Product Review: More Target Brand Items

I've always been a bit of a brand snob. But the last few years, I've really tried to keep an open mind about generic items. I try a few things here and there. Some not so good choices, some you cannot even tell it's generic. What really got me reconsidering my brand loyalty was when the salmonella peanut butter scare happened a few years ago. Peter Pan (my personal favorite) was recalled from the same plant as the Wal-Mart brand. It made me realize that many times it's just a matter of appealing mass marketing. I was paying dollars more per jar of PB than I needed to. Since then, I'm more willing to at least try generics once in awhile.

Here are a few products that I've tried lately and my thoughts on them:


Target Brand Eye Make-up Remover: I am a Clinique girl. My mom was growing up and I think it's just one of those things that stuck with me. One of the things I really love in their product line is their Take The Day Off Makeup Remover. Velvety soft, non-greasy, cleans in just three or four sweeps. Works great on waterproof mascara and stubborn lipstick. I've happily spent $17.50 a bottle on this stuff. So I begrudgingly tried the Up & Up brand of Eye Make-up Remover and was VERY surprised! I seriously, literally could not tell the difference. Considering the Up & Up brand is only about $3.50, I'm actually going to make a change. It's also got me wondering what else in their skin-care line is worth trying.

Target Brand Dishwashing Detergent Gel: Cascade lemon-scent gel is another one of those products that has my name loyalty. No more. The Up & Up brand is really no different. I see no streaks, smells great, and cleans thoroughly. Sorry Cascade!

Target Brand Toilet Paper: I'm not a fan. I considered starting this with a funny one-liner about how it's "crap", but I'll refrain. I've always been a Cottonelle girl and this huge pack of Up & Up Toilet Paper I purchased last week reminds me why. Cottonelle is soft, the double-ply is matched up, and it's soft. Hee. Up & Up TP is neither of those things. I hate scratchy TP! And when the sheets don't match up and I tear off a half sheet of one side of the ply, it's annoying to me. Maybe I'm just picky, but the $1 or so more for my name brand TP is worth it. This is the last time I make this purchase.

Target Brand Paper Towels: I love me some Viva Papertowels! They seriously feel like little washcloths to me. So it was with a begrudging heart that I tried the Target Brand Paper Towels. They aren't nearly as soft, but they do come in select-a-size and are pretty absorbent. I will purchase these when the budget's tight for the week. But if I have the extra dollar or so, I will probably splurge on my Viva.


Target (Market Place) brand Steam-in-a-bag foods: I've tried asparagus, broccoli, and white rice. At $1.99 a bag, these are a real winner in my opinion! For those nights you need a good hot meal fast, this is the perfect answer. A few days ago, I had a whole chicken cooking in the crockpot, steamed a bag of rice, another bag of asparagus and we had a great meal in under 10 minutes of coming home. Seriously. Just doesn't get better than that on a time and money budget! These are a regular occurrence on my grocery list nowadays.

I have a few other items I'm trying out, but still not sure where I stand on them, so I'll write about those at a later time.

Product Review: Purely Decadent Cookie Dough Ice Cream

Not that I have tons of readers here anymore, but for the two of you that do read, thank you so much for your patience the last several months. Having a baby will get you a teensy-bit behind schedule. :-)

But what is inspiring me to post today is this lovely new friend I met yesterday...



Gluten-free and dairy-free for a cookie dough ice cream? I HAD to introduce myself to this new product. It had been years since anything cookie dough was tummy friendly for me.

Wow. I'm quoting myself from the first bite. Seriously, this stuff was really yummy!

It's a vanilla based ice cream with big flakes of a dark chocolate and big round clumps of gluten-free cookie dough. I was impressed. Word of warning...this is NOT soy-free. So I react a little bit to that, but there are some things I'm just willing to suffer for. This is one of them.

Product Review: Reynolds Slow Cooker Liners

I LUUUUURVE my crockpot! There is just something about dumping a bunch of ingredients into a pot, letting it stew all day, and then coming home to a house full of yummy smells and dinner is already to go. How much better can it get?

Well, let me tell ya, it CAN get better!

