A Honu Product

Repels-All

2012-01-09T12:52:00.000-08:00

I've tried both of these products for over a year and they don't work on cats. The liquid version in the spray bottle smells terrible; you will think something died in your yard. I highly recommend wearing gloves if you use this product. I got some on my finger and I tried soap, rubbing alcohol, nail polish remover and finally bleach to get the smell off my finger. I sprayed a lot in one area of our yard that a cat has been digging and not even a few days later the bark was dug up again.The granule version seemed to work okay last year, but looking back it didn't stop the cat(s) from pooping on our patio furniture. I keep trying to get these products to work, but they don't. I'll keep using them until I run out and I'll try to find another way. Saturday I put a mixture of jalapeno juice, red pepper flakes and chili powder in our yard, so we'll see how that works.

Motorola Roadster

2011-07-08T21:35:00.000-07:00

I bought this a few months ago and I LOVE it. It is a bluetooth device that clips to your visor. It's great for all the "hands free" laws that are in effect. You can drive with both hands on the wheel, and not have that little speaker thing on your ear.

Features:

Answers phone calls automatically
Announces the caller's ID
Reads text messages through the speaker
Allows you to make phone calls by speaking (you have to push a button first)
You can reply audibly to text messages
You can listen to any music you have on your phone through your car speakers (I haven't figured out that one yet.

The product does recommend downloading MotoSpeak on your phone.

It comes with a car charger and the battery lasts about 2 weeks on standby. It also lets you know the battery level when your phone is in the car.

Overall, it is a pretty nifty gadget.

Weber Grill Pan

2011-06-18T14:37:00.000-07:00

I bought a grill pan for Doug about a year ago. I was looking for one for a while and it just so happened they were testing them on one of my favorite shows, America's Test Kitchen. They ran through many grill pans and the durability, even grilling ability, hole shape/size, and price put this pan at the top of the pack. I bought ours online through Amazon which was cheaper as usual, but not by much. Right now they are on the Weber website for $22.99 and on Amazon for $19.00.

The only thing I wish is that I could have kept it pretty and shiny (that's just me), but even after the first use it was stained - what can I expect when it's cooking at hundreds of degrees on a barbecue?

It's a great pan and I'm glad we have it.

HangMan Hanging System

2011-05-28T13:29:00.000-07:00

This picture/mirror hanging system is really easy to use. Hangman includes all the hardware you'll need to hang your item, even a level. Helpful tools to have on hand: drill, hammer, screwdriver and pencil.

You put the appropriate piece on the wall and the other piece on the back of the picture or mirror you would like to hang.

Make sure you face them the correct way so the item piece will sit in the piece on the wall. The kits we used hold up to 200 lbs; they were $10.88 per kit at Lowes.

And, it's really that easy. I've messed up a few of our walls while hanging things with screws and wire, but this system was easy and painless.

The mirrors are not completely level, but I'm sure that was my lack of skills and not the product; It's hard to tell that they aren't level.

My only issue was my idea of how low the mirrors were going to hang. Both of them are too high, especially the one above. I measured over and over again and somehow it still ended up too high.

ThermaCare

2011-02-26T10:34:00.000-08:00

I had bronchitis a couple weeks ago, so I was coughing A LOT. I was coughing so much I was dry heaving and gagging. After a couple weeks of coughing like that I started having really bad rib pain. After another trip to the doctor to see if I broke a rib, the doctor told me to take anti-inflammatory medication and use heat pads to ease the pain. I can't plug my heating pad into the car or take it where I need to go, so I picked up some ThermaCare HeatWraps. These heat wraps are great. They stay warm for a long time. They say "8 hours of heat", but when I take it off 9-10 hours later they still feel warm. (The package advises not to wear them for longer than 8 hours.) The adhesive works really well; the wraps stay in place and after hours I don't worry about them moving or coming off. I have an allergy to tape and adhesives and I was worried about using these, but I've been through 6 of them and I haven't had any issues with redness or blistering. I recommend making sure you know exactly where you want the wrap because they don't stick as well if you take it off and move it. I suggest removing them slowly so you won't damage your skin.

Turtle Wax and RainX

2011-01-04T10:03:00.000-08:00

I've had issues with my car windows fogging up on the inside, so I tried the RainX Glass Cleaner with Anti-Fog (right). They come in a tissue box type dispenser which is very handy. I did not like the wipes. They leave some serious streaking on the windows, I was really hoping they would have been more like a Windex product - glass cleaners shouldn't leave so many streaks.
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I've always (until those wipes) been a fan of RainX (middle) as a rain repellent on the outside windows. It takes a little bit to make sure there aren't streaks on the outside of the window; it's like waxing a car. The product applies easy and wipes off easily too; just spray it on, wait for it to turn to a haze and then wipe it off. I've used another product by RainX also, it's a dual product that is a rain repellent and cleaner in one and it works really well. If you're in a hurry, you can spray it on the windshield and turn the wipers on.
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And the last product is by Turtle Wax. It's a headlight restoration kit (left). Here are my results:

They have a one step application unless your headlights look like mine...then it becomes a 4 step process, but it's all in the one box. I'll admit my arm was a little tired afterwards, but I'm very happy with the outcome and it didn't take very long.. This was the cheapest product on the shelf and it worked really well. It was $8 for the Turtle Wax kit while the other products were $15+.

Trader Joe Joe's cookies

2010-12-08T15:20:00.000-08:00

These cookies are DELICIOUS!!! Imagine a Minty Oreo cookie with candy cane pieces in it. YUMMM

Here is the description: Trader Joe's website

A rich cocoa cookie sandwiching an intense peppermint filling and crushed candy canes.

Move over Thin Mints, your cousin visiting for the holidays is way hotter than you, and with her pink and brown colors of the season, a much snazzier dresser as well.

Fans of Trader Joe Joe's cookies already know that this stand-in for an Oreo has the unique ability to be both better tasting and less expensive than its Nabisco inspiration. The filling is lighter and fluffier, and in the case of the creamy vanilla flavor, has obvious flecks of vanilla in the filling.

Candy Cane Joe Joe's are a seasonal offering -- same great, dark cocoa wafers as the existing Chocolate Joe Joe's, but filled with a very bracing peppermint vanilla filling, which has crushed candy canes throughout.

The crushed canes are finely crushed enough not to shred your gumline, but gritty enough to still stand up and be noticed.

This is one "minty" taste combo; very strongly mint flavored, but very much candy cane at the same time. This means it doesn't taste or remind me of toothpaste -- my litmus taste for all mint flavored foods. It is strong enough you won't likely eat an entire handful or a box (a good thing), but not so strong it will create a hip rumor, like Altoids.

