Pine nuts come from pine cones, and many people refer to them as seeds rather than as nuts. There are many species of pine trees found around the world, and many of them are cultivated for the sole purpose of harvesting the pine nuts from them. In many areas around the world, pine nuts continue to be harvested by hand. It is a very long and daunting task to do so. It can take a pine tree between 15 and 25 years of growth before it will begin to produce the pine nuts.

Many people in the Spanish culture refer to pine nuts as pinon. They often roast it rather than enjoying them raw. They can be eaten either way and both are very good for you. Some people salt their pinon after they roast it and that can take away some of the nutritional value though. Pine nuts are often a seasonal item and they are also quite expensive to purchase.

In addition to being delicious, pine nuts are very good for you. They are a good source of fiber and they will help you to keep your energy level up during the day. Pine nuts have been reported to have the ability to help someone suppress their appetite. They are also believed to be full of antioxidants to help keep a person healthy. There is pine nut extract that some people take for these benefits instead of eating plain pine nuts.

There are various recipes out there that people make that include pine nuts. Many of them are casseroles and side dishes. There are plenty of recipes you can find on bags of pine nuts and online if you are interested. This can be a good way to create an interesting meal that is quite different from what you usually serve your family.

Some individuals have a very strange reaction to eating pine nuts. It tends to affect their taste buds. After eating pine nuts they will complain that other foods don’t taste very well at all. Many people report a metallic taste to foods they normally enjoy. There are very few people that have this type of reaction though. For most people, consuming pine nuts is very normal and enjoyable.

Life is experience. Substance dependence overtakes a person’s ability to make her own decisions to experience life, and life is no longer actively participated in. Therefore, in overcoming addiction, it is vital to learn to re-experience life. This lesson helps a treatment center resident reintegrate into the world after therapy is through. Experiential therapy is this bridge to leaving a life of substance dependency and commencing a life of health, both physical and mental. Experiential therapy is a necessary component in the steps towards a complete therapy. In addition to counseling and more traditional therapies, experiential is the door to the world – it forces the patient to test herself, to get up when she falls, to learn that giving up is not an option. This is a vital lesson to learn when overcoming addiction, as when problems arise after therapy, the former patient will remember that there are other means of dealing with problems than turning back to addiction.

Experiential therapy includes many various forms, and can be divided into two main categories: outdoor experiential therapy and indoor experiential therapy. Both aim at physical and mental challenges in order to succeed. Equine therapy, which falls within the category of outdoor experiential therapy, is worth reviewing on its own due to its uniqueness and successful results. Research supports the use of experiential therapy, as motivation increases and social integration is easier through the experience of such therapy.

The great outdoors is well known for its healing abilities, and exercise in itself releases the same good-feeling endorphins as a high does. There we have it: the high that is healthy. Outdoor experiential therapy utilizes nature to help residents work through their problems and free themselves from dependency through the physical challenges offered in nature. Activities can include winter sports like snowshoeing, and summer sports like hiking. More radical activities, like a heli-experience, are also possible. The heli-experience takes people to literally previously unknown heights. In opening new worlds, these experiences reconnect residences to their world, which is so important to eventually helping them reconnect with the people who live in this world. While outdoor activities are beneficial for the social aspect of interacting with other residents, their main achievement is to make the resident introspect and put a perspective on the resident’s own life in the context of the towering natural world.

Indoor experiential therapy can be based on an indoor ropes and challenge course. While also containing the aspect of physical challenge, indoor experiential therapy is a greater internal challenge. The resident must mentally prepare herself for the challenges that come at such heights. Also, trust is an invaluable lesson learned in indoor therapy. Partners rely on each other to succeed in these activities, thus learning to communicate effectively and learning to trust another. This can be an especially difficult aspect of healing from addiction, as for so many, trust is not a part of a life of addiction. Learning to rebuild personal self-confidence and trust in others is vital for a successful recovery from substance dependence. Reintegrating into society after therapy is one of the most difficult aspects of recovery, so having a treatment program that rebuilds the elements of trust and confidence, needed for a successful life in our society, is especially beneficial.

