I’ve been reading about the uber-low-cal ice cream Artic Ice for about a year. It’s been available on Amazon for a while, but seriously..who is going to order ice cream through the mail?
A few weeks ago while trying to ignore the ice cream staring across the isle at me while I picked up my weekly supply of Chobani non-fat greek yogurt…I spotted this pint size wonder claiming to be delicious ice cream with only 150 calories in the entire pint!
Of course I rushed home to taste it, thinking I had just stumbled across the next best thing to sliced bread and I was mightily disappointed. Did you grandmother ever give you ice milk instead of ice cream..yeah..that’s what it tastes like.
The chocolate peanut butter flavor is edible but the chocolate…not so much. And this is coming from someone who hasn’t had real ice cream in probably over 8 months so any sort of creamy treat should have tasted delish to me. But it’s not creamy…at all. It’s icy.
My verdict is skip it. It’s expensive…costing a whopping $4.99 a pint and there is really no enjoyment in making yourself eat something just because you paid so much for it.
Believe me when I say I’ll take my plain ol’ fat free greek yogurt over this any day.
There a few items that I keep in the house that I literally can’t live without. But none as important as the two things I’m about to tell you about.
The first one is a no brainer. Mr. Clean Eraser Sponges. Seriously. These are so bad ass that I used to hoard them and not use them until I really had to. But now I buy this ginormous bin of them at BJ’s once a month and I am a Mr. Clean cleaning machine. Just this morning I cleaned my baseboards with them and also scrubbed the bathtub.
Real Mom’s know it is IMPOSSIBLE to clean with chemicals with small children around. The spray and squirt bottles are just way too interesting to be ignored by a 11 month old. But a plain ol’ white sponge is just plain boring and therefore I can actually get something done as she shadows me all over the house all day.
Secondly..and maybe even more importantly..are Kashi Go Lean Roll bars. Yes, they are a bit high in sugar …but at least it’s from brown rice syrup. Yeah, I know. It’s all the same. But still for me it’s worth the trade off. At 180 calories/5 grams of fat/12 grams of protein/6 grams of fiber it fills me up and stops any crazy craving I am having for the boys Oreo’s all at the same time.
I have these stashed everywhere. In the kitchen, the diaper bag and my handbag. They come in handy at a McDonald’s playdate when I just can’t stomach the thought of eating one their tasteless grilled chicken salads. Ugh. Or in the carpool line when I am waiting on my big boy Kindergartener to come out, and have been so busy with the girl all day, that I don’t realize until that exact moment (2pm) that I have had nothing but Kahlua flavored coffee all day and I am STARVING. Sadly, this happens to me a lot.
It saves me from overeating all the time. And it’s good. It’s a bit too chewy for some people..but that’s why I love them. It takes a minute to eat it and it satisfies that urge to chew that sends so many of us to the big bag of chips.
They also come in handy often late at night when ‘the hubby who loves ice cream’ gets his scoop on. Sometimes just a half of one of these quells my urge to give in the Cherry Garcia.
I bought this book to read on the plane when I went to Las Vegas a few weeks ago, and of course I only read like two chapters the entire trip..because…well…I was eating and drinking my way through Vegas and trying to hold my tongue every time I saw a 21 year girl dressed like a slutty Las Vegas version of Kim Kardashian. Yeah, it was that bad.
Anywhoo…once I got home and got back to real life I started reading The Helpagain and got HOOKED. I haven’t been this into a book in a while. I’m only a few pages away from the end of the story and I’ve stopped reading it because I don’t want it to be over.
It’s a well-written, touching, inspiring story about how black and white women dealt with a wrong-stupid-asinine-hurtful-ugly morally unbalanced time in our nation’s history. I highly recommend as a Southern chick and as a mom. Never mind that the author is a vapid, obnoxious woman…she did write a great story and I can’t wait to see Emma Stone and Viola Davis bring Skeeter and Aibileene to life.
Sorry Kathryn Stockett…I don’t like to hate on women…but when you are asked which character you would be in your story and you answer, “oh I’d be Skeeter of course…only cuter!” you lose major points with me. Your entire story was about inner beauty and sisterhood and you nearly ruined it in that one statement.
That being said…read the book…see the movie. You won’t regret it. And if you are a busy mom and don’t have Kindle or iBooks on your phone yet, GET IT TODAY. It will change your life.
Very rarely am I impressed with kids food that is supposed to be healthy. Simply because my kid has a built in radar that detects anything healthy and quickly refuses to eat it. At least it feels that way sometimes.
But Peas of Mind Veggie Wedgies Baked Cauliflower did not disappoint at all. In fact, I”m going to have to either make a special trip to Target this week for more or order them from Amazon.
Seriously, they rock. The boy loved them, I loved them…they were a huge hit. Each bag contains four servings at 70 calories each. So even you are eating off your kids plate or feeling froggy and eat the whole freaking bag…you’re still good!
And that’s really good if you are bloated from booze and the buffet in Las Vegas like I am right now. More on that later!
I like to think that I’m a pretty smart chick that stays on top of things. I work, raise my kids, handle our family’s schedule and finances, run the house, run my business, run the errands, make quality time every day for my family, workout, cook, clean and various and sundry other mom duties without breaking a sweat.
But I can’t, and never have been able to, make a good pot of coffee. The best thing the hubs and have I purchased over the past 12 months has got to be, hands down..my Keurig Elite Brewing System. It’s awesome. It’s more than awesome. It’s uber-awesome.
It’s unbelievably easy to use and the flavor varieties are endless. When my latest coffee order came the other day from CoffeeForLess.com, I realized that I’ve never shared with ya’ll just how much I love my Keurig Elite Brewing System. Not only do I love the fact that I can make just one cup of perfect coffee in about 3 minutes, I love the variety of coffee that is now available readily at any grocery store in K-Cup form.