Set two out for Santa with a cup of Hot Cocoa, or give them to carolers this season.

Two Candy Cane Trader Joe Joe's are 140 calories, 6g fat, 19g carb, 1g protein.

**And 100% delicious!! **My added note. All the ladies in my office went crazy for them!

Hair Removal

2010-11-21T12:04:00.000-08:00

I've had this Remington Epilator for years. It works just as well today as the first day I bought it. It came with a carry bag, cap for the top, small cleaning brush, instruction manual and a long cord. It works without the cord, but it spins much faster when plugged in. I think I paid $50.This is my favorite waxing product. I really like using a honey wax; it works very well and rinses easily with water (you can lick your finger if you get sticky wax on it too). It cost about 1/3 of Nads and works just as well (Nads is about $30 and Sally Hansen is about $11). Sally Hansen has recently stopped putting the rinsable strips in the package and now has a roll of plastic strips. I'm a much bigger fan of the rinsable strips; they are much better than the Nads strips too - the Nads strips are cloth and the threads start to shred at the ends. The plastic strips work well, but I run out of strips before I run out of wax; luckily I have many reusabe strips from previous boxes. And I'm also a fan of Venus Divine razors. In the past I've had issues with razor burn, but I don't have any problems with Venus razors. Also, it's very nice that even years later the heads still fit the same handle.

Cuisinart Rice Cooker

2010-11-06T17:06:00.000-07:00

I really like our rice cooker. It makes about 4 cups of rice and it works really well. Doug bought this for me quite a while ago and we've used it pretty regularly; he found it on clearance and I think he paid about $20. The only thing I would like to change is that it spits as the water and rice boil inside. I put a flexible cutting board under it for easier clean up. Also, it spits less if I use the steam basket on top when only making rice. The rice cooker cleans up quickly and easily; I've burned rice in it a couple times and it came right out. It comes with instructions, a measuring cup, steam basket, lid and a rice scooper. All you have to do is measure how much rice you want to cook, fill water to the appropriate line and flip the switch. It turns itself to "warm" when it's done. I don't think it has an auto shut-off though.

Formosa Covers

2010-11-06T16:51:00.000-07:00

We bought a new patio set cover and 2 chaise chair covers on Amazon.com:

The patio set cover product description:
Mildew resistant vent. Heavy duty water resistant, UV treated polyester. Fits oval or rectangular tables up to 79 x 42 and 6 - 8 chairs. Heavy duty vinyl with polyester backing. Can be used with or without umbrella. (hole is located in the center of the cover) Keeps table and chairs clean and dry. Velcro ties keep cover secure. Zipper runs from center to one end for ease of putting the cover on. Clean with a damp cloth. Size: 120"L x 86"W x 45"H

Chaise covers product description:
Mildew resistant vent. Heavy duty vinyl with polyester backing. Heavy duty vinyl coated polyester 600 denier x 300. Heavy duty water resistant, UV treated polyester fabric. Easy to slip on and off Keeps chaise clean and dry Clean with a damp cloth Velcro ties keep cover secure Size: 84" L x 30" W x 24" H

They are much better than I expected. The patio set cover was $60 and the chaise covers were $20 each. I'll have to give an update about how well they hold up to the elements later; it hasn't rained much yet, but we're expecting wind and rain tomorrow.

I had to contact Formosa Covers customer service department about the shipping fees and they were very polite and helpful.

Mr. Clean Magic Eraser

2010-10-15T14:45:00.000-07:00

Magic Eraser Bath Scrubber.
These are even better than the original Eraser. The say they are larger and more durable, but I was really wondering if it was true. The package comes with 2 for the price of the original 4 - about $3.50. They are worth it! I scrubbed our tub and shower and it didn't disintegrate like the original Eraser. It made cleaning the tub and shower MUCH easier....and a bonus - I didn't have to choke on the smell of bleach or cleaners. Great product.

Keep it Dry Closet Dehumidifiers

2010-10-02T14:29:00.000-07:00

I love these. They cost about $3 at Walmart and are super easy to use. All you have to do it pull the orange top off, peel the seal off and replace the orange lid. You can put them anywhere. Before you know it they are full of water. They are like having the "do not eat" packets found in items you purchase like shoe boxes, decorations, etc. It's interesting how this little gadget can pull moisture from the air and fill the container. Just throw it away when it's full.

Paint Primer

2010-09-14T12:17:00.000-07:00

When we decided to primer our orange bedroom, we chose a 2 gallon, inexpensive primer at Lowes. I honestly can't remember the name, but I remember the name was Bullseye something. So the second time around we chose Kilz... it's supposed to coat better for fewer coats. I don't necessarily agree with that claim.Here is the first bedroom using the cheaper primer:In progress...It ended up taking 3 coats of the cheaper primer. Also note: the Bullseye primer said LOW ODOR...yeah right, our room still stinks and it's been weeks!

Then, onto the pink closet in the orange room. Using Kilz this time... It took 2 coats to cover the pink in the closet; I know it would have taken 3 coats if there was artwork like the rest of the room.

This is the next room to paint:

We still have Kilz to use for this room. I don't think Kilz covers that much better than the cheaper version, but it didn't leave the lingering odor. I'll post an update when we paint this room to compare the coverage over artwork.

Another Shark Steam Pocket Mop Post

2010-08-03T11:51:00.000-07:00

As I was getting ready to post about our new Shark Steam Mop I realized Tammy already posted her review. Well, here goes another one....

I bought this mop because I was really sick of trying to clean the tile floor in the kitchen. I've only mopped it a couple times because I HATE doing it.

I paid $120 at Wal-Mart and then this last weekend I saw the ad on TV that you can get the rectangle AND triangle head for the same price (and free shipping). Bummer. Oh well...I got an extra cleaning pad :)

This mop is really nice because it only takes about 30 seconds to heat up enough for steam. You can pump it over and over and over again if you want to get some serious steam coming out of it.I went over our floor 4 times (you can use both sides of the pad too), yes 4, and each time the pad looked similar to this:The last pad came out pretty clean, so I finally moved on to another room, but here is an after picture:

I swear the tile looks richer, but like I've mentioned before, it might just be wishful thinking.

I didn't take Tammy's advice and just went for it; I cleaned the whole kitchen without a second thought. It worked out really well, but I don't think our tiles are sealed like Tammy's. Please spot test it because this little sucker can put out some serious heat.

I have a feeling our kitchen will be mopped much more often now.

