Product Review - Reynolds Crock Pot Liners

Ever since I met the man of my dreams (insert mushy groans here) I have discovered my true love for cooking. Whether it's baking my family-famous apple pies and chocolate chip cookies, roasting a whole chicken, or sauteeing some scallops, I adore cooking. The smells, the textures and tastes, the presentation excites me. When I go to the store I examine an artichoke closely, inhale the bright scent of an orange, or lust after a large butternut squash.

As a result, I have become very attached to my cookware and preserving its longevity. We are not a high income household to where we can afford a new set of Calphalon every year, so we take care of what we have.

The one thing I loathe doing is cleaning my crock pot. As much as I adore its slow simmers, the flavors that drift in my kitchen and entice two little furry faces to stare at it for hours, I despise cleaning the thing. The monstrosity barely fits in my dishwasher, and we all know the result of when it does fit - there is always a line of film or some leftover concoction. Sure, I can shove it in my sink, but water ends up everywhere, soap on the floor, and my shirt soaked.

My sister in law (of all people! She avoids cooking at all costs) introduced me to these clever little things. Reynold's, the makers of the famous Reynold's wrap, introduced crock pot liners. Simply remove the liner from the box - about 10 come in a box for a few bucks - open them up almost like a trash bag, but a wee bit more gently, and mold them into the crock pot. Cook, empty, voila!

I was certain these little bags were too good to be true. The food wouldn't cook properly, the bag would stick/melt into the piece, the bag would explode when I tossed the remnants. Whatever. I gave it a shot anyway, because judging before results is not professional. The challenger: Ms Judgemental's secret spice turkey chili. My future spouse adores my chili, but cleaning the crock pot...again...

I placed the bag in, added the ingredients, set it on low for the same amount of time that I would cook the chili without the bag, and waited. The aroma flooded the house just as it always does, the dogs came scrambling in the same amount of time, and I checked the dinner as often as I always do. Once my time was up, I spooned out a heaping bowl and served it.

Now, I would love to tell you that fireworks exploded more than they typically do just because of these bags, but they didn't. K (the guy) inhaled my chili as fast as he always does, complimented me repeatedly as always, and Life went on. OK...let's try the cleanup.

That is when fireworks exploded and angels opened up the heavens, singing praises. The CP Gods smiled down on me. The bag simply lifted out of the crock pot with no begging or peeling required. The crock pot itself? White as it was when I pulled it from the cabinet. A simple wipe down with a damp rag, a pat dry, and all was well.

Bottom line: I'm going to go buy stock in Reynold's now.

Product Review - Plink Garbage Disposal Cleaner

Every now and then I get a wild hair to throw out half of my groceries, sending some into the garbage can, the rest down the disposal I like to call 'the abyss'. Sometimes my tossing goes horridly wrong after I've opened a 3 week old container of chicken salad. However, at this point it's too late, the paint is peeling down my walls and my Bulldog has packed his toys and headed for Grandma's house.

Most of the time I cover my face with a towel, blast the hot water, and try to rinse away as much of the foul stenched food particles as I can. Most of the time, it works. However, my recent extravaganzas of food purging included a drink thermos that at one time contained my morning protein shake - it had sat in my car for three days.

I assumed nothing was left in the thermos and opened the lid to rinse the cup out before sending it to a piddly bath in my poor excuse of a dishwasher. What I was met with was a large, disc shaped and mousse textured object that had been launched out of the cup and into the sink.

After I awoke (I must have fainted from the smell), I ran the disposal and hot water. The smell was still in my sink, a large cloud above my head in my already small kitchen. My efforts were futile. I threw in a lemon wedge, hoping for some good acidic burn. While the lemon worked, I cursed at my waste of a perfectly good, 2 for 50 cent lemon.



In an unrelated adventure, I went shopping a few weeks later and came across these cute little pearls of genius:


I've been complaining and whining about the stinky garbage disposals poor results at eliminating smells, plus I miss my lemons once they are down my sink. I picked up the lemon-scented pack and tripped home, happy with my $3.99 purchase.

After tossing one down the sink, the odor had been eliminated and my kitchen smelled fresh again. But....as my frequent readers know....what if I tested the product to its limit?

