Did you know that each year 1.5 million tons of plastic waste is attributed to bottled water? The number is extremely alarming as this figure continues to rise globally. Many of us are unaware that this figure translates to a consumption of 47 million gallons of oil per year just to produce the bottles alone. With a finite amount of natural resources available, we all need to do our part to alleviate the strain we’re placing on the environment. In fact, in most developed countries, water systems are so well regulated that there is no discernible health differences between tap water and bottled water. One company, which is trying to change the way we approach bottled water is Move Collective.  Their Bobble water bottles, aim to reduce our carbon footprint and at the same time filter contaminants and impurities out of the water we drink.

What’s so great about their design is that the water itself is filtered as you drink. There’s no need to sit and wait for the water to be filtered as with traditional filtration methods. This allows you to refill the Bobble as you please, saving you time, money and the environment in the long run. So for you bottled water addicts out there, you can still enjoy the same great taste of bottled water, but at only a fraction of the cost.

If you’ve ever had a bad cup of coffee, keep on reading. There are all sorts of reasons why your morning cup of joe may not be at its best. Whether it’s the type of filters you’re using, quality of water or even the type of coffee maker you own; the science behind coffee brewing has become so overly complex that it’s hard to keep track of it all.

But one simple guideline we follow to ensure we have better tasting coffee is by using freshly ground beans. Did you know that once coffee beans have been ground they can go stale as quickly as 30 minutes? Makes you rethink buying the pre-ground stuff doesn’t it? Not to mention how long ago the coffee beans were roasted.

So the next time you buy your another bag of coffee remember to look for the whole beans rather then pre-ground. Also, pass on those store coffee grinders and do yourself a favor by picking up your own coffee grinder. We’ve recently become fond of this little manual grinder; it fits easily in a drawer and looks great on the countertop.

Food preparation can be a time consuming task in our daily meals.  As with many professional chefs, having the right tools can go a long way.  A negi cutter is simple yet useful tool that makes numerous slices for prep and presentation.

Ideal for slicing green onions, the negi cutter is composed of seven narrow blades that can finely julienne vegetables with ease.  One common use of the negi cutter is to slice the green onion lengthwise to create thin strands as a garnish for salads or dishes.  If you want your dishes to stand out, a negi cutter is kitchen tool that is a must have.

As complex or easy recipes can be, we must not forget some of the more basic cooking techniques and tools. An essential tool no kitchen should be without would be a bamboo steamer. As simple as it seems, a bamboo steamer can be very versatile and provide a healthier way of cooking. Here are some basics on bamboo steamer use:

Fill your favorite wok with water about 1-2 inches. Please note: If the diameter of your wok is significantly larger than the size of your bamboo steamer a steamer rack may need to be placed underneath. The flat bottom wok shown here is 14″ in diam. with a 10″ bamboo steamer and it rests nicely against the side of the wok and right at the water line.

If you don’t have a wok handy, a pot that’s smaller in diameter than your steamer will work just as well; as shown in the last picture.

Constantly we find our kitchen accumulating all sorts of kitchen widgets and tools to help in the preparation of meals. For the foodee inside all of us, we can’t help but to pick up the latest and greatest gadget to try out in our kitchen. However, one of the most versatile tools that we keep going back to would be the Joyce Chen Unlimited Scissors. Keep in mind, these aren’t your standard kitchen shears. Consisting of chrome molybdenum stainless steel blades and rubberized comfort grip, these scissors can cut through meats, small bones and shells with ease. Also, let’s not forget they also perform double duty and make great gardening shears.

We’ve prepared countless salads and have broken down whole chickens with almost no signs of a dulling blade. What’s even better, is that the Joyce Chen Unlimited Scissors come with a manufacturer’s lifetime warranty. So if your scissors were to ever dull or break, they could easily be replaced. So the next time you cook a meal, just think to yourself, how would these scissors make preparation even easier?

Every once in a while we come across a product that really impresses us. Recently we were introduced to the Gatsby Moving Rubber Hair Wax series by Mandom. I know we typically write about food and household items, but we feel that the growing popularity of this hair wax merits our feedback. With the vast array of hair care and styling products on the market, Gatsby Moving Rubber is innovative in the sense that it has a lasting hold with the ability to restyle and touch up throughout the day.

Typically focusing on the more thick straight haired Asian demographic, this hair wax has developed crossover appeal by creating unique styles regardless of background. Our staff have tested the different colors of the Moving Rubber series, from long hair to short and we were all equally impressed with the results. Just by using a small amount in the palm of our hands, we were able to style and fix up our hair any which way we pleased. Gatsby’s Moving Rubber creates a much more natural look with minimal shine, and the light green apple scent is an added bonus. Mandom also provides a useful chart to help choose which color is best suited for your style of hair. So which Moving Rubber moves you?

This article is courtesy of Patricia Hammond at articlesbase.com. You may have been drinking green tea your whole life, but have you ever wondered about the possible health benefits it offers? Green tea can be found almost everywhere: in tea bags all over drug stores, in convenience stores, it is offered in most restaurants and lately, the green tea has even found its way into cosmetic products and other beauty and skin care products such as lotions and body creams. If one is to equate the proliferation of green tea products to its benefits, one can only surmise that health enthusiasts and green tea experts are discovering more and more benefits and even more reasons for drinking green tea.

Drinking green tea developed as a tradition in China. In eastern culture, green tea is mostly associated with a good and healthy lifestyle and as such, it pervaded most parts of Asia as part Asian’s daily diet – usually before and after meals. Considering that most of the world’s oldest living men and women are found in China and in other parts of Asia, it is not surprising why most people view Asian’s long life as simply the reaping of one of the many health benefits of green tea.

