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healthbolt-blog · 6 years ago

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Healthy Alternative To Double Cream In Cooking

Contents

Shares healthy cooking tips

Cook quinoa healthy

Cook healthy quinoa

Stuffed portobello mushrooms

Fat 0.5g sat

! piping hot elbow macaroni swimming

Healthy Substitute for Heavy Cream. by CHEF PARUL DESAI Oct. 03, … Chef Parul Desai. Chef Parul Desai began writing professionally in 2011. She maintains a healthy cooking blog and has taught cooking classes, worked in restaurants, created educational materials and written recipes. … try a low-fat alternative, sold under various brand names …

Different Ways To Cook Eggplant Healthy Add a clove of garlic to cooking water … Canned tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, and chickpeas. Add oregano and top with sliced olives. Almonds in water for 15 seconds and peel for a new twist on a heal… Healthy Cooking: How to Cook Eggplant EatingWell’s Jessie Price shares healthy cooking tips for how to cook eggplant two easy ways: how to grill eggplant and how to roast eggplant. These healthy, easy eggplant recipes make grilling eggplant and cooking eggplant easy. Remember when I wrote 10 Ways to Cook with Eggplant … It’s understandable, as eggplant is not only healthy and filling, but also delicious with its creamy texture and meaty, savory flavor. It’s alwa… How To cook quinoa healthy Quinoa grows in a rainbow of colors, but the most commonly sold are red quinoa, black quinoa and white quinoa. Taste and nutrition aren’t key distinguishers; instead, white quinoa tends to cook up fluffier, while red quinoa and black quinoa have a crunchier texture and the grains don’t tend to stick together as much. Healthy Food To Cook For Dinner How To Cook Healthy Chicken Soup Make it at home and share the goodness of this amazing beetroot and carrot soup with your family. (ALSO READ Shilpa Shetty’s quinoa with steamed chicken and asparagus recipe is super-healthy and nutri… Healthy Cooking For One Cookbook Healthy Way To Cook Chicken Breast In Pan Here are some of Nosrat’s signature recipes: 3½- to 4-pound (about 1.5 kilograms) chicken … pan. 6. slide the pan all the w… How To cook healthy quinoa Either way you decide to enjoy it, be sure to drink it warm so it’s nice and cozy! Add a little ethnic flair to your kitchen while also staying healthy! Do you use quinoa for any creative recipes? quinoa can be prepared much like rice. It might need soaking first – check instructions on the packet – then boil two cups of water for every cup of the seeds, and simmer for 15 minutes. As the seeds … How To Cook Healthy Cod Fillets Marinades don’t have to be packed with salt or oil; you can make a healthy one … cod has finished cooking. The marinade will leave liquid in the bottom of the pan, which you can discard after the co… How To Cook Tilapia Fish Healthy 4 simply delicious baked tilapia recipes. Recipes; 4 Simply Delicious Baked Tilapia Recipes. By. Julie K – June 27, 2016. … this recipe is sure to be a go-to for busy nights when you barely have time to cook. ingredients: 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened … Love The healthy fish… versatile, economical tilapia is a fish that’s a perfect canvas for a variety of sauces and seasonings. … No cook recipes … healthy living inspiration, and special offers. Sign up … To make sure your fish is cooked through, follow the recipe closely. “The type of fish will determine heat level and cooking … Add half of the fish to the pan and

Substitutions for Cream. … there are many different alternatives that can take the place of this heavy cooking staple. … Substituting fat-free half-and-half in your morning coffee can also provide a healthier alternative to cream, containing only 20 calories and no fat in 2 tablespoons. In addition to coffee, half-and-half can also be …

But is nut butter actually healthy for you … bit at the bottom of an ice cream cone (it’s a genius way to prevent drips!), …

