Are you overwhelmed by the numerous plugins and security services available to choose from to secure your WordPress site from hackers?
Websites have become a playground for hackers to exploit critical flaws and vulnerabilities to perform unauthorized actions. WordPress sites are a common target due to its popularity and use by millions around the world.
An insecure WordPress site that uses weak passwords, operates outdated plugins, and themes, increases the risk of being attacked by hackers.
Your website can never be too secure. Having a layered security approach will strengthen website protection of your site.
These five essential plugins for online businesses will get you started on securing your WordPress website.
The first thing a bot does when trying to access your website is to brute force your account login settings. What does the term “brute force” means?
A brute force attack consists of a trial and error of guessing possible combinations of login information.
Weak and guessable username and passwords credentials, such as “admin” and “123456”, dictionary words, common names, and personal information are what make brute force attacks popular.
It’s not uncommon for users to use “admin” as both the username and password.
The amount of time it takes to crack “123456” is 0 seconds. How long does it take to break “admin”? 0.03 seconds.
If your account login username is using the default name “admin”, a hacker just needs to guess your password to gain access to your WordPress admin area and files.
Ensure to change your admin account login name from the default user name “admin” or “administrator” to something a name that is difficult to guess and isn’t the same name as your website domain.
5 Essential WordPress Plugins
Jetpack by WordPress.com
Jetpack provides 24/7 security protection from brute-force attacks (unauthorized logins) by scanning for malware and blocking malicious attacks on your site. Spam filtering detects and blocks unsolicited comments.
WP Security
The All In One WordPress Security plugin uses a security points system to gauge how secure your site is by taking you through the following general settings:
User Accounts
User Login
User Registration
Database Security
Filesystem Security
Blacklist Manager
Firewall
Brute Force
SPAM Prevention
Scanner
Maintenance
Check out this WordPress tutorial by SERT Media for a step by step instruction on setting up the All In One WP Security & Firewall plugin.
The most common type of spam on your site is the contact page and comments sections on your blog page.
Spammers fill out the comment or message fields with random and annoying spam messages.
The good news is this plugin may come already installed on your WordPress. If not, just go to your WP dashboard. Click ‘Add New’ plugins and search for ‘Akismet Anti-Spam.’
Cloudflare
In addition to speeding up your website, Cloudflare provides a go-between your website and the webserver. Oh, did I mention securing your website with Cloudfare is free?
You can think of Cloudflare as the first line of defense. When users visit your site, they will first pass-through the Cloudflare network before a request is sent to your web host.
If you have ever visited a club, the first person you see is a bouncer at the front door vetting guests by checking IDs.
There is always someone trying to figure out ways to get past the bouncer with trickery and fake outs.
The individual knows they are not supposed to be there but will give the desperate tactic of sneaking in through the back exit a try. It’s worth a shot, right?
The bouncer tells all the other bouncers to be on the look for a person matching a description trying to sneak into the club.
Just like bouncers, Cloudflare works to keeps the bad guys (malicious actors) out of the club (their network).
Without Cloudflare, your website is naked, subject to slow page speed, bots, and hackers attempting to visit and conduct malicious activity.
WPS Hide Login
Protect and secure your WordPress admin area by hiding your wp-admin URL from being discovered by bots and hackers using the plugin WPS Hide Login.
You can change the URL to anything you want. Just make sure you can remember the name. How does it work you ask? Let me explain.
Everyone knows the very common URL wp-login.php. You don’t want just anybody knowing what your login page is.
The WPS Hide Login plugin hides your login page. When someone goes to your wp-login.php page, the visitor will be redirected to another page.
YouTube has a plethora of tutorials with step by step instructions on how to set it up this feature in less than a minute.
After securing your site, the next area of importance to visit your WordPress admin directory.
As I said earlier, Your website can never be too secure. Having a layered security approach will strengthen website protection of your site.
For more ways to secure your site, check out my post, 10 Online Security Tips, and remember always to use strong passwords.
With more individuals working from home, keeping your sensitive information and data protected and secured takes priority.
Just because a company allows employees to work remotely, it doesn’t mean the company you work for has the information technology staff or technical infrastructure to keep your personal information safe, keep your computer protected and updated, or stop a data breach in real-time by hackers attempting to access your information.
Issues concerning the security of electronic systems, devices, and information and ways to protect against denial-of-service (DoS) attacks are critical to maintaining password hygiene and strengthening internet security.
Threats
Malicious code threats consisting of viruses, worms, and trojan horses can be installed on your computer and hidden without your knowledge, which creates a backdoor for attackers to access your personally identifiable information (PII).
Phishing, spear phishing, and social engineering threats use e-mail or website to solicit information by targeting a specific organization or group and seeking unauthorized access to confidential data through e-mail spoofing.
Using the same email and password for all of your online accounts makes it easy for hackers to access your online accounts. Avoid using dictionary words, your social security number, birth date, names, or information posted on your social media (i.e. name of a pet or bank vendor) as passwords.
Using free WiFi networks (i.e. airport, coffee shop, hotel, shopping center) may sound like a great idea to save a few dollars, but you don’t when the last time the company or vendor last changed their password.
Some places have the password posted on an information board or at the checkout counter for anyone to access.
Depending on the strength of a WiFi signal, it’s easy for an individual to sit in his/her car, exploit connections, and steal your login information to clean out your bank account.
Personally Identifiable Information (PII)
PII is any information maintained by a company that can be used to link or trace an individual’s identity. Examples of PII:
Name
Address
Social security number
Email address
Date of birth
Driver’s license number
Phone number
IP address
Financial, employment, or location data
Combining two types of PII, such as a person’s name with a birth date, identity thieves have all they need to commit identity theft and ruining your credit.
Protection of both work and personal information on your computer, mobile devices, or company-issued equipment can help to prevent attacks by putting to practice these ten online security tips.