The popularity of green tea has prompted studies to be conducted in order to scientifically determine its health benefits. These studies have shown that the many benefits of green tea cover a multitude of health problems, diseases and disorders which may be prevented by green tea, or, which may be remedied and alleviated by regularly drinking green tea.

Generally, most studies on the benefit of green tea concur that cancer is one of the major disease that may be prevented – or minimized or alleviated – by drinking green tea. Aside from being a health supplement that slows down or prevents the development of diseases, one benefit of green tea is that it also aids and speeds up the body’s metabolism. Thus, it green tea is also ideal for those who are aiming to lose weight. Green tea also contains anti-oxidants that burn fat and help you lose weight faster, especially if done with the right diet and exercise.

Atherosclerosis, or the hardening of the arteries that may eventually causes heart attacks and strokes, is also one health condition that can be prevented by drinking green tea. Since one of the benefits of green tea is its ability to lower bad cholesterol, heart failure is not a very hard thing to prevent by regularly drinking two to three cups of green tea everyday.

Currently, there are still many unmentioned benefits of green tea. These above-mentioned are only some of the few for you to remember the next time you take your sip of the good green: the green tea.

As the weather begins to cool off and summer starts to end, many parents are faced with the dilemma of back to school shopping.  Though it may be a pleasant experience for some families, shopping for back to school supplies can create an added burden in a bad economy.   That is why it is important to restrict your purchases to items that will be used on a regular basis and durable enough to last through the school year.  If your child has a tendency to misplace things, try sticking with the no frills ball point pens and traditional #2 pencils.  There are many deals to be had this time of year at brick and mortar office supply stores; this week Staples is offering a $5 off $50 coupon.

Another idea to help curb costs, would be to encourage your child to start bringing their lunch to school everyday.  This would not only help reduce food expenses, but also allow you to better manage your child’s daily diet.  As a matter of fact, bento lunches are a great way to present picky eaters with fun lunch options. Offering a secure way of bringing lunches from home, many bento lunch jars come thermal insulated to keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold.  We carry an assorted selection of bento tools and lunch jars, shop today to see what your imagination comes up with!

With advances being made to modern cooking, it is becoming more commonplace for our diets to consist of quick ready made meals or unhealthy fast food. Even the most important meal of the day is not immune to our fast pace daily routines. However, your breakfast can still be healthy and nutritious with the right recipes and kitchen gadgets. One small appliance we find ourselves using daily is our rice cooker with built in timer. It is perfect for having steel cuts oats ready for you when wake up in the morning, plus without the hassle of standing over the stove for an hour to cook them. Steel cut oats are full of nutritional value, rich in calcium, protein, fiber and low in sodium and unsaturated fat. Consisting of the inner portion of the oat kernel, it is cut instead of flattened. As a result it takes longer to digest, making us feel fuller longer. One recipe we enjoy using for our steel cut oats in our rice cooker is:

1 Cup of Steel Cut Oats
3 Cups of Water
2 Tablespoons of Brown Sugar
1 Tablespoon of Cinnamon
1/4 Teaspoon of Salt

Please note: This recipe requires a rice cooker with capacity of at least 5 cups or more.
Add the steel cut oats and salt into the rice cooker pan and add water. Set the rice cooker menu option to porridge (if you do not have a porridge option, you’ll have to watch the cooker more closely in case it boils over). Once the cooker switches to “Keep Warm” mode go ahead and stir in the brown sugar and cinnamon. Serve and enjoy!

This article is courtesy of John McKeen at articlesbase.com. There is a small appliance that is growing in popularity in America. This small appliance is the rice cooker. This little appliance can do much more than just cook rice. It is at home both in the kitchen and in the dormitory room. Of course, best rice cookers make perfect rice, but they can also be used for cooking hot cereals, deserts, stews and soups. They can also steam vegetables to perfection, even while cooking rice. The best rice cookers are made in Japan. There are other models that may be less expensive from other countries, but you will enjoy using the Japanese rice cookers the most.

Rice cookers come in many sizes from the small three to five cup cookers to the giant fourteen plus cup cookers. Choose a rice cooker that corresponds to the amount of rice you normally cook. They work best when used to cook rice at capacity. Remember that a Japanese cup is only six ounces. Most Americans are more used to an eight ounce cup. To adjust recipes, remember that rice cooker cups are approximately three fourths of an American cup. Most Japanese households favor the mid-sized rice cookers.

A non-stick cooking pan in the rice cooker makes cleanup very easy. Rice cooker manufacturers use a high quality non-stick surface that works perfectly with rice. Be sure that you only use the plastic rice paddle to remove food from the pot. There are several types of rice cookers available. Choose the one that meets your needs and budget. The least expensive models of rice cookers simply turn off when the water has been absorbed into the rice. These cookers are still very versatile and do a great job when cooking rice.

The next step up in rice cookers will keep the rice warm when cooking is finished. They do not have a true off position, so be sure that you unplug the cooker when finished. You will need to buy at this level or above to get a rice cooker with a non-stick pan. Some of the more expensive rice cookers have fuzzy logic. This means that they have differing settings for soup or brown rice. Some of these machines even allow you to choose the texture of your finished rice.The newest and most expensive rice cookers offer induction heating. Rice comes out perfect each time as they can compensate for variations in measurements. If you enjoy steamed vegetables with your rice, be sure that the rice cooker you choose has a steamer basket. You can steam vegetables as the rice cooks. For extra flavor in your rice add a couple of bullion cubes to the cooking water.

Do not forget that a rice cooker is perfect for a college student who is living in the dorm. They can cook their own meals in a small rice cooker and avoid the expense of the college cafeteria as well as all the unhealthy fast food. Be sure that they are stocked up on rice, canned soups and top raman for quick meals.