Perfect Baked Potatoes

Baked Potatoes are a simple side dish that just about everyone can make.  I have perfected the process of baking a potato and turning it from simple and average to something special that takes only about 1 minute longer to prepare than your everyday version.

Photo Credit: Sara Lehman.

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

Scrub your potatoes and pat them dry with a towel, then stab them 5 or 6 times with a knife.

Prepare a mixture of sea salt, fresh ground pepper (to taste- if you like a lot of salt and pepper then use to your hearts content, if just a touch will do it for you then a few simple twists of the grinder will be perfect) and  3 tablespoons of parmesan cheese on a plate.

Then rub them with cooking oil or olive oil (use what you have on hand).

Roll a potato in the salt, pepper and parmesan cheese and wrap in foil. Repeat until you have used all of the potatoes you planned to bake.

Photo Credit: Sara Lehman.

Place them on a cookie sheet and allow to bake for 50 to 75 minutes, depending upon the size of the potato. To test them, when you think they are done stab them with a fork. If the potatoes meet no resistance they are ready to serve.

My family loves Baked Potatoes this way, the skin is a little crispier, the seasoning on the exterior adds a little zing to the potato and they look great! I have been complimented many times over my Baked Potatoes and have been told they are better than something you get in a restaurant!

I love to serve these because it is an inexpensive yet healthy option to compliment most any meal, or you can turn these into the main course if you add a little cheese, green onion, sour cream and bacon to the potatoes as toppings.

We will be falling back on this tried and true option for meals many times in the weeks as we adjust to having a new baby. I hope you try it and like it too!



Find more great potato recipes here:

Unique Potato Salad Recipes
Nashville Hot Fried Chicken Potatoes

Saturday #173

Saturday #173 was our final summer Saturday for this year. We got up early and hit the road. We drove up to Port Clinton with the idea of a day at the beach. On the way there Rolfie told us he was hungry (because he wouldn't eat his breakfast at home) so we stopped off and fed him, he loved that we ate outside beside Lake Erie. We went to the spot we had in mind for swimming next only to find  the bacteria levels were unsafe.

We drove on to Catawba Island but we were unsure about the water quality and no one else was at that beach, rather than risk it we continued on in search of a place to swim. We dropped off at the Perch Festival and asked the locals where to go, they pointed us to East Harbor State Park. We found it with no issues.

Rolfie loves the water. He had a great time swimming with us. The beach was perfect for taking children to as the water was clear and not too deep. We spent a few hours there, everyone had fun! I loved seeing my brave little boy jumping and laughing in the small waves.

Rolfie was exhausted when we left, he took a short nap in the car and we stopped by at a Friendly's for dinner. The day in the sun and water helped him work up quite an appetite. He ate all of his cheeseburger and fries, then he ate half of his Daddy's fries, he still had room and ate an entire ice cream sundae. He left full and happy.

We headed home to start preparing for a visit from my mother in law the next day. Rolf dropped off to sleep later than usual, but quite happy. He dreamed of swimming that night, he was laughing and kicking in his sleep.

Now that the weekend has come and gone, I realize that next summer all of our adventures will be different, we will no longer be a little family of 3, we will have a baby along for the fun. A part of me is happy and excited about the change but there is a part of me that feels sad at the last chapters of this story. I have been so content with my son that I am not ready for all of that to change when I am honest with myself.

I have to say that while we really didn't do anything extraordinary other than drive to the Lake, it was the perfect end to our summer. The memories of my son splashing in the waves will hold me over until next summer when we create new summer memories together.

I hope you were able to enjoy your family over the weekend.

Saturday #170

On Saturday #170 my family headed out and about as we usually do.

First we went to a book sale at the library. My husband found quite a few he wanted to read. The selection was depleted in the kids section and I couldn't find any of the authors I read. I ended up getting a copy of Dear John for $1. I was happy enough.


After that we headed to nearby Lexington for a party in the park. My son was happy to play on the inflatables and to flirt with a ton of girls! It was a sunny and warm day, we enjoyed the experience and the time outside.

My little guy was quite upset to have to leave but he recovered well and was in good spirits after dropping off for a cold fruity drink. We ran into Target as I needed a few t shirts. Most of my t shirts were getting to be too tight like everything else I own. At 7 1/2 months I am looking rounder and rounder every day!
I felt happy to put on a loose fitting t shirt after leaving the store.

