Oxo Mandoline

I bought this mandoline quite a while ago and didn't use it much.  I have used it a lot lately and I love it!  I slice sweet potatoes for dog treats and although the orange in the sweet potatoes stains the white plastic, I'm okay with it.  It's easy to pull apart and clean.  I wash it by hand.  There are numerous blades to use.  It's very sturdy although it's plastic; it's lightweight too. Everything stores neatly on the mandoline, except the fairly large hand guard.  One small downside is taking the other blades off the gadget when I clean it.  It may not be neccessary for me to pull them all off, but I do.  I don't want water to get trapped while it's drying.  I think I paid about $40 for it at Target.  It's worth the money if you want and easy way to slice fruits and veggies.

Here is the company website for more information:

OXO

Nesco Dehydrator

I had my first experience with a dehydrator.  They sure are easy to use!  My only critique is there isn’t an on and off switch; it’s either on or unplugged each time I move the food to a different tray.  I used a mandoline to slice the sweet potatoes and loaded up the dehydrator.  Super easy!  Although, I followed a suggestion in the booklet to microwave the sweet potatoes to do whatever it said – I can’t remember the fancy reason why.  It made the sweet potatoes sweat, so I’m not sure if it shortened the dehydration process or not.  The sweet potatoes took FOREVER in the dehydrator!!  I expected them to take about 6 hours since the booklet said carrots take 6 hours.  I think they were in the dehydrator for about 8 hours.  The oven only takes 3 hours, but there is less user error and I don’t have to think about it if I use the dehydrator.  I guess depending on the amount of time I have to make more Ruger (our dog) treats will determine the method of drying I use in the future.  PS I bought a bag of “Natural Sweet Potato Rawhides” for $7+ to see how different they are to what I make for Ruger. 

The bag I bought only has about 10-15 “rawhides”, they are soft, not crunchy at all (not a good or bad thing, just a difference) and only last about 15 seconds when Ruger gets a hold of one.  I’ll stick to making them myself.  For only a few dollars I can make dozens of treats; 3 sweet potatoes filled the 4 trays in the dehydrator and 2 pans for the oven.

(This is before the shrink up)  If you want to try the oven version - Cut the sweet potatoes into rounds or the long way for longer treats.  We like the "chips".  Cut them about 1/8-1/4 inch thick (a mandoline is very helpful as sweet potatoes are tough to cut).  200 degrees for 3 hours, flip at 1 1/2 hours.  Make sure to watch them towards the end of the cook time so they don't burn.  I've tried different thicknesses and cook times, so you may have to tweak the temperature and/or time a little.

Omega Paw Treat Ball

We bought this Omega Paw Treat Ball when we were going to pick up our puppy.  It has a single hole to fill it with treats or food.  We use the dog's food and he loves it.  It has become a special treat while he is crated during the morning hours.  The ball is easy to fill and it doesn't dump a bunch of food all at once.  I definitely recommend this ball!  This type of treat toy is not cheap though.  I think we paid over $10 for this ball at Petco, but it's made of a heavy plastic and will last for a very long time.  You can get this ball on Amazon for about $11.

DogTagArt.com

I loved making a dog tag for our new puppy!

Some of the tags on the website are hysterical.  You can create your own tag or chose a design.

Check out DogTagArt

The company offers to reprint your dog tag if it ever fades or rubs off FOR FREE.  How great is that??  We bought the large tag - it's about the size of a quarter and it cost about $13 with tax and shipping.  The company printed and shipped the tag within 24 hours!  It's a very lightweight tag with a glossy finish and it came with a plastic ring to wrap around the tag to make it jingle less.  Honestly, I didn't know what the plastic ring was for and I almost threw it away, but it makes the tag quieter as our puppy runs around and/or sleeps at night.

Secret Clinical Strength

I've tried SO many deodorants in the past.  I tried clear, solid, gel, men's, women's, etc.  I bought Secret Clinical Strength about 5 1/2 years ago and haven't had to try another deodorant since!  Doug really likes the smell of the Light and Fresh Scent too.  I used to worry all the time about sweating and smelling bad, but this stuff has taken my worries away.  Of course I still sweat, but my concerns are not in the front of my mind all the time now. 

It crossed my mind that I haven't posted about this deodorant...I was thinking about my 5 year anniversary coming up tomorrow and I used this deodorant on my wedding day - imagine a hot wedding dress on a 100+ degree day and the wedding was outside...I was sweating!!  But I wasn't worried about my deodorant at all! 

You can check out their products and get special offers here:  Secret Clinical Strength

Magic Bullet Juicer

I decided to give our Magic Bullet a try again. I took everything out of the cupboard it's been sitting in for years because I wanted to try the juicer attachment. We were looking at getting a juicer and I thought, "Why not try the one we already have?" Well, this is why:That mess is 4 oranges cut into wedges and put through the Magic Bullet Juicer. All it did was smash them up and make a mess for me to clean up.

This is all the juice I got from those 4 oranges; I would have gotten much more if I would have juiced them by hand.

Although I joked about it, I actually gave my other Magic Bullet (the 2nd one I got free for ordering the first one) to my mom; she didn't use it either, but it ended up as a raffle prize to raise money for my grandma's nursing home. Hopefully the 3rd owner isn't as disappointed as I am with this product. The one we've had and used about 5 times over the last 5 years is now in a box and going to be donated.

Repels-All

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

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

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

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.

Check out their products here: Hangman

ThermaCare

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.

You can check out their products and get special offers here:  Thermacare

Turtle Wax and RainX

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

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

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

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

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

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.

You can check out their product and get special offers here:  Mr Clean

Keep it Dry Closet Dehumidifiers

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

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

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.