Protecting Yourself
u003cliu003eMaintain and use anti-virus software and firewalls. u003c/liu003eu003cliu003eUse webcam stickers dots or sliders to prevent hackers from accessing your personal information on social media and spying through the camerau003c/liu003eu003cliu003eCreate long and strong passwords consisting of a combination of numbers, symbols, upper and lowercase letters.u003c/liu003eu003cliu003eInstead of using free public Wifi at a hotel, use a pocket WiFi or hotspot on your smartphone when traveling.u003c/liu003eu003cliu003eCreate a secure connection while visiting a website, conducting online banking transactions, and accessing business networks and shared drives over the Internet by using a virtual private network (VPN). A VPN is a service that hides your IP address encrypts all the data you send and receive through internet traffic and protects your online identity, making it impossible to read by anyone who intercepts it. If you need to use free public WiFi at a coffee shop, you need to secure your device with a u003ca href=u0022https://go.nordvpn.net/aff_c?offer_id=15u0026amp;aff_id=33152u0026amp;url_id=902u0022 class=u0022rank-math-linku0022u003eVPNu003c/au003e.u003c/liu003eu003cliu003eAn open network allows hackers to sniff web traffic, send fake ads or links to click on which contain viruses. Encrypt data on your network.u003c/liu003eu003cliu003eBack up your data.u003c/liu003eu003cliu003eKeep software up to date.u003c/liu003eu003cliu003eDo not store usernames or passwords in a spreadsheet. Use a password manager app to store passwords on computers and other devices. Password manager apps are a great tool to use to generate strong passwords. u003c/liu003eu003cliu003eAdd a layer of security by installing u003ca href=u0022https://www.techrepublic.com/article/two-factor-authentication-cheat-sheet/u0022 class=u0022rank-math-linku0022u003etwo-factor authenticationu003c/au003e to your technological devices and online accounts. The two-factor authentication app will generate a code.u003c/liu003e
Now that you know what you need to know about safeguarding your sensitive information, protecting your computer and it’s contents, whether it’s working from home, on vacation, or enjoying a pumpkin spice latte, is the same as locking your door when you leave the house.
One last tip, never leave your computer unattended and change your passwords regularly to keep the bad guys out.
You’re shedding like a cat leaving a path of hair strands in your bed, car, and on the couch. A little hair is okay, but it appears more like leaving bread crumbs to solve a mystery.
As you brush your hair in the morning, you might be asking, “why is my hair falling out?”
Before thinking about calling it a day, buying some clippers, and shaving your head, let’s figure out why you feel you’re shedding like a cat and how to fix it.
Let’s talk about the uncomfortable subject of excessive hair loss.
I noticed a few more hairs than regular taking over my living space.
I have thick curly hair and am no stranger to the number of hairs sitting in my hairbrush after a good wash, but this was excessive.
I could breathe, and the hairs on my head would fall off like leaves on a tree in the autumn.
Was my hair too dry? At times my hair did feel like a barrel of hay, which told me it was time for a hair cut.
Even after getting a hair cut, the hair strands kept on free falling to the point I noticed my hair thinning on the crown of my head.
Hair loss can be caused by changes in diet, stress, pregnancy, chronic illness, vitamin or mineral deficiency, high amounts of magnesium, and calcium in the water.
Repetitive stress and tension to the hair follicle can leave hair brittle.
Split, dry ends, and dull hair are signs that either you’re long overdue for a hair cut, hair is becoming damaged from over-styling with heat, or lack of not drinking enough water.
Stress can deplete your body of vitamins and minerals. Taking a supplement helps, but nothing can replace eating fruits and vegetables.
Asking for a blood draw to identify vitamin and mineral deficiencies can be a big help in identifying the causes of your hair loss.
Uterine Fibroids
During an annual exam, my doctor found something abnormal in my uterus and determined I needed to get an ultrasound followed by an MRI to get a closer look at my pelvis and uterus.
The results showed I had two uterine fibroids.
90% of black women develop fibroids before turning 50. The majority are benign (noncancerous) growths. Symptoms of uterine fibroids are:
irregular periods (prolonged, heavy, long)
pain in the abdomen
increased frequency or urgency to urinate
pain during intercourse
For over a year, I experienced multiple periods a month, which was unusual. I mean, once a month is a challenge, but every two weeks is a little much.
Excessive loss of blood, can result in iron deficiency anemia.
I had an IUD (Intrauterine Device) inserted five years ago in which my periods in the past were light.
When I visited my gynecologist and mentioned to one of the nurses of a change in my periods, she chalked it up to my IUD being expired.
I should have known I was being taken for a ride as my gynecologist has the nickname the “IUD Whisperer” and would never say something so idiotic to her patients.
The lesson here is to trust your gut and not allow anyone, man or woman convince you, “it’s all in your head.”
Don’t be afraid to speak up or seek a second opinion.
Acupuncture and Medicinal Herbs
Fast forward two years. The weekly acupuncture treatments for hormone imbalances resulted in the shrinking of the two ovarian cysts.
My acupuncture prescribed herb Resolve (Lower) to dispel stagnated blood and Polygonum 14 to reduce shedding and accelerate hair growth.
You can expect to see little hairs sprouting up three months.
You can’t buy these herbs online without being under the care of a healthcare professional and for good reason.
If you don’t take the right dosage, you can end up experiencing contradictions, which can worsen your health condition. Who wants that?
In addition to the alternative treatments of acupuncture and herbs to treat uterine fibroids, some users have reported drinking apple cider vinegar helped to shrink their ovarian cysts.
Foods That Help Slow Fibroid Growth
Low potassium is one contributor to triggering these growths. When I looked at my lab work again, I in fact had low potassium.
Potassium can easily be added into your diet by eating bananas, avocados, oat bran, dates, lentils, and nut milk.
I make a morning smoothie combining frozen fruit, zuccinni (for its neutral taste and water content), one tablespoon of walnut oil, and Elmhurst 1925 walnut milk I buy online from Nuts.com or the actual Elmhurst 1925 website.
Test For Hard Water
Ever traveled to areas of the United States and noticed how soft your hair was only to get home, wash your hair, and feel a difference in texture? Why is that?
If you live in the United States, over 85% of households have hard water. Take a look at this map to see if your city is affected.
If you color your hair or go to a salon, know that hard water and color-treated hair do not mix and can lead to color fading and brassiness.
Knowing what type of water you have in your area helps to narrow down the contributing factors damaging your hair.
Who likes watching money (hair color) running down the drain?
You don’t need fancy gadgets to test for hard water. If you’re a Dr. Bronner’s fan like I am, watch the two-minute video below.
A second quick way to test for hard water is by taking a look at your shower head and faucets.
I live in an area that has extremely hard water. You know you have hard water if there is mineral residue on or around your shower head and faucet.