I mean the flavors seem endless. Everytime I order I try at least 3 new flavors and one old favorite…just in case the other three suck..which they never do. This time I went with my old favorite Southern Pecan and three new flavors Moka Java, Creme Caramel and Mudslide. Coffee is fun. Just ask the boy. This is what happens on coffee delivery day at my house. The boxes are unpacked, lined up OCD-like in order around the kitchen and the placed neatly in the K-Cup carousel. All done happily by my five year old.
Coffee is fun.
It may seem silly that something so expensive and unnecessary has become so important in my life, but seriously..when you are a busy work-at-home mom getting a perfectly brewed cup of coffee in a few minutes times can often mean the difference to your day starting off like a Disney movie vs. Children of the Corn.
It’s Friday and I probably won’t be cooking. Especially because the boy is sick and the girl is teething. Hard. It was a rough night at my house last night, so to make myself feel better I’m just going to share some of my favorite pretties with you.
I always love seeing other mom’s ‘must have’ or ‘favorites things’ lists so I think I’ll make this an every Friday thing.
Since I am anxiously awaiting a shipment from my favorite make-up-girly store Sephora I’ll start with beauty items.
I’m not a huge make-up junkie, in fact over the years I’ve narrowed my make-up case down to a few staples and maybe an extra lip gloss or eye shadow here or there. I’ve also found over the years that with make-up you do get what you pay for and 40 year old skin needs better quality products to look young and fresh.
My Make-Up and Beauty Must Have List
Make – Up
Laura Mercier -Tinted Moisturizer – the perfect lightweight foundation with a hint of color. If you don’t like wearing heavy make-up this is for you. Especially great in the summer.
Lancome- Definicils Mascara – There is no other mascara (and I’ve tried them all) that will make your lashes look longer. It doesn’t curl however, so you may find yourself digging out that eyelash curler. I’ve been using this product for so long I’ve sort of figured out a way to curl my lashes with the applicator as I apply.
Tarte - Lights Camera Lashes Mascara – My newest must have. A great all around curling and lengthening mascara. Might actually replace Definicils for me. Maybe. It’s hard to let go.
NARS- The Multiple in Malibu – Use this as a blush, eye shadow and lip stick. Lots of colors to choose from but I like this pinkish brown.
Clinique- Superbalm in Black Honey – Clinique’s cult color now in a moisturizing and very shiny balm. Love.
Too Faced – Natural Eye Neutral Eye Shadow Collection – Everything you need for daytime natural eyes and even some darker shades for evening (if you ever get to go out. Mine is sadly unused) and black if you want to try powder line your eyes or do that impossible smokey eye the magazines always say is so simple.
That’s it for make-up. 6 products is all I use. I do always have a grey or black eyeliner but have no real preference. I only really put eyeliner on a few times a month.
Skin Care, Hair Care and other various and sundry items after then jump….if you care at this point…
I’d love to hear some of your favorite / must have beauty products! Leave a comment and let’s discuss girl stuff.
Just another reason why I love our local BJ’s Wholesale Club. You never know what kind of product demonstration you are going to see when you stop by. Not to mention what yummy samples you can fill up on. :ps…the sample people will almost always let your kids have seconds..and sometimes thirds so don’t be afraid to ask!:
Since we’ve been members we’ve purchased a Vitamix Blender, a Keurig Single Cup Coffee Maker, some kind of super-duper military towels that soak up any mess a four year old can throw at you and now our new SodaStream Soda Maker Kit.
So we are walking the demo table and the boy starts screaming he wants a sample..he has no idea what it is but he wants it. Once he realizes it’s soda he asks the nice man for a Diet Coke. After everyone gave me a stink-eye look for letting my kid drink Diet Coke so often that he asks for over regular Coke or Sprite, the demo guy made us a fresh, bubbly liter of Diet Coke. It was AWESOME!
There are countless flavors and it’s so easy that they boy can mix up his own liter of lemon-lime soda or root beer without my help, save for opening the flavoring bottle. We probably would have bought one anyway, but when the guy whipped us up a quick liter of their version of Red Bull, the hubs was putting one in the cart before I even knew what had happened.
Here’s how it works…the starter kit comes with the machine, (that does not need batteries or electricity by the way) a slim carbonator cylinder, two liter reusable soda bottles, one smaller reusable bottle, three small bottles of flavoring if you just want flavored bubbly water and about 15 sample flavors.
You fill the bottle up to the water line, attache to machine, push the button until you hear the buzz, add in your flavor, gently shake and enjoy a freshly carbonated soda that tastes 100 times better than the flat coke you get at fast food joints on a regular basis.
So far we’ve made the energy drink, diet cola and lemon-lime soda. I thought for sure once we got home and the “new” wore off the hubs would say he still needed the expensive Red Bull..but so far likes this stuff better. And I really can’t stomach regular Diet Coke, I only ever drink Coke Zero..but SodaStream’s version of diet coke is actually good.
Tomorrow we will be making some fresh root beer. If I had known there was a big root beer sample in the box I would’ve bought some ice cream.
Cost breakdown:
Start-up kit at BJ’s = $89.99
After you use up your samples which will make about 15 liters of soda you need your own bottle of flavoring
Each bottle of flavoring = $6.99 (each bottle of flavoring makes 50 eight oz glasses of soda)
After 200-250 sodas you will have to replace canister for about $20
Definitely a good value if your family is into soda. Or flavored bubbly water.
Oh, and they have tons of decaf soda flavors too…like orange and cranberry.
