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Begin with a strawberry pot, which can be found at almost any garden center or hardware store. The more soil a container has, the better the container can hold moisture. Growing herbs in a larger pot will result in less work on your part, plus the bigger the pot, the more herbs you can grow! First, fill the strawberry pot with soil—we used an organic potting mix since we’ll be eating these herbs....

Buy It: Instant Pot 6-Quart Bundle ($130, Target)

Reduced-sodium bacon reduces sodium by 40 percent, calories by half, and fat by about 60 percent.Canadian bacon reduces calories by 60 percent, fat by about 80 percent, sodium by about 30 percent, and omits nearly all saturated fat. Baking powder: See our substitute for baking powder. Bread: whole wheat or whole grain instead of white; spinach, Swiss chard, napa cabbage instead of wraps; low-carb spinach or tomato tortillas Whole wheat bread has about 40 percent more protein, less carbohydrates, and almost twice the amount of fiber than white bread....

Interior design and renovations expertFounder of UpWord social and the Social Lights podcastFormer owner of Clean Slate Design Renovations

Ankeny, Iowa: $442,000 Square feet: 1,589 Bedrooms: 5 Bathrooms: 2.5 Listed by: Misty Soldwisch, Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate Innovations First is a new ranch-style home with five bedrooms and two-and-a-half bathrooms listed for $442,000. It’s located in Ankeny, Iowa, a suburb of Des Moines, which was named the 13th best place to live by US News and World Report in 2021. This spacious 1,589-square-foot home is perfect for a large family....

2 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme 1 ½ tablespoon cracked black peppercorns 7 cloves garlic 3 tablespoon olive oil

Holly provides year-round interest while serving as part of a hedge or perennial border, or in foundation plantings. Evergreen varieties take center stage in winter when they anchor leafless garden beds. Tall evergreen hollies are good for creating a dense hedge or screen. When used as barrier plants, holly varieties with spiny leaves are nearly impenetrable. No matter where you plant holly, if pollinated, its colorful berries add splashes of winter color and food for birds....

¼ cup honey 1 tablespoon Dijon-style mustard 1 tablespoon white wine Worcestershire sauce 1 tablespoon margarine or butter, melted

Rainbows have become a symbol of hope during the pandemic as people began displaying rainbows in windows to spread joy while self-isolating. Now, crafters across Instagram are combining the #rainbowhunt trend with the stress-relieving benefits of working with hooks and yarn. There are more than 15,600 posts tagged with #crochetrainbow on Instagram, and most of them are from the last few months. Crocheters are making colorful rainbow pillows to gift to friends struggling with social distancing alone and creating colorful rainbow window hangings to display as a message of hope and support for healthcare workers across the world....

Delivering a mattress to your doorstep has never been easier, plus the materials and technology used to grant you a great night’s sleep have improved, too. This means old truths about the life of a mattress might no longer ring true—and just when things were getting easy, too. Experts John Clary Davies, senior director of brand editorial and sustainability for Avocado Green, and Russell Jelinek, senior director of engineering, quality, and compliance at Casper, share everything you need to know about when to replace a mattress, including how to get more mileage out of your current model....

We turned to Bobby Berk, a celebrity interior designer who rose to fame as the design expert on Netflix’s Queer Eye, for help with our holiday decorating. Fans will instantly recognize his modern industrial style and his avid use of blue. See what Bobby has to say about classic red and green color schemes, plus his biggest holiday décor pet peeve. Set a Winter Color Palette Just like your wardrobe changes with the seasons, your home décor should be updated with a winter color palette....

And make it their own they did—despite their lack of DIY experience. “I’ve always been a crafter, and it just kind of grew from scrapbooking to making over small furniture pieces to bigger projects that Travis and I began to tackle,” she says. As the go-to adviser for friends when it came to paint colors and design advice, Anita finally took the leap and made a blog to record her DIY and design advice....

Don’t Overmix Your Batter The culprit behind what makes a cake tough could be overmixing your flour. Flour is the foundation of baked recipes because it provides structure. When combined with liquid and after mixing, flour’s protein (gluten) begins to develop. The elastic substance traps and holds air produced by leavening agents (keep an eye on the expiration dates!), enabling your cake to rise. You know how you have to knead yeast bread to get the best texture?...

Before building a porch swing, ensure the ceiling framing on your porch is strong enough to support a two-person swing. If your joists are adequately supported at both ends for load-bearing applications, you should be fine to attach the swing to a single 2x8 joist, two 2x6 joists, or three 2x4 joists. This swing is designed to attach to the ceiling by a hook. Look for an S-hook suitable for outdoor exposure (look for galvanized or stainless steel) with a working load rating of at least 500 pounds....

For example, a gray paint color that appears neutral on the paint swatch might reveal a green undertone when applied to your walls, or a bold, rich blue could turn out duller than you expected. Depending on the room’s lighting, the color you chose can look significantly different than it did in the store. Natural light is a huge factor, of course, but the type of lightbulbs you choose also influence whether your paint colors appear dimmed-down, intensified, or true to life....

Surprising Hot Spots for Bacteria Office items such as keyboards and desks can be breeding grounds for bacteria, yet these frequently touched surfaces are rarely cleaned, according to a survey by job-search site Joblist. The average respondent reported cleaning their computer mouse and keyboard fewer than two times a month and their desk about three times a month. Nearly a quarter of the 1,000 respondents also admitted to going at least one entire workday without washing their hands in one month....