You might be breathing a sigh of relief right now, thinking it was your household cleaning technique creating the problem.
Nope, it’s just a build-up of minerals. Just add salt pellets to your water softener.
Hair Health Check
Having hard water can trick you into thinking you have a dandruff problem. That is what I thought.
Normally I can get away with washing and styling my hair once a week.
For those with curly hair, washing your hair every day can be damaging to your curls.
I noticed large flakes sticking to my scalp and becoming really itchy. No matter how much I washed my hair, the flakes wouldn’t go away.
The culprit? Mineral deposits from hard water.
My curls became high maintenance. Found myself washing my hair a couple of times a week, yet the itching kept on getting worse.
Hard water can damage hair.
Knowing the signs of build-up on the hair can help undo the damage and get your hair back to its healthy state.
I have since switched to distilled water. Distilled water is the by-product of minerals removed during the distillation process of boiling water.
The steam leftover is your distilled water.
Buying gallon jugs from your grocery store, or purchasing a water distilling machine on Amazon for less than $100 that takes less than four hours to make is another option.
You can find a plethora of videos on YouTube on how to make distilled water at home. It is a time-consuming process, yet it is good to know how to do it in a pinch when purchasing distilled water isn’t available.
What Helps With Hair Loss?
The layering of alternative treatments and home remedies can help accelerate hair regrowth and doesn’t have to be complicated.
Home remedies are natural to easy to make, as most of the products are already sitting in your kitchen cabinet.
Many of us wash and condition our hair incorrectly and haven’t been taught the proper way to care for our hair.
If you have thick and/or curly hair, using a lot of products like oils and silicone to moisturize and protect hair, can add a build-up to your scalp and contribute to itching.
I came across Manes by Mell YouTube Channel when searching for videos to cut my hair at home.
Her explanations about different hair types and curl patterns have been a game-changer.
Learning the ins and outs about scalp care assisted me in making the final determination if I was suffering from a dry scalp or dandruff.
The verdict? Dry scalp. Since showing love to my scalp with nightly massages, I haven’t seen a speck or flake.
Walnut Oil and Essential Oils
Walnut oil contains Omega-3s, which prevents cell damage, destroys dandruff, treats psoriasis, strengthens hair, and promotes regrowth.
Fantastic in salad dressings and smoothies, walnut oil is an excellent oil for massaging your scalp combined with essential oil as a carrier oil.
When selecting a nut or essential oil, ensure you’re buying an organic. Don’t go cheap on your hair. A little goes a long way.
Essential oils can burn if applied directly to the skin. Always mix essential oils with a carrier oil (almond, olive, jojoba, etc.).
Mix two tablespoons of walnut oil with five drops of ylang-ylang oil.
Save time by making your scalp massage oil in bulk by doubling the amount and storing it in a small glass bottle with a glass eyedropper.
Doing it this way makes it easy for me to measure out ten drops of the oil.
Depending on the thickness of your hair, use more or less if you have thinner hair.
Massage into your scalp and leave on for 20 minutes or overnight before shampooing out.
If you’re not a fan of ylang-ylang, check out this list of alternative essential oils for hair.
There is no need to buy a fancy glass bottle.
Once you use up your favorite essential oil, reuse a small glass container to store your hair scalp oil.
I repurposed an empty AVEDA Damage Remedy Oil glass bottle.
These bottles have been coming in handy lately find new uses for when I travel with a carry-on.
If you have a label maker, slap a label (like the one above) on the glass bottle. I wrap a piece of clear packing tape on top of the label to prevent smudging.
The size is small enough to travel in your carry-on.
I massage my scalp every night before going to bed, along with wearing a bonnet.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Scratching the scalp from the build-up of dirt, sebum, and hair products can increase thinning and hair loss.
If you’re experiencing hair thinning, the vitamins and minerals found in apple cider vinegar can promote hair growth by cleansing your hair and scalp by balancing the scalp’s pH level.
The acidity can help your scalp for the occasional itchy scalp like dandruff or psoriasis.
Rinsing your hair with apple cider vinegar (ACV) washes away the build-up of hair products that can make hair lifeless and dull.
In addition to nightly scalp massages, when it is wash day, I skip my walnut and ylang-ylang hair miracle elixir and use Uncle Harry’s Hair and Scalp Elixir.
It’s properties of ACV cleanse the scalp to remove build-up, get rid of dandruff, and accelerates the growth of those baby hairs from root stimulation.
If you have an oily scalp, this elixir will do wonders for your hair.
Apply six-ten drops to your scalp, massage it in, let it sit overnight, and wash out the next day.
ACV, when consumed, is known to purify the liver, contains vitamins and minerals like potassium.
Imagine being able to take a day trip to scale sand dunes, take a ferry to a car-free island, enjoy Greek food, get lost for a couple of hours on a 982-acre island park of paradise in the middle of a major city, and experience “The Motown Sound.”
What beautiful travel destination am I referencing? Michigan, of course, but more specifically the Upper (U.P. for short) and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan. Yes, there is a difference.
I’m sharing with you my favorite ten things to do in Michigan.
As a child, I would spend the summer with my grandparents, who lived in Inkster, Michigan, a suburb outside of Detroit, Michigan.
Until I was old enough to fly on my own, my mother would fly with me from to Michigan, hand me off to my grandparents, and yes you guessed it, got right back on a plane a flew back to Minnesota to go work a second job to save up to buy school clothes and supplies.
My grandfather was a pastor of an A.M.E church. Both my grandparents were heavily involved in their community. The three of us would take road trips to attend church conferences and visit family along the way.
Pretty much, my summer was about exploring the beauty and charm of Michigan.
When people mention the city of Detroit, a couple of things come to mind. General Motors (GM), Motown, and Northern Soul music. The debate is still out whether the birth of techno music (electronic dance music) started in Chicago or Detroit.
10 Things To Do In Michigan
Upper Peninsula
Visiting the U.P. whether it’s spring, summer, fall, or winter will give you different scenic views of the wilderness, lighthouses, waterfalls, Great Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and appreciation of the magnificent state and national parks of the Midwest.
Mackinac Island
The Mackinac Bridge connects the Upper and Lower Peninsulas. Mackinac Island is car-free. One way of getting there is by ferry from Mackinaw City or St. Ignace.
