Product review: Mother Earth Products Dried Cabbage, Quart Jar

I really like the flavor and texture of Mother Earth's dried cabbage. This is a repeat purchase for me.

A small amount really expands, so it goes a long way. I like adding it to soups for texture and flavor. I add it to the soup before I microwave for a couple of minutes and that all it takes to make it soft yet still texture and flavor.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Ideaworks-Gorilla Ties-Reusable Ties for Hanging Items

I use these gorilla ties to keep things organized in the basement - cords, hoses, tools. They are pretty handy!  I got them at super nice discount at a local TJ Maxx store.


You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Book review: The Only Prescription For Healthcare Reform: A Physician's Inside Perspective of the Real Problems Plaguing the System, by Louis LoBalsamo M.D.

This book is written by a doctor and learning a viewpoint from a perspective that is different from mine is interesting. The author has first-hand experience and knowledge of what is going on behind the scenes of our medical system.  It is not a pretty picture, but it is best to be an educated consumer.

On the negative side, the book is not written by a professional writer and had no editor, so at times formatting issues made it difficult to read. I could overlook spelling errors, but I found random capitalizations as emphasis annoying. 

Despite the editorial negatives, I found the content interesting.
You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★★☆

Product review: Instant Pot DUO60 6 Qt 7-in-1 Multi-Use Programmable Pressure Cooker

I just my first Instant Pot on Prime day. First things first, I really like my Instant Pot.  So far, I cooked four things.  All four dishes were delicious and easy to make. The pot is 14" wide (side to side from handle to handle) and 13" tall.  Keep in mind that it releases steam in the upwards direction as it cooks, so you need additional space above the pot to allow for escaping steam.  As you cook, the outer container becomes warm to touch, but it but not so hot that I could touch it with my bare hand. The steam, if course, is scolding hot and one needs to be careful not to put your hand or face in the way.

The package includes an instruction booklet and a recipe booklet. I thought the instruction booklet that came with the pot did not explain to me things clearly enough when I did not know what to expect.  When I turned it on for the first time and selected "meat/stew" button, 35 minutes time period (default) was displayed briefly (which is what my recipe called for), and then the instant pot display changed to "On", and two buttons got lit up "high pressure" and "keep warm". I thought it meant it was in "keep warm" mode at that time, and I was not sure if I needed to press other buttons.  Nothing happened for 20 minutes, and I had to call a friend who owns an Instant Pot to ask if I am doing it right.  She reassured me that this was normal.  Sure enough, in 20 minutes the Instant Pot display changed from "On" to "35" and began a count down. So the total amount of time I needed was 20 minutes to reach the right pressure, 35 minutes cooking time, and then 20 minutes natural pressure release.  The lit "keep warm" button meant that once the cooking would be finished, the pot will go into "keep warm" mode.

The Instant Pot has markings of 1/2 and 3/4 on the inside of the pot.  These are the maximum fill levels. If you fill the container more then the 3/4 mark, the pot will be spitting out stuff out of the steam valve as due to an over-filled internal container.  For my stew, I used 1.3 lb of meat, 2 large potatoes, several carrots, one large onion, and 1/2 lb of mushrooms, a couple of cloves of garlic. This filled the pot to the 3/4 level. I also added 2.5 cups of beef broth and spices.  Note: next time I will try less broth as the stew came out more like a soup.

The pot is easy to clean.  The part you need to wash is the inner stainless steel pot and the cover. When I use slow cooking or pressure cooking, nothing sticks to the pot, so cleaning is effortless.
I selected the Instant Pot brand because of the stainless steel inner pot. The Crockpot instant pot has a non-stick coating, some off-brands use aluminum inner containers, and I prefer stainless steel inner pots.

Overall, so far, I am happy with the purchase.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Book review: Five Deadly Sins That Can Destroy Your Home Insurance Claim by Steven Lazarus

This book is written by a British author and if you are an American reader keep in mind that laws in the US and Britain are different.  The book starts with an unappealing pitch that proclaims that the author's company can be me an insurance agent for you and provides a phone number.  It immediately made me feel that the book might be an advertising brochure, not a book.  What a bad way to start a book! Dear author, wow me with your expertize first, then try to sell me something!

The rest of the book continued in a similar matter, it talks about British insurance companies, British laws, and continues to make the case for hiring the author to handle your claims.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★☆☆☆

Product review: TracFone (Smartphone Only) Airtime Prepaid Service Card 365 days

We have been using Tracfone for a family member who only uses the cell phone occasionally for about 10 years. 1-year service has been around $100 for years, and this year it has gone up to $125.  You can roll over unused minutes a year to year.  The minutes do not expire as long as the service is extended before the expiration date.  My mother has over 10,000 minutes accumulated through the years, no problem.

In the past, I purchased 1 year service minutes from third-party dealers on Amazon or directly from the Tracfone website (whichever gave me the best deal). This year was the first time I purchased minutes directly from Tracfone on Amazon, the 1 year service smartphone card was the same price on Amazon and their own site.

The smartphone card arrived 7 days after I ordered it via UPS.  This year I decided to keep the phone we purchased last year, so all I had to was enter the pin number into the My Account App (selecting "add minutes" icon).  The end of service updated immediately, the minutes and text did not get updated until the morning (and after the phone was rebooted).  However, I was able to log into my account on their website and saw the updated minutes right away, so I knew it worked okay.  To see your balance on the website you need to enter /balanceinquiry after the web site address (Amazon does not allow URLs in the text so I can't give you the complete URL here).

The other methods for adding minutes are texting the word "add" 611611, calling 611 from your phone, calling the Tracfone support, or adding minutes on their web site.

Overall, all worked very smoothly, and it is a good deal for someone who is not using the phone all that much.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Logitech Trackman Marble Trackball Mouse – Wired USB Ergonomic Mouse for Computers

I have been the entire day in front of the computer for many years and recently developed shoulder problems from excessive mousing.  I had to get a mouse that lets me vary the position of my hand and the stress on the shoulder.  This mouse does that because  you move the pointer with your fingers rather then moving your hand.  However, learning how to use has a steep learning curve as it is so different from a standard mouse. It took me a number of days to feel more or less comfortable doing everything I need to do. Scrolling and clicking and moving the pointer is very easy. However, highlighting a chunk of text and doing copy and paste takes more work then an old mouse.   These days I have two mice in front of the computer and I switch. I still use the old mouse for copy and paste.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★★☆