Reviews

Well…Dang.

As my husband was working on our repurposed Kuerig-cup seed project this weekend, my camera started acting pretty twitchy.

And after a very short amount of time, twitchy became non-functional.

After I finished hyperventilating, I finally gathered the mental wherewithal to check Google for an answer to my cameral dilemma.

In very short order, I learned that “black screen of death” is so commonly associated with my camera model, Google has it ready for auto-fill in the search field.

That, my friends, was a very bad sign. Needless to say, I managed to offload the pictures I already had on the camera, but it looks like I am out of frapping luck with repairing the problem. Basically, it would cost far more in parts and labor than the camera is even worth.

You hear that Canon? That is the sound of me and you breaking up.

My Secret Stash…Or When Weirdness Meets Excess

 


I have a confession to make. I am soooo addicted to Moleskine notebooks. In fact, at this moment, I have one in my desk at work, one in my purse and a couple floating around my house. I fill these notebooks with all kinds of random notes, song lyrics and whatever other drivel is floating around in my head that I need to vacate from the premises. For example, when the flight on my last business trip got delayed for the third time, I spend the next ten minutes filling up a page in my notebook with all the reasons I hate airports. It was a veritible disseration on the relationship between ancient evils and airport chairs.

Clearly, I must have some place to offload my occasional insanity. Do I need at least four of these notebooks? I have no idea, but I sure get twitchy if I don’t have one around.

When I was still trying to get less fat, I kept track of my weight and diet in my Moleskine. I still keep that one close, because I only need to look back through it to remind myself why eating half a box of Southern Maid doughnuts is a bad idea. These notebooks travel well and can take a beating. The inside of my purse is a tornado mixed with a black hole, and my notebook doesn’t flinch from the horror.

Well, those guys over at Moleskine must really like giving me an excuse to spend money. Last week, I spotted a whole new line of notebooks at my bookstore that are dedicated to a specific passion:



Ooooohhh, boy. I snatched up the recipe journal, but they also had notebooks for fitness, books, movies and most importantly…WINE. This begs the question…did I really need another notebook? Couldn’t I just jot down J and I’s cocktail sauce experiment in one of my four other Moleskine notebooks?

Nope, because that would just be too rational.

Bet you want one too…or at least pretend you do, so I don’t feel like so much of a weirdo.

**As always, all reviews on this site are unbiased, unpaid, unsolicited and completely out of the blue. Moleskine doesn’t know me from Adam.**


Halloween Eye Candy and a Harsh Lesson About Glue Dots and Following Directions

This weekend, my friend J and I saw these on the cover of Woman’s Day Magazine:

And we just had to make them. All we did was cover a Styrofoam wreath form in black duct tape, and then we hot-glued candy corn to it in alternating rows, starting on the outer edge. They turned out exactly like the picture from the magazine. If you want to try this project, and need more direction, go to the Woman’s Day website. They have all the instructions there, I checked. A word of warning—do not try to shortcut this by using glue dots. We tried, and all the candy corn fell off the next day. We had to redo the entire thing! Talk about a big Doh. Upon this realization, I used words that are not fit for public consumption. However, we forged on, and learned that following directions is sometimes for the best.

During the past month of Halloween crafting madness, I have purchased several Halloween books, and I wanted to pass along my two favorites.

The first is this one from Gooseberry Patch:

This book has been my favorite purchase this year. It has lots of cute ideas and recipes that do not require as much expense or expertise as say, Martha Stewart. Don’t get me wrong, I love Martha (I even have some big projects of hers in the works), but not everyone has the money, technical know-how or Yankee taste buds to pull some of her stuff off. This Gooseberry Patch book has things that are a little more manageable for creatively challenged people like me.

My other current favorite Halloween book is this gem:

My husband picked this one up for me, and it is loaded with cute, creative recipes that are not ridiculously difficult. The author is a mom herself, so the recipes are more practical for cooking in a busy family, and for a crowd. Also, unlike some Halloween recipes, most of the ones in this book are of food people will actually eat, instead of just the clever-looking, but not really appetizing food I’ve seen elsewhere. I can’t wait to try the Vanilla Pumpkin Spice fudge, but alas, there seems to be a canned pumpkin shortage in my town, so I am out of luck right now.

In completely unrelated news, my kid gave me his cold, so I am going to take some Day-Quil and hide under my desk for a while.

Recipe Chaos Solved…or at Least Contained

I have a big recipe problem.

First, I like to try new things so often that by the time I want to remake something again, I have completely lost or forgotten about the recipe.

Second, I spend waaaayyyy too much time on the web looking at recipes, printing them, then misplacing them on my desk before they can even make it home.

