Lisa M. Frame

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Teen Boys: The Good, The Bad, The Smelly

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Disclaimer: This was sponsored by SC Johnson. I use their Glade candles all the time. In fact, I hoard their Christmas candles. Don’t believe me? Come take a peek at my linen closet. This post is real life with a teenager and his friends. Pity me. 

I am the mother of a teenager. *Gasp* But Lisa, you look so young.( Sunscreen, folks. Live it. Love it. Wear it every day.) He’s at such a great age. We don’t dislike each other, have figured out how to move around each other without it requiring a cage match in the living room every day, and laugh together, a lot. Unfortunately, there’s one thing I’ve noticed when he’s around a gaggle of his friends — the smell. It’s not that they stink, that’s taken care of with copious amounts of manly man scented deodorants, but there is just a general smelly FUNK in the air when they are around.

Let’s just say my “let’s get ready for fall” zen was shot last week when Seattle decided to send their weather to North Carolina. It was chilly, rainy, gray, and we were not only stuck inside, but we were stuck in with all of the windows closed. To keep us sane, friends were over and once here, I noticed the — smell. It wasn’t horrible. It wasn’t BO. It was just like wet dog mixed with sweat, manly-man-deodorant and — wind. You know, toots. To put it bluntly, there was enough methane in my house to power New York City for a month.

Riveting visual and olfactory trigger, right? I knew what I had to do. With a leap, I jumped fell off the sofa and ran crawled to the linen closet for a little air care. It was like Christmas, but autumn scented. Candles, everywhere. The sun came out of hiding to shine down on me, angels sang and the air was sweeter. My home was an olfactory shrine to everything AUTUMN. I welcomed it, invited it in, and danced the dance of the falling leaves. Oddly enough, that looks like the Snoopy dance.

Sweet pumpkin pie and burning leaves filled my house. No longer did I smell eau de teen, everything smelled of victory! And pie! Do you know what this world is missing? Pie delivery service. I’d pay good money to have an apple pie delivered piping hot, right this very minute.

But more than that, everything smelled clean. Fresh. Like the heavens had opened up and blew fresh fall breezes through my house, fragranced just for me. I was at a spa, minus all the fun spa stuff — like a brown sugar body scrub and massage.

Teens: The Good, The Bad, The Smelly

What are your favorite scents?

Whole Body Health Starts with #CrestProHealth {Gratuitous Man Candy Included}

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I’d like to preface this blog post by stating I was a Crest Pro-Health user before I did this interview. I also had no idea who Dr. Stork was, and have yet to watch his show. However, I did want to provide good information to my readers, as well as a little eye candy. What can I say, my mother wanted me to go to medical school and there are days I look back and say “why didn’t I?” 

The gateway to the body starts with the mouth. I sat down with Travis Stork, MD, host of the hit TV show “The Doctors” at the Shape Magazine Diva Dash in Charlotte, NC, to discuss how Crest Pro-Health can contribute to overall whole body health. My mother is a nurse and has had multiple patients die in her trauma unit due to poor oral health. In fact, when I still lived with her, she’d preach “Your teeth can kill you! You have to take good care of them.” (I could write a book about being the child of someone in the medical field.)

Before the event, Crest sent a bottle of the new Crest Pro-Health Tartar Protection Rinse. I don’t know about you, but one of my least favorite things about my dental visits is the scraping during the tartar removal process. I have very sensitive teeth and this procedure for me is akin to nails on a chalkboard. (Heinous!) It helps prevent tartar build-up and cavities (the only product of its kind) as well as helps prevent stains and freshens breathe. My next dental appointment is in September, so I’m anxiously awaiting my results. (Gold stars rule!)

Depending on your dental situation, your dentist might recommend you visit more than the twice per year recommended by the American Dental Association. I do, but I grew up without fluoride in the country and my teeth like to crack. (I also like to over share.)

As Dr. Stork and I discussed his role with Crest and their Pr0-Health line, my line of questioning when to his work in the emergency room and what he’s seen in the cases he’s worked. It’s not pretty. An oral infection can land you in the intensive care unit because your mouth, and the blood vessels in it, feed directly into the circulatory system and is the shortest path to the brain and leads directly to the heart. Studies today are showing that preventative dental care can help stave off, or exacerbate, certain health issues, especially heart disease.