How To Cook Ground Turkey Healthy Using some Paleo-friendly salsa, ground turkey, fajita veggies, and large lettuce leaves in lieu of a tortilla, you’ll have yourself some healthy tacos that taste just as good as your go-to burrito or… Lightly seasoned lean ground turkey meatloaf muffins made with couscous and lots of grated zucchini, onion, and red bell pepper get a topping of barbecue sauce in this easy recipe. The individual servings are perfect for so many eating plans, and it’s easy to grab a … Get the recipe here: Turkey stuffed portobello mushrooms with Marinara & Cheese (Wholesome Yum) Turkey can be a nice change from ground beef and chicken when you’re stuck in a dinner rut. Here are som… 33 Ground Turkey Recipes For A Cheap and Easy Dinner. Anything beef can do, turkey can do better. Healthy Meals To Cook In Slow Cooker How To Cook Quinoa Healthy Quinoa grows in a rainbow of colors, but the most commonly sold are red quinoa, black quinoa and white quinoa. Taste and nutrition aren’t key distinguishers; instead, white quinoa tends to cook up fluffier, while red quinoa and black quinoa have a crunchier texture and the grains don’t tend to stick together as much. Healthy Food To Cook For Dinner How To Cook Healthy Chicken Soup Make it at home and share the goodness of this amazing beetroot and carrot soup with your family. (ALSO READ Shilpa Shetty’s quinoa with steamed chicken and asparagus recipe is super-healthy and nutri… Healthy Cooking For One Cookbook Healthy Way To Cook Chicken Breast In Pan Here are some of Nosrat’s signature recipes: 3½- to 4-pound (about 1.5 kilograms) chicken … pan. 6. slide the pan all the w… How To Cook Healthy Quinoa Either way you decide to enjoy it, be sure to drink it warm so it’s nice and cozy! Add a little ethnic flair to your kitchen while also staying healthy! Do you use quinoa for any creative recipes? Quinoa can be prepared much like rice. It might need soaking first – check instructions on the packet – then boil two cups of water for every cup of the seeds, and simmer for 15 minutes. As the seeds … How To Cook Healthy Cod Fillets Marinades don’t have to be packed with salt or oil; you can make a healthy one … cod has finished cooking. The marinade will leave liquid in the bottom of the pan, which you can discard after the co… How To Cook Tilapia Fish Healthy 4 simply delicious baked Tilapia recipes. recipes; 4 simply delicious baked Tilapia Recipes. By. Julie K – June 27, 2016. … this recipe is sure to be a go-to for busy nights when you barely have time to cook. ingredients: 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened … Love The healthy fish… versatile, economical tilapia is a fish that’s a perfect canvas for a variety of sauces and seasonings. … No cook recipes … healthy living inspiration, and special offers. sign up … To make sure your fish

She recommends Eggland’s Best eggs because they are the only eggs that have double the omega-3s compared … recipe’s white a…

A pleasant, good dairy cream taste. Good, positive comments. Although runny, a good alternative to cream. Extremely hard to judge this one in a cream test – had the …

EXPERT VERDICT: On the plus side, these are suitable for certain food allergies and intolerances … which is known to help k…

Cooking Light Brown Rice Cream 107 calories 1.3g fat 0.5g sat fat per cup. vs. Heavy Whipping Cream 828 calories 89g fat 55g sat fat per cup. You May Like. Read More. Sign Up for our Newsletter. Join our newsletter for free recipes, healthy living inspiration, and special offers. Sign up . Get a Personalized Meal Plan. As Low as $1.52 a Week …

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raystart · 4 years ago

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Teaching Lean Innovation in the Pandemic

Remote education in the pandemic has been hard for everyone. Hard for students having to deal with a variety of remote instructional methods. Hard for parents with K through 12 students at home trying to keep up with remote learning, and hard for instructors trying to master new barely functional tools and technology while trying to keep students engaged gazing at them through Hollywood Squares-style boxes.

A subsegment of those instructors – those trying to teach Lean LaunchPad, whether in I-Corps, or Hacking for Defense – have an additional burden of figuring out how to teach a class that depends on students getting out of the building and talking to 10 to 15 customers a week.

400 Lean Educators instructors gathered online for a three-hour session to share what we’ve learned about teaching classes remotely. We got insights from each other about tools, tips, techniques and best practices.

Here’s what we learned.

—

When I designed the Lean LaunchPad/I-Corps/Hacking for Defense class, my goal was to replace the traditional method of teaching case studies and instead immerse the students in a hands-on experiential process that modeled what entrepreneurs really did. It would be guided week-to-week by using the Business Model Canvas and testing hypotheses by getting out of the building and building Minimum Viable Products (MVPs). After trial and error, we found that having eight teams presenting in a three-hour block was the maximum without exhausting the instructors and the students. That format, unwieldy as it is, remained the standard for a decade. Over time we started experimenting with breaking up the three-hour block with breakout rooms and other activities so not all students needed to sit through all the presentations.