Equine therapy, a certain highlight of the outdoor experiential therapy, combines aspects used both in outdoor and indoor therapy. From the aspect of the outdoors, equine therapy offers the chance to be with, in and beyond nature, with a living being that sees us only for who we are. Horses are extremely intelligent creatures, having a special history with the human race. So vital in the development of the modern world, horses were the first vehicles for transporting messengers and mail efficiently, as the Pony Express reminds us, and were man’s trusted guides in exploration and on battlefields. And, while a horse does not judge mankind, it certainly can read a character and will cleverly use a human’s personality to its advantage. Trust is an essential element of equine therapy, and it is a relationship with a creature that will not lie about its feelings. When a genuine friendship is formed between horse and man, it is a lifelong bond. Equine therapy combines the power of nature and a physical challenge with the need to build a trusting relationship with a fellow living creature and increase self-confidence. In this manner, equine therapy is especially helpful for residents of treatment centers, as it combines all elements so beneficial to recovery in one activity.

Experiential therapy teaches lessons of confidence in the self as well as in others, and teaches facing challenges and overcoming them. Motivation is of prime importance in overcoming an addiction, and what better place to find motivation than where we naturally seek it: in situations that encourage us to aim higher than we imagine is possible. Through the motivation that appears in the physical activities, treatment center residents learn to carry it over to their own lives, and find the necessary motivation to deal with personal issues. Simultaneously building confidence and trust in themselves and others only strengthens the desire for motivation. The added health benefits of partaking in physical exercise show themselves both on the bodies and minds of patients. Getting the body into shape helps stabilize the mind, and helps lead a generally healthier life. There is never an easy cure to addiction, and many paths and steps must be followed to guide to a better life. The step of experiential therapy is one of the most rewarding steps in treatment, as the treatment resident is aware first-hand of its results. This personal feeling of achievement in overcoming challenges makes great headway in the recovery process from addiction.

Kitchen granite countertops — created by nature and fashioned by man are a beautiful, durable and cost effective choice for kitchens and baths.

Granite is often imported from Europe, Africa, Brazil and other regions of the world rich in natural stone. Granite is an attractive natural stone that will add color and warmth to your kitchen. Granite is an extremely hard material that will not blister, scratch or crack.

Over the last 10 years kitchen granite countertops have become popular with homeowners, after first being popular with designers for decades. Granite is available in hundreds of colors, from various shades of white to browns, reds, greens, blues, and black. The most popular tones are brown and beige.

As well as being hard kitchen granite countertops can take hot items, like pots and pans, and is very stain resistant to hot grease and oil if it is sealed with a silicone-based impregnator. It can easily be cleaned and cut for a basin. Granite has a cool polished surface that makes it an excellent surface for rolling out pastry dough. The polished finish of granite will not wear off.

Kitchen granite countertops are unique because no two pieces of granite are exactly the same, therefore granite provides an interesting design element and adds certain richness and texture to your kitchen not found in other surfaces. Kitchen granite countertops can create a brilliance and elegance that is only found in nature. Granite adds a personality and character to kitchen countertops that is unsurpassed. Kitchen granite countertops have a natural beauty that is capable of complementing any tone of wood or style of cabinets.

It doesn’t matter if you are planning a new home or remodeling an existing kitchen, with granite kitchen countertops you can be sure that you will add to value of your home.

Kitchen remodelers and home builders have experienced a boom in the demand for kitchen granite countertops. Although it can be more expensive to put in granite countertops, they remain the odds on favorite choice for more upscale homes, since they keep their value better than most home improvements

The investment you make in kitchen granite countertops should pay you back at least three times what you invested. If you are selling your home you will find that home buyers wanting kitchen granite countertops will be willing to pay more for your home than if you have ceramic tile or plastic laminate.

Planning out your kitchen granite countertop first involves selecting the right granite color. You should concentrate on the most popular colors. Even though granite tones are usually neutral, you may find that a certain color goes well for your kitchen design.

If you are replacing the old countertop material in your kitchen with granite, carefully diagram all the measurements for the granite installer. If installing new cabinets is part of your kitchen remodel ask the granite fabricator what they recommend for cabinetry.

Since you are using such a superior product as granite, you should think about the right type of sink to go with your new kitchen granite countertop. You should definitely consider going with an undermount stainless steel sink, as opposed to an overmount sink that would be difficult to clean around.

In addition to getting the right kind of sink installed, it is also important to select the just the right faucet to go with the sink. A stainless steel faucet would go well with the looks of a rich kitchen granite countertop.

The next important area is upgrading your cabinet hardware. The handles and knobs should also be of high quality in order to provide good accent to the overall look of the kitchen. Even if you are not replacing the cabinetry having high quality hardware with make those cabinets and the whole kitchen
stand out.

So in planning your kitchen remodeling, just remember that kitchen granite or quartz countertops will make a provide a world-class addition and increase the re-sale value of your home.

