Month: February 2016

Refinish a Well-Loved Wooden Cutting Board With These 4 Tips

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Is your wooden cutting board looking a bit worse for the wear? With all of the slicing and dicing that goes on on your cutting boards, it’s no surprise that they need a bit of refurbishment every now and then. Use these simple tips for breathing new life into an old cutting board.

  1. First, disinfect your cutting board (especially ones that you use to cut meat) by diluting one teaspoon of bleach in two quarts of water. Dip a scrub brush in the solution and scrub the cutting board in small circles, and then wipe the surface with a damp paper towel and buff dry with a cotton cloth.
  2. Next, buff out any deep cuts using a very fine grade sandpaper. You may even want to choose two types of sandpaper so that you can buff out the cuts with one, and then smooth the surface with the other. Don’t leave behind any scratches, as these can collect bacteria.
  3. Condition your cutting board with mineral oil on a soft cloth. Don’t use vegetable or olive oils, as these can turn rancid with exposure. Buff the oil into the board using a thin rag, and make a note to retreat the board at least 3 or 4 times a year as needed.
  4. Once your cutting board is clean, keep it fresh after each use by cutting a lemon in half and rubbing it all over.

How to Clean a Cutting Board: 7 Effective Treatments [Reader’s Digest]
How to Restore and Maintain a Wood Cutting Board or Butcher Block [HGTV]
How To Clean, Deodorize and Condition Wood Cutting Boards Naturally [Apartment Therapy]

Love Mountain Biking? Check Out One of These Bike Trails Mantained by the Kansas Singletrack Society!

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Forget about traveling to far-flung spots to go mountain biking. Did you know there are decent trails within Wichita city limits?

The Air Capital Memorial Park trail is a two-mile course near busy Maize Road and Kellogg Drive. It opened two years ago thanks to the Kansas Singetrack Society, a group of mountain bike enthusiasts that formed in 2003. One of the goals of the KSS is to develop more trails in South Central Kansas, as well as maintain existing ones.

Some other trails created and maintained by the KSS include Miller’s Meadow, a roughly five-mile trail that winds through about 50 acres of land near Pawnee and 143rd Street East; the Camp Horizon trail, a nine-mile path about an hour south of Wichita; and Fall River Trail, which is eight miles, located at the Fall River Reservoir. If you're a mountain biker, make sure to check these out!

Air Capital Memorial Park
Maize Road and Kellogg Drive
Wichita, KS
www.facebook.com/ACMPSingleTrack
www.kssingletrack.com

Store Your Bike Indoors Without Wasting Space With These Savvy Tips

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Commuting by bicycle is a great way to save money, cut down on pollution, and get some exercise, but creating storage for your bike can be tricky. If you’re looking for savvy ways to store your bicycle inside, check out these smart spots and innovative products.

  • Hang it on an all-in-one shelf. Many modern bike companies now offer floating shelves that pull your bicycle up off of the floor in an attractive way. As a bonus, these smart shelves also feature hooks for hanging your helmet, messenger bag and other small belongings.
  • Store it vertically in a slim wall space. Even if you only have a slim space between two windows or a doorway, that’s just enough space to hang your bike. Invest in sturdy mounting hardware and store your bike vertically on the wall.
  • Hang it over a door. If you have high ceilings, use them to your advantage. Hang your bike in the unused space over a doorway with a DIY pulley system or reliable mounts.
  • Use a two-bike gravity stand. If you have more than one bike, you can stack them on a tiered gravity stand. This attractive, minimal stand uses gravity to keep the bikes upright, and best of all, it doesn’t require any drilling into the wall.

6 Smart Attractive Ways to Store Your Bike Indoors [Dwell]
4 Places to Stash Your Bike Inside (Even if You Think You Don't Have Room) [Apartment Therapy]
The 10 Best Ways to Store Your Bike in a Small Apartment [Complex]

How to Keep Leafy Greens Fresher Longer

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Don’t you just hate it when you attempt to buy a healthy batch of vegetables at the grocery store, only to have them go bad before you can even eat them? By using these simple tips, you can learn how to prolong the lifespan of your veggies and keep your greens fresher for longer.

  • Don’t leave leafy greens on the counter. While many types of produce (such as apples and potatoes) are okay when left out in the kitchen, leafy greens are much delicate and require cooler temperatures for safekeeping.
  • Wash them. As soon as you get your greens home, wash them with an all-natural vegetable cleanser and dry with a salad spinner to remove any chemicals, dirt, or pests.
  • Remove bad leaves. If you notice any brown spots on your greens, carefully remove them to prevent them from spoiling the whole bunch.
  • Don’t store them on a shelf in the refrigerator. Because everything in your refrigerator is not created equally, greens cannot by stored in the same way as, say, Chinese food leftovers. Instead, place them in the designated crisper drawer.
  • Plan how you’ll eat them. To prolong their lifespan further, plan to eat fresh salads using greens first and sauté or stir fry them once they near their wilted phases.

Leafy Greens [FreshDirect.com]
How to Store Leafy Greens in the Fridge [The Sprouting Seed]
How to Store Your Leafy Greens to Make Them Last Longer [Eat Local 365]