When the pandemic forced us to shift to online teaching, that experimentation turned into a necessity. Three hours staring at a Zoom screen while listening to team after team present is just untenable and unwatchable. Customer discovery is doable remotely but different. Teams are scattered across the world. And the instructor overhead of managing all this is probably 3X what it is in person.

While we were making changes to our classes at Stanford, Jerry Engel was smart enough to point out that hundreds of instructors in every university were having the same problems in adapting the class to the pandemic. He suggested that as follow-up to our Lean Innovation Educators Summit here in Silicon Valley last December, we should create a mid-year on-line Summit so we could all get together and share what we learned and how we’re adapting. And so it began.

In July, 400 Educators from over 200 universities in 22 countries gathered online for a Lean Innovation Educators Summit to share best practices.

We began the summit with five of us sharing our experience of how we dealt with the online challenges of:

teaching an existing Lean program i.e. Hacking For Defense

creating and teaching new Lean classes i.e. Hacking For Oceans and Hacking For Recovery

creating programs for Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion e. GEM I4 / Black Learners Matter

effectively teaching Business Model Design during COVID-19

If you can’t see the presentation slides click here

But the core of the summit was gathering the collective wisdom and experience of the 400 attendees as we split into 22 breakout rooms. The one-hour discussion in each of the rooms covered:

What are your biggest challenges under COVID-19?

How is this challenge different now than during “in-person” learning?

What solutions have you tried?

What was most effective?

The output of the breakout sessions provided a firehose of data, a ton of useful suggestions, teaching tips and tools.I’ve summarized the collective notes from the breakout session.

Customer Discovery and Minimal Viable Products The consensus was, yes you can “get out of the building” when you physically can’t. And it’s almost good enough.

Discovery can be done via Zoom or similar remote platforms and in some ways is more effective – see here

During Covid most people no longer have gatekeepers around them

Sending lots of cold emails works (at least in COVID times)

You could find the best mentors and the best sponsor for a given project

Building and demonstrating hardware MVPs is a challenge

One solution is to send a design file to a fab lab to be printed

If you would normally have your potential customer hold, feel or use the product, make sure you video a demo someone doing that

For software MVPs create video demo snippets of less <1 minute to illustrate each of your features

It’s critical to offer a “How to do customer discovery remotely” and “how to build remote MVPs” workshop

Class Structure 3-hour long classes are challenging in person and require a redesign to be taught online.

Keep students engaged by having no more than four teams in a presentation room at one time

Have other teams in breakout rooms and/or with other instructors

Breakout rooms must be well thought out and organized

They should have a task and a deliverable

Break up lectures so that they are no longer then 15 minutes

Intersperse them with interactive exercises (Alex Osterwalder is a genius here, providing great suggestions for keeping students engaged)

Work on an exercise in class and then talk more to it in office hours

Avoid canned video lectures

Be more prescriptive on “what is required” in the team presentations

What’s the goal for the class?

Do you want them to test the entire Canvas or …

Do you want them to work on product market fit?

Teams will naturally gravitate to work on product/market fit

Vary the voices at the “front” of the room

Guest speakers – previously extraneous but needed now to break up the monotony

But if you use guests have the student’s whiteboard summaries of what they learned

And have the guests be relevant to the business model topic of the week

Understand that while students attend your class they actually pay attention to their mentors

Recruit mentors whose first passion are helping students, not recruiting or investing in them

Ensure that you train and onboard mentors to the syllabus

Have the mentors sit in on the office hours and classroom

Invite lurkers, advisors, and others “invited” to show up and chime in

Be prepared for the intensity of the preparation required as compared to pre-COVID times

Recruiting students and forming teams is especially hard remotely

Double or triple down on the email and other outreach

Hold on-line info sessions and mixers

Teaching Assistant Having a Teaching Assistant is critical

If your school won’t pay for one, get some unofficial “co-instructors”

They don’t have to be a teacher–use an admin or a student intern

They are critical to managing the admin side of marketing, recruiting, team formation, communications and overall support for the teaching team.

Team formation requires TA heavy lifting of emails/team mixers/team

as well as match-making by TA’s and instructors

During class TA’S need to be focused on chat, breakout room and presentation logistics

Don’t assume (or let your TA assume) that prior practices will work in a virtual environment.

