Cleaning Non-Leather Collars

I have a dirty dog. Yes, I have to admit it. He runs around in the back yard, gets covered with mud or dirt and even his own spit. He is rambunctious, full of energy and loves to explore.

I bought him this Kong adjustable collar thinking that it would be tough enough to withstand his daily wear and tear. Soon it started to stink and was dirty so I got rid of it and bought him another one. Here we are a few months later and AGAIN it is stinking and is dirty. I was really hoping to get past the New Year with out having to buy him a new collar so I started thinking of ways to clean the collar.

Here is what I came up with:

First, get a container that you don't eat out of and put hot water in it with a dribble of dish soap (I used the new Palmolive Fresh Infusions in Lime Basil because it had a nice, clean smell) and mix. Then soak the collar for an hour (or more, depending on how dirty). This should clean the dirt, oils and some bacteria out of the collar. Empty the water and rinse the collar.

Then, refill the container with hot water again. This time add a few squirts of Oxy Clean spray and soak the collar for another hour. You should see little white foamy bubbles around the collar which means it is is working! When you remove the collar the water may be a little dirty, but not like the first soak. Rinse the collar and lay it out on some paper towels to dry over night.

The dish soap takes care of the dirt while the Oxy takes care of the smell and the remaining bacteria. Now I can get a few more months out of his collars :) I am always looking for ways to save some money! Now my little stinker can have more dog toys for Christmas and not a new collar LOL.

Hope this helps anyone with a stinky pup!
Jenn (and Bentley)

VoxBox 2012

Wahoo! I was so happy to hear that I was chosen for one of the VoxBoxes from Influester.com and when it finally came in the mail I couldn't wait to get it open and see what I got.

I received 7 items in this box and they were all amazing! I had a hard time deciding which product to open and test first :)

 

I decided to start with these Spin Pins by Goody since I already own them and use them all the time. These little helpers are about $6 at Target for the set and come in light and dark. I purchase the dark for my hair, but I won't mind using the light ones since your hair covers them almost completely. These are extremely easy to use and will keep your hair in place. I like to make a bun on top of my head and spin these little guys in when I go to sleep. It keeps my hair out of my face but also when I take my hair down in the morning they do not have any weird creases and it is nice and wavy. Make sure you do not twist these little guys into each other because they can become a real pain to get apart.

 

The next thing I tested was this Fragrance Mist from Vitabath in Pomegranate & Blood Orange. Delicious! This mist smells juicy and fresh. I couldn't stop misting it all over me and my bed LOL. The scent lingers for quite awhile and At $10 for this 16 oz bottle, I think this is a pretty great deal. After looking at their website I found they have Grapefruit Vanilla as well as Dreamy Pink Frosting fragrances....yum!

There was a Mini Candle in Pumpkin Cupcake from Bath & Body Works. I had to put my nose right up to the candle to smell it. It was delectably sweet but not strong enough. I lit it and sat about 3 feet away and I could not smell the candle. I walked over to it and when I was right on top of the candle I could smell it. I was so disappointed because I really wanted to like this but nothing really compares to Yankee Candles and Diamond Candles. This mini candle is priced at $3.50

I love Not Your Mother's Products and I was planning on buying this Kinky Moves Curl Defining Cream so I was very excited to get this little travel sized tube in my box. The travel sizes are about $3. I really wanted to love this on the first use, but it fell short. The scent is nice, fresh, clean and subtle, my hair started curling with in the first few minutes of blow drying, but they just didn't get the bounce that I was looking for.

 In this picture you can see that the hair did get some curl. It was soft but the curls really weren't defined. They were kind of a frizzy mess. The more it dried, the more it looked like a mess. The ends did not curl at all. They stayed straight and were a bit stringy.  I tried this again the next day and used twice as much product. The ends curled a little more on the second time, but I still did not get the curl definition that I was looking for and I still have the frizz problems. Still love the brand though and I love the Clean Freak dry shampoo and Beach Babe sea salt spray!

I have not used any products from NYC New York Colors since I was a kid. I am not a huge fan of drugstore make up, but I signed up for this VoxBox and I will try it all! This compact is priced around $5 has a primer, illuminator, and eye shadows. The color collection is called "Dark Shadows". I had to laugh because it made me think of the movie Dark Shadows with Johnny Depp that just came out and the make up they did around his eyes. This is not a color collection I would choose for myself as I do not prefer silver or grey shadows.

Here is a picture of the back of the compact. They have a suggestion on how to apply the shadows and I will follow their diagram. I will not be using the little applicators included though. I am an avid make up brush user. After using this, it reminds me why I shell out money on MAC and Urban Decay shadows. The primer was way too light of a color and was really thick and didn't "set". Then when applying the shadows, I had to use way more product than I am used to just to get the color to show up. The only one I didn't need a lot of was the black. I left this on while I played with the eye lashes in this box, and by the time I was done the majority of the shadow was gone. With a primer, that does not happen with more expensive brands. I can not say I am disappointed in this because I did not expect much.

Falsies! I have not worn these in years and I was so happy to see these Ever Pro Lashes Starter Kit from KISS in my box. These are a new brand for me but they include these little pink applicator tweezer things. The information on them says the latex-free glue will hold them on for 24-hours. They are priced around $6. I really wanted to like these, but when I started playing with them I realized the lash line is way too thick. I would hold the lashes down and wait for them to dry, but because they are so thick they would just pop right back off. I cut several small pieces off and glued just those on the outer most side of my lashes and it worked much better, but then the glue would not hold the pieces on. I had them on for about 15 minutes and my eyes turned red and started to burn. I don't know if it was from the eyeshadow compact or the lashes, but I took everything off. This has not happened before when I have used Sugar brand lashes.

 

Last up is this packet of EBoost Daily Health Booster. This reminded me of the Emergen-C packets I have here at the house. It fizzes, tastes like fake orange and kind of powdery. I can not say that I would want to drink this everyday. I would prefer a capsule or something flavorless that I could add to a drink.

That is everything from my 2012 VoxBox! I am really hoping I get another one to test soon. I would love for you to follow my reviews and other posts. Please subscribe by entering your email in the box at the top left and you will get email notifications of new posts :)

 

Thanks for reading,

Jenn

 

Ipsy Glam Bag- Just Subscribed!

Well, the Sample Society box just wasn't doing it for me any more so I decided to replace that $15 box with this $10 from Ipsy.com. I have heard both good and bad things about this sub service, so I decided just to try it for myself.

The website says that every month you will get 4-5 products as well as a cute make up bag. I have looked at the past bags from Dec 2011 until now (this info available on their website) and almost every month they feature some awesome stuff. From reviews I have looked at by other bloggers, almost everything is full sized! I really hope that this proves to be true.

When joining it asks a few questions.

• First it asks about your personal style (classic, natural, bridal, club go-er, professional, formal, hip/edgy, vintage/retro, sporty, sultry, worldly, simple). 
• Then it asks which Ipsy Stylists you relate most to.....huh? There is a list of 5 women that I have never heard of LOL. If you are new to Ipsy like I am, these names mean nothing to you. I chose all 5 of them, can't go wrong with that right?
• Next it asks how comfortable you are with make up: "not very", "somewhat", and "very". I chose "very".
• It then gives a 2 page list of beauty product brands that you are either currently using or would like to try.
• Following that, it asks what type of make up products you like the most and gives you about 12 options to choose from. 
• Next up they ask what kind of skin care, nail care and hair care that you like the most and give you another 12 options to choose from.
• Following that it asks where you buy most of your beauty products from.
• Then asks for your skin color, skin concerns, eye color, hair color and hair type.

After completing this short quiz it asks you for your personal information and creates an account for you. You have the option of paying monthly and you can cancel any time or yearly and you are stuck for the year.

Once you have an account, you can create "looks" and upload videos. I am playing around with these features now, but I am not sure what doing these things will do for you as a member.

I will post when my first bag gets here! It will be the November bag. So disappointed I didn't know about this for October because I love the chevron make up bag they had for this month.

Jenn

Border Style Bean Chili

As we are waiting out Hurricane Sandy, my mom agreed to make one of my favorite chilies. It doesn't have any meat, which is weird for me because I loooooove meat, but it is very flavorful, has a great texture and doesn't take too long to make. I do believe she got the recipe from Susan Powter's recipe book.

First, gather your ingredients!

