Simple Recipes for Busy People

There are days when even the most organized person just doesn’t have much time to spend in the kitchen.

So what is one to do when the clock is nearing the mealtime hour, the family is asking “When will dinner be ready” and we are ready to drop? How do we manage to provide quick and easy meals that will taste good while keeping everyone healthy?

In this book, I am sharing with you some ideas for quick and healthy meals that I’ve learned through the years of raising a healthy family while growing several profitable businesses.All of them can be prepared quickly and easily. Most can be on the table within half an hour, a few may take a little longer, and I’m even including some really fast meal ideas that I probably wouldn’t resort to during the more leisurely times of year.

I’ve been there and have kept this in mind while putting together this collection for you. The ingredients are not exotic or ones that you’ll buy to use once in a recipe and then wonder what to do with the rest. They are items that you can pronounce and can usually be found in most basic kitchens.

In addition, I’ve included some tips and hints for speeding up meal preparation. This book ends the guilt while saving you time in the kitchen. Cooking doesn’t discriminate and neither does this book. It is for busy Mothers as well as Mr. Moms, college students with just a microwave and a tiny fridge, or singles cooking for themselves.

Buy Today for $9.95

Vacuum Sealers – Things to Consider

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In this day in age, vacuum sealers are used by many money saving households, but did you know that until recently, vacuum sealers were not available to the general public. Their use was restricted to manufacturers who distributed foods nationwide.

Here are a few things to consider if you are interested in purchasing and using a vacuum sealer for your food.

About Vacuum Sealers

In their infancy, when vacuum sealers were released to the public, they were of very poor quality and did little to preserve the food that they were intended for. They were big and bulky and made a lot of noise when you used them. Over the years, improvements have been made and today, there are several different vacuum sealers that are dependable and durable.

Although the initial cost of the vacuum sealer may seem a little high, the money that you can save by preserving your groceries is well worth the cost. While it will be necessary to purchase special bags for the vacuum sealer, it is possible to use the generic bags that are available in any department store.

Save Money

With the rising cost of food these days, you want to do everything you can to preserve what you buy until you can use it. A vacuum sealer will do just that. The food is kept fresh, and if you have already prepared food, the bags can be boiled and if you snip the corner, you can microwave the food for a quick hot dinner in minutes. Love it! A vacuum sealer is a wonderful appliance to have in you kitchen for many reasons. You cannot only preserve the food that you want to prepare for future meals you can also use it to preserve meals that you have already cooked.

Vacuum Sealers How To

It is however, important to note that reading the instructions on the appliance is very important.

There are important tips that you must follow to insure that your sealer works properly. Often times little things can be overlooked which can lead to the vacuum sealer breaking down. When you attempt to seal food, either fresh or already prepared, it is important that the food is partially frozen. This is because the juices or sauces from the food can be sucked into the pump during the vacuum process and because it is motorized, the liquid will ruin it, rendering it useless to use on any other dish. There really is no special plates that you will need to put your food on when you use a vacuum sealer, paper, plastic or glass all work equally to insure the quality of your food. If you opt to, you can place the food directly in the bag and seal it.

Vacuum sealers can extend the life of your food for many weeks, and if you freeze it, the life can be extended for years. This type of machine is perfect for those on a budget or who have large families. It is one of the best appliances to hit the market in many years.

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Imagine the Possibilities!

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Someone asked me recently if it is still possible to grow a business that can be profitable enough to sell.

My answer to her, and to the rest of you, is YES, YOU CAN!

In the early 1900’s, a highly educated man with all the financial backing he needed worked to become the first man to pilot an airplane.

No one remembers his name today.

Samuel Pierpoint Langley was a math professor, worked at Harvard, and was a senior officer at the Smithsonian. He was awarded a $50,000 grant (lots of money back then) by the federal War Department to complete the project. He created a dream team of the best minds of the day and used the finest materials for the project. The press followed him everywhere waiting for the big event when he would fly the world’s first airplane.

What happened?

A few hundred miles away in Dayton, Ohio, two passionate young men, Wilbur and Orville Wright, had the same goal. Neither they nor anyone on their team had a college education. They had no funding or grants, no high level, educated friends on their team.

But they beat Mr. Langley and made history by flying the first plane on December 17,1903.

It wasn’t luck. Both groups were highly motivated and had strong work ethics. But the passion and desire that was so intense that the two brothers inspired the enthusiasm and commitment of a dedicated group of people in their small hometown, beat out knowledge and money.

Why am I telling you this story?

Because it tells us that you can do it. You don’t have to be an expert to create a successful business.

I knew nothing about starting a gift basket business all those years ago. And I knew even less about starting a local newspaper that grew into a statewide one even longer ago. But I had the passion, desire, and commitment, and learned from others as well as from my own mistakes as I went along.

You can do it. You can grow your business into a great one. Passion beats knowledge and money every time!

Eco-Friendly Decorating Tips

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When it is time for a change in your home and you are concerned about the earth, you want to find eco-friendly decorating tips you can follow. Luckily, numerous decorating companies understand your desire to protect the environment. Not only do they make products from recycled materials, they also offer sustainable goods. The following tips will make your home both eco-friendly and beautiful.

Tip #1 No matter which room in your home you are redecorating, chances are you will want a luxurious rug in which to sink your toes. Eco-friendly rug manufacturers make hypoallergenic rugs with materials that keep the environment in mind. Choose rugs that do not use formaldehyde and other toxins. Your family and the environment will thank you.

Tip #2 Re-use and re-purpose items you may already own. If you are trying to find ways to separate the living space in a large room, a screen divider is the perfect solution. Make a screen divider out of one or more screen doors. Add a panel of fabric over each door and hinge them together. The nice part of this idea is that you have reused something you have on hand and you can change out the fabric with the seasons.