Cost per person for a 40-minute round-trip ride to and from Mackinac Island is under $20. A day trip to Mackinac Island isn’t enough.
Free, self-park secured, and valet parking allows you to explore the island, whether it’s for the day or an overnight stay at one of the island’s hotels.
An overnight stay at the Grand Hotel will take you back time to the days of horse-drawn carriages and bikes. Built-in 1887, the hotel has 397 rooms. The 600 feet porch offers spectacular views of the Straits of Mackinac.
How does kicking back in a rocking chair sound?
Retail stores and fudge shops fill the 4-square-mile island sidewalks. Indulge in horse and carriage tour for a leisure ride to take in the true beauty of the island.
If you plan on visiting in the winter, flying is another option.
When the conditions are cold enough, an ice bridge connects the island to St. Ignace. Islanders zip over to get supplies and gas via snowmobile before the ice bridge lasts a few weeks before melting away.
Ice fishing is a popular winter activity in my home state of Minnesota. I haven’t tried it, but I have walked onto a frozen lake. While the lake may be frozen, the sound of cracks and air bubbles underneath is enough for me to stay on land.
I can’t imagine snowmobiling across a frozen lake, but then again, someone might ask me what I was thinking of jumping out of a plane to get an unrestricted view of Mother Nature.
Brockway Mountain Drive
For a breathtaking view of Lake Superior, take a scenic drive through Copper Harbor. The top of Brockway Mountain stands at 735 feet.
On a clear day, you can see Isle Royale from 50 miles away. Take is Isle Royale Queen IV ferry for an overnight stay to view the Milky Way and the Northern Lights.
Curious about what secrets lie below Lake Superior? Explore different shipwreck sites sitting 10-20 feet below in the water and a historic lighthouse in a glass bottom boat off Grand Island in Munising, Michigan.
Isle Royale National Park
Michigan’s only National Park Isle Royale is surrounded by Lake Superior nestled in between Minnesota, Canada, and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
No cars are allowed on the island.
The island is accessible by ferry, private boat, or seaplane for day and overnight trips. Ferry boats operate between Houghton, Rock Harbor, and Copper Harbor, Michigan and Grand Portage, Minnesota.
The National Park Service website provides more detailed information about places to go, things to do plan, transportation, and loading options.
Sault Sainte Marie
If you’re into nature and landscape photography, obsessed with waterfalls like I am, or looking for a perfect place to take a selfie a visit to Tahquamenon Falls will leave you in awe a craving an ice-cold root beer float.
The dark brown color of tannins from spruces and cedars of water crashing down is why Tahquamenon Falls is given the nickname by the locals “Root Beer Falls.”
A visit isn’t complete without visiting the Museum Ship Valley Camp filled with exhibits and artifacts from shipwrecks like the Edmund Fitzgerald and learn about the history of the soo locks.
Did you know there is a Sault Sainte Marie in Ontario, Canada? The sister city can be explored by crossing the International Bridge.
Instead of driving yourself, sit back and let someone else do the driving by taking the 2.8-mile journey via the International Bridge Bus. Explore the Canadian wilderness by going on an Agawa Canyon Train Tour.
Crossing the United States border into Canada requires a valid passport, passport cards, NEXUS, FAST, or SENTRI card. Be sure to check
Lower Peninsula
Torch Lake
In addition to being the music and global center of the automotive industry, the treasured Midwestern state that borders three of the Great Lakes, Michigan is known for its scenic lakeshores, clear and tropical blue waters.
You, too, can experience your slice of the Caribbean, as Michigan offers a lot of beautiful beaches with warm sand. Just a disclaimer. Michigan lakes are beautiful, clear, and COLD!
Torch Lake may look like the Caribbean Sea, but as someone who has visited the West Indies and swam in the Caribbean Sea, depending on how you like cold water, a dipping of the toe might be all you can tolerate!
Sleepy Bear Dunes
When you think of large sand dunes, I’m sure the first location that comes to mind is the African Sahara. Lucky for you, you don’t have to travel across the Atlantic Ocean to experience Earth’s natural wonder shaped by glaciers.
I visited Sleepy Bear Dunes National Lakeshore as a kid and was in awe of the large amounts of sand so much that I like the other kids thought the easiest way to enjoy the outdoor experience was to climb the dunes. Say what?
If you have a lot of energy to burn, climbing to the top of the dune with a rewarding view of Glen Lake is worth the effort. It takes 3-4 hours, but the fun part is once you get to the top, getting down to the bottom is much faster.
I remember running down and losing my footing and rolling down the sand dunes with a perfectly exfoliated face. That extra glow of dead skin leaving my face made the experience worthwhile.
The sand is hot, so if you’re thinking about treating the dunes like a day at the beach and climbing the dune slopes shoeless, dune grassroots have a stealth way of making an appearance by stabbing you in the feet.
If you have it on your bucket list to visit all 61 National Parks and love the action-packed experience of sandboarding down the rolling dunes, these national parks are a must-see:
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, Colorado
White Sands National Park, New Mexico
Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, Death Valley
Port Austin
Spend the day kayaking or stand-up paddleboarding exploring Turnip Rock and sea caves in the shallow waters of Lake Huron.
Detroit
Motown Museum
In 1959, Berry Gordy established Motown Records. It was a first African-American owned record label whose cultural influence and sound brought together gospel, blues, pop, and R&B.
Hitsville U.S.A was Motown’s first headquarters where songs were records by Marvin Gaye, The Supremes, Lionel Ritchie and the Commodores, Diana Ross, The Jackson 5, and Stevie Wonder to name a few.
The Motown Museum is located at 2648 West Grand in Detroit, Michigan.
The influence of Black American soul music sometimes referred to as “northern soul” can still be felt today.
Bell Isle Park
Situated in the middle of Detroit, Michigan, the island park sits in the Detroit River. The 982-acre island park is the perfect day trip to enjoy the outdoors.
Climb the life-size statue of James Scott for a selfie or get up close with the wildlife at the Belle Isle Nature Zoo. Give yourself permission to be a kid and take a ride down Belle Isle’s giant slide.
Cool down on a hot summer day with a dip in the refreshing waters of the Detroit River.
Greektown
You don’t have to fly to Greece for a frappé coffee, baklava, or moussaka. Spend a few hours experiencing an authentic Greek lunch in the historic commercial and entertainment district in downtown Detroit. Michigan.