What I DON'T love about crockpot cooking is the cleaning of the crockpot. I'm stepping out on a limb here and exposing my underbelly...there have been times where my crockpot has sat in the sink for a few days unwashed, while a science experiment takes place, because I am SO averse to cleaning the messy, encrusted, whatever that stewed all day long.

*shudder*

This is where I introduce my new friend...



Reynolds makes crockpot liners. They are big plastic bags that you use to line your crockpot, even the big ones like mine, and put all your ingredients into the liner. When dinner is done, you simply remove the liner and you still have your clean crockpot.

I know...doesn't seem real, huh?

But it is. And it is a beautiful thing! No, the plastic did not melt on me, although there was a tiny leak and I had to wipe out the bottom of the crockpot with a cleaning sponge. But other than that, it was easy-peasy, like nothing else. The box comes with 4 liners, all for a low price of around $2 at Tar-jay.

I see myself using my crockpot MUCH more often, as I have the energy of sloth in hibernation right now.

Our New Normal

Since my little posting sabbatical, I've been learning a few things about myself and my son.

About my son:

We started removing gluten from his diet several weeks ago. Things have been going very well! One of the symptoms he struggled with was a strange eczema around his mouth that would just not go away. The other symptom was completely behavioral: screaming tantrums, easily frustrated, cried for no apparent reason. Since eliminating gluten from Monkey's diet, he has been doing MUCH, MUCH better! We don't have an official diagnosis and are planning on official testing soon. But the results at this point speak for themselves. A Happy Monkey = a Happy Momma!

About me:

Just like a gluten-free/dairy-free/soy-free diet, a gestational diabetes diet has a learning curve. Learning to eat foods that didn't make my sugar soar was a bit of challenge. I was in unchartered territory. So far, I've learned that the easiest way for me to approach food without the GD symptoms (severe fatigue, nausea, confusion), was to focus on meat and fresh veggies with the occasional carb thrown in. Being petite, something as small as a gala apple for a snack would just send me over the edge. My body is not even tolerating natural sugars well. I have also learned not to eat carbs alone. I have to eat it with a protein or a dense carb. So if I do eat half of that gala apple, I eat a handful of almonds with it. I have also learned that I can still have my high sugar carbs, just not in the same amounts as before. And if I eat dessert immediately after dinner, my body handles the sugars MUCH better.

All of that to say that I'm figuring things out slowly and N and I have made adjustments in the weekly food budget to accomodate both Monkey's and my needs. We have tentatively made the weekly budget $100 instead of the $75 we've become used to. With the exception of the first week, I've come under by $5 or $10, so we might tweak this more later. But this amount accomodates all the additional proteins that make up the main portion of my diet today. Meat at every meal?! N is a very happy man! No more weird vegetarian stuff. LOL! The budget also accomodates the snacks that we send with Monkey to school. They have been kind enough to work with us on the meals by providing him alternatives for fish stick day or chicken nugget day. I am supplementing this with a few items they can cook when they don't have an alternative. I can't say how grateful I am for that!

All in all, we are starting to find a little more comfort in the process, which is nice. I'm not the queen of flexibility, so I'm happy that I'm finding myself just taking the changes in stride. And I'm happy to see my little Monkey feeling so much better. I think that's the best part!

Menu Plan Monday - 6/1/09

I have not fallen off the wagon! I've actually been doing the weekly menu planning and shopping trips, I just haven't been posting about it until I get comfy with the new diet restrictions and what I can safely eat. I've also been trying to get an idea of how much of a budget we'd be working with. I think I'm starting to find my new normal.

Here's what's on the menu this week:

Monday: Tuna sandwiches, fresh cut vegetables
Tuesday: Grilled chicken, grilled fresh veggies
Wednesday: Beef broccoli with steamed rice
Thursday: Ham and fried potatoes
Friday: Soft ground beef tacos
Saturday: Shrimp Linguine, tossed green salad

For more menu ideas, visit Laura over at orgjunkie.com.

Adjusting and Giving Myself a Timeout

Menu Plan Monday and the Weekly Shopping Trip is a bit up in the air this week. I've been struggling with adjusting to my new gestational diabetes diet AND navigating that around my gluten/dairy/soy allergies. This is no easy feat. There is not much left to eat outside of meat, eggs, fresh veggies, and fruit. I know that sounds like a wonderfully healthy diet - it is - but it's a total budget buster.