Be prepared to try different approaches to keep class moving and engaged

Pre-class write up a “How to TA in a Remote Class” handbook

Go through it with your TA’s before class

Use security in advance; avoid open entry (Zoom Bombing)

Student Engagement Zoom fatigue came up in almost every breakout session. Some of the solutions included:

Play music as students arrive and leave

Recognize that some may be in different time zones – take a poll in the first class session

Start each class session with an activity

Summarize key insights/lessons learned from their office hours and customer discovery

For those using Zoom – use the Whiteboard feature for these summaries

Other platforms for remote collaboration include Miro, Mural, Zoom, Discord, and Innovation Within etc.

A list of remote teaching tools suggested in the breakout sessions are here

Have students turn on their camera on to ensure the class they’re engaged

And have their microphone off, their full name visible, and a virtual background with their team ID

Create deeper connection with the students

ask them to anonymously submit a statement or two about what they wish you knew about them

ask the students to bring something to class that tells us something about them

have them bring it to the breakout rooms to share with their teammates and others

Randomly cold call

Don’t be afraid to call out students by name, as Zoom format makes raising hand or asking a question more awkward

Ask their advice on what someone else just presented or what they learned from the other team

After doing this a couple of times, everyone will become active (so not to get called on)

Require additional student feedback on chat – critical to keeping engagement high

Focus on quality of feedback over just quantity.

Have the students and mentors use chat during team presentations to share contacts, insights

Dial back the radical candor– take the edge off as the students are already stressed

Offer longer office hours for teams

(All the breakout session slides are here.)

Summary When the National Science Foundation stopped holding their annual conference of I-Corps instructors, it offered us the opportunity to embrace a larger community beyond the NSF – now to include the Hacking for Defense, NSIN, and Lean LaunchPad educators.

When we decided to hold the online summit, we had three hypotheses:

Educators would not only want to attend, but to volunteer and help and learn from each other – validated

Instructors would care most about effective communication with students (not tools, or frameworks but quality of the engagement with students) – validated

Our educator community valued ongoing, recurring opportunities to collaborate and open source ideas and tools – validated

The Common Mission Project is coordinating the group’s efforts to create an open forum where these instructors can share best practices and to curate the best content and solutions.

A big thanks to Jerry Engel of U.C. Berkeley, the dean of this program. And thanks to the Common Mission Project which provided all the seamless logistical support, and every one of the breakout room leaders: Tom Bedecarré – Stanford University, John Blaho – City College of New York, Philip Bouchard – TrustedPeer, Dave Chapman – University College London, James Chung – George Washington University, Bob Dorf – Columbia University, Jeff Epstein – Stanford University, Paul Fox – LaSalle University Barcelona, Ali Hawks – Common Mission Project UK, Jim Hornthal – U.C. Berkeley, Victoria Larke – University of Toronto, Radhika Malpani – Google, Michael Marasco – Northwestern University, Stephanie Marrus – University of California, San Francisco, Pete Newell – BMNT/ Common Mission Project US, Thomas O’Neal – University of Central Florida, Alexander Osterwalder – Strategyzer, Kim Polese – U.C. Berkeley, Jeff Reid – Georgetown University, Sid Saleh – Colorado School of Mines, Chris Taylor – Georgetown University, Grant Warner – Howard University, Todd Warren – Northwestern University, Phil Weilerstein – VentureWell, Steve Weinstein – Stanford University, Naeem Zafar – U.C. Berkeley, and the 400 of you who attended.

Looking forward to our next Educator Summit, December 16th online.

The video of the entire summit can be seen here

#startups #text #startup #advice #busieness #howto #news #tech

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dnodes18 · 6 years ago

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Back Porch Overhaul https://ift.tt/2qCmfjv

Mike Poorman of Woodshop Mike completely transformed his outdated back porch into an outdoor oasis. With a few simple upgrades, he has created a outdoor space for both family and friends to enjoy.

Back Porch Overhaul

Our back porch overlooks a quiet, wooded backyard with just the right amount of breeze. It’s a great place to unwind or start a day. That is, until all the critters that also enjoy our wooded backyard decide they want to hang out on the back porch, too.

