This Bidwell Means Well

North States Superyard XT

2009-12-08T20:48:00.000-08:00

The North States Superyard XT is a great product. We first used it to put a barrier in front of the entertainment center area to keep our infant from playing with the wires. Then, when she got where she was cruising, we connected the ends to create the "yard" so I could do laundry, dishes, or vacuum without having to worry about her. She had toys to play with in the yard, and I could get my chores done quicker. We bought one extension kit. Just those two extra panels increased the space inside tremendously. It was almost double the space. I recommend this product.

Swine Flu

2009-09-29T14:13:00.001-07:00

Whew! We survived the swine flu. It was scary, because of the media. Our child ran 102.9 temp with tylenol for part of a day. It wasn't that bad for the adults in the family. We are pretty much recovered. Now, we are glad to have that behind us, and we don't have to get the swine flu shot. I'm nervous about getting influenza and chicken pox vaccines, anyway, since they're aren't 100% effective and still relatively new. Plus, they contain high levels of chemicals. I'm not quite as nervous about getting all the other vaccines, though.
It seems there was a big run on Tamiflu in our area, so maybe there was a mini-epidemic.
Actually, we get a case of the swine flu every fall. After all, we're home to the Arkansas Razorbacks. Go hogs. Woo Pig Sooie!

Crumbs in the Butter

2009-07-26T21:40:00.000-07:00

Is it just me, or does it gross you out when there's crumbs left in the butter spread?
My hubby knows this. Just the other day, he was chuckling when he was using the butter spread. I said, "What?" He said he was trying to see how many crumbs he could fit on the butter. I looked down and there were tons of brown crumbs in it. Really, it looked like he was trying to bread the butter, instead of the other way around.
I laughed.
He cleaned them off.
All is well.

Random Humor From My Family

2009-07-26T19:54:00.000-07:00

While sitting on my granny's lap, my 7-month-old daughter was apparently going to the bathroom in her diaper. This was apparent with the red face, grunting, and noises coming from down under. My papa declared, "Lift her up. She needs more room."

Do You Want to Cook Easy Gourmet Food?

2009-07-26T14:44:00.000-07:00

Have you always wanted to cook gourmet sauteed chicken topped with those yummy sauces? Have I got the book for you! "The Complete Idiot's Guide to 20-Minute Meals " by Tod Dimmick. I'd always wondered how to make those sauces. I had no idea what ingredients to even use. I found out with this cookbook.
This cookbook laid out in a book format with recipes sprinkled in. I'm not an expert cook, and this is the only cookbook where I actually read the first two chapters or so. It was very inspirational, and although I didn't act on the inspiration right away, I slowly incorporated "inspiration" (creativity) gradually. I got comfortable with cooking the chicken recipes on pages 106-109 "by the book", then I got creative. It's easy to be creative with its suggestions on what herbs and spices go with each kind of meat, so you can change the flavor of the sauce so that it doesn't get "boring".

My personal tips:

When the recipe says panfry chicken on medium heat, that was fine for my good thick non-stick pans. When I used my cheap, thin pans with the worn-off non-stick coating, I had to turn the heat down a bit. lol
When I first started out with a particular recipe that I liked, it took longer than 20 minutes, but with practice, I cut down the time.

This book has other gourmet meals or simple meals that don't take all day or great skill to make--just a little inspiration.
The author has another book called "Complete Idiot's Guide to 5-Minute Appetizers". I'm planning to get it someday. I'm sure it's great.

2009-07-11T17:43:00.001-07:00

Hello! This is my blog about random things.