Home decorating is not something that requires a vast fortune in order to do. Nor is it something that must be accomplished all at once. The ideal manner to decorate a home is one step at a time, one room at a time. This makes the process much less stressful, more enjoyable, and imminently more affordable. Some great ideas are to start small then work your way up.

Paint is one of the least expensive things you can do to a room that will have the most immediate and profound impact on the overall look and feel of the room in question. By selecting the paint colors and painting the walls before anything else is done everything else can be done in order to match the colors you have placed on the walls. More importantly, paint is something that the average person is capable of doing on their own rather than being forced to hire experts in order to get it done. Any home improvement project that you can do yourself will save more money than you can imagine along the way.

Once you’ve managed changing your walls, you may wish to change your window treatments. Roman shades are an excellent choice as they are rather simple to make (which would leave you only the cost of the fabric and supplies) but they are not the only option. I would recommend some sort of curtains as a form of window treatment as they are much more personal than the typical mini blinds found in so many homes today. Curtains or Roman shades can be purchased to match the colors on your walls and should not be a terribly expensive investment.

Flooring has in the past often been out of reach of those seeking to casually improve the look of a room. New technology and materials have made new flooring a valid option even for those who are on seriously limited home decorating budgets. Laminates are a good option for those who love the look of hardwood but cannot afford the expense of materials and/or labor for these floors in their homes. Laminates can often be installed by even those with limited skills and make a very noticeable change in the look and feel of a room. Peel and stick tile is another option for those whose budgets will not accommodate laminate flooring. Check out the options and the prices at your local home improvement store. You just might be amazed at what you can afford.

Rather than purchasing new furniture to make an impressive impact on the look of your living area, try furniture covers. These can often be purchased in shades that will match your new decor and are much less expensive than new furniture leaving money for the little touches that matter so much in the overall look of the room. Besides, when friends and family walk in and see the changes they will be shocked and amazed. They may even be convinced that you do in fact have new furniture.

Mirrors are excellent tools to use when decorating a home. More importantly, they are rather inexpensive for the most part. Mirrors also lend the appearance of a much more wide-open space than having no mirrors would accomplish. If you have a fire place, strategically located mirrors can spread the warmth and coziness (if not the heat) of a fire throughout the room making the room as a whole seem like a much more enjoyable place to escape the winter “blahs”.

Artwork, candles, vases, and floral arrangements can be purchased one piece at a time in order to give the room a more polished look. Once you’ve decorated one room in your home with these budget tips in mind you can move on to other rooms in your home and incorporate the same ideals as you go. Remember that decorating your home doesn’t have to cost a fortune but it will require some patience and planning on your part. With this in mind, there should be nothing to stop you from heading out today and getting to work on your new home decorating plans.

These tips on low cost home décor come from Dewalt and Sons. If you’re interested in bigger jobs or kitchen and Bath remodeling.. Dewalt and Sons has you covered.

One of the best ways to increase your home’s value is giving your master bedroom a makeover. You have nothing to lose as you get to enjoy the comfort and convenience of a renovated master bathroom.
The renovation may be as simple as adding extra shelves, racks, mirrors, towels or other accessories, painting the bathroom walls or something more extensive like replacing your bathtub with a modern walk-in shower and changing the cabinets, lights, fixtures and flooring.
You can maximize your investment for good returns if you know all about the latest available designs, options and materials.
1. More of soft than loud colors
Modern bathroom renovations involve making the bathroom look attractive within a small space. Loud, harsh, dark and bright colors are not suggested for small bathrooms as it makes the bathroom look stuffy. Instead, soft and neutral colors give your bathroom a fresh and bright look.
2. Tiles are replacing carpets
Carpets are no longer preferred for bathrooms as mold and bacteria breed on it, and there’s the risk of tripping and falling on it. Tiling your bathroom to make it look stylish is a better option.
There are tiles of so many shapes, styles and colors to choose and use to reflect your bathroom’s style and make. You have conventional subway tiles, the latest metallic design tiles or something unique like faux-wood tiles.
3. Showers are replacing tubs
Showers now replace tubs for its practicality and many designs. Moreover, showers are made from various materials like marble, glass, tile and granite, making porcelain bathtubs look boring.
Your bathroom can also be customized to look fresh, elegant and spacious with a walk-in shower. Though families with smaller children may need a bathtub, older children are quite comfortable with walk-in showers.
You can choose between these 3 latest bathroom remodeling designs to convert your bathroom into your personal space. It’s better hiring professional bathroom remodelers for your bathroom renovation as they have the expertise and knowledge to choose the best designs and materials within your budget!