Located in a small corner in the heart of downtown Detroit along Monroe Avenue between Brush and St. Antoine Streets, the area was first settled by Greek immigrants in the 1830s.
Popular restaurants that will New Parthenon, Golden Fleece, Laikon Cafe, Cyprus Taverna, Pegasus Taverna, Pizza Papalis, and Fishbone’s Rhythm Kitchen Cafe.
Going all-in to double our efforts with staying home to keep people safe, self-isolation, and social distancing are turning folks into quarantine cooking and baking rock stars.
With empty grocery shelves and long lines wrapping around the block to get into a grocery store to grab a few things, more and more folks are looking for easy meals to cook at home.
I’m sharing some of my favorite easy to cook at home meals that will make you think twice about going to the grocery store.
Instead, consider embracing grocery delivery to get your fresh and dry produce so you can spend more time having fun cooking instead of waiting in a checkout line.
Dusting Off Kitchen Appliances
I have found myself dusting off my Kitchenaid appliances, putting them to good use cooking easy meals I have saved over the years in my favorites folder on my laptop gone untouched.
I have plenty of recipe books to explore that can keep me busy for many years.
One thing I kind of miss is running errands, going to the grocery store, and discovering the new items at Trader Joes.
Walking up and down the aisles was therapeutic.
I have decided to stop going to the grocery store because, well I can.
It’s 2020 and unless you don’t have internet access in your home (there are some residences that don’t have broadband), the majority of goods and services can be ordered online.
Now these days, you have to worry about the side hustlers who are embracing the entrepreneurial spirit and taking full advantage of a crisis with price gouging.
A six-pack of shelf stable whole milk I bought two months ago for $9, third party vendors and now asking $20-40.
Thank goodness for plant based barista style milk.
I’m now having fun discovering different brands I can’t find in stores, online.
In-Person & Online Grocery Delivery Shopping
I found myself choosing between standing outside six feet from the person in front or behind me for up to 30 minutes or ordering dry goods and produce online.
Letting someone benefit from a grocery delivery side hustle (after being furloughed), to keep a roof over their head and food on the table, I will hands down choose to support these individuals.
The majority of dry goods I acquire is from shopping in bulk on Nuts.com. The prices are better than what I would get in most popular grocery stores and shipping is fast.
The company dates back to 1922 when Poppy Sol started his own business, the Newark Nut Company.
Love, love, love supporting small businesses, especially mom and pop shops. I recommend checking them out.
For the life of me that couldn’t get the thing to turn on.
So I gave up on it and let the food processor sit in a time out corner for two years.
Instead, I found a co-op that had a machine that could make peanut and almond butter in less than a minute.
Guidance state, local, governmental, and medical professionals have recommended going to the grocery store when essential.
I have deemed going out to get freshly made peanut butter as non-essential.
I miss my food co-op and can’t wait to visit again.
I loved this service, but I have to admit a little expensive. For the amount of a 1/4 pound of peanut butter, I could buy a pound of unsalted or honey roasted peanuts and make a 1/4 pound batches.
I have since revisited my troubleshooting efforts after coming across a YouTube video that finally filled in the missing pieces on what I was doing wrong.
Knowing how good the KitchenAid brand is, (I have a KitchenAid stand mixer as well), I’m glad I didn’t go with my first instinct and recreate a scene out of Office Space and throw my food processor out the window.
This YouTube video saved my KitchenAid food processor’s life.
Nuts Butters
Using 1-2 ingredients and food processor, in as little as 5-10 minutes, you can have homemade and creamy:
Every couple of weeks I used to buy a couple of bottles of orange, mint, rose water, and pomegranate molasses.
Pomegranate molasses is used in middle eastern cuisine in salad dressings and meat dishes.
I tried it with a salad and didn’t find it appealing, but I find an alternative hack that worked for me.
Drizzle some pomegranate molasses with a combination of dark raspberry balsamic vinegar, pecan oil, maple syrup, and lemon olive oil (2:1 ratio of oil and vinegar).
Whisk the ingredients together in a bowl and make your fruit salad as usual.
The pomegranate molasses give a sweet and sour citrus punch balancing out the raspberry balsamic vinegar and bring out the lemon flavor of the lemon olive oil.
Another use I have found is making fizzy drinks with my soda stream.
When making pineapple and coconut bars, I use the leftover pineapple juice in the can from the pineapple slices along with a teaspoon of pomegranate molasses to make a fizzy and fruity beverage.
Click here for the Pomegranate Molasses recipe from Club Foody.
Fresh Spinach Pasta
Who new it was so easy to make homemade paste. There are many ways to make pasta, by hand, using a hand pasta gadget, or a KitchenAid mixer with a pasta attachment.
Some are of the opinion that your hands are the best kitchen tools.
I have tried all three ways and surprisingly, the most technologically advanced KitchenAid mixer, I struggled the most with, but I’m getting better.
Ever buy a bag of spinach with the urgency to eat through that bag in a couple of days before it goes bad?
The main use of spinach in my household is to make a smoothie 1-2 times a week. That leaves over half a bag of spinach.
One of my favorite pasta dishes I like to make is spinach pasta.
There is something about homemade spinach pasta that makes me smile. It’s filling, nutritious, and goes with any sauce.
You can search and find more recipes for homemade pasta noodles on various YouTube channels.
Got a slow cooker at home?
Instead of fighting over the last rotisserie chicken at your favorite grocery store, why not roll up your sleeves and make your own slow cooker rotisserie chicken?
Here is a brief list of meals you can make with a rotisserie chicken:
Copycat Subway bacon and chicken ranch wraps
Chicken salad
Chicken curry and rice
Use leftover scraps and bones to make homemade chicken stock
Crispy Oven Baked Fries
I love potatoes and love am a french fry lover. In the past, when I would get a french fry craving, I would run out to a fast-food drive-thru to get my fix of one large fry with no salt.
Then I decided to try and make my own. I would make french fries using a pot and immersing potato slices in peanut oil.
One of my favorite weekend meals to make is fish and chips with a side of mushy peas.
I was never comfortable with this method of using oil once and don’t usually cook anything using peanut oil.
Having to resort to throwing a bottle of used cooking oil away in the trash for it to leak in a landfill (oil should never be dumped down the drain) has never sat well with me.