After two summers of being attacked by unwanted pests, we knew it was time to not only screen in our porch, but to also give it a full-on overhaul. We did everything from refreshing all of the wooden surfaces to installing a Hunter ceiling fan and of course, screening in the space!

I’ve listed the materials, product and tools I used for this project at the end of the post for reference. Now let’s get to the project steps!

Cleaning

The first thing we absolutely had to do was clean everything.

It’s pretty easy to see that the existing stain had seen better days and the white paint on our handrails and trim was in desperate need of some TLC.

Our vinyl siding and ceiling was also crying for a good deep clean.

To knock all this out, I grabbed a handful of products to get the job done.

Vinyl Siding

The next thing to tackle was the siding. I’d recently heard of Wet and Forget and really liked the idea of not having to scrub too much to clean off our siding and ceiling. I mixed the product up in a low pressure sprayer and went to town. The typical application includes spraying it on your house and then forgetting about it. Rain will rinse your house and over the course of a few weeks or months, the cleaner will continue to wash away all of the filth. Since a covered back porch doesn’t see too much rain, I opted to spray on the product and follow it up a week later with an automotive detailing brush and light water spray from a hose.

The results speak for themselves and it was so easy! I hardly had to scrub at all.

Railing, Posts, & Trim

To clean all of the painted surfaces, I used TSP phosphate free and was completely blown away with how well it cleaned years of grime. I sprayed the surfaces down with TSP using a low pressure sprayer, let it set for a few minutes and then followed that up with a light scrub and rinse.

Decking

In the past, I’ve simply used a pressure washer to strip decks in preparation for new stain. I didn’t want to go that route for the back porch this time for a couple of reasons:

The age of our deck had me concerned that intense pressure may cause more harm than good.

Since our house has vinyl siding, I was concerned about potentially damaging the siding in the process.

So, I decided on Behr Wood Stain & Finish Stripper, which did a great job of removing the previous stain. Following the instructions, I applied the product with a polyblend roller and let it work for about 15 minutes before scrubbing the surface with a deck brush.

Major tip here: Shake the bottle before pouring it into a roller pan!

Then I fired up my pressure washer and lightly sprayed away the old, nasty stain for good! If you don’t have a pressure washer, don’t sweat it. You can also use a garden hose to rinse the deck clean – it’ll just take a bit longer.

My last step to prep the deck for new stain was to use Behr All-In-One Wood Cleaner. This product neutralizes any residual chemicals from the Wood Stain & Finish Stripper and conditions the wood to accept stain more consistently. For this product I again followed the printed instructions and applied the diluted product with a roller, let it work for about 15 minutes and then scrubbed with the deck brush.

After the entire deck had been treated, I hosed it all down again lightly with the pressure washer. Now all you have to do is let it dry for about 24 hours before staining!

Ceiling Fan

Obviously, installing a ceiling fan and replacing a light fixture deals with electricity. If you are not comfortable doing your own electrical work, then hire a professional to help you with this step!

The original overhead light was a single bulb fixture with a pull chain that broke off in my hand the day we moved in. Needless to say, something had to be done. Since we live in Georgia, we knew that adding a ceiling fan was the right way to go! We chose the Hunter Mill Valley Fan and couldn’t be happier with the aesthetics and functionality.

There was a bit of work for to do before installing this fan, though. I had to add a brace to bear the load of the fan. Using a SideSwiper, I took down two ceiling panels.

I cut a 2×4 to fit between two rafters and used pocket hole joinery to secure the brace in place. Now I could secure my fan box to the brace with the supplied screws. Once the wiring was run into the fan box, I reinstalled the vinyl panels.

A huge bonus with this Hunter fan: It includes hang tabs for the motor housing to rest on while you secure the electrical connections – genius! No more balancing the motor on your head (or having a friend help) while you work as fast as you can.

After about 20 minutes, the fan was assembled and running! The assembly instructions for this fan are very easy to follow, and even if you’re new to home electrical work, the diagrams make it very clear to understand.

Painting

Since our existing paint was oil based, we first used Gripper primer. It is a high-hide formula that is also suitable for going over oil based paints and is a good primer for latex paints.

After about an hour, the primer was dry and we then applied PPG Timeless paint. Both of these products are very user friendly. They’re thick, but not difficult to apply and dry relatively quickly.

I used a Shortcut brush for corners and tight spots, a 4-1/2″ roller for all the flat surfaces and a Pelican bucket. This combination of items worked out really well to apply the paint. Also, I of course put down a drop cloth after all that cleaning I’d done!