 

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic (I used the stuff in the squeeze bottle)
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1-15 oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1-15 oz can of white beans, drained and rinsed
• 2-4 oz cans green chilies
• 2-14 oz cans diced tomatoes
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• salt and pepper to taste

 

First up, chop up your onion and pepper and sweat them in a large pot with your garlic. (If you don't know what "sweating" is, you put on a low heat and sweat until the onions are translucent.)

Meanwhile, drain your beans and rinse them.

When the sweating is done, toss in the beans, tomatoes, chilies, and spices.

Simmer for at least 30 minutes. While you are simmering, feel free to make corn bread muffins! I take on bag of Krusteaz Honey Cornbread mix, 1/3 cup of applesauce in lieu of oil, 2/3 cup milk and 1 egg and bake them up for 16 minutes....

...and you get these fluffy and delicious additions to your chili! And they are only about 105 calories a piece :) They tend to finish up at the same time which is also nice.

Here is your finished product! This serves 6, one serving of chili is 181 calories, each corn bread muffin is 105 and about an 1/8 cup of Sargento sharp cheddar cheese is 45 calories.....so factor in you eating 2 muffins and you will have a meal of 436 calories.

 

I hope you enjoy this on a cold, windy and rainy day like I do!

 

Jenn

 

 

 

 

 



October's Goodies Box

I am happy to announce the first Goodies box is here!  Feel free to visit their website and see if this box is for you. Right now it is only $7 a month which is totally worth it. Below is a picture of my Goodies box which is $7 and a picture of my Love with Food box which is $12. Still can't see why this box is better? Feel free to check out my review for my last Love With Food box and compare it with this review :)

 

The theme for this first box is "trick or treat" and the card says that Halloween is not just for kids! I am loving this already... Keep in mind that my profile on Goodies is "sweet tooth", so this box is already nailing it right on the head.

Six full sized items are included in this month's box. I recognize Nutella and Smartfood selects, but the other brands are new to me.

First up are Sheila G.'s Brownie Brittle. I am going to estimate this 4 oz. bag at about $5 because on the website the 3 varieties in 4 oz bags are $15. These are DELICIOUS! I always go for the crunchy edges of the brownies, and that's exactly what these are like. They are light and airy and fall apart in your mouth. The flavor is spot on like freshly baked brownies and they are all natural! One-quarter of this large bag is 120 calories. I shared with my mom and these got the stamp of approval. Yum! My mom found them the next week at BJ's Wholesale. Awesome!

Up next are the Dang Toasted Coconut Chips. Normally I don't like anything with coconut, but for the sake of the blog I tried these and I am really glad that I did. They are fantastic! These little toasted flakes (because they are way too small to be considered chips) were superb. They had a great semi-crunchy texture, the toasting really brought out the flavor and more than half of this bag is about 180 calories, not to mention all the fiber these have. I think I will try these sprinkled over my yogurt! The website suggests them to be sprinkled on ice cream, in trail mix and salads, on cereals, cookies and cakes. I can't seem to find

Then I tried the Smartfood Selects Cinnamon Brown Sugar Multigrain Popped Chips. I am familiar with the Smartfood brand but I have not yet had or even seen these chips. After I saw these in my box I searched for them at the grocery store and they were in the organic section. These are light, crispy, and sweet. This whole bag was only 100 calories! I have a feeling these will be a new sweet snack that hangs around our house.

Then we have these Juicefuls Fruit Snacks in Fruit Wave. I am not much for candies, I tend to stick with chocolate, but I gave these a try. They had a good texture, not too hard and broke down easily while I chewed. They tasted pretty good as well, which was a surprise. They really did taste like little juice drops and each color had a distinctly different flavor. The red one was my favorite because it was like fruit punch. These are fat free and gluten free and don't have preservatives. If I ever get the craving for gummies, these would be the ones I would get.

I had to laugh when I saw this Nutella & Go Pack in this box. I have recently discovered this stuff and it has replaced peanut butter for my toast. This was a late night snack after a long day and it was sooooooooo good. It had just the right amount of Nutella and the bread sticks had a nice consistency. These would be dangerous to have around the house and would disappear quickly!

 

I was really excited to try this Mayesa cocoa drink. I love chocolate Silk soy milk and since this has soy in it as well I was hoping to love it. I really like the individual containers which are great for packing. I am saving mine for a special breakfast :)

 

A great debut from Goodies! I can not wait to see what they have in store for November.

 

Jenn 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Influenster- Palmolive Fresh Infusions

Influenster.com sent me these Palmolive Fresh Infusion dish soaps to try and at first I was like "really? dish soap?" but when they got here I was pleasantly surprised. They smell amazing! From left to right they are Ginger White Tea, Lime Basil and Lemon Thyme. I think that the Lemon Thyme smells the best. It is zingy and has a crisp, clean scent. The Lime Basil does as well. The Ginger White Tea smells a little too much like perfume for my taste.

This bundle of all 3 soaps is available at Target for a little less than $9. Usually we buy our dish soap at BJ's Wholesale in bulk and its nothing fancy or scented. These were a nice change. A few drops in a pan with some hot water and the kitchen smells wonderful.

I am sold!
Jenn

POPSUGAR Must Have Box- October

In the hustle and bustle that has been my life the last 2 weeks, I actually forgot my PopSugar box was on its way! And it was a few days early this month which put it at the perfect time :)

And here we go:

We will start with Pirate's Booty Aged White Cheddar Puffs. I have had these MANY time and they are delicious! They are like puffed cheetos except these are bakes, all natural and gluten and trans fat free. Yum. They also don't turn your fingers orange ;) You can get 24 of these 1 oz bags on their website for $23. So this bag is worth about a buck...but what a delicious buck! You can find these in the grocery store in the organic section. I looked up the website and I think I am going to try the Smart Puffs as well.

Gummy Bears from Dylan's Candy Bar. So who knew Ralph Lauren's little girl had a candy shop?? Not me. I looked at the website and I have to admit it is pretty cute! And there isn't just cute candy. There are gifts, apparel and other cute little knick knacks. Now the website is charging $15 for mini- bins of these gummy bears, but they taste like regular gummies to me. I am no gummy connoisseur, I really don't even like the things, but I definitely can't see paying that much for any candy. There was a bacon-flavored chocolate bar that I was pretty interested in trying though, but it's almost $3 per bar. Yikes! No scary movies needed, these prices scared me enough for Halloween.

Red Flower Spanish Gardenia Candle. I thought initially this candle had paper on the top, but then I read that it has gardenia petals on the top! That's kind of a cute concept. It suggests in the info from PopSugar that you use the petals to decorate, throw them in a bath for an aromatic soak or keep them in a satchel as a freshener for other areas. I saw that its $38 for this little candle....holy flower petals! I love the idea of the flower petals, but not even Yankee Candles or Diamond Candles cost that much for a candle several times the size of this one.  

I love books :) KEEP THE BOOKS COMING POPSUGAR! Reading is good for the mind and the soul and I love that they included a book last month and again this month. This one, The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling is the first adult book that she has written. I have seen it around and I never read the Harry Potter Series ( I know, don't kill me) but this on looked interesting.  I found this review on GoodReads.com and it did not rate very high. However, in the information on the book the story line seems pretty good. A town left with an open position on the parish council and the entire town is at war with each other....yeah, I can get into that. This hard back goes for about $21 on Amazon.com.

A few days before my box came, my mom was checking these out at Target. She said she saw the commercial for Clear Scalp & Hair Beauty Therapy Shampoo and Conditioner and was interested in the ones with the oils in them. She did not get them, but I am happy to be able to share these travel sized bottles with her! I love how the focus is on the scalp to grow healthier and stronger hair. Here's to hoping these help grow my hair longer and stronger, cheers!

Socks? Socks in a box you say? Yep :)  Admittedly I am not a fan of grey, but I am a fan of socks! No idea what ExerSocks by Crecent Moon are, but after reviewing them I found they are "anti-bacterial protection socks with the non-slip protection of a sneaker". They also have a cushioned reinforced sole that are great for Barre Workouts, Yoga Practice and Mat Pilates and lounging around the house. I was wondering when I would start seeing something like this around. I think these are great especially if you like to walk around barefoot, especially at the gym.

 



And last up are the OPI Pink of Hearts 2012 Collection. I had planned on buying these for myself anyway so you could imagine my joy in finding them in my box and not having to actually go to the store to get them! At about $12 for this set on Amazon, I think its a great deal. I mean, OPI polishes go for about $8 each so this isn't bad at all.

 

I wanted to do black for Halloween but I couldn't resist doing one nail with the "You Glitter Be Good To Me". I wish I had done all the nails in the pink! If you want to see swatches of both color and more information, check out this info from The PolishAholic. This is one of my favorite nail polish blogs and she does great paint jobs as well as photos.

Ta-da! In my opinion, it was another great box from PopSugar! The only complaint I have right now is that the website is not working and just keeps flashing when you visit it.....weird. I hope they keep the wonderful boxes coming!

 

Jenn

Pop Up Pantry Review

If you have been following my blog, you will remember that earlier this month in September's PopSugar Must Have Box that I got a code for a free dinner for 2 from Pop Up Pantry.

Initially when I checked the website everything was sold out. I think that is because it was the end of the month because a little less than a week later things on the site started coming up as available. Not wanting everything to sell out, I ordered the Turkey Meatloaf Sliders meal for my mother and I.

I set the delivery date for October 24th and it came on that day at 10 am via FedEx. Since the confirmation email they send you says you have to put everything in the freezer by 3 pm, I immediately unpacked it all......



... and then I put it in the freezer. I had it there for about 2 days. Life was just too crazy for me to find the time to even make dinner, isn't that terrible?

Included in the box, there was an envelope with my invoice, instructions for cooking, and a card thanking me for for my order.

Finally on Friday the 26th I found some quiet time with my mom and we tackled making this dinner. On the menu we had Sweet Potato Bisque with roasted corn and poblano, Turkey Meatloaf Sliders with mini brioche and cranberry relish and for dessert a Pear & Blueberry Crostata.

 I read the instructions and 3 of the packets are cooked in the bag. I thought at first that this was "sous vide" but that would mean the bags were air tight and cooked for a long period of time. These bags were not all air tight and cooked for 18 minutes at the longest. I preheated the oven for the crostata and started boiling a large pot of water. When boiling I threw in the sliders pouch and after 3 minutes I threw in the soup pouch.

While watching these boil away, I checked to see how frozen the cranberry relish was and discovered that the pouch had split on the side. Uh oh! So then I decided to check on the soup....

...just as I thought. The soup bag had the same problem and was leaking in to the water. Upon closer inspection of the sliders, they were taking on water too. I had to hold the soup pouch up the remainder of the time so that it didn't take on water or leak. I figured the sliders would be ok if they got wet.

While holding the pouch, I completely forgot to throw in the brussel sprout salad :( So I had to throw that in by itself. That gave me time to remove the crostata and toast the brioche.

Getting the soup out of the bag was a little more challenging than I thought it would be. I managed to get most of it in the bowls but some did escape and land on the counter. The soup tasted delicious. It had a nice thick texture, the roasted corn was a nice touch and the poblanos gave the soup some depth.

Here are the sliders, cranberry relish and brussel sprout salad. Mom and I put the cranberries on top of the sliders and they were pretty good. Good texture, lots of flavor and the relish was sweet and enhanced the meat. The brussel sprout salad was a let down. It had brussel sprout leaves, potatoes, and onions. Neither my mom nor I thought it had much flavor and the texture of the potatoes was a bit off.

Last up was the crostata. This smelled like buttery deliciousness when it came out of the oven, but it was kind of bland. The blueberries in the center were nice and sweet and tangy, but everything else was really like cardboard. I would have been happier if they had included some of the sugar cookies that were in the PopSugar Box for September! That might have been the best cookie I had ever had :)

 

And there you have it! Over all I think this is a wonderful idea, I mean, who would not want to have dinner just sitting and waiting for them at home when they don't want to cook? However the execution fell short for me. The holes in the bags made me think unsanitary thoughts and it made it a pain to cook in the boiling water and serve. The flavors were 50/50 for me. The soup and sliders were great, the salad and crostata missed the mark.

 

We chose not to continue the membership and cancelled. The prices for the food actually aren't bad! Better than a night of eating out and the portions are just big enough to fill you up and be satisfied.  Maybe if the mood strikes us again we will give it another shot with a different meal plan, but as of this moment we are not completely sold on a monthly deal.

 

Customer Service: I attempted to cancel repeatedly, and thought that I had, until I got billed the next month. I emailed customer service and told them about my multiple attempts and they were very helpful and got back to me with in 24 hours and let me know they refunded my charge.

 

Jenn