Thursday, October 10, 2013

Cooking for Seniors: Slowcooking

The challenge was to provide more home cooked meals to my parents. I wanted something where they could prepare something such that the meals would not result in huge leftovers. 

My parents can not use an oven because of bending and they do not want to wait at home for something to finish cooking. 

I came up with the Slow Cooker idea. Here are the reasons

1. No bending.  :)
2. Recipes very easy. Just dump everything in and cook :).
3. Safer then a stove and oven and you don't need to wait at home for it to finish.
4. We got a 4 quart Slow Cooker perfect for 2 people 


It has been a success so far. I pre-cut everything and get my mom (my dad refuses :)) to make the food.  I am hoping she will be able to do this without me being there.

Here are some successful Recipes

1. Veal Brisket: Veal Recipe

2. Chicken Cacciatore : From Crockpot recipe

For 4 small crock pot
 1 Onion thinly slice
1 pound chicken
1 28 once plum tomato
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup broth
1tbs caper
10 kalamata olives, chopped
1 tbs parsley stemed coarsely chopped
cooked pasta

1. Placed sliced onion in slow cooker and cover with chicken
2. in a bowl stir tomatoes slat peeper garlic and broth together. Pour over chicken
3. cover and cook on low for 6 hours or high for 4 hours until chicken is tender.
4. stir in capers olives and herbs just before serving .
server over cooked pasta



Monday, March 04, 2013

Posting Photos on your Website/Blog Middle Ground

This blog was inspired by the Photo Stealers post.

You just found the perfect picture, thank you google, to include on your website, your company's website or blog. This is where I want you to pause. Hands off  the mouse, tablet or whatever contraption you are using to surf the web with. The company who hosts your website or blog most likely has rules against copyright infringement and can take down your website if they receive a valid complaint. This means you could lose your web presence all because you copied a picture.

However, there is a middle ground to this.

The first step to including a picture from another website is
  • Ask for permission :). Most websites have sufficient contact info for you to make the request. Also, make sure that this website has the rights to the photo. If in doubt, ABORT ABORT ABORT :) 
Second step
  • Instead of copying the photo unto your website, link to it via the photo's original URL.
Third step
  • Provide credit for the photo's source, and link back to the original website. Everyone loves traffic :) (web traffic not road traffic grrr).

Friday, January 25, 2013

The No Bend Computer Setup

Wires are ugly! Though we are wireless, we still cannot completely escape them.   They can be an accessibility nightmare for our poor parents if they ever need to bend down and unplug/plug one of the wires that slither and snake behind their computer system.

Here are some tips to help your parents and yourself  :) have an easier to reach, accessible computer connection

1. Any power bar should be on the table. Usually, they come with a switch. If your parents need to repower their computer system (including the modem) because of a stale internet connection, then they can use the on/off switch.

2. Label the wires  so it is easy for your parents to find which one they need to unplug. (Trust me, it will avoid some phone arguments ;) )

3. Label devices like the router. (this too will avoid phone arguments)

4. Show your parents how you connected their computer. You may have to show them a few times. This is a good time to see if your parents have any difficulty reaching things and where you can tweak the computer connection.