Biggest Loser Scale

2010-07-13T13:53:00.000-07:00

I really like this food scale. It's very simple and easy to use; it's small too, so it will fit in a utensil drawer. We paid under $20 for it. We buy meat in bulk and I use it to separate the meat by weight for sealing in freezer bags. I usually put a piece of wax paper on the scale before I put meat on it, but the top is glass and really easy to clean. It shuts itself off when not in use to save the battery life.

Treasure Garden Patio Umbrella

2010-06-25T14:09:00.000-07:00

We bought an 11 foot Octagon Cantilever Umbrella by Treasure Garden with an O'bravia fabric. O'bravia is considered a C grade fabric, according to Treasure Garden's website.

It is such a beautiful umbrella. It's tall, has nice fabric and creates a lot of shade. And that's where the good comments stop. We bought this from a clearance center for $300. The "non-clearance" was on sale for $400, but says it retails for just over $1000. Our umbrella was returned, but we were told, "It wasn't even taken out of the package." Yeah sure, I know better now.

We got home, set up the umbrella and it wouldn't crank open. Ah, now we know why they brought the umbrella back. AND, we can't return it because we bought it in the clearance center. So, Doug and I set out to take it apart and figure out why it won't work - we figured it's already broken and worthless, so why not?

The reason: the company used a string about the size of a shoe lace, but weaker, to open and close this umbrella. The cord was broken and twisted up inside the arm. Really???? It retails at over $1000 and you can't put a decent rope/string/wire through it??? If the string breaks, the umbrella is worthless.

After working on the umbrella for a couple hours each day, for a few days, we went to Lowe's to get a galvanized wire to run through the umbrella. Guess what? It works.

For a very small amount of money we made the umbrella stronger and better than the $1000 retail version and we only paid $300. Granted it cost frustration also, but sheesh, Treasure Garden could have used something better than a weak shoe string.

Oh, and P.S., good luck trying to get parts or warranty info. Everything I searched for, on their website and others, said to go back to the store you buy it from. Really? A retail store is going to have spare parts or wants to deal with the manufacturer's warranty? No. That's why it's a MANUFACTURER'S warranty.

Topsy Turvy

2010-06-14T14:43:00.000-07:00

I'm having something of a contest with the Topsy Turvy - I've got tomatoes in pots and hanging in the Topsy Turvy. I'm curious to see which one is better. So far, they are producing about the same amount of tomatoes:It was a bit of challenge to plant the tomato plant in the Topsy Turvy because there is a foam ring to put around base of the plant. It's hard to hold the plant and the planter while trying to add dirt. The first plant died and it was much easier to plant the second plant. I don't know if I was too worried about hurting the plant the first time. The second time I wasn't as careful and the Topsy Turvy was already full of dirt; I just put it on it's side and pushed the plant through the bottom.

The Topsy Turvy stand is twice as much as what you can get at Home Depot or Lowe's. Just make sure you buy a sturdy stand, these plants are heavy. We got ours for about $20 at Lowe's and it holds both plants; I just wish it could be a little higher off the ground - our stand is probably 5 feet or so.

I was going to wait to post about the Topsy Turvy, but thought I would tell you my experience so far - just in case you might want to buy one.

Aveeno

2010-05-16T11:50:00.001-07:00

My mom and I were at Costco a while back and I bought a 2 pack of Aveeno lotion. This lotion moisturizes well, but leaves my skin feeling sticky. I've also found that when using this lotion I would have white marks on my black slacks. I couldn't figure out where the marks were coming from until one day I rubbed my arm on my pants while sitting at my desk. I'm still searching for a lotion that works well without drawbacks.

Suave

2010-05-16T11:34:00.001-07:00

I was frustrated with our shampoo and conditioner so I figured we would try Suave. Why not try it right? After all, the commercials say it's just as good as expensive hair products. We chose the Pomegranate Splash. We usually pay $5-$7 for our shampoo and the same for our conditioner; we paid about $5 for both in family size bottles.

I can honestly say they are great. I've been having issues with my hair feeling and looking oily a few hours after I wash it. Not anymore. My hair is just as soft and manageable too.

Swiffer

2010-04-23T07:49:00.000-07:00

I've used the Swiffer Dusters and the Swiffer Sweeper. I use the dusters like crazy and love them. They are really easy to use and hold the dust and dirt in them. When the duster is dirty you slide it off the wand and put a new one on and keep dusting. While looking for a photo to use, I saw there is an extender you can buy to reach high objects.
The sweepers work pretty well too. They are more of a duster than a sweeper though. It will pick up the dust and hair and things, but it doesn't work great for larger crumbs and things like that; it tends to just push them around. We have tile in our kitchen and it's not great on tile either. But, I haven't found anything that IS great on tile. I use these in our bathroom and they work better on flat surfaces. We don't have a large surface area in our bathroom, so it's almost easier to use the duster.

Rival Crock Pot

2010-03-25T13:17:00.000-07:00

Doug and I got this crock pot as a wedding gift a couple years ago. I love it. It's the Rival "Smart Pot". It's got digital controls, digital timer and when the meal is done it automatically sets itself to warm so the meal doesn't overcook. It's great. It comes with an instruction manual as well as recipes. I've seen it for sale at Costco for about $40, it's definitely worth the cost.

Sheraton

2010-03-10T14:32:00.000-08:00

We stayed at the Sheraton while we were in San Jose, CA. It was a nice room, simple and classy decorations, clean and it felt comfortable to be there. We booked online using Hotels.com and got a great price of $90 for a weekend night while most hotels in the area were going for $120 and more. The staff was very nice and although the hotel restaurant/bar was empty, the food was good (Doug got the wrong sandwich, but he ate it anyways) and the bartender was very helpful.

I would definitely stay at this hotel again. The picture above is from their website and looks just like the room we stayed in, except our comforter was white.

Sheraton

Southwest Airlines

2010-03-10T14:12:00.000-08:00

When I fly, I always seem to check Southwest first. It's always been a pretty easy experience, so I keep flying with them. I don't dislike the other airlines, but Southwest seems to be my preferred airline (not to mention we don't have to pay for our luggage to fly).

We flew Southwest to and from Minnesota. I searched online to find the cheapest flights and found one online for $200 each. It wasn't letting me book it online and the next flight price was $400 for the exact same trip. I called Southwest to see why I couldn't book online and I was told they must have sold all the tickets at that price level. The gentleman I spoke with asked me to hold for a moment and was very sympathetic to my situation (trying to get to my grandma's memorial). He was able to find me a ticket at the $200 price. I'm so grateful for their customer service! They saved us $400 on our flight to Minnesota!!