Staining

Next up, it’s time to stain! Maybe I’m a bit excited, but I’m so happy with the results of PPG Timeless stain in Oxford Brown. First off, this is an oil based stain, which I prefer. This stain penetrates well and really makes our 21-year-old porch look new. While there are several options for applying stain, I chose to use a 5″ wide stain brush. You can buy an extension pole for this style of brush, but I prefer holding the brush in my hand. In areas against the house, I used a short cut brush to prevent slopping stain on the siding.

For us, this stain was dry to the touch in about 45 minutes (it was about 70°F and semi-humid, having rained for several days prior) and we didn’t have any issue walking on the back porch after 24 hours!

Partition Wall

To build this wall, I first needed to cut the pattern of our siding into a 2×4. I held a 2×4 against the wall and used a scribe to transfer the pattern, but you could also use a carpenter’s pencil. To cut out the pattern, I broke out my jig saw and went to work!

With the only “tricky” piece to cut out of the way, I set off to cut the remaining 2×4’s to length and then laid everything out for assembly. I used top and bottom plates that were the full length of the wall and ran two 2-1/2 exterior construction screws through them into the ends of each stud. With the wall framed up, I then cut out the portion of the bottom plate where the screened door would be hung with my multi-tool. Next, I just lifted the wall into place and secured it with 2-1/2″ screws every 8″ or so into the surrounding structure.

Frames for Screening

For our screened-in porch, we opted to build frames for each opening rather than apply the screening to the outside of our back porch. This is a fairly straight forward process and seemed to be the easiest method since the deck of our back porch is 14′ off the ground.

I ripped down 2×6’s into 2×2’s and used pocket hole joinery to build the frames. Once the frames were assembled, I ran an 1/8″ round over bit around all the edges with my palm router to reduce the likelihood of damage while stretching the screens.

The last thing to do before priming and painting is to pre-drill and countersink holes about every 18″ so that the frames can be secured to the surrounding structure.

Installing Screen

We went with Phifer Ultravue screen and are blown away at how transparent it is from a few feet away! I highly recommend this screening, especially if you’re worried about keeping as much light coming through your porch area as possible.

This process is very much like stretching a canvas for painting. I used an Arrow T50 stapler with 3/8 x 3/8 staples, and a good pair of scissors. Start by laying the frame on top of the screen so that the stitching lines up with the frame members. Pick one side and, starting at the center, wrap the screen around to the outside of the frame. Staple the screen every 6″ or so. Move to the opposite side and decrease the spacing to about every 3″, gently stretching the screen as needed. Now go back to the first side and staple as needed to have the screen under consistent tension. Next, just repeat this process on the remaining two sides.

With the frames screened, it’s time to move on to screening the partition wall. The installation is pretty much the same, except I attached the screen to the outer face of the wall.

Once all the back porch screening was up, I used some 1-1/2″ wide x 1/4″ thick strips ripped from 2×6’s to cover the screening where it crosses over the studs. All that’s needed to secure this trim are 1″ brad nails every 10″ or so.

The only remaining section that needed to be sealed off was the bottom of our porch railing. There’s a gap about 4″ tall below the rail, so I simply grabbed a 2×6 and cut it to fit the area.

Screened Door

For our screened door, we opted to build one. This was a really easy project that can be knocked out over a weekend, and you can check out my post on How to Make a DIY Screen Door here! If you’re not up to building a door, no sweat. There are tons of options for prefabricated screen doors.

Installing the door was a pretty easy task. We picked up these sweet spring loaded door hinges and spaced them about 14″ in from the top and bottom.

I simply held the hinge parallel with the door frame and secured it in place with the provided screws. Once the hinges were attached to the frame, I set the door on some 3/8″ scraps to lift it off the deck enough that it wouldn’t drag while opening the door.

With the door hung, it was time to add the door handle by Wright Products. This hardware was very easy to install and feels solid. I only needed to drill three holes and then attach the catch plate on the door frame. Done and done!

Lights

With all of the “hard work” complete, it’s time to add the final touches and start enjoying this transformed back porch space!

We hung some farmhouse style string lights around the perimeter of the screened in area with several screw hooks. These add a nice touch to the ambiance of this space each evening. To make turning our lights on and off more convenient, this outdoor lighting switch fit the bill!

