Round Up Weed Killer

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

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

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

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.

Bumpits

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

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

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!

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

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.