Third, on any given day, I have the attention span of a goldfish, and refuse to devote time to organizing my recipe madness when I could be doing other fun things…like annoying my husband by putting my cold feet on him right about the time he falls asleep.

As you can see, this has been a simmering problem for a while. I tried resolving it by purchasing Mastercook software, but it crashed. So, I purchased it again, new version and new computer, and guess what? It crashed again. So, I voted all software off the island.

However, last year, I stumbled across an ad for the Living Cookbook software, and since it offered a free trial download, I decided to give it a try. After two days of playing around, I was sold!

This is absolutely the best software I ever purchased. Sure, it does all the expected stuff: categorizes recipes, menus, grocery lists, etc. But what really sold me was the “recipe capture” function. If I find a recipe on the web, I can capture it straight into the Living Cookbook software, without retyping or reformatting a thing.

I can also add my own recipes, with pictures, notes, categories and sources, export it to Word, and print it if needed. You can make your own cookbooks in nothing flat. I haven’t explored even half the features, but it has certainly made my recipe chaos a lot more manageable.

Basically, with a little experimenting, this software is easy for even techno-dunces like me. So, if you have your own recipe chaos, give the free trail of this software a try; it may be perfect for you too.

**by the way, in case you were wondering, no one pays me to review anything. I am just not that cool, though it would be super-neat if that were the case. So, any review you see is just me passing along something I really think you might like too**

5 Things I Loved this Summer

  • These crackers:

     

    We had these the other night with some different cheeses, and they were so good, we polished off the box before morning. They pair well with just about any cheese or dip, and single-handedly ruined my week by adding a pound or two to my rear end that I am now trying to work back off. Serving-size, schmerving size!

  • This wine:

     

    I am a Louisiana girl, after all…Grab a bottle or six.

  • Netflix…oh how I love my Netflix. It’s the best $20 I spend a month. Though starting “Lost” the week before I had to fly across the country on business was an exceptionally bad idea. It made me create a new rule that I will not board another aircraft without some prescription intervention for my various neuroses. And why the hell do I ALWAYS end up in the tail section???

 

  • This slide:

    Otherwise know as a giant hamster wheel for my children, and the only activity that they can get with a constant heat index of 105-115 degrees. Expensive investment, but worth every frapping penny. Thank goodness for this because the local pools are gross, germ infested, accidents-waiting-to-happen.

  • These stainless steel wipes:

    Once we moved into our new home, the reality of children and stainless steel appliances came crashing down on me. These have saved my kitchen, my sanity, and my children’s hands from being snatched off at the elbow.

Tried anything new this summer? Let me know, cause we can all use a heads-up in this economy.

Learning to Cook in High Heels

The past couple of months have certainly been a test of Mommy endurance. Obviously, I am now working, which is still a trip. Youngest started school, which was traumatic for both of us, and promptly caught every germ he had missed in his life with a stay-at-home mom. We’ve been through swine flu and four separate stomach viruses in less than two months, all while I try to settle into the new job and not look like a yahoo. (And of course what better time to catch swine flu than the week before my first big business trip?)

However, I can finally say that I am getting life under control and adjusting to the new routine of a working mom. The transition has taken a time and patience, and copious amounts of red wine.

In the meantime, I am getting a crash course in how to make dinner in less than 45 minutes. Hoooolllyy cow, if that is a bit harder than I expected. I have been guinea-pigging my poor family to death with new recipes in an effort to streamline my weeknights. This endeavor has definitely been hit and miss, but I am committed to home cooked meals, job or no job. We have had some success, like the following recipe I got from (where else?) southernliving.com. It is yummy, but I recommend serving it over rice…not enough sauce for noodles in my opinion.

Balsamic Garlic-and-Herb Chicken Thighs

Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 1 10-ounce can diced tomatoes with green chiles
  • 1 envelope Lipton Savory Herb & Garlic seasoning mix
  • sliced green onions for garnish

Method
 

  1. Combine flour, salt, and pepper. Dredge chicken in flour mixture.
  2. Brown half of chicken in 1 tablespoon hot oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat 4 minutes on each side. Remove chicken from skillet. Repeat procedure with remaining chicken and oil, reserving drippings in skillet
  3. Add wine and vinegar to skillet, stirring to loosen particles from bottom of skillet; cook 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and green chiles and garlic-and-herb sauce mix until combined. Return chicken to skillet. Cover and cook over medium heat 15-20 minutes or until chicken is tender. Serve over ice and garnish with green onions.

I won’t bore you with the stories of dinner failures…you have probably heard my family revolt at the dinner table from your house.