Luckily, there is another way to enjoy crispy french fries by baking them in the oven. I watched a demonstration on tv watching a weekend cooking show. Who knew it was that easy.
Little waste, easy clean up, and the most important, tasty french fries anytime you get that craving.
Click here for the baked french fries (oven fries) recipe from Spend with Pennies.
More Ways to Prepare Delicious Dishes
Another way to prepare delicious dishes is learning from the cocktail and kitchen pros who work at luxury hotels by bringing recipes to you virtually the form of cooking lessons from their kitchen:
Italian cuisine cooking class from an executive Chef’s kitchen. Instructions are in Italian, but Google Translate is an excellent tool if your comprehension of Italian is a bit rusty.
Visit Blue Sky Country without leaving home and learn how to make campfire smores
I hope these recipes ideas are enough for you to plan meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, keep you busy experimenting in the kitchen, and having fun cooking easy meals at home.
For more recipe ideas, check out my post, 8 Must Try Healthy Food Recipes. Pineapple and coconut bars with frothy coffee anyone?
Have you ever bought many beauty or household products only to find out later that they all do the same thing?
I have a confession to make. I’m a recovering product hoarder. Yup, I said it with one exception. I still love trying new products, but finding multiple uses is now the name of the game for me to reduce clutter.
Finding new uses for a product is a way of convincing my psyche that I’m clever and innovative.
All jokes aside, if you’re a Dr. Bronners fan, you’re all too familiar with the 18-in-1 uses listed on every one of their bottles. Pure genius, indeed.
My favorite household product, baking soda, has over 50 uses.
In this post, I will share four ways to use baking soda powder and how it is a game-changer in reducing waste and cost.
4 Ways to Use Baking Soda
Kitchen and RoomDeodorizer
Baking soda isn’t just for neutralizing food odors in your refrigerator; it can also be used to make a simple room deodorizer.
Using a jelly-size mason jar, fill it up 50% and add 5-10 drops of your favorite essential oil.
Cover with a decorative lid or cut off some cheesecloth, and secure with a rubber band.
Set baking soda in your bathroom, bedroom, or cup holder in your car to absorb odors. Replace the baking soda every three months. What do you do with the used baking soda?
1.Unclog a Kitchen Sink
Watch this kitchen drain hack before reaching for Drano to unclog your sink.
Not only does baking soda powder deodorize drain, but the combination of white distilled vinegar unclogs your sink in less than 15 minutes.
Add your favorite essential oil like lavender, peppermint, or germ fighter to mask the vinegar smell.
2.DIY Mouse Trap
For less than $1, you can get rid of those pesky mice in the kitchen walls naturally without using a mousetrap or chemical pellets.
Mix one tablespoon of all-purpose flour and baking soda in a tray (old jar lids work wonders) and set in suspected areas where mice roam around your house.
Within a few days of trying this hack and placing a couple of old lids around the house (laundry room, kitchen, and garage), I no longer heard or saw any more uninvited guests.
There were also no bodies to be found. Either this is a good deterrent, or upon eating the mixture, the pests left the way they came and found a grassy place to sleep.
3. Fizzing Toilet Powder
What if I told you you never had to scrub your toilet as often or again?
I scrub less, and my toilet has never smelled better. I have since moved on to making homemade soft scrubs and housecleaning wipes, repurposing an old cotton T-shirt that almost made it to the landfill.
For more cleaning product recipes and instructions on making a homemade soft scrub with just four ingredients, check out my two-part post, 5 GIY Cleaning Product Secrets.
4. Baking Soda Scrub
Another use for baking soda you may not be aware of is getting rid of dirt and grime under your nails and hands.
Instead of using a nail block to buff your nails while giving yourself a manicure, put half a teaspoon of baking soda in your hand and 5-10 drops of your favorite essential oil or carrier oil (olive oil, almond oil, walnut oil) and mix the two ingredients.
Rub the mixture on your nails and cuticles. Before washing off, rub your hands together. You will be left with soft hands, shiny nails, and healthy cuticles.
This exfoliating trick is excellent for working out in the garden or on vehicles.
Don’t stop with your hands. The mixture is excellent for at-home pedicures to keep toenails healthy.
After exfoliating, add a couple of drops of tea tree to a cotton swab and apply to your toes.
Tea tree is an effective topical antiseptic and antifungal treatment for toenail fungus and athlete’s foot.
While humans are stuck inside, wildlife is roaming around unfazed by the pandemic.
Many of the national parks are being closed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to national park service staff and overwhelming rural hospitals that have limited resources like ICU beds and ventilators.
Just because you can’t travel to these places, it doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy art, culture, the outdoors and connect with nature from the comfort of your couch.
Check out these virtual tours and live-streamed expeditions and get the cocktails ready!
Watch an African Safari Live
Can’t attend an African safari right now? Join and sunrise or sunset safari watching WildEarth’s safariLIVE broadcast directly from Africa to your home.
For broadcast times and to meet characters of the safari here.
Tour Famous Museums and Art Galleries Around the World
When I visited the The Netherlands a couple years ago during an eight-hour layover on my way to Egypt, eight hours may seem like a lot of time to visit Amsterdam, but with the amount of time having to get back to the airport, go through security, and get to your gate, places to visit had to be priortized.
One place I didn’t have time to visit was the Van Gogh museum. Luckily technology allows us to travel virtually anywhere.
2500 museums and art galleries offer virtual tours that allow you to go to any one of these museums without leaving the couch through Google Arts & Culture.
New York’s Metropolitan Opera
New York has a close place to my heart for many reasons.
Twice a year, I visit to watch ballet at the Lincoln Center in the Spring and return in late summer for the US Open to watch my tennis heroes.
On my bucket list is to watch a live opera at New York’s Metropolitan Opera. That dream will have to wait for now, but there is some good news for opera enthusiasts.
You can enjoy a night at the opera with no dress code!
Every night at 7:30 p.m., the Met offers free nightly opera streams.
Click here for list of nightly met opera stream dates and time. Please consider donating to their urgent fundraising campaign.
Experience 5 US National Parks
For those of us who don’t live by or have one of 61 US National Parks in our backyards to walk out the door and down the street for a brisk walk with nature, the National Park Service has made it possible to explore and tour the following parks virtually:
I have been to a few of these and can say once you complete these virtual tours to national parks in the US, when the time comes to safely travel again, you will want to add one or all of these national parks to your next vacation list.