Overhaul Complete!

Thank you for checking out our back porch overhaul project! I hope you’ve been inspired to take on a project like this and as always, let me know if you have any questions!

Materials & Products

Wet and Forget

TSP phosphate free

low pressure sprayer

Scotch Brite pad

Behr Wood Stain & Finish Stripper

Behr All-In-One Wood Cleaner

fan box

Hunter Mill Valley Fan

PPG Timeless stain

Gripper primer

PPG Timeless paint

2″x6″x10′

2″x6″x8′

2-1/2″ pocket hole screws

3/8 dowel

Phifer Ultravue screen

1″ brad nails

2-1/2 exterior construction screws

door hinge

door handle

string lights

screw hooks

extension cord

outdoor lighting switch

Tools Used

IsoTunes

table saw

miter saw

pressure washer

Kreg Jig clamp

drill

impact driver

jig saw

multi-tool

palm router

1/8″ round over bit

dead blow hammer

square

Shortcut brush

4-1/2″ roller & frame

polyblend roller

roller frame

paint bucket

paint tray

stapler

staples

scissors (my favorite shop scissors!)

utility knife

brad nailer

deck brush

Malco SideSwiper

stain brush (not the one I used, but similar)

extension pole

For more back porch and patio style inspiration, check out our series on The Home Depot Blog.

The post Back Porch Overhaul appeared first on The Home Depot Blog.

Mike Poorman

#The Home Depot Blog

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stylishleeds · 7 years ago

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Hey NaturalLeeders!

Since going natural I’ve never cared to own a flat iron and since I’ve always lived in places where it’s always warm, I’ve also never cared much for a blow dryer. But I have always wanted a hair steamer and I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to actually get one. The lovely team at QRedew sent me this genius product and after one single use I don’t think I can ever do without it.

Every wavy, curly, coily and kinky hair gal knows that no matter how much we love our natural hair in all its glory, we do have many ‘off days’ when our hair looks dry, frizzy or gets tangled. But mark my word, the Q-Redew Steamer will be your saving grace for all those bad hair days. This multi-purpose tool allows you to reshape, refreshen, detangle, stretch and add volume to your hair. Continue reading for my 5 ways to use the Q-Redew Handheld Hair Steamer.

What is it, You ask?

As stated on their website, “The Q-Redew is a handheld hair steamer that uses warm steam as mist to enhance your hair’s natural volume and texture. The Q-Redew hydrates, reshapes and restyles dry hair in minutes. No mess, no fuss, no chemicals–just water. The innovative Q-Redew tool allows perfect styling control in minutes without rewetting or shampooing.”

Why Use A Steamer?

A hair steamer uses warm mist to help open the hairs cuticle which allows ingredients to enter the hair shaft and better be absorbed. Steaming also helps to build the strength and elasticity of your hair, while also adding moisture and hydration without the need for wetting or adding more products.

As a fellow curly gal, we all know wetting our curls after they’re in a set style like a wash & go or twist out can ruin the style completely. The Q-Redew adds the moisture needed while leaving hair DRY to the touch and therefore not disrupting the style.

How Does It Work

When dealing with any tool, ease of use it of most importance to me and thankfully the Q-Redew Steamer is incredibly easy to set up and use. You simply fill up the reservoir with distilled water, plug in the device and wait for the red light to indicate it’s ready. Then, press the trigger button to release the mist into hair to enhance, reshape, and moisturize. Thats it! Easy right?

1. Refresh & Volumize WITHOUT Rewetting!

I first tested the steamer on a 4 day old wash and go that needed refreshing. The steam for the Q-Redew *magically* [yes I call it MAGIC!] brought my hair back to life! And this was done without wetting my hair and without adding any additional products. The steamer was able to provide enough moisture to my hair to bring back my definition.

I’ve always refreshed my hair by using a water spray bottle and a custard and though I’ve been making this method work for so many years it does have its disadvantages. While water is hydrating, sometimes I just don’t feel like getting my hair wet just to ‘fix’ a style. Plus water also causes my hair to shrink. So now I cheat my refresh days with the Q-Redew Steamer because it allows me to refresh, reshape and rehydrate my hair without getting my hair wet and without causing shrinkage.