Some Thumbs Up, Some Thumbs Down, and Some “Don’t Waste Your Money”

As a one-income family, we usually have to make our dollars stretch farther than a yoga master. This often makes me a very picky purchaser, and I confess that I spend way too much time on Amazon.com reading product reviews. I want to know whether my potential purchases will deliver on their promise, or doom me for disappointment. Buyer’s remorse takes on a whole new level when your lemon of a product ate up a sizeable chunk of your meager expendable income.

Here is some inside scoop on some products I’ve tried this month:

 

I got this new workout game for the Wii:

And I like it. If you have been following my challenge to get fit, then you know my Wii has been my Yoda, and I am always looking for a new way to use it. This game is great for fitness beginners, and as someone who is so uncoordinated that she almost crippled herself trying to do Tae Bo, I love any exercise program that I can actually do with harming myself or others. I have used this daily for two weeks, on the medium intensity setting. Personally, I’ve gotten a great lower body workout, but I may need to purchase a stronger resistance band, because the upper body work is not very challenging. Overall, it was worth the money to me.

Moving on to skin care, I decided to buy this:

To shake up my skincare routine. Well, the little pads do not foam, and you really don’t feel like any cleanser is coming out of them. It is awkward to use on the contours of your face (like around your nose), and overall, I was severely unimpressed. My face did not feel very clean after using this, and with a $15 price tag, I have to give this a thumbs’ down.

This next product is one of our best buys of the decade:

This rechargeable battery system has been a lifesaver. With a Wii and three males with a love of all toys electronic, we were going through enough batteries to pollute a small country, not to mention the purse-crippling expense. This thing charges the batteries in 15 minutes flat, which is brilliant when you have impatient children clamoring for more Mario Kart. We use this thing almost every day.

And last but not least:

Please do not waste your money on this toy. The pen does not work, only holds like 10 balls at a time, and was supremely frustrating for both me and the boys. Very rarely do I buy a product that was a total waste of money, but this one sure was. Pixos failed to deliver on every level, and only resulted in agitated kids and one aggravated mom.

Have you tried something great, or been bitterly disappointed? Share it with me, because we all need to be smart with our money these days…diet coke ain’t getting any cheaper.

Bayou-Mama on Earth Day and Shopping Local

It’s Earth Day!

While I am not the most eco-savy girl, I am trying to take some small steps on the road to being a greener family.

Living in rural Louisiana, I don’t have recycling service, and the closest place is a good 30 minute drive from my house. Riding my bike to the run errands is also out, as I live 30 minutes by car away from major civilization. I do consolidate all my errands, and since we are a one-car family, I hardly ever have the means to go anywhere anyway.

Despite these challenges, I have been incorporating some changes into our home. My first foray into greening my life up a bit were these energy-saving bulbs:

lightbulb

 

They are certainly more expensive than standard bulbs, and my budget is often so tight it squeaks. However, I resolved to buy just one box a paycheck, and start replacing all my hard-to-reach fixtures with these bulbs. Since they last, like, for ages, I knew they investment would payoff, but cringed at the extra expense. So, if you have light-bulb sticker shock like me, just take it one box at a time, and pretty soon, your whole house will be filled with better bulbs.

I have also vowed to stop my HORRIBLE habit of buying individually bottled water. I got a dishwasher safe, BPA-free water bottle, which I will keep loaded and cold for those post-Wii Fit workouts. Those Brita commercials guilted me into it.

In my quest to be a little more Earth-conscious, I think my biggest motivator has been all the women over at MaryJanes Farm. If you don’t know what I am talking about, then you need to run, don’t walk, to http://www.maryjanesfarm.com and check the community out. I may not be the princess of organic, but I have learned a few lessons about trying to shop more locally, eat more locally, and appreciate the value of handcrafted products from our nation’s cottage industries. While tough economic times make me want to go for the cheapest I can get, I’ve also realized that I need to support local businesses that are in danger of being edged out by mega-marts. Even if I can take only one small step a week, I am going to try to focus on sustainable living, supporting my community and making better choices for my family. I can’t do it all at once, but I can take these small steps, one at a time.

So, this week, I bought local honey! We consume alot of honey around here. I’ve heard it may help Youngest with his allergies, but I’ve always scoffed at going on some mystical trek in search of local honey. I’m lucky if I can get a shower in a given day, let alone try to track down beekeepers. Now, a local business has made my life easier by getting their product on the shelves of  local stores! Let me introduce you to Hummer and Son Honey (http://www.hummerandsonhoney.com/)

hummer

 It’s a Louisiana product, it’s tasty and I like their snazzy logo. Check out their website and order some for yourself, your mom and everyone else you know.

So, that’s Bayou-Mamma’s small step for this week. What’s yours?