I began my grocery purge: a head of rotted kale (I'd forgotten to bag both ends of it and it molded within 3 days) ; old tomato soup; cream of chicken (2 weeks old); Indian food from 3 nights ago; some mushy pear slices I'd meant to take to work; and soured milk.

Keep in mind that I had been out of the country for approximately 2 1/2 months and therefore had forgotten what mysterious objects were in my Tupperware containers. I do not live this pathetically and am actually a neat freak. End Disclaimer.

At this point, the smell is rancid and I have heard my neighbors all pass out from the smell leaking through the walls in our building, Cyrus is trying to dial 911 on my cell phone. My fake plants have wilted, and I'm dry heaving. I reach for the Plink.

1 Plink destroyed the smell within seconds, and once it all drained away, it was as if nothing had ever happened.

Bottom line: Bachelor(ette)s, this is a must-have in your home. I know how you boys live and what you eat. Buy a pack and chunk one down the sink every week or so. Believe me, your dates will actually want to return to your house after the first night.

Product Review - Rescue Remedy Sleep

What a month, kids.

I was kicked out of the country at the beginning of January and forced to do real work in the land down under, eat vegemite, sleep on exotic beaches, and...ok, we'll leave it at that.

When I returned to my office after being gone for two weeks, I had phone messages, emergencies, over 500 emails I had neglected while working down under on another project, a sick dog, family matters, home issues, and...again, we'll leave it at that.

Imagine the surprise when I discovered that I could not sleep at night! I assumed it would be easy to crawl into bed after a long day of battling the corporate world and adjusting my body off of a 15 hour time difference (what day is it?).

So I found myself at the health food store, searching for something that would help me sleep, but not knock me out beyond the ability to hear my alarm clock go off the next morning. I spoke with the girl at the counter, also informing her of my anxiety disorder that tends to fight any sleeping medication. (I tried Lunesta years ago and became a wannabe Spiderman by climbing the walls) She smiled and pulled out this handy little tool:

Meet Rescue Remedy Sleep. This tiny bottle is safe to take on planes, costs about $5.00, and is processed chemical free. From the website Rescue Sleep:

Rescue Sleep calms your restless mind providing natural relief for sleeplessness caused by stress and repetitive thoughts. Containing a blend of Rescue Remedy and the Bach Flower Remedy White Chestnut, Rescue Sleep allows you to sleep naturally and wake refreshed. Visit www.rescuesleep.com for more information. -->
Rescue Sleep calms your restless mind providing natural relief for sleeplessness caused by stress and repetitive thoughts.
Rescue Sleep is totally natural and contains six of the 38 Bach® Flower Essences: Rock Rose for terror and panic, Impatiens for irritation and impatience, Clematis for inattentiveness, Star of Bethlehem for shock, Cherry Plum for irrational thoughts, and White Chestnut for relief from repetitive thoughts.

Repetitive thoughts? Shock? Restless mind? I just wanted to SLEEP. I wanted to stop thinking about my second trip back down under, my expense report with a $100 missing receipt, a trip to Europe for more work, my boss hounding me about a project...I just wanted to sleep. The girl assured me it would knock me out with no side effects in the morning. I gave it a go and spent the $5.

One evening, despite my futile efforts at relaxing my body - calming thoughts, warm bath, hot tea, snuggle time with my dog, and no TV, computer, or any electronic device near me, my jet lag was the culprit. I woke up around 2 am, wide awake, head racing, wondering if I had sent off an email to someone. I grabbed the bottle and peered at the instructions:

"Spray 2 times on top of tongue. Spray as needed throughout the night."

Sheepishly, I grumbled about not needing to take additional Unisoms and Advil PMs once they'd sent me into a coma, but I sprayed twice, then hit the sack and waited.

Suddenly, my alarm clock went off, and it was 8:30 in the morning. I had fallen asleep and rested the entire night, and woke up without feeling hungover. My body felt relaxed and comfortable.

Now, I'm not anti-drugs. But the realization that I had fallen asleep with the assistance of an all-natural product and woken up with no side effects iced the cake.

Overall, I highly recommend this product. I plan to test it out a few more times to ensure that I didn't 'get lucky' and fall asleep on my own accord.