I also achieve extra volume by flipping my head down while using the steamer. Steam is an amazing way to add volume to your hair in seconds! #WINNING

2. Easy Detangling

Like most curl gals I know, my hair gets tangled very easily. I also like to push my wash & go’s to the limit, so by the time wash day rolls around my hair is usually a tangled [sometimes matted] mess. So most of my time is spent detangling my hair in the shower on wash day. So when I saw videos using this steamer to detangle I was very excited to put it to the test!

LIFE CHANGING!

On day EIGHT of my wash and go when my hair is typically very tangled, the QRedew steamer helped to melt through some tangled spots with ease. This cut my my shower time down DRAMATICALLY! The steam broke down the tangles, by softening, moisturizing and warming my tresses, allowing the prongs on the steamer to glide through my hair. Now I’m looking forward to easier wash days and less breakage from detangling.

3. Intensify Deep Conditioning Treatments

Just go and get the Q-Redew Steamer if you wish to reap the full benefits of your deep conditioner or hair mask!

After applying my favorite Carols Daughter Coco-Creme Deep Conditioner I used the Q-Redew to steam my hair from root-to-tip. In 4 sections I worked the attached prongs of the Q-Redew through my hair for roughly 15 minutes. Then I placed my hair under a shower cap and proceeded to do my *usual shower duties*. Once done I rinsed the deep conditioner out of my hair and when I say my hair felt soft, I mean it felt like it was touched by the hands of an angel. Ahh-Mazing!

The steam effectively opens up the hair cuticle, which allows your deep conditioner to penetrate the hair even better. And for my gals out there with low porosity hair, the Q-Redew will be your saving grace since our hair type is typically harder to receive moisture due to its closed cuticle. The steam helps to lift the hair cuticle which allows the perfect amount of moisture to be received to keep the hair moisturized.

4. Super Scalp Massage

Our scalp is the canvas for HEALTHY HAIR GROWTH! And another benefit of using the Q-Redew Steamer is to encourage blood flow to the scalp with its moist, warm steam. This will lead to a healthy, unclogged scalp while providing a moisturized atmosphere for our hair and scalp to flourish.

Another thing that has been proven to aid with hair growth are regular scalp massages using oils [my personal fave is Jamaican Black Castor Oil from Tropic Isle Living]. So what if we combine the use of the steamer plus a scalp massage using oil — A Super Scalp Massage!

First I steam my hair and scalp for roughly 10 minutes, to help open my hair cuticles and to unclog the pores in the scalp. Then I proceed to massage my scalp with my Jamaican Black Castor Oil and I coat my strands with any excess. The increased circulation plus a good ol’ scalp massage will help to lead you in the right direction towards healthy hair and growth.

5. Safer Way to Stretch/Blowout Hair

The Q-Redew also provides a safe alternative to the extreme heat of using a blow dryer to achieve stretched styles like a blow out or to prepare the hair for an updo, roller set, braid outs or flat twists.

Since my hair is super coily it’s pretty hard to get my hair into a sleek top knot without placing my hair in twists for a day or two to help stretch my coils out. But since receiving the Q-Redew I now place my hair into 4-6 sections. Then I pass the steamer through each section to stretch my curls instantaneously which then makes it super easy to sleek my hair up into my fave top knot bun.

I have not yet worn the ‘blown out’ look using the Q-Redew but please note that the steamer will not straighten your hair like a blow dryer would. It will however, stretch your hair and give you a lot of length.

All in all, I 100% LOVE this tool and I HIGHLY recommend it to ALL curl textures. It is versatile, easy to use, travel friendly, and at US$70 it is well worth the investment. Adding steam treatments to your hair routine are both long lasting and beneficial for the overall strength and development of the hair.

The only con I have is my wish for a longer cord. I suppose that’s a personal opinion but I would love a version with a longer cord attached or perhaps even a chargeable battery operated Q-Redew. That would be PERFECT!

And there you have it, 5 wonderful ways to incorporate the Q-Redew Hair Steamer into your hair routine. If you have other ways you use your steamer please leave them in the comment section below. Talk Soon. Nuff Love, Natasha ♥

♦ Q-Redew ♦

5 Ways To Use The Q-Redew Handheld Steamer Hey NaturalLeeders! Since going natural I've never cared to own a flat iron and since I've always lived in places where it's always warm, I've also never cared much for a blow dryer.

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