Danish Dough Whisk By Kitchen Simple Review

Product Review:  Danish Dough Whisk by Kitchen Simple

(product was provided for free in exchange for a review)

If you want something sturdy... this is it

I bake when I stress out, and then I eat the spoils of my baking... so having a good and sturdy whisk is nice and necessary, I go through them constantly.

I was interested in the Danish Dough Whisk because of its interesting design and I wanted to see if there was anything to it to be honest... I mean I have a kitchen Aid mixer and I use that most of the time, but for small projects, like cookies, etc... whisks are easier. 

1. This thing is heavy, and in a good way... the Danish Dough Whisk is VERY well made and I can tell that it is built to last. The solid wood handle and the very thick and heavy metals tell me that this whisk will be around for a long time, and that is a very good thing.

2. It incorporates batters pretty well and quickly, perhaps it is the funky design, but it did its job rather well.

I think the price is a bargain for what you get... I pay around ten dollars for a good whisk anyway, so to get an effective one that will last for $8.55 with free prime shipping at Amazon, is awesome.

Overall, I like the Product a lot.

Item: Danish Dough Whisk by Kitchen Simple

Price: $8.55 With Free Prime Shipping on Amazon.com

GET IT HERE

Product Review: Maxasorb Melatonin Cream

This product was provided by the maker for this review.

I will admit, when I signed up for the Maxasorb product test, I did so with a great amount of skepticism because sleep aids rarely work unless it is some sort of tylenol PM type concoction and those leave you drowsy the next day (which is highly problematic if you have a toddler... so I really did not think this Maxasorb would work... I mean you just rub it on  your skin before bed!

According to the directions, you rub one full pump on your skin before bed

So, I tried it out last night and here are my thoughts!

1. The bottle states that you apply one full pump of the maxasorb onto your skin right before bed. The photo on the left is what one pump looked like. The bottle states that it has 60 uses, so 60 pumps worth in one bottle...two months of sleep aid.

2. After applying the lotion, I rubbed it in, it felt like any skin lotion one would put on to relieve dry hands so the texture and the smell were not a problem at all, it felt rather nice actually.

3. I went to bed shortly after and laid down to try to get comfortable, which can be daunting with a husband, a toddler, and a few dogs roaming about... but I found myself sleepy soon and went to bed, I do not know if I was overly tired or the Maxasorb was working, but I fell asleep rather quickly.

4. I had a good and restful night's sleep. I did not wake up a ton during the night (which is something I usually do) and when I woke up around 7 AM, it was refreshed and not feeling groggy... overall a really good experience. 

Thus, I must say...after one night, the Maxasorb seems to work. I of course will keep trying it, but I have to admit I was rather impressed with it overall and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to get help with sleeping, but does not like taking otc pills.

Price: $19.95 with free amazon prime shipping

GET IT HERE 

Product Test: FastOVacuum Wine Preserver

I am the only wine drinker in my house so having a decent wine preserver is important. I received the FastOVacuum Wine Preserver as a free product to test and review and here are my thoughts.

First: The vacuum is really easy to use, after you place the special stopper in the wine (which you get two), you just place the pump on top of the wine and pump it until you get resistance...which varies depending on how much wine is left in the bottle.  A Full bottle gets about three pumps for me, half a bottle...six or seven.

Second: The Preserver works, after two days... I opened the wine, took a drink and it tasted as fresh as it did when I opened it at first, so I am pleased.

This is a really simple system and with wine preserving, simple is better, I liked this product a lot.

Cost: $12.99 on amazon with free prime shipping

GET IT HERE 

Just in Time For Spring, an Insulated Tote Bag Review!

This is a review for the Insulated Cooler Tote Bag by DHD Culinary. 

The product was provided to me for free so I could give an honest review. 

I found the tote to be light, well made, and pretty roomy. The actual bag is made of a thin material that reminds me of the reusable shopping totes that you buy for your grocery shopping and the insulation does not weigh down the bag at all. Although it is light, the bag seems to be very well made and quite spacious. I think this would be a perfect bag to take on a picnic to the park or beach.

Price: $8.99 /free shipping with Amazon prime

GET THE BAG HERE

We are going to be doing more traveling this summer and with a toddler and limited funds, having a bag like this to carry lunches and drinks...will be perfect. I think this is a good deal for $8.99. 

