Archive for category Kitchen
Little Debbie… Diet Kosher? Heck yeah!
Posted by Sarcastic Mom, aka Lotus in Diet, Food, Kitchen on March 26, 2009
Congratulations to the winners: Yoly, janelle, and Julie

Some time ago, a big box arrived at my doorstep. I am like a little kid on Christmas when packages show up at my house.
And I have a little kid’s sweet tooth to boot, so when I looked at the box and saw those classic blue eyes, and that little face smiling at me, ringed in auburn curls? I was some kind of happy Kidult. Heh. And then I thought, “Well, there goes the idea of losing weight in the new year!” and I ripped into the box.
It was full of boxes of Little Debbie snacks. I almost died of happiness right on the spot. Then I noticed that they were “100 Calorie Snacks.”
And then I DID die. Because I could eat them AND diet.
Have I lost 50 lbs eating Marshmallow Treats and Triple Fudge Brownies? No. But I have lost 5lbs since then, and it’s not because John and I didn’t sample everything in that box at least a thousand times. (Okay, so I exaggerate a little.)
Those treats are delicious, and since they’re packed in small portions, they make it really easy for you to manage having something tasty even while you’re watching your figure and caloric intake.
I don’t know about you, but when I’m losing weight, it does NOT work for me to go without treating myself. The trick is to watch portions! These 100 Calorie Snacks make it so easy.
(Just, you know, don’t eat the whole box in one day.)
Would you like to squee like a child on Christmas day as a box of delicious 100 Calorie Little Debbie treats shows up on YOUR doorstep?
Leave a comment on this post through March 29 and you will be entered into a random drawing to win a box full of treats! (And I don’t mean samples – I mean several full size boxes of snacks!)
3 Winners will be chosen when the comment period has ended. (Must have valid email and respond when contacted.)
Good luck!
Disclosure: This is an uncompensated review. I received the a box of assorted Little Debbie 100 Calorie Snack boxes for review, free of charge.
Country Bob’s All Purpose Sauce
Posted by Sarcastic Mom, aka Lotus in Food, Kitchen on January 7, 2009
Congratulations to the Winners: OurCrookedTree and Pam!
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I love to eat. No two ways about it – I like to cram food in the facehole. And my husband… well, let’s just say this is something we bonded over early in our relationship.
So when Al Malekovic asked me if I’d like to try Country Bob’s All Purpose Sauce, I said Hell Yeah! “Yes, please!”
We whipped it out the first time we had chicken after the sauce arrived in the mail and sampled it straight from the bottle. And sometimes, as they say, a picture can say way more than the words we try to use to describe something…
Observe:
After our initial taste test, we poured the sauce over our chicken while it cooked, and then added more once it hit the table. Let me just say, “Mmmm-MM!”
If you’re anything like me, you want to know how you can get your hands on some of this sauce. You can order it directly from the website, anytime.
And if you leave a comment here sometime before January 14, 2009, you have a chance at winning 2 free bottles!
In fact, when comments close on Jan 14th, 2 Winners will be randomly selected to receive 2 Free Bottles!
(you must leave a valid email address on the comment form in order to win)
Get your mouth ready.
Disclosure: This is an uncompensated review. I received 2 bottles of Country Bob’s All Purpose Sauce review, free of charge. Later, I was also sent a recipe book, free of charge.
Smashies Organic Apple Sauce
Posted by Sarcastic Mom, aka Lotus in Food, Kids, Kitchen, On-The-Go on October 3, 2008
WINNER!
CONGRATULATIONS TO WIREDMONKEY!
Braden has gone through periods where he refused to eat some foods, and other periods where he ravenously consumed everything – kind of like a human garbage disposal. I much prefer the garbage disposal to the picky eater!
One thing has remained constant, throughout all the eating changes – Braden always jams apple sauce. He LOVES it! We always have a bottle in the pantry, and sometimes I make it from scratch.
Just so we could pack it to go, I started buying the little single serving sizes of apple sauce with the foil tops. There are drawbacks, though. You have to remember to pack a spoon, and if Braden only eats half (rare, but it happens) then I have to throw the rest away if I didn’t remember to bring something to store leftovers in.
SMASHIES To The Rescue!
I was THRILLED when I was offered the opportunity to review Smashies Organic Applesauce. The packaging is a wonderful design idea. There is a lid that can be screwed off and back on if there are leftovers… and the pouch is completely portable and kid friendly. Grab it and throw it in the diaper bag like I did, or backpack, purse, lunch box, whatever!
Of course, package design means nothing if the food product inside is unhealthy or doesn’t taste good, right?
No need to fear. You can rest assured that you kids are getting a healthy treat – Smashies Apple Sauce is Organic and there is NO added sugar and NO High Fructose Corn Syrup!
And the taste? I taste everything that I give Braden… and this stuff is GOOD. I thought about eating it myself, but that whole, “do the right thing for your kid” mentality kicked in and I gave it to him instead.
And him? Well, once he got used to the pouch, it was ON. He loved it!
I can guarantee you we’ll be purchasing more of these. I hear they’re even working on more flavors!
After all this, you must be dying to try them. So we’re going to give you a chance to win a box of 10 samples for free!
Leave a comment on this post anytime from Friday, October 3rd, 11:30PM, CST until Friday, October 10th, 11:30PM, CST.
After that time, a winner will be drawn who will receive the 10 free samples!
If you’d like to just order a sample box yourself, you can do that here.
GOOD LUCK!
Disclosure: This is an uncompensated review. I received 2 smashies single serving units for review, free of charge.
Mr. Clean – Muscle 4 Your Messes!
Posted by Sarcastic Mom, aka Lotus in Cleaning, Household, Kitchen on September 18, 2008
The wonderful people at Procter and Gamble and Blogher offered to let me do a paid review of one of their products recently, the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.
I have actually had so many women recommend this product to me, that it’s crazy I hadn’t tried it previously. Ok, ok, I’m just lazy. I never went and picked it up, even though I have a situation that could really use some magic. Or an act of God. You know, whatever, no big deal.
You see, I let my toddler son, Braden, play with chalk in the back yard. He LOVES the chalk. He draws ALL OVER with the chalk.
We have a plastic organizer bin and some plastic chairs out there. There’s also his plastic playhouse and car. He draws on all of that stuff with the chalk. And I figure, it will wash off, no biggie… choose your battles, right? Besides, while he’s content drawing on stuff, I can doze off in the hammock, er… I mean… uh, sit there and watch him carefully like a good mother. *cough*
What I had not counted on was how much he likes to draw with wet chalk. So if it has rained and, say, a bucket collects water? He dunks his chalk in the water and draws with his Wet Chalk Stick.
Oh yeah, guess what? WET CHALK IS LIKE PAINT. And it sinks right into any semi-porous surface and sticks.
Still, I figure, so what? Just plastic stuff, no big deal, right?
Unfortunately, while I’m dozing… er, when I’m being a good mother but a bug flies in my eye, blocking my vision for a few minutes… he also draws on the vinyl siding on the side of the house.
The house we RENT.
OH, NO.
I tried scrubbing with other cleaners, and they took the top layer off, but not what had leeched into the material. Same thing for the playhouse door he practically repainted.
OY. *Panic*
MR. CLEAN TO THE RESCUE!
I received the product and immediately took out a sponge, wet it, squeezed it three times, and got to work on the side of the house.
See for yourself:
Vinyl Siding Before:

Vinyl Siding After:

Back Door Before:

Back Door After:

It worked just as well on the playhouse door.
Me Cleaning Playhouse Door:
Playhouse Door Before:

Playhouse Door After:

I am seriously impressed, people. Really.
I reported to my husband about it. He said, and I quote, “All Hail the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser!”
Indeed.
But that’s not all. I decided to try it out on a regular household cleaning task.
Witness the disgusting mess that is my dirty, neglected stove.

Several days of buildup there! What can I say, when you live the fast-paced life of a glamorous Blogger, always on the run, *coughsputtercough* you don’t have time to clean stove tops!
Please just let me fantasize.
Here’s a close-up of a specific bad spot…

Here’s after 2 wipes…

And this was after the 3rd, and final, wipe…

After just a few passes, the monster was gleaming.

The only thing I did other than using the Magic Eraser was wipe up a few deposited suds when I was done. It took little effort to get the crud off with the Magic Eraser, and I was, again, impressed. It smelled fruity and nice, too. I like that! What can I say, I’m allowed to be girly sometimes, too!
I did find out that you have to be gentle with it… apparently I poke my fingernails into sponges when I use them.

Aw, Mr. Clean is sensitive! *hardeehar*
All in all, I’d definitely recommend using the Magic Eraser for everything from run-of-the-mill cleaning tasks to those “special” jobs (that are most of the time the fault of either your kids or husband. Just sayin.).
And you know me. I would TELL you if it sucked.
But if you don’t believe me, go read other Blogher Reviewer Posts about it!
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As always, you can see my opinions and ponderings about everything under the sun at Sarcastic Mom, 7 Days a Week.
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Disclosure: This is a compensated review. I received a 2-pack of Mr.Clean Magic Erasers for review, free of charge.