A funny story though: while we were on our flight from Chicago to Minnesota our flight attendant was the equivalent to the "Soup Nazi" on Seinfeld.
Here's how the drink orders went:
What do you want to drink?
Sprite
(to the next person) Yes
coffee
Yes
Coke
Yes
water
Yes
If she got to you and you didn't have an answer ready, I was SURE they were going to hear "NO DRINK FOR YOU!" We had a pretty good laugh over it. It was funny to watch when the people in the next rows weren't paying attention and would hear, "Yes." I imagine the blank stares she would get and then she would say, "What do you want to drink?" "Yes." "Yes." "Yes." "Yes." "Yes." She did apologize while rapidly handing out the peanuts/pretzels that they were in a hurry due to the ice delay in Chicago.

Jack's Urban Eats

2010-03-04T11:11:00.000-08:00

You should really take a break and stop at Jack's for lunch. They have delicious food. You can create your own salad, have a Thai Salmon Salad, Hot Pastrami Reuben, or have a BBQ Tri Tip sandwich - there are many more items as well as garlic french fries and sweet treats. Doug and I stopped in for lunch on our way out of town a couple weekends ago and he really liked his Tri Tip Sandwich and said we need to go again next time we're in the area. I usually create my own salad, but I had a BBQ Chicken Sandwich and it was really good.

I used to work across the street from one of their restaurants, now it's a little further of a drive to a different location but always worth the food. There are about 5 restaurants in the Sacramento area and most items are $7-8. Enjoy!

Jack's Urban Eats

Giant Cupcake attempt #2

2010-02-08T14:28:00.000-08:00

My sister-in-law gave me this pan for Christmas. It works so much better than the Wilton Giant Cupcake pan. I'm sure I would have mastered the Wilton pan, but it seemed like extra work compared to this pan. The silicon version positives: 2 separate pieces, an insert for fillings, a "fill-to" line in the base pan (you pour the rest in the top pan), and it comes out of the pan SO much easier. The issue I did have with this pan was the baking instructions say 35 minutes, then the base will take an additional 10 minutes; it took almost an hour to bake the cake (I only used one box mix for the recipe as instructed). See how clean the base pan is??? A little bit of the top was left in the top pan, but not enough to have to use frosting to put it back together. The plate on the right is the cupcake after I cut each piece to level them.

The plate on the left are the pieces we cut off, frosted and ate over the weekend :)

Fruit Snacks

2010-02-05T10:58:00.001-08:00

These Kirkland brand fruit snacks from the makers of Jelly Belly are so yummy. I think these are my favorite fruit snacks. I wish the bag was made in “April size”. But, it keeps me from eating the entire box in one sitting. The little bags are 80 calorie packs and I want more than that. I really like the fruit snacks by Welch’s too, but they aren’t selling them at our local Costco anymore (Welch’s makes an “April size” bag). On a side note: food sizes just keep shrinking….100, 80, 60 calorie packs. Here’s an annoying example: the Jello 100 calorie packs of pudding are actually more calories than the regular Jello pudding packs we would normally buy (thanks to the Eat This, Not That book for pointing this out), but the unobservant consumer doesn’t realize that they are probably paying more for the “100 calorie pack” and are actually getting more calories when they think they are cutting calories.

iPhone

2010-02-02T12:26:00.000-08:00

This is such a fun phone. I really wasn't looking forward to the extra $30 a month data charge, but Doug and I really like these phones. There are so many free apps to get. We can stream music online for free, email, look up maps, play games, etc. I upload different things frequently and it's like having a new phone all the time. There are 16G of memory in this phone, so we have a lot of room for photos, music, etc. It's an easy phone to use, customer service is great, and we are glad we bought them. Unfortunately it took dropping my other phone in Tilex, but we've had these for a couple months and don't regret it.

A note about the customer service....AT&T cell phone customer service is amazing. I think AT&T kept the Cingular customer service department when everything switched over; they've been great over the last 10 years, all the way back to when I joined Cingular. I can't stand the AT&T customer service for their internet and phone and have a friend who has fought with them on numerous occasions regarding cable, internet and phone also.

Plant Caddy

2010-01-29T11:07:00.000-08:00

I bought these from Home Depot last summer. They suck. Short and sweet. They were great at first, but then moisture ruined the “wood”, so they are cracked and gross looking. The wheels, which are plastic are breaking and the caps are falling off. I got three ($15-$20 each I think) and 2 of them are holding very heavy pots, but I expected them to hold up better than they have. The third one is holding a small plant I call Anastasia because I could never remember that it was an Azalea bush; even the wheels on that one are breaking and the “wood” is cracked and breaking.
Real wood and sturdy wheels are the way to go; not these little caster wheels and fake wood.

Hopefully we can get these trees in the ground soon and not have to buy more.

Faux Wine Barrels

2010-01-29T11:05:00.001-08:00

I wanted the half wine barrels to plant our orange tree and mandarin trees in until we were able to get our yard in order. Not wanting to spend a lot of money – and unable to find a couple – I settled for a faux wine barrels my mom and I found at Kmart. It’s held up pretty well, until recently. They’re over a year old and being fake, I guess I didn’t really expect too much. The black coloring is rubbing off, so I try not to touch them. The weather is getting to them, so they are beginning to crack and I’m sure it won’t be too long before they fall apart. I’ve got a couple online photos for these posts until I can get actual photos posted.

Updated...Here are my photos. Don't be like me....wait and buy the real thing.

Energizer Batteries

2010-01-08T12:27:00.000-08:00

I LOVE these batteries.

I've tried so many rechargeable batteries and they just don't last long. We got our camera a year and a half ago and I was constantly carrying batteries around, rechargeable or not. I have a small box full of batteries that we've been through, even rechargeable that don't hold a charge although they're new.

Doug bought these Lithium batteries just to try them and they're amazing. To get an idea of how long they last: rechargeable batteries would last a day ( on a REALLY good day ), "regular" batteries would last about a week, but the Lithium batteries last about a month, if not longer.

Our packaging looks a little different, but I L.O.V.E these batteries. It's so nice not worrying that our batteries are going to die while we are out for the day. We use 4 AA batteries in our camera and buying batteries was getting ridiculous, not to mention having to carry an extra 8 batteries and a battery charger.

These cost a little more, but I think it's worth it. I think this 4 pack of batteries is about $8.