Product Review - Magic Bullet

It’s Saturday night and you’ve just returned from yet another night on the town, but aren’t quite ready to go to bed yet. You still have to clear the cigarette smoke from your lungs and down six bottles of water before you attempt to sleep. What do most people do? They click on the TV. The first thing you are met with? Infomercials.

Throughout this website, you will find several product review from items “As Seen on TV!”. Such as the following product:

http://www.buythebullet.com/

Meet the infamous Magic Bullet. Created by Homeland Housewares, its relatives include a Fat Burning supplement, an upgrade kit, and a recipe booklet. The Bullet appeared a few years ago for the one-time low price of $99.95, but now is available in most home goods stores.

I purchased my Bullet from one of those local stores with a 20% off coupon clutched tightly in my fat little hands. I eagerly hurried home, thousands of recipes in my head for amazing, fat free meals that could be ready to pour in only 10 seconds.

The basic setup includes the motor, four ‘party cups’ two sealant lids, shaker and steamer tops, two blades, and two cups – a large and a small. Oh, the party cups come with 4 various colored ‘comfort rings’, as the site so eloquently put it. I also pulled out an instruction manual and recipe booklet, which as of late I unfortunately have not opened. In fact, I can’t recall where I put it. The instructions lasted about two days before my first explosion.

To start off with, I read some reviews on one of my favorite shopping sites: Amazon. One review stated that there was a strange smell when the motor was run for more than 10 seconds. Other reviewers loved the product, while some reeked of a standardized review from the company with nothing but the actual product name replaced.

My first ‘recipe’ was, and still is, my standard breakfast protein shake. I used the tall cup because of the amount of milk and powder required to create my desired amount of breakfast goodness. I used the basic two blade attachment to mix the drink. The outcome is the same each time: While the consistency of the shake tastes fine – no chunks of powder get lodged in my throat while I’m hurriedly driving to work – about a half inch of the drink by the blade turns into a foamy concoction, causing me to swallow large amounts of air. I attempted to drink out of a party cup with the yellow comfort lid, all to discover that those lids are not suitable for the dishwasher and warp if you use the heat dry option on it. The drink promptly spilled all over my white shirt, and I was clutching my purse to my chest most of the day. I have since not used the rings. In fact, those are gone too…maybe somewhere with the recipe manual.

Not to give up so easily, I attempted my first food chopping experience with the trusty Bullet. I use a lot of garlic in my dishes because of its heart-healthy benefits, but the smell on fingers of garlic is not pleasant after the second day. I decided to try to create a simple marinade using olive oil, a few cloves of garlic, and a few other spices. I used the main blade with the 4 pronged chopper, and the small cup. The result was pleasant, and at this point I did notice a slight ‘heat’ smell associated with running the motor longer than 10 seconds. I checked the machine over, with no visible problems, I continued using it.

The marinade came out beautifully, and my hands were not tormented by the sticky, garlic feeling that takes a week to wash off. As of now, I have chopped onions, cheese, and pureed fruit with it. The smell also has not returned.

I also made a fruit smoothie using frozen fruit, yoghurt, and some milk with it. My only complaint with the cups is that there should be a third cup in a larger size, as the smoothie turned out to expand a little more than I anticipated.

Here are some notes on caring for the Bullet:

Don’t wash the blades in the dishwasher. My advice is if you are in a hurry, rinse the residue from your creation off and leave it until you get home in the evening. At that time, I advise handwashing the blade. My experience with a fruit smoothie yesterday consisted of the rubber ring within the blade’s cap becoming loose and popping out of the chamber, delightfully spraying purple paste all over my refrigerator, and making me change into a new shirt.

The rings are a waste of time. I use the party cups when my other two cups are dirty and are in the dishwasher – these are the only things that can be thrown in there.

If you decide to make a smoothie and it calls for one cup of milk, add a little extra. The blades are not standard blender blades. This machine is ideal for apartment dwellers that have little space, but because of its small size, it can’t handle the stress of frozen fruit as well as a standard blender can. Hence why I bought the machine - I lived in a tiny, 730 square foot apartment with the world's smallest kitchen.

Overall, I like my little Magic Bullet and continue to use the product. If I can find the recipe booklet, I’ll try out one of the recipes. It’s probably with those darn party cup rings somewhere….

Special thanks to Kat for giving me the idea for my first review!