The correlation between heart disease and oral health is still being studied; however researchers have reported that the most common strain of bacteria found in the plaque that can cause blood clots that induce heart attacks when they escape into the bloodstream. We don’t know entirely how plaque in the arteries is formed and it’s possible the same plaque on our teeth, which irritates our gum tissue, are related to the ones which cause our arteries to harden and restrict blood-flow. After seeing my step-dad have a massive heart attack ten years ago, and my grandfather die from a stroke, I’m not taking any chances with oral bacteria accumulation traveling via bleeding gums straight to my heart or brain.

Dr. Travis Stork, MD

The Diva Dash is sponsored by Shape Magazine.

Shape Diva Dash and #CrestProHealth

As previously mentioned, I was a Crest Pro-Health user before I went on this interview and one of my big reasons for using it is that it’s triclosan free. In my previous life, I was an environmental writer and am not comfortable with this ingredient in my personal care or cleaning products.

Crest Logo

The Crest Pro-Health products I use:

  • Crest Pro-Health Sensitive and Enamel Shield Gel Toothpaste — A lot of people don’t like the flavor. It’s a vanilla mint and it doesn’t taste of beets or liver so no complaints here.
  • Crest Pro-Health Tartar Protection Rinse — Prevents tartar build-up and cavities. Remember the no fluoride thing? Yep. I have to have a rigid brushing and flossing routine or it’s cavity central up in my mouth.
  • Crest Pro-Health Multi-Protection Rinse — My husbands preferred rinse.
  • Oral-B Glide Pro Health Clinical Protection Floss — I also carry floss in my purse. Vivian in “Pretty Woman” was a smart lady.

Want more information on Crest: 

  • Crest Pro-Health Website – www.crestprohealth.com
  • Twitter – https://twitter.com/Crest
  • Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/crest
  • Instagram – http://instagram.com/Crest

About Dr. Travis Stork: 

Dr. Travis Stork, Emmy® nominated TV host of The Doctors and board-certified emergency medicine physician, has partnered with Crest and Oral-B Pro-Health to help others understand that a healthy mouth is an important part of a healthy body.

At the SHAPE Diva Dash, a women’s only 5K obstacle and adventure run, Dr. Stork discussed how oral care is connected to overall health, as well as shared additional tips and tricks on how consumers can protect their mouth and stay healthy this summer and all year long.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post written in partnership with One2One Network and Crest Pro-Health. I’m a Crest Pro-Health user and avid flosser. 

Seattle’s Best House Blend Coffee — Finding #GreatTaste {Taste Test}

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If you’ve been a reader here for any time, or follow me on Twitter or Pinterest, you’ll know all about my love of coffee. Not just any coffee, good coffee, preferably swirled with half and half to create a luscious dark blonde color. I wake up and fill my home with the warm smell and am instantly energized. While it was a no-brainer when Seattle’s Best reached out to me and asked if I would like to try the new Seattle’s Best House Blend, I was also cautious.

Morning ritual of pouring cream into coffee

Taste-testing a medium roast coffee made to be sold in grocery stores and suit a wide range of palates is a challenging prospect. As a self-proclaimed coffee aficionado, I’ve developed certain affinity for what I like in coffee. The deeper, darker the roast the better. I’m also not fond of quite a few regions of coffee — mainly because of some of the flavors they bring to the cup which I personally find unappealing.

I’m always up for a challenge, so I popped in at Publix, where Seattle’s Best is now available, and picked up a few bags (ok, 4) where it was on sale for the sweet price of $4.99 thru July 4, 2014. The k-cups was also on special for $5.99 so I picked a few of those up as well.

For the purposes of testing, I left off the half and half and did a traditional cupping at home to really test the coffee they’d sent me to purchase. The key things I was looking for are what you look for in any coffee:

Aroma: 

  • Animal-like
  • Ashy
  • Burnt/Smoky
  • Chemical/Medicinal
  • Chocolate like
  • Caramel
  • Cereal/Malted/Toast-like
  • Earthy
  • Floral
  • Fruity/Citrus
  • Grass/Green/Herbal
  • Nutty
  • Rancid/Rotten
  • Rubber like
  • Spicy
  • Tobacco
  • Winey
  • Woody

Tastes:

  • Acidity
  • Bitterness
  • Sweetness
  • Saltiness
  • Sourness

Mouthfeel: 