Round Up Weed Killer

2009-12-31T10:06:00.000-08:00

I really like Round Up. This product is weed and grass killer. We don't have much grass in our back yard, so I spray just about everything. The Pump-n-Go container is great; just pump 25 times and you'll have enough pressure to spray for 5-10 minutes (I don't really count, I just keep pumping until the sides are bulging). The Pump-n-Go container isn't very expensive (under $20) and you can buy a gallon of Round Up liquid refill (under $15) when you run out. It's easy to carry around and use. There is a little safety latch that retracts the nozzle and an easy to press lever to release the weed killer.

This is our before picture:

It didn't kill them completely because I was using the Round Up sparingly; it was almost gone and I was trying to spray as much of the yard as I could. It also rained a couple times, so a few more weeds grew in.Here is a photo of a weed a few days after being sprayed. Last year, I waited until the rainy season was over and had SO many weeds to spray, so this season I thought I would spray them as they come in so it won't be so overwhelming when the rain stops.

Here is a photo of a section of our yard March 2009 - all the green you see are weeds I had to kill last season; not a single plant or patch of grass hiding in there. These and many more weeds were dead a few days after being sprayed.

I'm out of Round Up and plan on buying a refill jug (or two) the next time we go to Lowe's.

Shark Steam Mop & Shark Vac

2009-12-20T22:33:00.000-08:00

I bought these because I have really bad allergies and thought the steam mop would be fantastic, because I wouldn't have to use chemicals to clean and disinfect my floors. Performance wise, it is phenomenal! You just fill with water, plug in and you are set to go! It generates steam really quickly and gets anything and everything off the floor.

I would, however, give one warning... do a spot test several times in a VERY inconspicuous area before going wild on your floors. This mop works so well, it literally took the finish off of my ceramic tile floors!!! On about 5 tiles in my kitchen, there are large white spots where the mop took the color off. So, buyer beware.

The vacuum, in a word.....sucks. (Pun intended) It is cordless, light and easy to use, but it doesn't pick up very well. After I used it on my kitchen floor, I had to go get my Swiffer Vac and redo the floors. I do not recommend this at all.

Mr. Clean Magic Erasers

2009-12-20T19:33:00.000-08:00

I learned about these little "erasers" a couple years back and thought, "No way do they work that well." Oh my gosh, they work better than I could have imagined. I just cleaned our bathtub with them last weekend and it looks brand new. I should have taken before and after photos. They work on tubs, counters, walls, floors, etc. All you have to do is get it wet, wring it out and clean away. It begins to disintegrate as you use it, then just grab a new one. There are some things the package warns not to use it on, like colored walls, polished finishes, and some other things. I did use it on our polished chrome in the bathroom and didn't have any problems, but I didn't press too hard or use it too much. I HIGHLY recommend these!

Euro Pro Toaster Oven

2009-11-28T10:19:00.001-08:00

We bought a Euro Pro Convection Toaster oven and love it. We use this just about as often, if not more than our full size oven. This toaster oven toasts, bakes, broils, and has convection heat. It's extended in the back to fit a 12" pizza. It cooks just about everything and anything we put in it - there is an exception though, I tried to cook a meatloaf in it so I wouldn't heat the house during the summer, but after an hour it was still pretty cold and had to cook another hour in the full size oven. Moral of the story....cook large meat products in the big oven.

This toaster oven is digital too; it also has a nice, annoying beep when the food is done and it shuts itself off (unlike our oven, it just beeps a couple times and if we aren't nearby we don't hear it and the food continues to cook). We've had this oven for about 2 years and I really hope it never breaks, I love it. We regularly cook: cinnamon rolls, tater tots, chicken nuggets, BBQ chicken wings, Pillsbury cresents and/or dinner rolls and a few other things I can't think of.

When we bought this toaster oven it was about $90, but of course we had our trusty Bed, Bath and Beyond coupon, so we paid 20% less. I should get paid for endorsing Bed, Bath and Beyond :) As a side note, we do have to alter the temperatures and times a little because the heat is in a compact area.

Silicon Baking Mat

2009-11-07T14:59:00.000-08:00

Item description:
Reinforced, siliconized rubber mat makes any baking sheet non-stick replacing the need for parchment paper. Mat can be used 3,000 times and is easy to clean. Heat resistant up to 480 °. No greasing required. Mat measures 11 5/8" W x 16 L" for use in a 13" W x 18" L baking pan . FDA approved.

My mom has been using these mats for quite some time and loves them. I finally bought a couple a month or 2 ago and they are as great as she says. They're about $25 each at Bed Bath and Beyond, but don't forget to take your 20% or $5 off coupons. You can use as many coupons as items you have, it's amazing! I love Bed Bath and Beyond for the way they let customers use coupons; and their coupons don't expire so don't throw them away! The last trip with my mom I saved $60 using 13 coupons.

You can see my cookie marks in the photo above; no sticking, no mess and no greasing.

I'm going to get a couple more because I used wax paper the last time, thinking in my head parchment paper and filled the house with smoke. You'll have to check out my personal blog for that photo.

Bumpits

2009-10-23T14:00:00.001-07:00

Are you "rockin' a pony"??

I haven't mastered the larger Bumpits, but the little one for adding a bump to the bangs works pretty well - but it's not really needed since my bump is higher than the Bumpit. The idea behind these is that you will have added volume to your hair. If you want your hair as high as the girl in the picture, you still have to tease your hair and use bunches of hair spray. When you get your bump all set and looking nice, the hair shifts and then you can see the Bumpit underneath. The little claws they have along the edges work well though.
In the picture, you can see the curve they have; the taller one doesn't really fit the curve of my head.
If you have thin hair, save your money - you'll be able to see the Bumpit.
If you don't mind teasing and spraying your hair still, then spend $8 at Walmart for them. At least you won't have to do as much teasing.

Wilton Large Muffin Pan

2009-10-17T15:17:00.000-07:00

Recipe Right® 6 Cup Jumbo Muffin Pan by WiltonThis pan is so cool! Rather than making little muffins I can make BIG muffins!! It works REALLY well too. I worried about the middle being under cooked, but it comes out perfect. I used the directions on the muffin mix box and had to bake them about 5 minutes longer.

To describe the size of these muffins - they are Costco size muffins, or another way to gauge the size is the 6 muffins take a whole box of muffin mix. The cup papers can be found at JoAnn's or Michael's, but I recommend buying them online - it's much cheaper.

I've made muffins and cupcakes using these pans and they both come out perfectly. These pans are easy to use too.

Oh, speaking of buying things online. I found these pans much cheaper online at Amazon. I bought 4 of them along with the muffin papers and spent just about as much as if I only bought 2 1/2 at a store.

