Euro Pro Toaster Oven

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

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.

Space Bags

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.

Curtains

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.