The Environmental Pro-tection Agency (EPA) has stated that indoor air quality is often 2-5 times worse than out-door air. On occasion, indoor air is more than 100 times more pollut-ed! Because of this, the EPA has ranked indoor air pollution among to-day’s top five most sig-nificant risks to public health. Since most people spend approximately 90% of the time at home

or at the office, indoor air quality is vitally im-portant. The problem is pollution is often subtle and unnoticeable so many people don’t know they have an air quality problem. Learn more about indoor air pollution and how to improve conditions for healthy lungs in the home and office. Why is indoor air quality so bad? -Sources of pollution state inside: many pol-

Indoor Air Quality

Inside this issue:

Recipe 2

Coupons 2

Indoor Air Quality

Continued

3

How To: Continued 4

How To: Keep a Fireplace Clean

There’s no better place in your house on a chilly winter night than in front of your fireplace but is your fireplace safe? Do the soot stains bother you? The good news is that cleaning your fire-place and keeping it safe go hand in hand, and are even fairly easy! Have a chimney sweeper come every year. This part is es-sential for fireplace safe-ty and you can’t do it

alone. You need a profes-sional to clear any obstruc-tions in the chimney and re-move all extra creosote and other buildup. This flamma-ble material in your chimney is a risk factor for house fires, so don’t delay! Before cleaning ashes, spray them with water. This will keep the dusty ash-es from getting everywhere and make them much easier to clean up! It might even result in you breathing in less ash while cleaning the

Neighborhood News 14990 Ransom St. Holland, MI 49424

(616) 399-0855

www.biglakegroup.com

JANUARY

2015

“Helpful Hints and Shortcuts

for All Our Rainbow

International Customers”

Quick Chicken Piccata

Page 2 Neighborhood News

This coupon is for you or a good friend! Take Advantage of our Special.

FREE Carpet Repair Estimate Use Code: N1-15. When you call us at 616-399-0855 to set

up appointment. Residential customers only.

Expires 1-30-15 As always, you have my Personal Satisfaction Guarantee:

if it’s not cleaned to your standards, we’ll clean it again for FREE.

Please Print Coupon Minimum charge applies. Restrictions apply.

This coupon is for you or a good friend! Take Advantage of our Special.

20% OFF Upholstery Cleaning Use Code: N1-15. When you call us at 616-399-0855 to set

up appointment. Residential customers only.

Expires 1-30-15 As always, you have my Personal Satisfaction Guarantee:

if it’s not cleaned to your standards, we’ll clean it again for FREE.

Please Print Coupon Minimum charge applies. Restrictions apply.

Servings: 4

Prep Time: 10 min.

Cook Time: 15 min.

Ingredients: -4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves -cayenne pepper to taste -salt and ground black pep-per to taste -all purpose flour for dredg-ing -2 tbsp. olive oil -1 tbsp. capers, drained -1/2 cup white wine -1/4 cup fresh lemon juice -1/4 cup water -3 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut in 1/4 in slices -2 tbsp fresh Italian parsley, chopped

Directions: 1. Place chicken breasts be-

tween 2 layer of plastic wrap and pound to about 1/2 inch thick.

2. Season both sides of chick-en breasts with cayenne, salt and black pepper; dredge lightly in flour and shake off any excess.

3. Heat olive oil in a skillet over med-high heat. Please chicken in the pan, reduce heat to med. And cook until browned and cooked through, about 5 min. per side; remove to a plate.

4. Cook capers in reserved oil, smashing them lightly to release brine, until warmed through, about 30 s.

5. Pout white wine into skillet. Scrape any browned bits

from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Cook until reduced by half, about 2 min..

6. Stir lemon juice, water, and butter into the reduced wine mixture; cook and stir continuously to form a thick sauce, about 2 min.. Reduce heat to low and stir parsley through the sauce.

7. Return chicken breasts to the pan cook until heated through, 1 to 2 min.. Serve with sauce spooned over the top.

Courtesy of allrecipes.com

“These quick and easy pan-fried chicken

breasts are topped with a simple pan sauce made with capers, butter, white

wine, and lemon juice.”

lutants are generated indoors in-cluding volatile organic com-pounds from building materials and furnishings; chemicals from cleaning products and air fresh-eners; dander from pets; mold and mildew from standing water or excess humidity; and com-bustion fumes from gas-burning appliances, just to name a few. -Too little ventilation traps pol-lutants: homes are built tightly today to reduce energy waster. Unfortunately, this traps con-taminants inside where they ac-cumulate to dangerous levels. How does poor indoor air quality affect your health? Some effects of poor indoor air

quality manifest themselves right away. These include irri-tated eyes, nose, and throat, headache, fatigue and dizziness. Leaving polluted areas often re-duces or eliminates these nega-

tive effects. How can you improve in-door air quality? Since sources of indoor air pollution are wide ranging, you need to take multiple steps to improve indoor air quality: -Increase ventilation -Decrease humidity -Keep VOCs under control -Clean without harsh chemi-cals -Address pet issues -Change the furnace filter reg-ularly -Run an air cleaner Keep smoke outside How important is having clean air ducts? Professional air duct cleaning is yet another way to improve indoor air quality. Clean ducts contribute to better air quality by removing bacteria, mold, fungus, pollen, pet dan-der and dust mites that cling to the ductwork walls. By re-moving these contaminants they no longer affect the air quality in your home.

Indoor Air Quality Continued

Page 3 JANUARY 2015

of the soot! After it ahs come off, wipe the doors again, this time with a clean damp cloth.

Sprinkle logs in the fireplace with salt. The salt on the wood reduces soot, leaving you with a clean fire-place. Make sure you do it before lighting the fire.

Build the fire in a paper bag. The paper bag can be layered with crum-pled newspapers, kindling, and logs and carried to the fireplace, reducing the mess along the way. Then you just light the paper bag once it is placed in the fireplace.

fireplace. Leave a layer of

ash behind. Even though you might want to clean up all the ashes in the fireplace, leaving behind a layer of ash under the grate will protect the firebox floor from too much heat.

Polish the doors of a fireplace with ashes. Yes, you read that correctly! If your fireplace has glass doors, then get a cloth damp, dip it in ash-es and scrub the inside of the fire-place doors with the damp ashy cloth. It will get rid

Keep baking soda on hand. Baking soda is able to extin-guish hot coals and flames that get out control, ensuring a safe fireplace. You can also keep the sooty smell under control by placing some baking soda in an open metal con-tainer in between fires to absorb the odors.

You will soon discover that the joy of having a fire during cold weather is even greater when your fireplace is clean, safe, and attractive! Courtesy of how-todothings.com

How To: Clean a Chimney Continued

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results possible making your home or business environment clean

and more comfortable in which to live and work. With the freezing

temperatures, if you have any frozen pipes or other flood problems,

don’t forget our 24 Hour Emergency Response. Don’t forget

delayed reaction can seriously Impede satisfactory restoration.

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