We came home to take a walk together as a family. Rolfie was in the wagon riding, but he reached his hand out to me, and climbed out. We walked half way home together hand in hand. He kept looking up at me to smile, I was totally melted.

After the walk, Rolfie had a bath and went to bed. I curled up with a book for a few minutes then decided a bath sounded nice for me too! I returned feeling a little better, I continued to read for a bit, watched a few episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm with my husband and fell asleep on the sofa.

The day was not super eventful but we were together as a family, enjoying the outdoors and the company of each other.

I hope you had a chance to enjoy time with the people you love over the weekend as well. I write this weekly post because there are 940 Saturdays from the time your child is born until they are ready to leave for college. Keeping track of how we spent our time together is important as someday I will look back on these posts and have a reminder of how our weekends were spent.

Technogel Anatomic Pillow Review

As a pregnant woman, I have developed a strange relationship with sleep. I long for it, I chase it. I feel like I could sleep a few extra hours a night and I need a nap daily. In reality, when I fall asleep, I can't stay asleep. I toss, I turn, I am uncomfortable. I want to sleep on my belly. My pillow gets too hot, I don't have enough pillows, or I have too many pillows.

After several weeks of fighting to sleep well, I started shopping around for a new pillow. I realized that a pillow is an investment in myself. If I have a great pillow, a great nights sleep isn't far away. I had never given much thought to pillows before. I assumed that if it was soft it would do the trick. Then I got a lesson in Pillow Education when I learned about Technogel® Sleeping. Boy, I was all wrong about pillows!

Technogel® Pillows are different from something you might buy in a big box store on many levels. Please let me tell you a little bit about Technogel® Pillows.

Imagine sleeping on a gel filled pillow... what does it feel like? How is it different?Why is it better?

These pillows are different in many ways. A Technogel® Pillow molds to your unique form, the gel inside deforms in a 3D manner, meaning that pressure peaks are reduced and blood circulation improves. The pressure your body applies to the pillow is distributed evenly over the entire surface.

A Technogel® Pillow feels different than a foam or memory foam pillow, naturally as the material is not the same, but a Technogel® Pillow is really different in the sense that it keeps you cooler. The heat of your body is dispersed which results in a surface temperature of 3.5 degrees cooler than other pillows. Take my word on this, that is a huge difference. I used to wake up and flip or switch pillows several times a night when I was sleeping on a foam filled pillow.  In the several weeks I have been sleeping with a Technogel® Pillow I have not needed to wake up and flip or switch my pillow- not one time! Comfortable temperatures are crucial to sleep. The unique thermal properties of a Technogel® Pillow are amazing for a sleeping body, the ventilation provided by the open air channels of a Technogel® Pillow make sleeping better than ever.

I have heard that it is important to change your pillows every 18 months, due to the breakdown of material, and the manifestation of bacteria within a foam pillow. In reality, 18 months can seem like a long time to maintain a relationship with a pillow that loses shape or becomes flat. A Technogel® Pillow is free from the volatile agents that lead to disaggregation. This brand of pillows will not change with use. It doesn't get hard, it doesn't become flat, it doesn't get super soft. It remains true to form with nightly use.

I was curious. I bought a pillow at WalMart to begin using the same day that my Technogel® Anatomical Pillow arrived. I used the WalMart pillow for lounging on the sofa in the evening and my Technogel® remains in my bed. Within 3 weeks the WalMart pillow has lost its shape completely. It is as flat as a pancake. It has no support to it, no softness, just some stuffing that has no elasticity. I used this pillow no more than 2 hours a night for 3 weeks. My Technogel® Pillow is used for 5 hours a night at a minimum. How has it held up? It is exactly the same as it was the day I began to use it.

Now that you know a little bit about Technogel® Pillows, lets talk about what it has been like sleeping with this pillow.

I did my research. I read other reviews, I wanted to know what other people thought of their Technogel® pillow. I read some people saying it was hard to adjust to, but I have to state for the record, the first night I slept with this pillow, I slept better than I had in years. I felt like I was sleeping the sleep of angels. I loved that my pillow was cool, it was firm, yet soft. It was unlike any other pillow I had ever used. There was no period of adjustment for me.

