Mommy Tested » Reviews

IHOP at home stuffed pastries

Mommy — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 13:45:35 +0000

Lately I’ve been trying quite a few easy food products. The ones you can have for a quick lunch or snack. This past week I tried a new product called IHOP at home stuffed pastries. They came in several varieties with several different flavors within those varieties.

They have the Omlete Crisper which comes in egg and cheese, country style, bacon and cheese and sausage and cheese. Then you have the Griddle and Sausage wraps, which come in griddle and sausage and blueberry griddle and sausage. I opted for the French Toast Stuffed Pastries variety, since I have a sweet tooth.

The French toast varieties come in strawberry, strawberry cream cheese, cinnamon apple, sweet cream cheese and the flavor I tried, blueberry. They were quick and easy to make in the microwave. Unlike a lot of microwave pastries, it didn’t take 3 times to get it to heat through thoroughly.

Being easy to cook was pretty much the only really good thing about it. The pictures show it litterally bursting with blueberry stuffing, yet I’d guess there was maybe a teaspoonful in the middle, baked into the pastry and not a dollop of juicy filling. The pasty portion itself wasn’t bad, but it seemed awfully dry and kind of rubbery textured. Being the good friend that I am, I made everyone else try one along with me.

I don’t rate my food reviews, but this one would get a low score. I would not recommend it as a product to pickup for a quick snack for your family. Give this one a pass.

Edy’s Shakes and Smoothies!

Mommy — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 23:55:55 +0000

I think I’ve mentioned before that I work at a retailer. One thing I’m known for is the fact that I love our new products. If it’s new, I buy it and try it and make everyone else at work try it.

This week I tried Edy’s shakes and smoothies. They come in 8 flavors; cookies and cream, strawberry, chocolate, vanilla, strawberry banana, mixed berry, sunrise blend and tropical. I bought one of each flavor and made my family try them out with me. They were $1 each at my local Wal-mart.

I personally loved the fruit flavored smoothies. My husband liked the vanilla the best. Strawberry was ok but not strawberry enough. Chocolate was good and the cookies and cream is just like most cookies and cream flavors.

The nice thing is they are super easy to make, just add a little bit of your favorite milk and stir. They’re easy to mix, not to hard and you can customize your consistancy. My husband likes his thick, so he adds less milk. I have a friend who likes Soy or almond milk and you can use that also. My son had the great idea to spice up the chocolate with adding already chocolate milk for a double chocolatey taste.

They’re a great quick snack. No mess to clean up. The calories aren’t bad, only 170 to 270 depending on the shake or smoothie. You can also eat them like an ice cream and not add the milk.

To try one a little cheaper, check out the coupon at Edys.com. The $1 coupon lets you try one for free if your store sells them for $1 like mine does!

Keurig coffee maker

Mommy — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 19:35:53 +0000

If you haven’t gathered by now from all my other posts about the subject, I’m a true coffee aficionado. I drink coffee every day. I love the smell, the taste. I hardly drink anything other than coffee or water. Last year my husband and I bought my mom a Keurig machine. We figured with her being single, a one cup brewing system would be perfect. I liked hers so much that I begged my husband to get me one, and the next holiday he did.

It’s easy to use. Takes up little counter space. The model we bought has a water reservoir so that I don’t have to keep filling it up. I have a selector that allows me to make one cup or two. It’s perfect for when I get home from work and want just a single cup of coffee or those days that a full pot is just to much. Though I’m sure the price may vary in your area, but at our local Walmart, I can purchase a pack of 18 k-cups for just around $12. At Walmart.com they have a killer 3FER deal for $35.64, you get to pick your 3 flavors.

The biggest downside is the initial cost for the machine, ranging from $99 to $150. But opposed to the other single cup machines out on the market, it has longevity and product support. You can find supplies at all your local retailers. To cut costs even more I’d advise you to purchase one of the reusable coffee filters that run around $15. You can load those with your own ground coffee to save on the single K-cup costs.

Have you tried a Keurig yet?

Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee

Mommy — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 13:54:46 +0000

One of my passions is coffee. I love coffee, the smell, the taste, the aroma when it brews. For Christmas I recieved 2 vacuum sealed bags of the Dunkin Dognuts Original Blend Medium Roast whole bean coffee. Here it is not even the 2nd week of January and I’m already down to less than one bag left of it!

It’s a nice truely medium roast coffee. It’s almost buttery tasting, with a sweet undertone. It’s really has none of the bitterness you get with some other medium blend store sold roasts. It’s very different than all the other whole beans I’ve bought, and almost I daresay it’s better than Seattle’s Best. It’s very smooth, very tasty and has a slight carmel smell. When it brews the whole kitchen smells good it’s so fragrant. If you get a chance try some!

Sangria!

Mommy — Wed, 31 May 2006 15:46:30 +0000

I’m not much of a drinker, in fact I could probably count on 1 hand the amount of drinks I have in a year. But the last few weeks I’ve sold so much alcohol that some of it catches my interest. One of those has been Sangria. I get a lot of folks going through my lane getting Sangria and they all swear it’s great. One gentleman said he even married his wife because of how she made an excellent drink with Sangria.

There were several different brands, but I bought the one that I see sell the most, “Cruz Garcia Real Sangria”. It’s in an interesting triangular shaped bottle with an orange, gold and white label. I think I’ll save the bottle.

As for the taste, it’s a nice fruity, not bitter at all flavor of wine. It doesn’t give you that “fuzzy tongue” feeling that red wines do but it’s not as clear tasting as white. It does have more similar characteristics of a white wine than a red or blush. It is sweet but not oversweet, just a bit sweeter than a zin I’d think. It’s very fruity.

Like I said I’m not much of a wine connoisseur but this is one that I do find nice enough to try again one of those few occassions when I do drink.

Oral B. Power Toothbrushes!

Mommy — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 20:45:32 +0000

For the last 5 years I’ve been using the Oral B 3D Excel. They don’t even make that model anymore that I can find. But after 5 years ours is still going and going. I’d love to get a new one but at the prices they want it’s just not on my “MUST HAVE” list right now on our budget.

While they are spendy, ranging from $30 to over $100, they are very much worth it. They’re reliable and after you brush with one, it’s like you’ve just been to the dentist for a cleaning. The replacable brush heads are a bit more than normal toothbrushes to replace, $18 or so for a 3 pack, but they seem to last longer than a regular toothbrush.

Whenever I go on a trip and leave mine behind, I end up missing it more than I miss my husband! My teeth are squeeky clean most of the time! I credit using their scaled down battery operated model to my son’s having no cavaties ever. He’s used one on and off all his life. (Finding a more reliable cheap version he’ll consistantly use is a challenge.)

Bottom line, if you can afford it, buy the mid priced one. I guarentee that you won’t be sorry!

Lysol Kitchen Cleaner

Mommy — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 16:25:07 +0000

If there’s one thing I know it’s cleaning. I love to clean, I have tons of practice in it and I’ve tried tons of different products. Over the years my cupboard of products has attained a few tried and true brands that I can’t live without.

One of those products is Lysol Antibacterial Kitchen Cleaner. It’s in a simple white spray bottle, with green and purple lettering and accents. It’s not very expensive, only usually $1.94 or so around my area in Florida. But no matter what general cleaning product I’ve tried, I always come back to this one.

For example, the other day I cleaned the top of my fridge. You know how it gets that grease, dust film if you ignore it to long? At first I tried hot water and pine sol. After the first few minutes of scrubbing I said forget this and grabbed the Lysol Kitchen Cleaner. I let it set maybe 1 minute and wiped it up with a water soaked cloth. The greasy dust mess wiped right up, with no scrubbing. The Pine Sol I had to scrub and repeat and scrub and scrub. Within about 3 minutes with Lysol the whole fridge top was clean so I went ahead and cleaned the sides and front too. I think the trick is to just let it sit for a minute.

Besides raw cleaning power it’s ANTIBACTERIAL!!! For those not completely OCD and anal retentive this is a good thing, seeing as how your kitchen is one of the nastiest germiest areas of your house, including worse than the bathroom!

Even though this stuff is labeled for the kitchen, I like to use it anywhere. It works great on the kitchen cabinets, the bathroom floor, on frequently dirtied doors and doorknobs. The only place I haven’t tried it yet is the shower and toilet.

Boric Acid

Mommy — Fri, 27 Jan 2006 22:40:21 +0000

What other product can you think of that is used in fireproofing, cosmetics, in preservatives, as an antiseptic, in many manufacturing processes and in the garden? Boric acid is a product I literally stumbled onto a few years ago and now keep in my house all the time.

I originally started using boric acid when we had a bad carpenter ant infestation. I was to cheap to call an exterminator so I used all the store bought remedies I could. I tried those little bait traps….useless. I tried bombs…..messy and ineffective. Finally someone told me in passing about boric acid. I remembered reading something about it ages ago but as a cleaning solution.

It just so happened that my husband ended up working at a company that carried boric acid. He brought a batch of it home and I’ve been a boric acid fanatic since. I followed the company’s directions on using it for ants, a solution of water, sugar and boric acid. My son and I were fascinated actually watching tons of ants come out and carry the stuff away! Within 48 hours I couldn’t find a single ant.

I use boric acid any time I see ants around the house. The solution works for all types of ants, from carpenter to sugar ants. I also sprinkle it on carpets before I vacuum during flea and tick season. I’ve read that mixed with glycol it can be used for termite protection. I keep it in one of those cheap mustard/ketchup squeeze bottles on top of the fridge for ease of use. All that and it’s safe to use around pets and children!