Best Pedometer Under 20

This is a review for the Omron HJ-203 Pedometer.
First and foremost I have to let you know that I am NOT utilizing this to its fullest potential.
When I was looking for a pedometer I wanted something that will measure my steps and calories mainly, and I wanted it to be cheap.

Price: Under $20.00
Pros: Multifunctional, small in size.
Cons: Apparently the lack of the belt clip.
Color: It comes in a variety of white and: yellow, orange, pink, green, purple, or black and grey
Packaging: A no fuss cardboard box with a detailed instruction manual booklet that tells you all you need to know.
Size: Approximately 2.5inx1.5in excluding the strap.
Battery Life: Supposedly 3 years, I have had it over a year now and no problems.


Functions:
- Daily step counter
As you might have guessed, this counts the number of steps you have taken! Now there is one thing worth mentioning as far as this goes. I suppose this was not meant for the way I use it (pop it on in the morning along with my glasses and take off before bed) but to be clipped on when you are going for a walk or whatever.
That is why it has one little tick that might make some people think it is faulty. It is not.
It does not count the first four seconds when you start walking, unless you continue to walk after the 4 seconds. It does this to avoid counting the steps that are not a part of the walk.
I, personally do not mind this as it tricks me into making a little bit more steps and is in the end good for me.

- Daily distance walked
I have bought my pedometer in the UK so this displays the steps I took so far that day in a converted form of kilometers. I have seen US based ones that have miles on them.

- Daily calorie burn counter
I really, really wanted this one because there are about fifty different ways you could calculate the calorie conversions and you cannot ever know if your steps are the same as that person online who posted the conversion. Same goes for any other action. So this was one of the things that was a must as far as having a pedometer goes.

- Daily fat burn counter
This converts your steps into the grams of fat you have burned. It is quite useful and eye opening but also depressing as far as I am concerned. For instance, yesterday my 10,300ish steps are only 26.8g of fat.... too small of a number so I tend not to pay attention to it as much. But it is definitely good to have.

- Action mode
The Action Mode is a mode you can choose when you want to keep track of a specific activity. For instance, if you want to get specific measurements of the walk or jog you are taking.
I, personally, have never used this function so I cannot really comment on it.
Why? Well at first I had no need, and then I got my pedometer all sorts of dirty when gardening one day and then I took some heavy cleaners to it and rubbed off the lettering.... which caused me to forget that the button is not just there to bring the display up.

- Clock
Pretty self explanatory.... it tells time!

- Memory
This function memorizes your stats for the past seven days which is rather nifty if you are keeping track and want to know if you are doing better or worse than a couple of days ago.

- Cheer Squad
When you hit 10k steps in one day this lovely little fella shows up on your display and keeps dancing and happily cheering you on!


When my Omron pedometer was delivered it was in a smallish cardboard (well paper rather.... you know what I mean!) box. Nothing too fussy which is right up my alley. I decided it might be best, at least this once, to actually read the instructions before continuing.
I wanted this bad boy for a while so I was not going to mess a thing up.
The instruction manual is quite easy to read and easy on the eyes. It has plenty of photos, instructions and explanations of how and why. You can take a peek at it here :
www.omron-healthcare.com/data/catalog/3/132/1/IM-HJ-203-E%2002-10-2011%20EN.pdf

Before using the pedometer you have to set it up by putting in your stats. I believe it takes in your height, weight, and you will have to measure out your stride. So it is quite tailored to your body and it will not measure the same amount of steps for someone who is 5"2 and someone who is 6" tall. Not sure how the weight comes into play but I am sure they know and that is all that matters.


Once you are all set up, to bring up the display you press any of the buttons. The pedometer is on 24/7 and will track all your steps as long as it is attached to you so do not get worried if the display is off. The pedometer goes into sleep mode after several seconds, this means that it saves the battery by not displaying the information if you are not looking at it anyway. It is still tracking so have no fear!

Now for the attaching of the pedometer to your self. Another thing I looked for in a pedometer is something with a clip. I did not want a stupid band that has to be on my arm or something for everyone to see if I do not want them to.
The Omron HJ-203 hes a little strap which you attach to it and a small plastic clip. It works like a charm for me.
I will usually have it either in my pocket, if pockets are not available I clip it either to the hem of my top, or to the waistline of my pants, I often clip it to the belt loops as well.
Now I was told some customers are complaining about the fact that it does not have one of those pager type of clips which you clip to your belt. That is true, and for me, that is not a problem at all. If this is a must for you then I suggest you move on and look at a different pedometer.

