Cooking pork chops is a challenge for many people. That’s because it’s so easy to ruin them! Just overcook the meat and you’ll end up with some chewy stuff nobody will appreciate. Of course they won’t tell you, but you’ll probably join them for dinner, so you’ll know.

Here are a few tips for cooking tender pork chops:

• Bake them rather than frying or grilling. Baking allows you to cook the meat until it really gets tender and flavored. There are tons of recipes available, so all you need is a google search in order to find the best one for you.
• Try stuffed pork chop recipes. It’s a bit more work, but worth every minute of it. Stuffing combined with the meat will result in a flavorful combination that will make your family love you even more.
• Marinate the chops at least four hours before cooking. Preparing a marinade is easy. Then leave the meat in the marinade in the refrigerator for one day, or at least for 4-5 hours before cooking it. It will be nice and tender.
• Beat the meat a little bit before cooking. Use one of those special meat hammers and some plastic foil. The foil is good because it minimizes the mess in your kitchen and prevents the meat from tearing apart.

Last but not least, always respect the cooking time and the temperature indicated in the recipes. Both are very important.

Bon appetit!

I’ve been wanting to buy a water ionizer since a while ago. This desire came after I read some articles like this one: http://www.alltipsandtricks.com/alkaline-water-benefits-water-ionizer-systems/ about the benefits of alkaline water for our health. Although I’m not a believer in such things, I must confess I was almost convinced a water ionizer is a must-have for any household.

My problem is that I don’t know which model to choose. I learned that there are so many different versions of ionizer devices, so the more I read, the more confused I grow. I kind of like the Jupiter series, but they are not the cheapest of all, so I can’t decide whether I should spend money now on one of them, or I should wait and do some more research, maybe I can find some cheaper ones that are as good.

As always, when I have a problem, I like to ask my readers about it. Do you have a water ionizer? If yes, how did you choose it?

Thank you.

I’ve got an old garage door which I happen to like very much. Unfortunately, by the time I bought it, technology was far from being what it is today, therefore it sucks when it comes to the R-value. The garage gets very cold and because it communicates with the rest of the house, I need to use an additional heater in order to compensate for thermal exchanges. I heard from one of my friends that I can buy a garage door insulation kit and save a lot of money. I’m afraid he’s totally wrong about that and that I’d buy that useless kit, then spend a whole afternoon to install it, only to come to the conclusion that I need a new door or another kind of insulation, more efficient.

Has any of you used such insulation kits? If so, are you happy with them so far? I really want to keep my old door which is so beautiful, but our comfort (and the electricity bills) come first.

I finally took the courage to buy the Wagner steam cleaner I’ve been reading about since last year. I hesitated a lot because I wasn’t sure the 1500W power would be enough to clean the grout between the kitchen floor tiles. Now I’m happy I bought it, because it does a wonderful job. The grout comes out clean and disinfected. Well, I know it’s not the original color, and it probably won’t be again like new, but it looks much better than it used to when I cleaned it with a regular mop.

So, I’m happy and I can’t wait to host my Super Bowl party!

When my friend told me that one can cook a low fat omelet, she really made me laugh, because everybody knows that eggs contain fat. After she explained to me what she had in mind, I got the message: she was using only the whites to make the omelet. Well, this is not exactly my favorite type of food, because egg whites don’t have too much of a taste. Yolks are the best part of the egg, so I’d rather not cook omelets, if I have to make them white. Of course one can add spices, but I believe that if you need to stay on a low-fat diet, you’d better stick to vegetables and fruits and leave aside eggs, meat and such things that taste good only when they are fat.

What do you think?

If you ever wanted to buy arch window blinds, you may have noticed that their price is way higher than the price of normal, rectangular blinds and shades. You might have felt frustrated that you had to pay more, but there are a few reasons why this is happening:

First of all, we are talking about custom blinds, hence expenses that need to be covered by producing fewer units. In case of mass production, such common costs are lower per piece. Rectangular windows are pretty much the standard, therefore rectangular blinds are also very common. The more pieces a manufacturer makes, the lower the production cost.

Then, here it comes the psychological factor: people who afford home improvements customization will have higher purchasing power, so they will be ready to pay more than regular guys and even feel better for that. It’s great to be able to tell your friends how much you paid for your arched top bamboo blinds, isn’t it? Price makes them special. It’s like in case of expensive cars that are as good as cheaper ones, but perceived as luxury items because of their price.

So, it seems that even expensive blinds for arches or curved windows have their customers.