Product Review: See626 Three Pack Reading Glasses

All three colors come with one order

My favorite pair, the "gold" which looks more like copper up front

Product: See626 Computer Reading Glasses in a +1.0

                 -Each package comes with three pairs of glasses in gold, gray, and black for $9.99 with free Amazon prime shipping

Get the Glasses HERE

I received the See626 glasses as a free product to review... here are my thoughts.

1. The glasses are very light weight, they are inexpensive and thus are inexpensively made, but they fit well and I found them to be good lens quality glasses wise... making the words I read clearer and easier to read.

2. There was a slight feel consistency problem from one pair of glasses to the next. While the Gold Pair (I think they are more copper in color) fit perfectly, the Gray (Silver) pair needed some adjustment and the Black pair was a bit off from one side to the other and I had to adjust them out of the package as well...that being said, once adjusted they fit securely on my face without any discomfort, which I attribute to the lightness of the frames.

3. I found the basic look of these glasses to be appealing, meaning I could wear them with almost any outfit if I wanted to wear them all day and they would match...very functional.

4. For the price, $9.99 with free shipping if you are an Amazon Prime member, I found them much less expensive than similar items I would find in retail stores, making them a good bargain for someone who needs reading glasses and loses them or likes a variety of choices.

Overall I found the glasses to feel comfortable, fit well (if you have a small head...I would not recommend these for someone with a bigger head), and were the quality one would expect for something so inexpensive....essentially, good throwaway reading glasses.

Product Review: La Vida Essentials Fractionated Coconut Oil

Sample Bottle Provided by Maker 

Prior to receiving this fractionated coconut oil, I had no experience with the product, which can be used in a variety of ways. 

Product: La Vida Essentials Fractionated Coconut Oil

Price: 9.99 (free shipping with Prime on Amazon

Get it Here 

Review:
The representative from La Vida Essentials sent me a lovely PDF brochure with my purchase that gave me a variety of health and beauty recipes for the oil (this is not the type you cook with). From body lotions to skin and hair care, and aromatherapy....this stuff has a lot of uses and many of the recipes seem easy to follow and take a small amount of the oil, meaning this $9.99 bottle will last a good bit.

To test out the oil, I tried two different basic things to see if the oil was useful. 

First:
I mixed the coconut oil with my lavender essential oil in order to create a base for my oil/wax burner. I found that the coconut oil extended the life of the lavender and thus I was able to maintain a lovely fragrance throughout the house for an entire day. I think this is VERY helpful, because it helps extend the life of your essential oils, which can get expensive if they are of top quality.

Second:
I wanted to see how the oil reacted to a skin that is already oily. 

My hand immediately after application

I found the oil to produce good results even on oily skin, while the oil took a little while to absorb, once it did... I found my hands to be soft and smooth to the touch...this makes me really want to try out some of those lotion recipes.

I was more impressed with the use of the oil as a conduit for the essential oil burning (because I use those a lot) and so I am going to base most of my review off of that.

I think this is a helpful product if you are going to be using oils to scent your house or bath.  I totally recommend it because it is a good amount at high quality for a decent price.

Product Review: The Quick stitch Sewing Kit

I am not crafty, I wish I were...but it just is not innate in my brain or chemistry. Every now and again Aiden and I try to do a craft for a gift to the grandparents, but I do believe at two...his skills are on par with mine.

I also cannot sew. Unfortunately, I am not one of those moms who can just put together a costume or household Item with some thread and fabric, my normal attempts have been... depressing.

BUT... I can fix a button or a hole and so having a good sewing kit around the house is a must. I received the Quick Stitch Sewing Kit as promotion to review and here are my thoughts.

Item:  The Quick Stitch Sewing Kit

Cost: $11.95 with free shipping at Amazon.com.

Review:

The first thing I noticed with the kit is the amount of items the makers fit into a relatively small package. The kit includes a thimble, 12 different thread colors, a threader, scissors, a safety pin, a large assortment of needles, a de-seamer, measuring tape, and some spare buttons. I think the assortment of thread and needles are the most impressive addition...the thread quantity makes any sewing emergency easy to take care of without worrying about different color threads and the needle assortment proves that the kit has a needle for any job. Second, I think the packaging needs some attention. The kit is tightly put together, nothing comes loose easy, and the case is very well made...so it can be thrown in the bottom of a purse or an overnight bag without the worry of things getting loose and needles roaming free at the bottom of a dark bag abyss. 

For $12.00, the kit is more pricey than your average department store pick-up, but the function and quality of the item makes the kit worth it... one would not need to replace this kit for a long time. I have no complaints about the kit...it seems to function well and everything is of good quality.