P.S. A percent of all my Amazon purchases help the National Adoption Foundation through OneCause.com as well as help Mike and Tammy with their adoption fees. Check out their site: Completing Our Circle
You can help too! Leave us a comment and we'll help you get started.

Wilton Giant Cupcake Pan

2009-10-17T15:00:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty glad I didn't buy this pan. I borrowed it and maybe I just didn't have the finesse to get a cupcake that looked like the photo. I couldn't find directions anywhere, not even on the Wilton website. I used the cake box instructions; it took quite a while longer to bake (after all, you have to put A LOT of batter in each side). I had a very hard time getting the bottom of the cupcake out of the pan and even more trouble getting the top out. After Doug helped me get the 2 pieces out, it took frosting to put the pieces back together. I think with some practice it could be a really fun pan, but it takes too much energy and cake batter for me to put the effort into it. I think this pan in a silicon version would be much easier to use.Oh yeah, note to self....put it together AFTER you arrive at your destination. That was a hard lesson learned. This cupcake is pretty top heavy and of all the things I have in the kitchen, I couldn't find anything to put it in. I braced it as well as I could in a large bowl, but it still tipped over.

Welcome Tammy!

2009-10-13T12:06:00.000-07:00

My gal-pal Tammy likes to try new things and loves to share her thoughts and ideas about products too. I'm excited to have her posting on this blog.

The Magic Bullet

2009-10-13T11:44:00.000-07:00

So many claims....so little time.

After watching the infomercial many times, Doug watched one with me and thought this is a pretty cool gadget. So we called and ordered it. When you call or order online you get one free (or at least you used to). You pay for shipping and handling which is almost as much as the regular price. No matter...I was excited! Smoothies, cheese dip, tuna salad, etc, HERE I COME!

And, there it went. After being sent a replacement base for one that had a rattling piece inside, I now have 3. The customer service was very nice; even when I had to call back because I was AUTOMATICALLY entered into a "Magic Bullet weight loss powder" delivery that was being charged and sent every month.

Really though...

Save your money....just buy a blender and/or a food processor.

"Any job in 10 seconds or less" Yeah sure. 10 seconds and then 10 more seconds and then 10 more seconds and then it starts to smell funny. Then you realize the smoothie you were making looks pretty much like broken ice with half pieces of fruit in it. We now have a refrigerator that will give us crushed ice, so smoothies work better now (but you have to start with crushed ice...kinda defeats the purpose).

I tried to use it to "chop" water chestnuts and green onions - well lets just say by the time all the pieces were in a decent size, most of it looked like baby poo, so I just made all of it look like baby poo and mixed it into my spinach dip. It would have been festive if it were Christmas or St. Patrick's day.

It pretty much sits under the counter. I haven't even taken the second one out of the box (I think I know what to give my mom for Christmas HAHA -just kidding mom). We occasionally make a smoothie, but it certainly takes longer than 10 seconds, even with crushed ice. And honestly it's more of a pain to make 2 of them rather than throwing it all in a blender and making them at the same time.

Yoplait Delights

2009-10-12T12:54:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! April was so kind to invite me to be a contributor on her awesome product review blog: A Honu Product.

My first review will be of the new Yoplait Delights. In a word....

DEELISH!

I love Yoplait yogurt. It is the only type I buy. Not for snobbish reasons... it's a texture thing. So, of course when I saw the commercial for these, (I swear, it seems like ALL ads are written just for me) I just had to try them. So far, I have tried the Chocolate Strawberry and the Lemon Torte.

At Wal-Mart, they are priced the same as regular Yoplait, at .50 each, in a box of 4. Albertsons, they are almost $2 more.

So, if you are looking for a low-cal tasty sweet treet, I would recommend these babies!

Tammy

Aqua Globes

2009-10-05T14:32:00.001-07:00

Aqua Globes, what can I say....they do what they are supposed to do. It keeps me from over-watering my plants or forgetting to water them. This plant looks a little sad, but the weather is colder so the flowers went away. When the globe gets to the end of its water level, I usually shake it to make all the water come out and then fill it. The Aqua Globe is a little annoying to fill because there's a little hole that you have to hold under a small stream of water for a while. Try to stick it in the same hole each time or you'll keep breaking the roots each time you push it back into the dirt.

Bra Baby

2009-09-25T20:31:00.000-07:00

I bought this ball because I was tired of the hooks on my bras getting caught on clothing or torn off in the wash, not to mention the weird creases and folds my bras would have after a wash. I haven't been terribly impressed with this product. The idea is to tuck the straps into the inner ball and the cups go around the inner ball and are protected by the outer ball. It works alright, but most of the time it breaks open. In the picture you can see a small clip that you twist when you close it. That clip stays in place, but the other side of the ball that snaps together does come apart in the wash. The ball doesn't completely open, but it can cause the bra to fold and move like it's not supposed to. I tried lingerie bags in the past, but they don't hold the shape of the bra and there is still a hook issue. This ball isn't too bad compared to what is out there, I just wish the back part wouldn't come apart. I will say that large size cups probably won't fit very well in the ball; I would bet the bra in the picture above is a B and you can see there's not much more room.

Hunter Ceiling Fan

2009-09-24T16:14:00.000-07:00

I just threw the box away, so I can't remember the model number of this Hunter fan. We've had these fans installed for about 9 months now and they live up to their name and cost. They are more pricey than a cheapy Wal-Mart fan - which we own as well (its much more noisy and the light occasionally rattles). These Hunter Fans are really quiet, just like they claim to be. I love having a remote for the light and fan as well.

The only issue I have with these fans is we have a second one upstairs and they are on the same frequency. When you turn the switch on - the light comes on and not the fan. They took a little bit to get used to, meaning:

If I had the fan on light on downstairs and wanted to turn the light off upstairs it will turn both off. Or if I want to turn the fan on upstairs, but wanted to leave the light on downstairs, you have to turn the light off downstairs using the remote, then flip the switch upstairs, then push the light button on the remote to turn the light off on one and on for the other. That all probably doesn't make sense.

SO, here's the FUNNY part about these fans. I'm a really light sleeper... At night if I have the fan running while we sleep, I will hear a *click* and then see light. I open my eyes and the light is on and the fan is slowing down. WHAT??!! Why did it just shut itself off and turn the light on!??? One night it did this twice to me (only to me because Doug can sleep through it)...while trying to sleep and being really annoyed with the fan I could hear a train in the distance. Sure enough, a train went by on a 3rd occasion and guess what?? I hear *click* and the light is on again and the fan is slowing down. WAIT, WHAT?? The train runs on that frequency too??? Or it was quite a coincidence. Doug was going to change the frequency it runs on, but that requires taking the fan down from the ceiling, so we're just dealing with it and don't run them at night.