- Durability:
Trust me, I am not the one to take utmost care of such things. Often times it dangles around me and gets smacked about, I have fallen on it, slept with it, accidentally buried it (gardening, do not ask), scratched it, got it stuck, dropped it a number of times, flung it down the stairs, and yes it has been washed and dried.... and it is still going strong!
So it is pretty darn durable if you ask me, true some of the letters have rubbed off but for what I put it through I do not mind one bit.

Overall, we are all different and have different needs. For some this pedometer will have far too many options and functions while for others it wont have enough information.
As far as I go, it works like dream for me and I would definitely recommend it!

EDIT:
There was some confusion about the clip, and can it or cant it be clipped to a belt so I took the closest pair of pants with a belt (hubbys and snapped a few photos).
Technically it can be clipped onto his belt as you can see. The belt is leather and when I take the clip off the little teeth leave a mark as I tried to show in the last photo, the longer the clip is on the deeper the mark... so not sure how advisable that is. But yeah it definitely does not have a belt clip as such.
Those are a few other ways I clip it, I also clip it onto the waistband of the trouser itself or on my tops.

I hope that makes more sense as far as the clip goes!

Chocolate Cake in a mug

If you ever have cake craving, but there is no way in hell that you are baking a whole cake, you can always make a cake in the mug. I know my one is not the most beautiful thing out there but it tastes lovely and it takes under 5 minutes to make with minimal clean up.
Note: the cake in my pictures was one of my more goopy ones, just how I was feeling that day :)

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...............What you will need to make a chocolate cake in a mug...............
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- A large mug
- 3 tbsp flour
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp cocoa, or 2-3 tbsp hot chocolate
- 1 egg
- 3 tbsp milk
- 3 tbsp oil
- Optional: Some chocolate chips, or break up regular chocolate and a splash of vanilla

===========================================================================================================
..................How to make a chocolate cake in a mug..................
===========================================================================================================
- Add all of the dry ingredients into a mug and mix well. I find that fork works the best for this.
- Add in the egg and mix it in real good, if you leave some egg that isn't mixed in you will get something that results in a chocolate cake marbled with cooked egg white. Not nice. So just make sure it is all mixed together thoroughly.
- Add in the milk and oil and again mix it up.
- Optional: Now you can add in the vanilla and the chocolate chips/pieces. I wouldn't mix the chocolate chips in too much because you want them distributed nicely and not sinking to the bottom. I usually leave mines towards the top and it all melts nicely.
- Microwave for 3 minutes on high.

Tip: You can make your first cake in a mug following these exact steps but after you can tweak it. Sometimes I put in less oil and more milk. Sometimes less sugar and sometimes if I want it more gooey I nuke it for 2 minutes. It is worth playing around a bit to get the result that you like the best.
Also there are a TON of other flavor cakes that can be made in a mug out there so get exploring!

Photo Credits: My photos.

White Fudge Chunks

Fudge is a much adored sweet no matter what the time of the year is. Usually it is associated with small specialty shops and being sold in cubes or pricey slabs, and a wide variety of flavors. Well this holiday season why not try your hand at making these incredibly sweet treats your self? Give them out as gifts and make the lucky recipient very happy! They will be done in no time ( just add the time it takes for them to chill) and will make a perfect gift or a treat for your guests. If you happen to have children, not only can they help you out, but they can make the whole thing all by themselves. This will show how to make Holiday Fudge Stars, however, please feel free to substitute any shapes, flavors and colors to fit your needs and liking.

What you will need to make your Holiday Fudge Stars:

- A large flat bottom pan. Square or round will do.

- Some foil to line the pan.

- One teaspoon of butter

- One can (16oz) of frosting, flavor of your choice. Here I will use vanilla.

- Two cups of chocolate chips, again white chocolate, semi sweet milk, etc. up to you. I use white chocolate chips.

- Half of a cup of chopped up jelly candy, flavors and colors of choice. I like red or green.

- A star shaped cookie cutter. Once again, please feel free to substitute for a different shape.

- A microwave safe bowl and a spatula.

How to make your Holiday Fudge Stars:

- First you should get your pan ready, line it with the foil on lightly grease the foil with the butter.