Check out my travel diary posts on the best national parks trips to:
Ever been curious about acupuncture, wondered what it is, what it can do, or if acupuncture works?
If you’re like most people, health maintenance activities like addressing illness or injury may get blown off until the condition begins to interfere with keeping up with life’s daily responsibilities of caring for others.
The daily juggling act of being a spouse, parent, or caregiver, stress, anxiety, and frustration can deplete energy.
The old Italian saying, “as long as you have your health, nothing else matters” is an easy concept to node your head in agreement about mindfully taking an active role in your health versus putting it into practice.
For less than one hour a week, bi-weekly, or monthly, regular acupuncture treatments can help you regain and maintain health and well being.
Acupuncture has been used for medicinal purposes for over 2,000 years as an alternative treatment to activate the body’s Qi (pronounced “chee”) to promote energy flow throughout the body by improving natural healing and overall function.
The noninvasive whole-body approach of acupuncture uses tiny needles to stimulate points under the skin to treat Qi imbalances or disruptions and to maintain wellness.
How thin is the needle? The size of a cat’s whisker.
I compare the insertion of acupuncture needles to receiving a flu immunization shot in my arm.
Upon injection of the vaccine, the feeling of my body pooling energy in response to the viruses in forming antibodies except there is little pain.
Upon insertion of the acupuncture needle, you may experience a sensation of euphoric energy moving throughout the body.
Don’t be alarmed, what your feeling just means the treatment is working.
What Can Acupuncture Treat?
Acupuncture is proving itself as effective as a complementary healthcare modality with conventional methods and traditional approaches to treat a variety of acute and chronic conditions from musculoskeletal problems like low back pain to reproductive issues like infertility and menstrual irregularity.
Below are medical conditions acupuncture can be effective with treating:
When thinking about the detailed planning and details involved in maintaining health and wellness for your whole self, we can draw on similarities in semi and annual activities like dental hygiene and seasonal car tune-ups.
Visiting the dentist once or twice a year can prevent tooth decay and avoid having to come back for expensive follow-up visits or dental procedures, a root canal, dental crown, or tooth filling.
Maintaining your car with seasonal tune-ups and winterizing your vehicle before the first snowstorm is a preventive safety measure.
Versus ending up stuck on the side of the road or in a ditch in sub-zero temperatures during a blizzard waiting for AAA to arrive due to worn-out tires.
Acupuncture Herbal Medicine
Keeping up with life’s daily responsibilities while engaging in an entire health approach involving the body, mind, and spirit to remain strong and balanced is one of the best investments we can make in achieving and maintaining optimal levels of wellness.
In addition to receiving holistic care, your acupuncturist may recommend herbs to strengthen your body.
I currently take herbs for uterine fibroids and hair loss resulting from a hormone imbalance.
Acupuncture isn’t going to be an overnight miracle. Healing takes time. How long? Someone once told me whenever the physical or mental condition started, that is how long it’s going to take.
Most of us can’t pinpoint when our health conditions started. I can say when I started receiving acupuncture treatments, I noticed little changes in less than a month.
Pay more attention to the changes and celebrate the milestones to living pain-free.
The combination of acupuncture and herbs allows me to receive the full benefits of enhancing my physical and emotional health.
Incorporating anti-inflammatory and strong antioxidant ingredients like turmeric and honey into your morning latte not only can boost the immune system, but also prevent illness.
Swapping out dairy for plant-based milk provides plant-based nutrition with servings of whole-grain oats and proteins per 8-ounces.
Regardless if you’re a fan of dairy milk or nut milk, nothing says yummy like turmeric and honey marrying with espresso coffee.
Popularity Of Plant-Based Milk
Oatmilk is popular plant-based milk used in coffee lattes followed by almond, hemp, and cashew.
One word of caution when buying store-bought nut milk.
Make sure to read the label on the back to make sure the plant-based milk doesn’t contain binders or fillers.
My go-to brand is Elmhurst 1925. Elmhurst 1925 operated as a dairy company for 90 years before switching to plant-based milk in 2017.
Their HydroRelease method extracts more nutrition from nuts with up to four more nuts per serving compared to other store brands without gums or emulsifiers makes their nuts milk thick creamy enough to froth.
Putting these two ingredients and incorporating nut milk might sound odd, but my advice to you is don’t knock it until you try it. It’s easy to make homemade nut milk.
My favorite coffees are from my travels in which various spices like cinnamon and cardamom are included to give it a unique flavor without being overpowering.
I enjoyed the turmeric honey latte during a stop in Seward, Alaska on a seven-day Alaska cruise from Vancouver, British Columbia.
Since then, I have made tweaks to the recipe by including pumpkin spice which has ginger, allspice, nutmeg, and cinnamon, a perfect combination of anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory power.
Turmeric and Honey Benefits
Turmeric is the essential ingredient in Indian cuisine that gives curry that yellow color. The herb has a long history of being used in traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurveda health treatments for diseases and ailments.
The natural pain reliever contains manganese, iron, vitamin B6, potassium, vitamin C, and magnesium that can treat and prevent headaches, improve IBS symptoms, ease depression symptoms.
Honey may contain trace amounts of vitamins and minerals, but it is rich in antioxidants which reduces the risk of strokes, heart attacks, lower bad cholesterol and raise good cholesterol.
It’s easy to add this herb to your favorite drink and cook in your food by slicing fresh turmeric for a stronger punch and a great way to get more herbs in your diet.
I stay away from turmeric powder as some brands have unknown additives not listed on the labels like wheat and starch that can cause adverse symptoms in people with gluten intolerance or celiac disease.
To prevent fresh turmeric from going bad, buy a couple of pieces from the grocery store, store in the freezer and grate it.
Turmeric Honey Latte
Incorporating anti-inflammatory and strong antioxidant ingredients that give an extra boost to the immune system like turmeric and honey into your morning coffee can be accomplished in six easy steps.
Add 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric and one tablespoon of honey to one cup of dairy or plant-based milk to a saucepan.
Warm-up for a minute or two before it reaches boiling point.
Use a frothing wand to froth the milk.
Pour shots of espresso into a coffee cup and top with frothed milk.
Give yourself an added boost of vitamin C by adding one organic dried orange slice to the turmeric honey latte. It gives a hint ofcitrus flavor without being overpowering.
