Where To Buy Those Ice Cream Pops Molds

Some of you said that you'd like to buy a set of the Ice Cream Pops molds that are in my current giveaway package.  I said I'd try to find out where to buy them, so after looking around online, I found that you can get them at Amazon.com and at Distinctive-Decor.com, as well as other places.  Just search for "Tovolo Ice Cream Pops" to find them.

Target has Tovolo products, including some other frozen treat molds, but they don't seem to have these exact molds.  I can't vouch for how well the other shapes release, but I do recommend the Ice Cream Pops mold.  We've filled and frozen pops three times already, and they work great each time.

Publish Post

Product Review: Debbie Meyer Bread Bags

I've had great results with the Debbie Meyer Green Bags I bought earlier this summer. They do such an amazing job keeping produce fresh, that I'm always dumbfounded when I see a review that says they don't work. I've been very careful with the 20 bags I purchased and I'm sure I've used them all more than the suggested 10 times and they continue to work as well as they did when I first bought them.

With the success I've had with the Green Bags, it should be no surprise that I have also purchased the Debbie Meyer Bread Bags. They are used in much the same way as the Green Bags. You can store one type of bread per bag (which are translucent white), folding under the tops of the bags. Although the directions say it isn't necessary, I clip the Bread Bags closed with a clothespin just as I do with the Green Bags.

So far, so good. I opened hot dog buns last Sunday, and today they are still soft and fresh-tasting.

A loaf of regular, store-bought oat bran sandwich bread also went into a bag last Sunday, after having been taken from our freezer and opened the previous Friday. I used the last piece today, a week later, and like the buns, it was still soft and fresh.

I put some bratwurst buns in another Bread Bag last Sunday as well. They had come from the grocery store bakery, and had been both frozen and thawed here at home before they went into the Bread Bag. They, too, still taste and look great. There are only two left, and I plan to use them as my "test subject" to see just how long they will stay edible. I'll update you on my experiment once it's complete.

What I haven't done yet is try the bags with any of the homemade breads I bake. Those will be the true test, as homemade breads tend to dry out and go stale more quickly, at least in my opinion.

The links here are to sites where you can order online, but I found mine at Bed, Bath & Beyond for the same price and no shipping charges. In case you're wondering, this isn't a paid advertisement of any kind. It's just my opinion of a product that works. Debbie Meyer Bread Bags get the Real Life Seal of Approval!

No More Oniony Smell

Have you ever seen one of these?

It's a round Tupperware Forget-Me-Not container. Apparently, there is a square one, too. I don't even remember where I got mine -- it was either given to me or, more likely, I picked it up at a garage sale. But I checked, and Tupperware still makes them. Here's what they have to say about theirs:

• Round container provides superior fridge storage for half an onion, tomato, orange or other round, partially used fruit or vegetable.
• Square container stores approximately 20-24 slices of individually wrapped cheese slices.
• Each hangs from fridge shelf.
• Hinged, one-piece design means no seal to store or lose.
• Large tab makes opening and closing the seal a snap.

Here's what I have to say about mine:

• It keeps a cut onion fresh in your fridge for a week or so with absolutely no onion odor or flavor transferring to other foods.
  

If you use a lot of onions and have a chance to get one of these, I'd recommend that you do. And no, Tupperware didn't pay me to say that.

Nifty & Thrifty Ice or Popcicle Trays

Have you seen these? I bought a couple of these trays Target a while back. I think they are intended to make ice into frozen swizzle sticks for cold drinks, but I've been using them to make Popsicles for Kat.

A big popcicle is sometimes too big for her to finish before it melts and falls off the stick. These are smaller in size and just right for her. I also like them because the pops are very easy to remove from the silicone molds.

I generally use juice or Jell-O (before it sets up) to make the popcicles. They are more flavorful than pops made from fruit flavoreed drink mix or soda. I've also made them with yogurt and pudding.

An added bonus is that Kat doesn't bug me for a treat when the ice cream truck drives by the house. Well, at least not as much.

Product Review: Debbie Meyer Green Bags

A couple of days ago, I mentioned having bought some of the Debbie Meyer Green Bags. I was a little skeptical about them. However, I had a lot of fresh produce in the fridge and was getting ready to go camping for the weekend, so I decided I'd give them a try, rather than let all those pretty greens I got last week go to waste.

Five days later, I have to say I'm impressed. The different types of lettuce in the photos below were put in the bags on Friday morning, and were actually harvested by the farmers on Wednesday morning. I took the photos this morning. It looks as fresh as when I got it.




These bananas were purchased right before our trip on Friday morning. I put them in a Green Bag and into a big Rubbermaid tote with the rest of our non-refrigerated groceries for the trip. I kept them in the bag for five days, one of which was spent mostly in the back of a hot mini-van. Now, some of you might think they are already too ripe to eat (not me, I like them very ripe), but the point is that after five days in the bag they are still quite bright in color, and the banana aroma and flavor did not overtake the rest of the food in the tote.



Using the Green Bags is simple. Just dry your produce as well as possible, put it in one of the bags and fold the top down. For foods that are hard to dry, such as leaf lettuce still on the head, I blotted the leaves with a paper towel, the folded a second paper towel and put it in the bag with the lettuce. The instructions say to avoid twist ties because they might puncture the bags, so I secured mine with clothespins (hillbilly chip clips).

Green Bags are sold 20 to a box (half large, half medium) for $10. I bought mine at Target, but I think that's a fairly standard price wherever they're sold. The website says the bags can be reused up to ten times, but I plan to use them for as long as they continue to keep food fresh.

It's official! Debbie Meyer Green Bags get the Real Life Seal of Approval!

Great Gadgets for Tea Lovers

I love tea and drink it every day. I prefer loose tea over tea bags, but sometimes I used tea bags anyway because it seemed inconvenient to find my wire strainer, make sure it didn't rust, etc.

That was before I got these things for Christmas. Here is a paisley print steeping mug. It's a 3-piece ceramic set with mug, inset strainer and lid. The openings in the strainer are large, so it works best with coarse-cut loose tea. It's so pretty that just using it is a treat.


This set is a tempered glass mug with a plastic and nylon mesh strainer and lid. As you can see, I've used it a lot since Christmas. The mesh was white when I got it. Because it will strain the finer cuts of loose tea, I find it more practical. And I've always loved the look of tea or coffee in glass mugs.


Both of these mugs are microwave-safe (which is how I usually make my tea), or you can go the more traditional route and pour boiling water over the tea leaves.

This is a bamboo strainer. I rarely use it for single cups of tea, but use it often when I'm making pitchers of iced tea. Obviously, I don't have to worry about it rusting.


Shane found all of these things, as well as some coarse-cut Darjeeling tea, at World Market. I know they have similar mugs at Wild Oats. They can probably be found at any upscale kitchen store as well.

And if you prefer coffee over tea, this is my Starbucks mug. I'm not a fan of Starbucks (I like their coffee, but not their prices), but when I saw this mug on someone's blog, I just had to have it. It's my favorite coffee mug, but yes, I do drink tea from it once in a while.