Margret Sloan

I wanted to grill some chicken breasts tonight instead of the usual hamburgers or steak, but I couldn’t find any chicken marinade in the pantry. So I got the idea to use regualr Italian dressing. I just poured the dressing straight from the bottle into the Ziploc bag and let it marinade the chicken for about 20 minutes before tossing them on the grill. Wowie! They turned out great!

I fixed my cold pasta salad that I call “Green and White Pasta” and some garlic toast and we were all set. The Green and White Pasta is really easy, too. Just toss some small cooked shells with a handful of frozen baby peas and some bottled ranch dressing. If you like, you can add a little diced Vidalia onion, green pepper and celery – any or all of the three make a nice crunchy addition and keep within the green and white theme.

I don’t usually get excited about electronics gadgets, but I found something today that really rocks. This charger runs on solar power and will recharge all your portable electronics – everything from an iPod to a laptop to digital camera to MP3 players. This is so cool – you have to check it out. I found it on a website called EcoGeekLiving because I was looking for some ideas for greening up the house. I refuse to buy regular lightbulbs anymore and I know there are other great ways to save the environment by changing our habits at home.

Anyway, this awesome recharger is solar powered – as in free energy! -  and is called a power monkey explorer. It comes with all the adapters you need to recharge all your electronics using the sun. A fantastic gift for any of the geeks in your life, too. Let me know if you get one – I can’t wait for mine to get here!

They say that a well run business will appreciate its employees and value its clients or customers. One good, inexpensive way to demonstrate a company’s appreciation is the use of recognition programs. A good recognition program not only praises an employee for business achievements but also for personal milestones, such as birthdays, employment date anniversaries, and even encouragement during setbacks, such as serious illness or surgeries. Acknowledging these milestones or personal moments with a premium quality greeting card is the perfect way to express that you care and appreciate your employees.

Our Human Resources Manager ordered a collection of all occasion cards from gallerycollection.com and had them custom imprinted, but we also pass them them around to the rest of the staff for personal notes and signatures before presenting them with a flourish or small ceremony to the recipient. The Business Birthday Cards are a nice way to help celebrate employee and client birthdays. I also like that the envelopes are a classy, deckle-edged heavy stock, and they are made of recycled paper.

The new invisibleSHIELD case for iPhones, iPods and other electronic devices originally created for the U. S. military to protect helicopter blades. It is a specially patented thin, polyurethane film that does not scratch.

The invisibleSHIELD case is invisible and invincible – the shield does not scratch and protects your cell phones and MP3 players, digital cameras, etc from getting scratched. It has a “grippy” feel, which even makes it less likely to slip out of your hands or get dropped. There are case designs to fit over 2,000 branded electronics, and if they don’t have exactly what you need they are willing to custom make it for you.

If you are looking for an iphone case you should check out the invisibleSHIELD website and watch the cool online video demo.

Invented by DuPont and manufactured following World War II, when you bought a Dr. West’s Miracle Tuft, what did you buy?

The first American made modern toothbrush.

Although the Chinese are credited with having invented the toothbrush, they used natural boar’s bristles and a bamboo handle.

Dr. West invented the manufacturing process to put nylon bristles onto a plastic handle and marketed it to the Americans.

True story.