**I even tried to see if the remote would turn lights on in the neighbor's homes to make sure I wasn't crazy thinking a train was turning our fan of and light on.

I really do like these fans. And it makes for a funny train story.

Bread Maker

2009-09-18T13:56:00.000-07:00

Breadman TR520.

I love this bread maker. It's simple to use, looks nice, comes with a recipe book with clear instruction - and the recipes are GOOD. I was a little worried about my first loaf, but it gives tips to follow if a loaf rises over the pan, sinks in, etc. The other day I made pizza dough; I hadn't tried dough yet. It was GREAT! I didn't have powdered milk for the recipe, so I made it without it and it still turned out perfect.

The dough working inside...

After 1 hour 20 minutes, we had fresh pizza dough; and a homemade pizza 20 minutes later!
The crust was really thick, which is really yummy, but next time I'll split the dough or get a larger pizza stone.

Link - not showing updated

2009-09-14T18:22:00.000-07:00

I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but this blog link shows up as being updated a week ago (on my other blog) when I just did it a couple days ago....I'm confused.

Dr Scholl's ouchie

2009-09-12T13:21:00.000-07:00

I bought the Ball of Foot Cushion and Heel Liners for my shoes. I like the ball of the foot cushions, but couldn't seem to get them set in just the right spot. Here is a photo of what the heel liners left - blisters and sores on both sides of my heels.

Matress and Bedroom Set

2009-09-07T11:20:00.000-07:00

June 25th, 2008

First, thanks so much to Brian for helping Doug move the mattress! And thank you Bonnie for letting us steal him to help! Okay, we've been sleeping on it for a few days now, but it took me a bit to get the pictures up. Doug built the frame for it today. We aren't going to use our headboard or footboard until we get a home. It's too much to take it all apart and move it. Here is a picture of our new mattress and what our bedroom furniture will look like when we get into a home.

The mattress is a Serta Torino Marquis - a brand specially made for RC Willey.

The furniture is made by Thornwood.

Update: We couldn't be happier with our mattress, it was fairly pricey though. My left shoulder and back get sore sometimes and I haven't had any discomfort while sleeping on this mattress. Also, not that we sleep on the mattress without the sheets and such, but it's got an very soft, velvety feel. It's a very hard mattress to move because it's a latex blend it folds in half like a taco very easily - and it's very heavy. If the mattress folds, it can cause the layer inside to shift, so be careful.

We've been in our house for a year now and the bedroom set is well made and looks great.

Space Bags

2009-09-07T11:06:00.001-07:00

July 27th, 2008
I've been wanting to get Space Bags for a while, well I finally did yesterday. Here are my before and after photos. I want to put everything in Space Bags!!

Update: The Cube size bags don't hold as well as the smaller bags you see above. I couldn't figure out if I was doing something wrong, but I realized it wasn't me when some work, but most don't. These are great bags if you stick with the original sizes, like small, medium and large (and even extra large). If the bag doesn't work or you get a hole in it, it's like having a HUGE zip-lock bag.

Television

2009-09-07T11:03:00.001-07:00

November 2nd, 2008

Panasonic 50" Plasma Television

Update: This is a really nice TV; very user friendly too. It took me a little bit to get used to the remote signal - it seems to take a moment for the TV to actually change the channel. We still to have an entertainment center built in though.

Freezer

2009-09-07T11:00:00.001-07:00

January 21st, 2009

Doug, with the help of his dad, picked up our new freezer today. Now we can buy in bulk and not worry about where in the world we are going to fit things in the freezer/refrigerator we have.

Frigidaire 14.1 Cu. Ft. Upright Freezer
Features include interior light, slide out basket and lock with pop out key.

Update: This freezer is great. Along with auto defrost, it also has a 2 button control on the outside of the door to increase or decrease the temperature. I keep a thermometer inside to make sure the temperature is where I want it (it stays a constant temperature all the time). We didn't really notice a change in our electric bill, which we were somewhat worried about.

Curtains

2009-09-07T10:42:00.001-07:00

February 16th, 2009

We bought CHF & You Empire Silk curtains from Beth Bath & Beyond. They have an extra backing to reduce heat in the summer and cold in the winter. We also put a shear curtain inside to let light in as well as keep our privacy while the curtains are open.

Update: We're very happy with these curtains. They look very nice and keep extra heat/sun out during the hot summer days. We had an issue trying to find curtains that were long enough for this window - after hanging these curtains they ended up being too short, but we like having them up off the floor to keep them clean from dragging on the ground. Also, being silk there are natural colors and flaws in the material and the curtain on the right has a long dark color across the top portion.

As a tip from my sister-in-law we hung the curtains from ring clips. What a great idea! They slide open easily and it looks great too.

Fix-It and Forget-It

2009-09-07T10:24:00.000-07:00

February 19th, 2009

I bought a crock pot cookbook a while ago and wasn't fond of it after trying a few recipes. So, I was on the hunt for another book. I cruised around amazon.com looking at the reviews on the various books and settled on this one; not to mention it has 1400 recipes - there's got to be a good one in it. I really like the recipes in this book!! I couldn't wait to get home and start cooking!! I HAD to make the Mexican Goulash in the picture below. It actually came out just like the picture. We weren't very hungry for dinner last night because we ate a really late lunch, but it turned out pretty good! I'm looking forward to trying other recipes. I'm hoping the soup recipes are good too, we want to freeze them in individual portions so we can grab an easy lunch on our way out the door to work.

Update: I really like this book because there aren't exotic or unusual ingredients I have to find and/or buy. I made 3-4 soup recipes last winter and they turned out okay. When winter comes around this year, I'll add more spices to taste. The soups were a little bland, but having never made them before I didn't want to add too much the first time. I like pictures when I order food in a restaurant or make something out of a cookbook and this book doesn't have a lot of pictures, but with 1400 recipes that would be A LOT of photos to fit into this already big book.

Strawberry Festival

2009-09-07T10:17:00.000-07:00

May 2009

Yep, it was really lame (I'm late posting this since it was a few weeks ago, but I just pulled the tickets out of my purse and it reminded me). I think we got there at about 7pm. They sure didn't mention in their web page that MOST vendors go home by then - although it's advertised until 10pm. I was so excited to see strawberries everywhere; in every food, drink and decoration. Uh, riiiiiight. Johny 5 Productions put on this Strawberry festival and I'll sure think twice before I go to an event put on by them again. Oh, and there was even supposed to be a classic car show; unless it was all the cars in the parking lot there wasn't a single car to look at.