If you need a sewing kit for emergencies, this is the one to get. PURCHASE THE KIT HERE

Product Review: Avo Essentials Lavender Oil

Essential Oils are the new thing and I have had a few people recommend I try them for calming myself (grad school and toddler anxiety) or aches and pains....

So...
The Company Avo Essentials sent me a sample of their 
100% Pure and Natural Lavender Oil and here is my review.

This stuff smells amazing

First: I used the oil in a wax burner and used some unscented wax and a few drops of the oil in order to dilute the strength, the oil is VERY strong. This worked perfectly and the fragrance lasted the entire duration of the tealight I used with only a few drops of the oil...meaning a large bottle like the one provided will last a very long time.

The fragrance is exact to lavender, so if you are a lavender person like I am...it is heavenly.

Now...for the calming / destressing part.

I usually do not believe stuff like that, BUT I usually freak out at least once on the night a paper is due and I did not this time.

I do not know if I can attribute that to the lavender oil, but hey... it happened while the oil was burning.

(I may be bias...this stuff smells magical)

Item:
Avo Essentials Lavender Oil  4 oz bottle

Available Here for $21.50 (that may sound expensive, but the bottle is huge and a few drops will last for hours)

It gets my seal of approval.

Store Love....

So I am just going to say this first...in order to make you understand that the following message is very bias.

I LOVE Trader Joe's. 
Part of this probably comes from the fact that my local groceries are not Trader Joe's so I do not have access to it all the time... but for what we eat in a week...it would not be a simple one stop junk food dump... I know some say it can be...and I get that (especially since we purchased the bacon white cheddar popcorn)... BUT I DIGRESS...

We go to Trader Joe's whenever we go to Atlanta and I always get 

1. a bottle of wine.
2. cheese
3. spices


But... since we had visitors this weekend and I did not do my normal weekly shopping, I will admit... I added more "normal" stuff to my cart and really looked at the prices and health vs. our usual place (which I really like btw)

If I buy in bulk...then a regular shopping center would probably be a better option, but Trader Joe's is great for a small family because it does allow for the purchase of small quantities of fresh fruits, vegetables, good meat, and dairy at a reasonable price.

My Stilton and Gouda together was eight dollars... if I would have purchased at my local store, I may have been able to get one for that price.

Pancake mix, which I use to bake a number of things... was two bucks, about the same price as my regular brand, but made with better ingredients.

A frozen pizza... four dollars, made in ital with just tomatoes, basil and mozzarella.... 

the vegetable selection was great, affordable, and in small quantities as were the meats and fruits....
I got aiden's snap pea crisps for less than two dollars, they are almost double where I shop.

Oh and Olive Oil... so we have all read the controversy about fake olive oil lately and how most of the popular brands are not real olive oil...but Trader Joe's IS, from olives grown in California... and I was able to get a giant bottle for eight dollars, it will last us months... 

So... I wish Trader Joe's was in Warner Robins, I am crushing hard on it as a place to get tasty and healthy food at a decent price.  

Product Review: X-Shade Folding Car Window Sunshade

Product: The X-Shade Folding Car Window Sunshade

Price: $21.99 for Two HERE 

Review:

It is getting warmer out and the sun has begun to battle the dreary cold and rain for some attention in the skies and so I signed up to review the X-Shade Folding Car Window Sunshade to see if it worked well with a toddler in the back of a car and a mother who does not like complicated car gadgets that are a problem to deal with.
The appeal of these sunshades comes with the fact that they attach to the top of the window and just go up and down with your automatic windows. I have tested this on the installed shades and this function does work without incident.

The Pros:

1. Easy to install, it took five minutes.
2. Not overly complicated to use, it just clips onto the car and adheres to the base with some 3M adhesive tape. 
3. The shade material is one solid piece and is thick enough to make sure a child is not blinded or in the sun when they are riding in the back.

The Cons:

1. The base at the bottom of the shade has an adjustable aspect that comes apart rather easy and can mess up the entire functionality of the blind. This happened to me and it took me a while to get one back together which was frustrating. I would recommend that you not try to pull the adhesive tape all the way to the edge of the shade, because the ends came apart.

2. The adhesive at the base of the shade sticks to your car, I do not know if that is going to be easy to remove and it did bother me slightly. 


Overall this is a decent product for the price and I have had no problems with it thus far. I will update if there are any issues.

(I was sent this product for free to review by the maker)