I have slept better since I started using a Technogel® Anatomical Pillow. I don't wake up every hour anymore. I feel comfortable when I am laying down. I don't need 5 pillows anymore. Just my Technogel®.

My son co sleeps with me. He is 3, and he is smart! He insists that we share the pillow, he loves it too. Every morning I wake up face to face with my son, as he scoots over during the night and claims his spot on the Technogel® Anatomical Pillow. My dog also tries to steal this pillow from us at night, it is that comfortable that the spoiled dog feels that other pillows just don't live up to his need for comfort.

I had to sleep with a regular old bed pillow for a few nights last week. I was miserable. I woke up 3 mornings in a row with unbearable neck and back pain from using a standard pillow. I whimpered and whined as I longed for my Technogel® Anatomic Pillow. I am completely sold on this brand. The science of a good night sleep has influenced the design of the Technogel® line of products to such an extent that I would not hesitate to call the people behind this line of products the Sleep Masters.

While a Technogel® Pillow is going to cost you more than something you can grab at Target or WalMart, it is an investment in you, in your health, in your comfort level. You are worth the investment! You will feel better, sleep better and feel different when you wake up after using a Technogel® Pillow. To find a retailer near you visit the dealer locator. You owe it to yourself to learn more and consider upgrading your pillow for the ultimate sleep experience.



Sleep Redefined. What a perfect motto for this company!
To learn more please connect with Technogel.
Website

Spray n Splash 2 Review

Summer is nearly here and that means my family will want to spend as much time in the water as possible. My son was delighted to see that we got a Spray 'n Splash 2 from Blast Zone. This is going to be one of those items that gets used day in and day out this summer. I can tell already.

The Spray 'n Splash 2 brings the fun of an inflatable water park right to your back yard! It is fun for kids from 3 to maybe 10 or 11 years old.  It features a slide, a climbing wall and water fun!  

The weather in Ohio isn't quite warm enough for water play, but that didn't stop my husband and I from setting the Spray 'n Splash 2  up for the enjoyment of our little guy. We were pleased with how easy the Spray 'n Splash 2 was to set up. It was seriously as easy as removing it from the package, unrolling the inflatable, plugging in the blower and using the included stakes to secure the inflatable. We had the unit ready for play in a matter of minutes. The included blower is extremely powerful. The Spray 'n Splash 2 was completely inflated in under 90 seconds.

My son had no trouble figuring out what to do with this amazing toy. We showed him how to get up the climbing wall and he was heading up it and sliding down in no time, he was ready to go again and again. If it was this much fun for him without water, I can't wait to see his reaction in a few weeks when it is swimming season.

I really liked how durable the inflatable is. I liked how simple set up was and how such a large inflatable can easily roll up to about the size of a large sleeping bag for easy storage when not in use. I like that there is a sprinkler type tubing that attaches to the top of the slide to keep kids giggling and to make sliding down easier. An added bonus is that when the weather isn't right for swimming you can add little balls to the pool for a super fun sliding ball pit experience.

The Spray 'n Splash 2 is 17' long, 8' wide and 8' tall. It is made for up to 4 kids, but keep in mind, only one child should be on the slide at a time.  I love that the pool and the slide are connected so there is no need for kids to get out of the pool to climb the slide, which will help keep the water clean for longer amounts of time.

I have been very impressed with this product. My son loves it too. My husband even had to smile when he saw how much fun our son was having climbing up the wall and sliding down. I foresee this inflatable water park being used and enjoyed for many years to come. 

Blast Zone offers Bounce Houses, and Commercial Inflatables in a variety of shapes, sizes and price ranges that are sure to delight children of assorted ages. 

One very lucky reader is going to win a Spray 'n Splash 2 Inflatable Water Park. This giveaway will begin on 5/10 and end on 5/17. I hope you will come back and enter to win this prize that is guaranteed to make you the envy of all the kids in the neighborhood!

You can purchase the Spray 'n Splash 2 on amazon or on the Blast Zone website. If you use the coupon code BOUNCEBLOG you can save 10% on your purchase on the Blast Zone website.



***Note this product can hold up to 200 pounds***