I was expecting to eat myself sick of strawberries and leave with even more. I've never been to a food festival, so I thought I had my hopes too high, but a friend of mine went the next afternoon and said it was just as bad, but they did have the classic car show. We paid $8 each to get in and unless we wanted to buy a strawberry funnel cake, we were pretty much out of luck with strawberries. We didn't have dinner, so we bought a tri-tip meal. After spending $39 on parking, tickets and our meals, we had a combined total on TWO strawberries. They sure let the air out of my balloon.

Whole House Fan

2009-09-07T09:31:00.001-07:00

July 3rd 2009 we installed an AirScape Whole House Fan

http://www.airscapefans.com/

We chose the 2.5 WHF and here are the specifications:
2516 CFM
for houses up to 3500 sq ft
industrial-grade fan
quiet: just 53 dBA on high
automatic insulated doors
draws just 395 288 Watts
16 x 24 inch hi-flow grill
easy installation
wireless remote ready

$1099

We also purchased the wireless remote kit for $79 and an additional remote for $38 - just in case we lost one (we already lost one, but only for a few days).

The picture above shows the ducting that comes with the fan. The idea is to have the fan up and off the attic floor to reduce the noise, so it hangs from the rafters.

The installation took Doug and his dad about 6 hours in a really hot attic. The space was small and where he originally wanted the fan wasn't going to work because of a light fixture.It's been a great fan to have. You can see the grating in the photo above, it's half the size of our air conditioner; it really just looks like another vent in the ceiling. I almost wish it was louder so I'd know it was working like a jet engine, but it's pretty quiet for the amount of air it's pulling - it's much quieter than a box fan or even the oscillating fan we use. I'm a very light sleeper and although this is just outside our bedroom door, I'm able to sleep while it's running. The only noise we really hear is when the shutters are opening and closing.

I'm VERY happy we chose to purchase the remote kit. When you buy the remote kit at the same time as the fan (recommended) they will send the fan with the remote already installed in the fan; all you have to do is click the buttons to turn it on low, high or off. There was no wiring or electric work to deal with. There is even a timer button, each click on the remote tells it to run for 2 hour blocks (up to 12 hours).

It costs quite a bit more than the fans you can pick up at Lowe's or Home Depot, but after checking out many fans and many reviews we didn't like how loud the other fans were, not to mention there were many complaints that the fans only lasted a couple years.

AirScape has installation videos as well as customer service and tech support available for anything you need. I've called their customer service a few times, not fan related, and they've been great every time.

Don't forget to check your utility company for rebates, we got a $100 rebate.

One last thing: I really like that AirScape also sends an extra box with a UPS label so you can send the packaging foam back to reduce landfill and cost.

New Bed and Chair

2009-09-07T09:25:00.001-07:00

On July 12, 2009 I posted about our new bed and chair.

The headboard/footboard are made by Woodlands Designs. We put a Serta Grand Bay mattress in this room. It's a great mattress for the price - I think the queen set was around $400.

The chair is made by Best Home Furnishings. I sat in this chair while talking to a friend and fell in love with it. It is so comfortable, the back in nice and tall and it's very sturdy - I don't ever feel like it's going to tip over. A very well made chair.

Antenna

2009-09-07T09:10:00.000-07:00

As you may know, we still don't (and I won't) pay for cable. It's just too darn expensive - and they constantly raise the prices. We installed an RCA antenna in the attic. Okay, Doug did most of the work (I was pretty much a tool getter). Here is the cable we fed through the control panel into the attic. We have clear picture in each room now, without having to put foil on the smaller antenna to get a couple channels to work on one TV.
This post was originally posted on August 12, 2009 and the antenna has been working great. There are very few interruptions, but they do happen occasionally. For the cost and the results, this antenna is worth it. I'm very happy we bought it and Doug was able to install it. Hopefully with the antenna in the attic it will continue to work great through the winter. We did have to buy some hardware and the pipe you see (brass color) in the picture above in order to hang it.

All-Clad

2009-09-05T14:24:00.000-07:00

I have to share a great purchase we made recently. A month or so ago I watched a cooking show that was using a grill pan. Then I "HAD TO HAVE ONE!" After a couple weeks researching grill pans, I found the All-Clad Nonstick Grande Grill Pan to be the best for it's price.

Unfortunately, getting the best is not cheap. I searched and searched to find this pan, but cheaper. The lowest I could find this $160 pan was about $99. So I tried another search and ran across this pan for $60 on cutleryandmore.com!! AND FREE SHIPPING! WOO HOO!! I went to their site to get a picture of the pan and now they are at about $95. Man, I sure bought at the perfect time!

Okay back to the reviews. This grill pan is awesome! It's even easy to clean. The only issue I can see is it's big enough to cover 2 burners on the stove, so not wanting to stack anything on the nonstick surface it can take up space in cupboards. We keep it in the oven for now.

We have made chicken a few times on it and the chicken comes out so juicy and perfect! We make an herb butter - butter, dried parsley, dried oregano, salt and pepper (the last recipe I added lemon zest too). Then we rub the butter mixture on the chicken and grill it. YUMMY! I "heart" our new grill pan.

I originally posted this on March 5th, 2009 and we still use the grill pan. We've used it many times and haven't had a bad meal yet. This isn't a kitchen product that will get stuck in a cupboard and forgotten about.

Neu Home Can Storage

2009-09-05T14:11:00.001-07:00

I’ve been looking for a can storage rack for a while now and after doing some homework and checking prices I settled on these:They are made by Neu Home and they are pricier than the plastic type, but well worth it - a very sturdy product. They hold just about any size can and have an adjustable arm in between the rows, but it's almost unnecessary. I was able to clear off almost 2 shelves in our pantry. The rack doesn’t fit on our pantry shelves, but they fit nicely on the floor under the bottom shelf. You can save $4 by ordering them on Amazon, but then pay shipping. I bought them at Organize It for $39.99. I have to also add that going into an organizing store is BAD NEWS! Okay, it’s really good because I love all the stuff I can use to organize, but the checking account isn’t a fan (Doug said we could fit 2 more on the floor and now I want 2 more!!). This was posted to my original blog on May 5th, 2009 and I still love this Neu Home product. The cans roll forward nicely and each level is easy to fill. It's so nice to keep the cans off the shelves.

Welcome!

2009-09-05T14:05:00.000-07:00

Ever bought something and regretted it as soon as you tried it?? Me too! That's why I've created this blog: to tell you about the things I've tried and how they work - or didn't work.