  • Body
  • Astringency

I made Seattle’s Best House Blend coffee as a pour-over and a French Press to taste test properly. However, for the sake of the everyday coffee consumer, I brewed a pot with traditional brewing methods (2 tablespoons to every 6 ounces of cold water) in my drip coffee maker — a Cuisinart with a thermal carafe — the results of which I’m sharing here. Finally, I made their cold brew method (recipe below) to create a proper iced coffee at home. None of these tests was done with any sweetener or cream, just pure coffee. Seattle's Best Coffee

Aroma: The aromas I picked up on, along with my husband, were:

  • Chocolate like — This wasn’t a sweet chocolate taste, but something akin to a 70% cocao flavor
  • Caramel — Light
  • Fruity/Citrus — I picked up grapefruit, but a more experienced taster would know for sure
  • Grassy
  • Winey
  • Woody – I’m wanting to say this was somewhat oakey. It reminds me of good bourbon that contains a higher rye content.

Tastes: 

  • Acidity — The Seattle’s Best House Blend is well balanced coffee with good acidity on the tongue. It doesn’t leave a sour taste, key to a well-balanced coffee.
  • Bitterness — Light bitterness is apparent, but that’s not a bad thing. If it were an overwhelming bitterness, I wouldn’t have been able to drink this coffee as I’m very sensitive to bitter.
  • Sweetness — I didn’t find any off-flavors in this coffee, which allowed the sweet flavors (chocolate/caramel/fruit) to shine.
  • Saltiness — Normal coffee drinkers won’t look for salt. I do, but this is almost a sea salt taste.
  • Sourness — People often confuse sourness with acidity. There was no sourness in this coffee, just great acidity.

Mouthfeel:

  • Body — Seattle’s Best House Blend has a great body. I let the coffee sit on my tongue and roll around in my mouth. It was bold, robust, satisfying.
  • Astringency — None. Astringent coffees leave undesirable after-taste consisting of a dry feeling on the tongue when you’re done drinking them. The Seattle’s Best House Blend left a pleasant flavor

Take-Away:

Seattle’s Best House Blend coffee was consistent across all tastings. Some of the methods I used for brewing intensified the flavors, making a much more robust cup. While I will still be drinking my darker roasts, Seattle’s Best House Blend is definitely a coffee I’m going to recommend to my mother, family and friends. (My mother in particular, as she’s happy with her brand, which I find personally find intolerable. Hi Mom!)

The only con for me in this whole experience is the actual grind of the beans. I prefer to grind my own beans in a burr grinder, and the grind is too fine to do a truly great French Press. This won’t stop me from keeping a bag of Seattle’s Best House Blend on hand for visitors who like a milder coffee for their morning cup. (Seriously.)

All in all, this is a great coffee for folks who are looking for quality coffee in their local grocery store. I’m seriously impressed by the quality and the obvious effort by the roaster to make a great coffee available on the shelf and in large quantities.

From 6/14/14 to 7/4/14, Seattle’s Best House Blend is on special at Publix: Roast and Ground House Blend packaged coffee is just $4.99, and House Blend K-cup® Packs are $5.99.

Recipes:

Seattle's Best Iced Coffee Recipe

I’ll be adding my own recipe later this week for a refreshing summer treat using Seattle’s Best House Blend ground coffee. For more recipes from the source visit the Seattle’s Best website www.SeattlesBest.com.

Disclosure: I’m participating in a Seattle’s BestCoffee® blogger campaign and received compensation as part of the program. 

YesVideo — Bringing Memories Back to Life {Sponsored}

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YesVideo reached out to ask me if I had any videos that were stuck in the dark ages — on tape — and I have a ton. My wedding video, videos of my late-Grandmother and Grandfather, of Peanut, there are so may memories on tape we can’t view because our equipment finally wore out. Let’s face it, VHS tapes are antiquated, and there was no use in buying replacements.

We’re losing our memories. When photos were on film, we had something tangible to touch and look at after developing them. Before the advent of smartphones, etc., we were watching our videos either on a screen, or on our television, not uploading them in 6 or 15 second increments for the world to see and then forgetting about them. We’ve lost a lot with technology, but thankfully have gained technology that preserves our memories in formats for today.

YesVideo Brings Memories to Life

The YesVideo team is made up of innovators dedicated to providing families with the ultimate experience to celebrate their memories. They hold a deep appreciation for the past, with a passion for new video and online technologies. Right now, I have a box taped up ready to send to YesVideo filled with memories. I have no idea what I’m going to see, as a lot of what’s on these videos is long forgotten. Memories we made and have tucked away on film, waiting to be rediscovered. It’s not like we can be Clark W. Griswold, finding Grandpa’s old films in the attic of his house and dressing ultra-chic in a fur stole and cap to watch them while he waits for his family to come home. (But would be cool.)

YesVideo is headquartered in Santa Clara, CA, in the heart of Silicon Valley and their East Coast production studio is located in Norcross, GA. All orders are processed in one of their US studios using the latest technology and most secure processes. And I’m trusting my videos to them. Because YesVideo believes we should all be able to revel in our memories, and that technology shouldn’t hinder that celebration. A company that’s dedicated themselves to preserving memories, while bringing them back to life, is one I get can behind.

Disclosure: I’m a YesVideo Ambassador and compensated for my time.

 

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HelloFresh makes dinner super easy

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Disclosure: Hello Fresh sent three days worth of meals for my family. We liked it so much, we’re going to adding their service to our own grocery shopping and meal planning to help us later this summer when golf team, etc. get into full swing.

Not too many moons ago, Hello Fresh reached out to me to ask if I’d like to try their meal service. Being the avid consumer of information, I had heard of their service and was intrigued. We prefer to cook at home and only eat out on special occasions, but I’ll admit there are times I get tired of menu planning and grocery shopping. When they offered to do the shopping for me and send the recipes, I jumped.

HelloFresh is Hello Good!

After driving a grand total of 1700 miles in 6 days, I was relieved to find my HelloFresh box at the front door. That wasn’t the wind blowing, it was my sigh of relief at not having to drive to the grocery and fight the crowds. I pulled my box inside to inspect what they had delivered. Turns out, I had three days of meals. Whoo! We had:

  • Balsamic Steak with Garlic Zucchini
  • Pasta with Snap Peas, Basil and Spinach
  • Chicken with Mushrooms

The recipes were amazing. My son is 12 and turns his head up at zucchini (yet loves brussel sprouts, figure that one out), however the garlicky zucchini I served him was eaten quickly and he proclaimed it the best he’s ever had.

Hello Fresh Steak and Zucchini

What I love even more is that HelloFresh works with local suppliers in there area to provide fresh ingredients to their customers. I can look at their site and know my beef came from J. Vrola Meats, Inc., a family run business from more than 80 years in New Jersey and that my produce came from John Vena, Inc., one of Philadelphia’s top wholesaler’s of high quality products.

I headed over to their F.A.Q page to find out where they get their recipes and was pleasantly surprised to find out they work out of one of my favorite NYC restaurants, Aquavit!

Great question! We have a dedicated chef here at HelloFresh that brainstorms and cooks up new recipes regularly, getting inspiration from our surroundings as well as incorporating favorites from the other HelloFresh’s over in Europe. We work out of Aquavit (a critically-acclaimed and award-winning restaurant here in NYC) and dreaming up delicious (and doable) dishes that we can in turn bring to you! Check our Aquavit’s website here. Your feedback is also always highly appreciated.

They’ve been awarded honors from Slow Food UK, Smarta 100 and HP Smart Business Awards UK.

Self Magazine recently called HelloFresh a “game changer” and you know what? They’re right. It’s not often I rave about food quality, as well as the recipes from a delivery service, but I’ve been raving to family and friends and am still raving.

What is HelloFresh?

HelloFresh is a new way to cook. Every week, you can pick the delicious recipes you want to try (except for under the veggie meal plan) and we’ll send you amazing recipes and all of the ingredients you need to prepare them. We take care of your meal planning and even do the shopping for you. It’s a revolution in your kitchen!

With HelloFresh you save time, discover amazing food and provide a healthy diet to the people you love most. Say goodbye to fast food and ready meals heated up at the end of a busy day. Say hello to delicious home-cooked meals using fresh ingredients.

Our recipes are created by world-class chefs who ensure that your meals are delicious and easy to prepare within 30 minutes. You don’t need fancy kitchen equipment and our beautiful step-by-step photo instructions will change the way you think about cooking!

Hello Fresh pasta with peas and basil

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