonstrating their cooking chops on stage.  They will have tastings and workshops and over 350 vendors scheduled to be there and selling their wares.  Many of these products are ones that you will not find on your supermarket shelves.  If you are shopping for a foodie in your family this Christmas, this would be the place to be.  In addition, Lincoln is supporting Metro Cooking DC and these small businesses by offering test drives out in front of the event.  Everyone who take a test drive will get 10 Lincoln dollars to spend inside.

Last week, I had a great opportunity to attend a media event for this show.  I got to meet the event organizers for Metro Cooking DC, several local bloggers, and the group even got a chance to Skype with Next Food Network Star and “Sandwich King” Jeff Mauro.  This guy is so down to earth, it’s ridiculous.  His young son wound up on his back at one point in the interview, knocking his hat off, and pulling out his earpiece.  For a guy with three kids of my own, I looked on it very kindly.  It definitely humanizes this guy that you always see on TV.

     

In addition to meeting the people at this event, I got to try some of the food at Cuba de Libre, including a yummy Cuban sandwich and a lovely little lobster sandwich.  I also got to try a couple of the signature drinks.  I had a delicious Red Sangria and my favorite, the classic Mojito.  On the way out, we were all handed a very heavy bag full of various products that will be available at the Metro Cooking DC event.  We’ve tried a number of things, but we haven’t even gotten close to going through it all yet.  I’m looking forward to meeting the faces behind all of these wonderful products.

 

Here’s the press release issued for this event.

“ALL STAR LINE-UP HEADLINE NOV 3-4 METRO COOKING SHOW

Giada De Laurentiis, Jacques & Claudine Pépin, Michael Symon, Carla Hall, Gail Simmons, Tom Colicchio, Jeff Mauro plus James Beard FoundationCooking Stage, 400 specialty food exhibitors set for two-day food extravaganza

(Oct 5, 2012 – Washington, DC) Some of the biggest names in the culinary world will grace the stage at the 2012 Metro Cooking Show, November 3-4 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Headlining this year’s show will be Giada De Laurentiis, Jacques Pepin and daughter Claudine, Top Chef judges Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons, The Chew’s Michael Symon and Carla Hall and Next Food Network Star winner “The Sandwich King” Jeff Mauro.

In addition, local and regional chefs all honored as James Beard Foundation winners, nominees or as guest chefs at The James Beard House, will take the Food Lion Cooking Stage honoring the James Beard Foundation. Throughout the two day event there will be non-stop activities including ongoing tasting and entertaining workshops from knife skills to holiday entertaining and a beer, wine and spirits pavilion that will highlight local mixologists  Known as a great shopping show, this year nearly 400 specialty food exhibitors will showcase products – all for sale.

Ticket packages are available including a two-day pass that offers access to all celebrity theater presentations as well as VIP tickets affording meet-and-greet receptions with some of the stars and a lively “Sandwich and Beer” event with “The Sandwich King” Jeff Mauro and Neighborhood Restaurant Group’s beer director Greg Engert.

METROPOLITAN COOKING & ENTERTAINING SHOW

Saturday November 3 – Sunday November 4, 2011
Walter E. Washington Convention Center – Washington, DC
Hours: 10 am – 7 p.m. Nov 3; 10 am – 6 pm Nov 4
Ticket prices: General Admission – $24.50 in advance; $27 at the door
Children 4-12 – $12.50 in advance; $15 at the door
Children under 4 free

 www.MetroCookingDC.com”

Are you going to be up in DC that weekend?  Looking to head out to the show?  Let us know and we’ll look for you!

Filed Under: Simply Food, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , ,

1st Day of School – 1st Grade

August 22, 2012 By 2 Comments

Today is Grace’s 1st day of 1st Grade. You might remember she turned 5 on her 1st Day of Kindergarten last year. This year her birthday is the third day of school. It took some convincing on our part that she was actually allowed to start 1st grade even though she isn’t 6 yet.

Here is our big 1st Grader …

Grace with her little sister and little brother …

The bus is here …

Good luck on your 1st day of 1st Grade, Grace!

Filed Under: Kids, Simply Family, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , ,

The Daring Cooks’ Challenge April 2012: Boeuf Bourguignon

May 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Our May 2012 Daring Cooks’ hostess was Fabi of fabsfood. Fabi challenged us to make Boeuf Bourguignon, a classic French stew originating from the Burgundy region of France.

This is the first time that I’ve ever made Boeuf Bourguignon.  I’ve heard of it and I’ve made a number of stews and other dishes similar to it, but this is my first time for this particular dish.  It just so happens that I love to make comfort foods, so I was very excited to have an excuse for making another one.  One change that I made to the dish was that I did not get a chunk of streaky bacon nor did I use the bacon rind.  Instead, I used 4 slices of pre-packaged bacon sliced thinly.  I also decided not to strain the sauce.  It was plenty thick for my taste as it was.  We served it over polenta, so the sauce being a little thinner was actually very nice.  The picture here is the final product of what I cooked, but the recipe is Fabi’s.  She did a great job with this and deserves all of the credit.

BOEUF BOURGUIGNON

Ingredients for 6 people:

Ingredients

1 x 6 oz (200 gm) chunk of streaky bacon
Olive oil
3 pounds (1⅓ kg) stewing beef cut into 2 inches (5 cm) cubes
1 teaspoon (5 ml) (6 gm) salt
½ teaspoon (5 ml) (2 gm) pepper
3 tablespoons (45 ml) (1 oz/30 gm) flour
3 cups (1½ pint/720 ml) of young red wine. Suggestions: Bourgogne, of course, but also Bordeaux, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chianti, Rioja etc., depending on your country and your taste. Being Spanish, my choice this time was a good Rioja. It really has to be a good one but it hasn’t necessarily to be a very expensive one, you know, il ne faut pas exagérer Smile
1 carrot, sliced (I prefer to cut it into chunks, but that’s just my taste)
1 onion, sliced in julienne
1 ½ to 2 cups (¾ to 1 pint/355 to 475 ml) of beef stock or beef bouillon
1 tablespoon (15 ml) (½ oz/15 gm) tomato paste or tomato puree
2 cloves mashed garlic
½ teaspoon (2½ ml) (1 gm) thyme leaves
1 bay leave (Julia says it has to be crushed, I prefer not to crush it so that I can remove it at the end of the process)
The blanched bacon rind
18-24 small onions, brown-braised in stock
1 pound (½ kg) mushrooms sautéed in butter (Champignons are perfect for this purpose)
Fresh parsley sprigs to serve

Directions:

1.Prepare the bacon: Remove the rind. Cut the bacon into lardons (Sticks, ¼ inch thick and ½ inch (5 mm x 15 mm) long) and simmer everything in 4 cups (1 litre) of water for 10 minutes. Drain and dry carefully with paper towels.

2.Dry the meat cubes carefully with paper towels.

3.Preheat oven to hot 450ºF/230ºC/gas mark 8

4.In a fireproof casserole or a frying pan, sauté the lardons in a tablespoon of olive oil for 2-3 minutes until they’re lightly brown. Remove them to a side dish with a slotted spoon.

5.In the same casserole/pan, sauté the beef until it’s golden brown. Remove it to the side dish where you keep the bacon and set aside.

6.Still in the same casserole/pan, sauté the carrot and the onion.

7.Return the bacon and the beef to the casserole. Sprinkle it with salt and pepper, then add the flour and toss.

8.Place the casserole/dish uncovered in the middle position of the oven for 4 minutes. This gives the meat a lovely crust.

9.Remove the casserole/dish from the oven. Stir in the wine, stock, tomato paste, mashed garlic cloves, thyme, bay and the blanched bacon rind.

10.Bring it to simmering point on the stove. Now, if you were using a frying pan, discard it and put the stew in an oven proof dish.

11.Cover the casserole/dish (If your dish doesn’t have a lid, use aluminum foil and stretch it to the edges of the dish in order to minimize the loss of juices) and place it low in the oven. Adjust the heat so that the liquid simmers very slowly, it has to go on for 3-4 hours.

12.While the stew is cooking, prepare onions and mushrooms. For the onions: Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a frying pan and sauté the peeled onions until golden brown. Add beef stock until they’re almost covered and simmer for 20-25 minutes, or until almost all the liquid disappears and they’re tender but keep their shape. Set aside.

13.Prepare the mushrooms as well: Wash quarter and sauté them in 2 tablespoons butter. Keep on stirring until they’re nicely brown. Set aside.

14.When meat is tender, put the stew into a sieve over a saucepan, wash out the casserole and return the stew to it. Put onions and mushrooms over the meat.

15.Skim the fat off the sauce. Put the saucepan on the stove and simmer it for 2-3 minutes. Skim additional fat if it rises. The sauce should be thick enough to coat a spoon. If not, boil it until it thickens. If it’s too thick, stir in some stock or bouillon to make it lighter.

16.Pour the sauce over the stew. Put the casserole on the stove or in the oven and reheat for 2-3 minutes. Serve it in the casserole with some sprigs of fresh parsley. Some goods sides are potatoes, noodles or rice.

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