Steep the orange slice in the coffee to soak up the turmeric to eat after enjoying your latte.
Notes
If you don’t have fresh turmeric on hand, substitute it with turmeric powder. Be sure to check the package label or contact the manufacturer to ensure no additives or fillers are included.
Whether you are short on time, snowed in and stuck at home, recovering from a natural disaster, social distancing due to a cold, flu, or underlying illness, staying at home doesn’t have to mean self-isolation or the inability to eat healthy by spending hours in the kitchen.
I am sharing a few like eight of my favorite go-to healthy food recipes that are easy to make in less than 30 minutes for less than $10 per recipe.
Most of the ingredients required like all-purpose flour, sugar, butter are already in your pantry or easy to obtain from a grocery store, or delivered straight to your door by shopping online.
Instead of pasting the instructions and making this post longer than needed, I am providing links to each recipe are in the first paragraph.
I came across the easy recipe while watching the Canadian show, Cityline. The food segment features chefs showing how to make easy meals for those short on time, but want to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
While the recipe is mentioned as a dessert, pineapple and coconut can be enjoyed at any time of day.
After making this recipe a couple of times, play around with the ingredients.
For example, the pineapple filling asks for 1/2 a cup of sugar while the crust asks for 1/2 a cup of brown sugar.
The canned pineapple is already sweet. Since I make homemade brown sugar by adding molasses to white cane sugar, substituting white sugar with brown sugar tames the sweetness.
Maple sugar is also another great substitute along with a swirl of pomegranate molasses.
2.Cilantro-Lime Rice
If you’re a Chipotle burrito bowl fan like I am, the cilantro-lime rice is one of the best items that brings all the flavors together.
Now you can make the copycat cilantro-lime rice at home. The recipe asks for fresh cilantro. The first time I made the recipe, I didn’t have fresh cilantro on hand and used dried cilantro. That was a bad idea.
Yes, some recipes that ask for fresh ingredients can be substituted with dried ingredients, but for this recipe, using fresh cilantro is the way to go.
The recipe asks for fresh lime juice, but I use a bottle of key lime juice from Peru used to make key lime pies as a substitute for lime as I like to make sparkling water beverages using my soda stream.
3.Carolina Plantation Rice
When it comes to making the rice, I make one tweak to the recipe. There is heirloom rice called Carolina Gold Rice. You can find my Carolina Plantation rice recipe here.
The history of rice in the low country of South Carolina goes something like this taken from the Carolina Plantation Rice website I buy my Carolina Gold Rice from:
“During the Colonial Period, coastal South Carolina was the largest producer of rice in America.
The crop arrived in the area around 1685. A brigantine ship, captained by John Thurber and sailing from the island of Madagascar, encountered a raging storm, perhaps a small hurricane, and put into Charleston Harbor for repairs.
With the ship in dry dock, Captain Thurber met Henry Woodward, the town’s best-known resident, who had the distinction of being the first English settler in the area.
Thurber gave Woodward a bag of rice. Some say a peck, others say a bushel.
Woodward experimented with the rice, which gave him a good crop. Rice was soon on its way to becoming the area’s main cash crop.
Rice remained a dominant commodity on the coastal rivers of South Carolina until the end of the Civil War when production started a long decline due to a loss of labor and working capital and aided by several severe storms.
In the early 1900s, rice farming disappeared from the state altogether”.
Thanks to local chefs, the rice is quickly making a comeback. Don’t believe me? Watch Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown South Carolina episode.
Your curiosity will quickly get the better of you to give the heirloom rice a try.
What I like about Carolina Gold rice is the aromatic appeal and taste.
I use a rice maker followed by baking the rice in the oven for 10 minutes with a couple of cubes of butter and pepper.
This is the only way I enjoy my rice. The cilantro-lime mixture takes the white rice disk to a whole new level.
4.Tomato Paste
Are you still buying pizza sauce and pasta sauce separately? Save yourself a couple of dollars by making your own.
A six-ounce can of tomato paste costs less than $.50. The rest of the ingredients of oregano, white vinegar, olive oil, thyme, salt, and garlic powder can be found in your pantry.
The tomato paste can be made in large batches, frozen in the freezer in cubes and used whenever you get that urge for homemade pizza or pasta.
Check out this two-minute homemade fresh pasta video by Jamie Oliver using only two ingredients, flour, and water.
5. Collard Greens with Bacon
What can I say about collard greens with bacon? It’s easy to mess up if you don’t cook collard greens right.
If you grow your own at home, make sure to wash those collard greens. No one wants to eat dirty greens!
All joke aside, if you don’t have space for a backyard garden, one bushel of collard greens can be found for less than $3 in the grocery stores and $1-2 at your local farmer’s market.
I like visiting my local farmer’s market because the leaves and bushes tend to be larger.
The recipe can easily last a week.
6. Perfect Scrambled Eggs
Speaking of Anthony Bourdain, I have never really been a fan of scrambled eggs. Why you may ask?
Well because I didn’t make them right and had no respect for the “egg”.
After watching Tony make scrambled eggs in minutes, I knew I had to give his take on scrambled eggs a try.
I’m completely in love with scrambled eggs and always make them the way Tony taught me.
7. Copycat Starbucks Tea Lemonade
With summer approaching, drinks like tea and lemonade are on my list of favorites to make. Instead of enjoying them separately, why not enjoy the beloved tea lemonade in three different ways?
Tea lemonade is the perfect complement to your homemade meals or sitting on the porch while taking in some fresh air.
8. Frothy Dalgona Coffee
Three ingredients of equal parts of sugar, instant coffee, and water results in a deliciously thick layer of coffee foam called dalgona coffee.
I wished I would have known about this easy coffee recipe during my travels.
Dalgona coffee is not only fun to make but looks pretty enough to take a picture and post it on Instagram.
For those few minutes you’re whisking the delicious toffee looking into an edible, frothy creation reminiscent of homemade whipped cream, don’t be afraid to brag and pat yourself on the back about becoming a self-taught barista aficionado.
The amount of hotel coffee and failed instant coffee creations had me almost give up my favorite morning beverage while on the road. Not anymore.
You can put your travel whisk or a milk frother and cup to good use and have yummy coffee anytime and anywhere on the road or in your hotel room.
Give some or all these easy meals a try. Happy cooking!
