Kelloggs All Bran [5 stars]

Suppose you want a heart healthy granola-like ingredient to add to your meals & snacks... Welcome Kelloggs All Bran to your pantry!

Why is All Bran "heart healthy"? A 1/2 cup has 350mg of potassium with only 80mg of sodium and 1g of fat. A heart healthy food has a potassium to sodium ratio of at least 3:1. Kelloggs All Bran delivers a 4:1 ratio, making it a welcome hearth healthy addition to your pantry.

If you are designing a heart healthy diet, some things you can do with All Bran:

1. Mix with oatmeal & bananas for a tasty warm breakfast.
2. Mix with dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, cherries, etc) for a tasty snack.
3. Mix with yogurt & bananas for a tasty chilled breakfast.

Basically, any place you would use granola use All Bran instead and give a heart healthy boost to your recipes.

Book Review: The Cold Dish [5 stars]

I recently finished reading The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson.

Craig Johnson was recommended to me as an author whose books contain 2 key elements:

1. Murder mysteries that contain lots of twists and keep you guessing to the end.
2. Stories set in the Western U.S. with the plots taking advantage of the rugged outdoors of the Rocky Mountains.

Being a fan of the outdoors & Rockies (and murder mysteries), I decided to give The Cold Dish a try. The result was a resounding 5 stars. The book interleaves two interesting backdrops throughout: (1) the challenges any murder brings to a small town Western sheriff; and (2) the rich Indian history & culture still prevalent across the Rocky Mountain states.

The only negative comment I have about The Cold Dish is the number of characters Johnson introduces throughout the story. A few times, I had to flip back to refresh myself on who certain characters were (as Johnson's introduction of a character contains lots of info you want to remember throughout the book). Nevertheless, this was a minor detraction in the book - all the "important" characters came together as the story progressed and those introduced briefly became unimportant to tracking the mystery.

The book's ending caught me completely by surprise. After finishing any mystery, I think through the foreshadows that could have lead me to guess the ending. Johnson's foreshadows where there, but they were wonderfully inconspicuous and set against many "trick foreshadows" intended to keep the reader guessing.

Next on my Craig Johnson reading list is Junkyard Dogs which is supposed to be Johnson's best yet - that should be fun to read!

Sunbeam 5891 Breadmaker [5 stars]

I first started experimenting with bread machines about 10 years ago. My initial thoughts, "well that was easy to use but not the most exciting results - I'd rather just buy bread."

A decade later, I decided, "bread machines seem to be big sellers now, maybe the current generation is much improved." I jumped back in via the Sunbeam 5891 Breadmaker. Why this model?

• The product reviews on amazon were very impressive.
• The product reviews on cooking.com were extremely impressive.
• The price ($50-$60) was unbelievable given the high reviews.

My findings: this breadmaker is phenomenal. I have stopped buying bread at the grocery store and now make all of my own bread. The price point for this machine is even more impressive - $55 to become my own bread chef - wow! This machine has allowed me to explore heart healthy bread recipes and bring a variety bread into my heart healthy diet.

DSC-920: An Affordable Wireless Camera [5 stars]

What I wanted: a webcam to let me watch my Siberian Huskies remotely (it's just so much fun to see what they do all day).

What I did not want: (1) cords, cords, cords (power, internet, usb, etc) all over the place; (2) hundreds of dollars spent (wasted) to just watch my dogs.

My Solution: the D-Link DSC-920 Wireless Internet Camera.

This camera lives up to its billing: a reliable, easy-to-use & affordable wireless camera. The camera works well in and adjusts to all daylight conditions: morning to evening, direct sun, partial sun, sunrise, sunset, etc. It does not work in the dark of night - but that wasn't what I needed (and you should not expect a camera with night vision for under $100).

I have been running this camera as my "dog cam" for over a year without so much as a single hiccup. It has a snapshot URL I use for my dog monitoring. I have a script on my home machine loads the snapshot URL, over my home wireless, every 9 seconds and copies the resulting picture to a rotating set of 60 images on my personal website. I can then load a page of the 60 most recent snapshots from any web-accessible location and see 15 minutes of "what are the puppies doing?"

Extremely simple and extremely affordable!

Origins Peace of Mind for Headache Relief [5 stars]

I have been a habitual victim of migraine headaches for over 15 years. In my experience, the headaches come in 2 forms: (1) an increasing tension/pressure building in my temples; or (2) an instantaneous throbbing in my temples. I will focus on the first type for this post: when you feel the tension/pressure starting to build and can cut it off early.

What works for me: apply a liberal dose of Origins Peace of Mind to both temples and to the bridge of my nose (between the eyebrows). What happens: you immediately feel a wave of "fresh air" pouring through your head; it is almost as if the headache is being blown away. It is not uncommon for my eyes to water for 1-2 minutes after the application - this almost feels like the headache is tearing out of your head.

Close your eyes for a few moments and let the pressure release from your head. You'll say, "wow, that was refreshing!" It always catches and cuts off the slow building migraine for me.