- If you haven’t chopped up the candy yet do so now, just so you have it ready to go when needed.

- Pour the whole can of frosting into the microwave safe bowl, add the two cups of chocolate chips and stir it up.

- Melt the mass in the microwave at 10- 15 minute increments until it is all even and liquid. Depending on the microwave the times will vary so don’t walk away and leave the chocolate and frosting unattended.

- Stir the mass to make sure there is no lumps and that it is smooth.

- Let cool for a couple of minutes then stir in your chopped jelly candy. Make sure it gets in everywhere. You don’t want a large sum of it on one side and nothing elsewhere.

- Once the candy has been added pour out the mixture onto the foil lined pan. Spread it out nice and even.

- Cover the pan with foil and refrigerate until the fudge is firm.

- Once the fudge is firm use the foil to lift it out of the pan.

- Cut out the star shapes with the cookie cutter. If wanted you can add sprinkles or sugar on top to decorate it.

Tips:

- For storage use an airtight container and refrigerate.

Photo Credits: A) My photo. B) Sorry I Know it is not a star I just did them in chunks last time C) Sorry it's a really crappy picture I was having trouble with flash and whatnot.

I just put a bunch of stuff in my tea, lets hope I survive

So my hands have gotten quite stiff and cold and I wanted a hot drink but I didn't feel like anything we had so I figured why not make an improvised spiced tea? Mind you I never made any kind of spiced tea let alone proper....but hey how hard can it be?
I just made a regular cup of black tea, added in some milk and some Innocent orange juice (yep... i said it.. OJ) and then shook in some ground ginger and mixed spice. Stirred it well and did a little prayer to an unknown deity for it not to make me ill.
*sniff...sniff sniff* Well it smells quite lovely... 
AAAAAAAAAnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd it tastes fantastic :D I over did it on the milk a bit, a tad less and it would have been perfect. I should have been making this stuff ages ago!

How to make plum jam

One old way of preserving fruit is by making jam. This type of jam, however, gets characteristically less sugar added to it. While you are adding less sugar, by cooking it you will gain a mass with less water, and thus with higher concentration of sugar already found in fruit.
It is quite simple to make, although depending on the fruit it could take a while and require lots of stirring. Different recipes will vary somewhat depending on fruit so you might want to find a specific recipe. Here we will use plums as an example. You can vary the amounts to your taste or need. Some people, due to health problems or diet restrictions, don’t put any sugar into jam, instead they depend on fruit alone for taste or add sweeteners.

To make plum jam you will need:
- Ten pounds of plums. It is very important that the plums, or any other fruit you use is ripe. If it is not then your jam won’t be as sweet without adding a lot more sugar to it, it might not have the right texture either.
- Two pounds of sugar. As this varies greatly by taste you should start with one pound and then go from there. So have a few more pounds ready on hand just in case. 
- A large and wide pot. Wider and lower pots are desirable due to the ease of stirring over the deep pots.
- A clean or new wooden spoon for stirring.
- A small ladle. The ladle doesn't need to be tiny just comfortable enough a size for you to be able to pour into the jars quickly and without much worry of spilling over.
- Clean jars. For the above amounts a safe number of jars is about ten average sized jars. The amount you will need will vary largely on how thick or runny you make your jam.
- Several clean kitchen towels.
- A stove with an oven.

How to make the plum jam: 
- First you will need to prepare the fruit by washing it thoroughly and pitting it.
- After the fruit has been cleaned put it into the large pot you chose and basically cook it until it starts to fall apart and get mushy. Make sure you stir the jam constantly or it will burn.
- Add a pound of sugar, stirring it in well. 
- After a few more minutes of cooking carefully take out a spoonful of jam. Let it cool on the side so you can taste it to see if more sugar is needed.
- Keep cooking and stirring the Jam until the bottom of the pot becomes visible.
- Towards the end take out your jars, put them on low temperature into the oven. They need to be hot when you put jam into them.
- Once the jam is done use a ladle to carefully pour the jam into the hot jars.
- Make sure there are no big air bubbles in the jam (get rid of them with a thin straw).
- Put the jars, uncovered, back into the oven, turn it off and let the jam sit at least 24 hours in a closed, turned off oven. Leaving it in the oven will create a thin crust that will help prevent it from spoiling.
- Once cooled completely cover the jars and store them in a cool dry place until giving away.

Photo Credits: Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository