Tai Pei Microwaveable dinners

Details: Tai Pei now has a microwaveable line of dinner foods.  Vegetable egg rolls and chicken potstickers are just 2 of the new options.  New fast easy ways to get the delicious food you love!

Vegetable Egg Rolls: vegetables in a crispy wrapper with dipping sauce.  3 in a box, to be kept frozen until ready to cook and serve.  Cooking directions on the box are for both the microwave and the conventional oven.  Thai Pei vegetable egg rolls are loaded with traditional style and flavor.  They feature fresh cut vegetables in a crispy wrapper made of whole grains.

Chicken Potstickers: chicken and vegetable dumplings with dipping sauce.  0g trans fat, 8g protein and no MSG added.  5 potstickers per box.  cooking directions on the box are for both the microwave and the skillet.  Enjoy a savory blend of lightly seasoned chicken and fresh cut vegetables nestled in delicate pleated wrappers.

My Review:  I love these Tai Pei microwaveable foods.  This is so nice for one the go, fast paced, busy families wanting yummy food for dinner, or snacks.  The Egg Rolls came with sweet and sour dipping sauce.  The Chicken Potstickers came with soy dipping sauce.  I made 1 box of each for dinner and got 3 meals out of what was inside.  I tried the microwave and the skillet and the oven for cooking each food to see how they turned out.  To be honest the skillet and oven were the best, they made the food crispier then the microwave.  But the microwave was still good, just a little bit soggy.

My Rating: The food was really good, but it wasn't as crispy as I wanted it to be when cooked in the microwave.

                

Though the Bud be Bruised

Though the Bud Be Bruised by Jo Wanmer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Details: Issy needed to tell her mom something very important but with house guests how would her busy mother make the time? She can't, she wouldn't, and won't. When Zara reads her daughter's letter she is segregated. Why didn't she see this? Why didn't she know before? Why has she failed at the one thing she has wanted her whole life? Why did this happen to her daughter, to her family? When will it stop? Does God even care about what is happening? Why didn't. He protect her Issue? As bad becomes worse and worse becomes horrible and continues to spiral out of control this little family is tested up to the breaking point by God. Then they are pushed; broken and left to see if they will rely on this Being who claims He loves all mankind.
Betrayed by her parent's best friends can Issy over come her confusion, hurt, and learn to love her mother and father once again? Will she rely on the Lord to help her over come her nightmares? Can God really help her stop ODing?

My Review: I feel for Issy. What a sweet girl and then she's forced into a never ending nightmare. A nightmare that affects her whole life and even affects her family, friends, and her future. I have never gone through this trial but any one who has gone through a trial that has given them experiences with betrayals, chruch members not helping or being concerned, family being hurt, physical pain, emotional pain, and spiritual pain can feel for this family. This is a graphic book of pain. We do not get the full extent of Issy's torture, but the after math is very graphic, potently charged with emotions, heart wrenching, soul searching, life changing lessons, hope and a failure of hope and faith. With everything in between exposed and questioned.

Pros: amazing details, great characters, wonderful well planned and thoughtout plot, I love all the God questioning and friend betrayals because it makes their story more believable. I love that this is based on a true story.

Cons: there was a section of story where it was just dialogue but I couldn't figure out who was saying what.

MY RATING: thumbs up and thumbs down. It was one of the most intence books I'ge ever read. But it may be too intence for some people. I love it. Just giving the warning for the intensity, immense pain and close to the heart trials.

I have received a complimentary copy of this wonderful book from Bookcrash!
View all my reviews

Cashew Clusters

 Details: 32 oz bag from Costco's Kirkland brand.  It contains Almonds, pumpkin seeds, cashews.  It has 50% cashews, a great source of protein and fiber, and is gluten free!  These are crunchy clusters of nuts held together with toffee, in large mouth bites.  Cashews, almonds and pumpkin seeds are a good source of protein, have a lower fat content than many other nuts, and contain oleic acid which is a heart healthy monounsaturated fat like what is found in olive oil.  As servings you would be able to eat 5 of these little pieces for each serving.

My Review: These are super yummy.  A little dry, and very crunchy.  My 2 year old tried to eat some but it was too hard for his little teeth unless cut into smaller pieces, but he loves these just as much as his Grandma, Mommy, Great Grandmother, and Great Aunt.  A group of 4 women gave this treat/ snack a 10 of 10 it is so good.  Totally worth buying again and again!

Pros: great taste, healthy, gluten free

Cons: adult or teen snack, not meant for smaller children as the clusters are very hard for 2-8 year old's to chew in the sizes provided.




















                                 My Rating

Massy Personal Fan

Details: 9 inch blade diameter.  Manual control, 3 speeds.  Quiet operation, comes assembled.  Comes in a variety of colors: white, blue, pink, etc.

My Review: We've had lots of different types of small personal fans.  Metal, plastic, box, round, rotating, etc.  But these fans seem to be the best price for the what you  get.  They work great at cooling off and circulating small areas: bedrooms, dens, kitchens, etc.  Not recommended in large areas unless you have more than one, or have a source of cool air to be distributed in this large area.  It helps beat the hot dry desert/ mountain air of the Western USA just with circulation, but it is not an air conditioner.  Meaning it won't turn all the air cold, it will just blow all the air around giving the feel of cooler atmospheres.

Pros: love the colors, our kids got to pick out a fan in the color they liked best.  I love that they are very quiet when turned on (no clicking or metallic sounds).

Cons: none

                                                                                 My Rating 

My True Essence by Shawneda Marks
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Details: Rebecca is finally out of her abusive relationship with her Ex-husband. But things look like they are going from bad to worse, she's sick when her new husband and her present to their biggest client ever. Her Aunt and Mother are moving out of the States, and she just found out that her Aunt has breast cancer. Because she's been sick Rebecca can't go see her family. Rebecca's best friend just had a bad accident on her motorcycle and is keeping a secret from Rebecca.

As Rebecca fills her time trying to do good, and trying to rely on the Lord, she's finding out just how much stress she can handle, how much stress could possibly destroy her new marriage. How strong she can be when people care nothing about her skills, talents, her willingness to loose all her friends for a cause that is dear to her heart: Breast Cancer awareness, research and comfort of those going through treatment. Will friends stay friends? Will Rebecca become an outcast because her heart is too good, and people she thought were friends do everything in their power to destroy everything she loves? Will Breast Cancer kill the people she loves, and leave her alone? Will God answer her prayers, the prayers of her family and friends, or the prayers of her enemies?

My Review: This is an amazing story. One that has you 1.guessing, 2.praying for each character, 3.addicted to the plot and story line, 4.wishing you were in on the action. Each character is very well written, realistic, and dealing with realistic problems, issues, concerns, joys and excitements. Each character has a well thought out and planned story line that leads us through sadness, happiness, concern, prayer and interacts with all the other story lines like the perfect spider web. This book should be a motivator to all woman in the world. The lessons learned are so amazing.

From this book I've been able to forgive myself for mistakes I have made that have affected others, especially my friends. I have been able to pray for people who hate me, and come to love them as Christ loves us all. I have been able to come to peace about very sore, hurtful, painful, trying issues and concerns my own life is living right now because of the strength I found through the lives of the women in this book.

Pros: Well written, amazing content, surprisingly good plot and characterization, a lesson's book for those who read it.

Cons: none

My Rating: HUGE BLINGY THUMBS UP!!!!  

View all my reviews

Potty Seat Covers

 

Details: This is a brand new product just for Mom's to feel safe about their kids using public restrooms.  These disposable potty covers provide waterproof barriers between skin and toilets.  Being made with an over sized design they provide maximum coverage of the toilet by covering the sides, seat, and front.  Made from soft non-woven fabric for comfort, coated with plastic to keep germs away.  Individually wrapped for quick-on-the-go.  Great for boys and girls and adults to use for protection when using the bathroom.  Stays on the toilet without any messy adhesive strips.  Not to be flushed, but can be recycled.

My Review:  With an over active bladder, and a son who may as well, whenever we're out and about we're always visiting the public restrooms.  Not every store offers those nice flushable toilet seat covers.  And sometimes if the store does offer them, they are empty in the stall that we choose.  Its not always convenient or there's not always enough time for me as a mom to cover the toilet seat with toilet paper  to protect my kids from germs.  But these Potty Covers are a life saver!  No more germs for me or my kids.  No more accidents in pants for my kids because they're super quick to put on.  These make great new mommy gifts, and even Potty gifts for kids who have graduated to underwear.  I love to keep these in my diaper bag, my glove box in the car, and in my purse because they are small and flat.  I highly suggest these Potty Covers to anyone who hates going to the bathroom in public places because of the worry of yucky germs.

Pros: effective, safe, great for adults and kids

Cons: none

                                                                       My Rating   
I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Suave Keratin Infusion

  

Details: Suave Keratin Infusion is for Frizzy and Unmanageable Hair.  It offers advanced protection from heat damage, has frizz control for up to 48 hours, and smoothes and manages hair for easy styling. 

My Review:  I recently had my hair cut and the lady doing so commented how I had really nice hair that will age graciously.  I just needed to address 2 things, the dry and frizzy hair. Living in a humid climate makes the frizz  very pronounced.  I’ve tried various products over the years, and so far this has been the best I’ve tried in a budget friendly price range.

After washing hair, rub a dime sized amount of Suave Keratin Infusion all over your hair.  Dry and style as usual. 

When using this product, I noticed how soft my hair was with a nice shine, and yet not so shiny that it looked like I sprayed it with shellac.  My hair has always been extremely dry due to sun exposure.  Not any more. 

Pros:  The product says it is good for up to 48 hours, but I have found it will last longer than that.  I know many women wash their hair more frequently, but just in case you have real busy weeks like I do, it will hold longer.  My hair doesn’t experience the frizz unless I get it wet from watering the lawn, or of course from rain. 

Cons:  If using this product as a leave in conditioner, I would recommend using a serum along with it.  The combination will make each work better.  If you are around any kind of mist, this product may not suit your needs.

My Ratings:  I recommend this product for frizz control that is fairly inexpensive.

UGlee Pen

Details: This is a revolutionary new pen designed and created by a physician.  The UGlee pen has a click top, blue ink, and a gel grip at the end of the pen shaft.  Gel grips are the newest way doctors have found to help people who have pain and discomfort when writing, like arthritis and carpal tunnel syndrome.  When designing this pen doctors have found something that will help children learning to write hold the pen easier, with a focus on special-needs children.  You can find this company on Facebook and Twitter and at their website.  This is a great tool to help improve the ergonomics of your work space whatever that may be with writing.

 My Review:  I got a package of 3 UGlee pens to review from Tomoson.  They are very ugly in design.  I do love the gel grip, but the writing part of it isn't very impressive.  The first 3 days of using these pens I have to do a lot of scribbling just to get the ink to come out even and not blotchy.  Then I found that this pen doesn't write over oily paper (like when you write after putting lotion on).  I was told personally that this pen writes upside down, sideways, and on wet or underwater surfaces.  To the right is a picture of 2 different types of paper on which I drew a scribble 2 times.  One time is on dry paper, the other time is on wet paper.  It worked better on the wet paper.

I'm comparing this Uglee pen to a pen my older brother got when he was a teenager.  It was called a Space pen, because it would write anywhere, and in any position: under water, wet, frozen, in space etc.  The Uglee pen design is much better than this space pen design.  The Space pen was short and metal making it hard to hold.  The ink in the Uglee pen distributes weird which I don't like, and the space pen is much better in that area.  All in all, I like my Uglee pens, but I'm not in love with them.  If they could fix the ink to come out smoothly and not so thick I would love them.

 Pros: I love the gel because my hands don't hurt during or after writing.  This could really help mothers who suffer from Mommy Thumb.

Cons:  Here is a writing sample that I used the UGlee pen to write.  This shows the blotchiness, and uneven distribution of ink.  I've had pens from the Dollar Tree that distribute and write without blotchiness way better than these pens.

                                                                                   My Rating                        

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Noosa Yoghurt

 Details: All natural gluten free, probiotic, from happy cows never treated with rBGH.  Aussie culture and Colorado fresh.  Noosa yoghurt is crafted from a super secret aussie recipe, with milk from happy cows raised on a family owned Colorado farm.  8 oz containers with 4 servings per container.  All natural ingredients.

My Review:  My Mother-In-Law bought me a container for myself while visiting for the summer.  I have never heard of this brand, I have never tasted better yogurt ever.  Its the best flavored yogurt, and because its natural its not super sweet, not grainy, and the fruit is pure fruit, not sugared chunks or juices used to flavor the yogurt.  Tons of amazing flavors: Peach, Strawberry Rhubarb, Blue Berry, Raspberry are some of mine and my MIL's favorite flavors.  I personally can't afford to buy this very often and especially for my whole family right now, so until then, I do plan on buying myself a little yummy treat 1-2 times a month.



                                                                                    Pros: yummy! YUMMY!

Cons: more expensive than I could afford for a family of 4.

                                                                                     My Rating 

Cost Cutters

Details: Cost Cutters, Stylish haircuts for men, women and children at an affordable price.

My Review:  It’s been over a year since I had my last haircut.  With moving and building a house, working, etc., my hair just had to be put on hold.  I was looking for an affordable place to get my hair cut that would still allow me to walk out without draining my wallet.  This is the place. 

I had some concerns that the hair stylist addressed and presented me with options to fit my limited budget.  First, like I mentioned, it’s been about a year since the last hair cut.  My bangs have about 3 cowlicks or whorls that never seemed to let my bangs look really nice.  The next concern is that my hair is naturally curly, and therefore in the humid climate that I live in, is extremely frizzy.   She also mentioned that my hair, although in great condition, was a little on the dry side.

The stylist cut my hair exactly the way I wanted, then she addressed each concern.  First the frizz.  She mentioned that I needed a product to take care of the frizz.  I could purchase something from them, but she said either go to WalMart or to Sally Beauty supply and find something that was a leave-in frizz control solution.

Next she addressed the dry hair.  Here again she mentioned the two above stores for products.  I needed some kind of hydrating serum (or oil) that is also a leave-in product.

The stylist told me that after I do that, I can address my unruly bangs.  She thought I was just joking about them, until after she cut my hair, and put those products for frizzy and dry hair in.  She said I needed a ceramic flat iron, and showed me how to style my bangs with that.

My husband was quite impressed with the way my hair looked, especially my bangs.

Pros:  Cost Cutters is a very affordable place to get stylish haircuts.  You can bring in  your own picture of what you want, or they have books with pictures to choose from.  They do listen to what you want, and do their best to accommodate you.  They have certain specials during the week depending on where you live.  For instance, Tuesdays haircuts are $2 to $3 less than any other day of the week.  My total haircut with a generous tip was under $10.  They also have coupons as well.

Cons:  They aren’t everywhere, and you will need to check out their locator for a location near you.

My Ratings:  A big thumbs up.

Google Voice

Details:  Google Voice.  Choose your own number and have just one number for all your phones.  Comes with voicemail you can read or listen to.  Has free US long distance calling and low rates for international calls.  Can port your number for a fee.  Has other calling features, like call forwarding, text messaging, personalized greetings and ringers, etc.

My Review:  Due to a recent move and changing phone plans, we have been using Google Voice.  The advantage of this is that we just need to remember our Google Voice Number, and it can ring any of our other phones.  We had a land line and changed phone plans, and our phone calls were not missed or lost, as we had issued our Google Voice number as our new phone number to people.  We don’t have to be at our computer to take the calls.  I have my Google Voice set to ring my cell phone as default.  If I’m not at the computer with my Gmail account open for calls, it will automatically ring my cell phone.  When that happens, I just need to push the “1” button to take the call and I can converse as normal. 

Sound quality has been great.  The only problem we have encountered was headsets/speakers for the computer.  You’ll want to get a decent headset/speaker for sound quality.  It is nice with the potential of changing cell phone plans frequently, or land line companies as well, all I have to do is just give out my Google Voice number, and it doesn’t matter what the other phone numbers are.  Just make sure when your cell phone or land line number change you change that with Google Voice.

There are many options which I haven’t had the time to explore, like personal greetings and ringers depending on who is calling you.  You can record incoming calls, not outgoing calls.  You can screen calls and block calls.  It’s a great way to protect your private cell phone number, or like us, where ours is constantly changing to keep just one basic number.

Pros:  Sound quality has been great.  I can use my cell phone to answer calls, or my land line.  I don’t always have to be at the computer.  With our cell phone and land line numbers changing frequently, I don’t have to make that change with everyone who needs my number, they just need my Google Voice number.  If you miss a call you can read the message, if one was left, on the computer through your gmail account.  Sometimes they are kind of funny to read, but you do have the option of listening to the message as well.  It’s also great for those junk calls or emails that you need to provide a phone number for, then just be sure to block that number if you don’t want to hear from them again.

Cons:  If you don’t have an unlimited minutes plan with your cell phone company, Google Voice will use up your minutes if you answer on your cell phone.  It will not use up your cell phone minutes if you answer on your computer using a headset or speaker system, or have an unlimited minute use on your cell plan.  Can’t record outgoing calls.

My Ratings:  I give this a thumbs up because my phone numbers are changing a lot, and I just have to give out my Google Voice number, which I got to choose, and still get phone calls. 

Labels: Google Voice, phone, cell phone, land line, free phone, cheap phone, free phone calls, cheap phone calls