Tip #3 Natural materials are also a part of eco-friendly decorating. If you must purchase a new piece of furniture, find one that is unfinished. This will keep harmful stains out of your home. Instead, rub mineral oil into the wood to protect it and create a warm glow.

Tip #4 Another option for a “new” furniture purchase is to look at places like Goodwill, Salvation Army or other consignment stores. Quite often, you can find just what you are looking for at a reduced price. This will keep items out of the overfull landfills and more of your money in your wallet.

Tip #5 Bring the outdoors into your home. You can place live plants around your home to make it more “green.” You can also bring in natural elements. For instance, if you have a large glass vase, put pine cones, dried seedpods or fruit into it. You can also place bowls of fruit on tables. Let your family enjoy the fruit to keep it from spoiling; you can always replace it.

Tip #6 Add a water element to your home. You can do this with a water fountain or by placing colorful jars on a windowsill with plenty of sunlight during the day. The water will absorb the heat as the sun shines on it and then release the heat at night to warm the room.

Tip #7 Use natural materials like wicker baskets or wooden crates to contain items instead of buying plastic containers is an easy eco-friendly decorating tips. This will give you the storage you need and allow you to continue with your eco-friendly chic decorating.

Consider what you want your home to look like and then find eco-friendly decorating options. By using these ideas, and thinking of other ways you can make your home “green,” you will be doing your part to help the environment.

Marketing A New Business – Where To Start?

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Your business has started. The doors are open. The website is up. But where are the customers?

Starting a new business can be overwhelming. There are so many things to do and so much to remember that frequently marketing that business gets shoved to the bottom of the priority list.

Unlike that Field of Dreams, just building it is not enough. Build it and fail to market and you’ll be sitting there in your business or reading your website — all alone.

Each day that you fail to market your business is one more day of lost opportunity.

We’ll be talking a lot about marketing but here are some basic tips to get you started.

Create Content

Content is one of the best marketing tools available to a business owner. You can write and publish articles on your website or in article directories. Optimize each article for the appropriate keywords as you write them. When people search for those topics, the search engines may lead them to your site. It’s a little more complicated than this but we’ll talk more about specifics in a later post.

Social Networking

Connecting with other business owners, as well as customers and prospects, is a great way to market a new business. Social networking, meeting with others on forums, membership sites, chat rooms, social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and even in blogs, is a great way to build relationships and credibility in your industry. Social networking is a great marketing tool because it isn’t about “Selling” but rather it’s about relationship building. For those who are uncomfortable cold calling (and who isn’t) social networking is a valuable marketing tool.

Once you develop relationships, joint venture partnerships often develop which lead to more marketing opportunities and more customers.

Connect Locally

Local networking is a great idea too. Local small business associations, chamber of commerce and community education offer excellent opportunities to market a new business. Additionally, business owners can post brochures and flyers with some local brick and mortar establishments to connect with local prospects.

Lead Generation

Lead generation campaigns, building your subscriber list or opt in list, is the number one best way to get the word out about your business. The approach is a little different because you’re not promoting your business when you implement a lead generation campaign, but rather you’re promoting what ever it is you’re giving away to encourage subscribers to sign up.

There are many things that will be valuable to someone that you can give away in exchange for their contact information. A free report or e-book are the most common premiums but there can be other incentives as well, such as access to some valuable information stored in a member’s only area of your website.

Once you have a list of people who are interested in what you have to offer, don’t let the list stagnate. Follow up regularly.

One of the ideal ways to follow up is with a regular newsletter. I’ve written a book on “Effective Email Newsletter Marketing” that is for sale on Amazon Kindle. It is targeted to the gift business market but the information applies to any industry whether you are selling products or services.

Marketing a new business is an ongoing process and the sooner you get started the better your results. As your business grows your marketing strategy will evolve. But don’t waste another day. Begin your marketing today!

Find Out If Your Item Will Sell Online

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Will Your Product Sell?

You’ve created a new product. Or found one that you think will sell. Perhaps you’ve started selling on Amazon or Ebay but don’t know if you should invest in this new product.

So how do you find out if your product will sell online?

Step One. Start with good old fashioned keyword research. Keyword research is the old stand by because it works. It can give you an idea if anyone is actually looking for your product as well as what words to use when you do sell it. It is a great first step however it is only a first step.

Great places to start researching keywords are:

https://adwords.google.com/ko/KeywordPlanner/Home

https://freekeywords.wordtracker.com/

https://tools.seobook.com/keyword-tools/

Step Two. Explore consumer demand. Check out online sites to see how well similar items are selling and for how much. eBay for example is a good place to begin. Both eBay and Amazon offer best seller’s lists. This can help you tap into your target audience and potential demand. Amazon won’t tell you what has sold or selling prices. With Ebay, use the Advanced Search and look for Sold.

Step Three. Who is your competition? Demand can also be explored by examining how many companies are already selling your product or products like yours. Some competition shows that the market is viable however beware of too much competition. If everyone and their brother are selling the same product then it may be difficult to make your mark in the industry.

Step Four. Ask! Make friends both online and off and ask them their opinion about your product. Ask them if it would solve their needs? Ask them if it would improve their lives. Ask them if they would buy it.

Step Five. Test for demand. A great way to test for the demand of a product is to create a landing page or ‘flycatcher page.’ Using a pay per click type advertising campaign on Google or other search engine, create an ad which sends traffic to a landing page.

On the flycatcher page tell people about your product. You can offer a survey or simply have a sign-up form for people to fill out so they can be the first to be notified when your product is launched. This page will help you learn if there is demand for your product.

Once you’ve determined that your product has a good chance to sell online it’s time to implement a launch and a marketing strategy. Happy selling!