On top of that, some of the menu and snack items I've specifically purchased for Monkey are no longer viable, as we think he might have a food allergy like Momma and Pop-Pop (my father).

All of this realized this past week, so it's a double-whammy.

So until we know for sure what we're dealing with, I'm attempting to find alternatives for some basic snacks in his diet (Ritz, Goldfish, Saltines, etc), that are not totally cost prohibitive AND something this picky toddler will eat. If you've ever had a toddler, you probably already know how much food is wasted by their finicky palates.

So this week, I'm focusing on what's on sale and attempting to keep the budget as low as possible based on that. I'm not in my comfort zone at all this week, so I know I'll be over budget and I know it will be a few weeks before I understand what the heck I'm doing and how much it's going to cost us on a regular basis. I'm giving myself permission to do that and just deal with the financial repurcussions later, as I figure this out. When one's health and baby's health is at stake, there really isn't a viable option.



I guess that's my advice this week: Give yourself a break until you understand what works for your family. Eating foods that fit the budget, but literally make you sick is not even a viable alternative. Stop the game. Figure out the new "rules" and move slowly forward until it becomes your new normal.

Product Review: Good Karma Organic Rice Divine

It was back in 1999 that I realized I had a gluten-intolerance. My father had it for years, so I at least had someone that could help validate how awful I felt. Eventually, I started reacting to dairy products as well. Which stunk because whenever I'd go out to eat with family or friends, ice cream was always my backup plan for dessert at a restaurant. I don't know why, but fruit sorbet never quite cut it. There was something about the creaminess of dairy products that satisfied me in ways that frozen fruit didn't.

So slowly I switch to soy products. I bought soy milk, soy ice creams, soy butters, all in an effort to capture that same creamy essence in my meal enjoyment. It wasn't quite the same either, but it was really the only alternative I found that has halfway decent.

Eventually, it dawned on me that since giving birth to Monkey, I haven't been able to enjoy any soy product without repercussion. Are you serious? ANOTHER food reaction??? No soymilk in my lattes at Starbucks. No edamame with our sushi. No soy ice cream.

Is there ANYTHING I could eat that would fill the void of my ice cream fascination???

I tried Rice Dream ice creams. Not too much there I liked. The flavors or the textures were always just "off". My favorite out of their so-so products was the vanilla with TONS of chocolate syrup to cover the taste. LOL! But there was always something "grainy" about them. Grainy ice cream = a big yuck in my book!

After reading another GF/DF blog, I was introduced to Good Karma products. And last week, I decided to take the plunge and spend the $4 (oy!) to buy a pint of their Very Vanilla Rice Divine.





I'll be really, really honest. I had VERY LOW expectations. Every dairy substitute has direly disappointed me, so I didn't expect this one to be any different. Most non-dairy frozen desserts are not initially creamy, they are really hard. Letting the carton sit out on the counter for 2 or 3 minutes is best. I was a little leary because the Rice Divine had pulled away from the sides of the carton, which gave me the impression that it was old or something was wrong with it. This wasn't looking good.

But...

I was very pleasantly surprised! In fact...YUM! The texture of the ice cream felt good in my spoon, as I glided it across the top...creamy, smooth. I could see little flecks of vanilla bean, which is always a good sign in my book. The taste? Soft, creamy, milky, rich, very vanilla, thus appropriately named. It didn't have that odd after-taste that I remembered in Rice Dreams frozen products. I was impressed! After a few bites, I realized I could easily eat the pint in a sitting, that's how good it was!

But since I'm watching my carb intake right now because of gestational diabetes, I slowed down to savor and only ate about 10 spoonfuls. I very begrudgingly put the pint back in the freezer. I will save some more for later. Even at $4 a pint, it was a really good experience!

I'll also blog later about having a gluten/dairy/soy allergy AND try to keep up with a diabetic diet. Talk about hard!!! Holy cow.

For now, Good Karma's Rice Divine in Very Vanilla gets two thumbs up! This is by far, the best gluten-free, dairy-free frozen dessert I've ever had! There are other flavors that I'm looking forward to trying: Mudd Pie, Coconut Mango, Mint Chocolate Swirl...and others. Although dairy-free, I'm not sure which ones are gluten-free, so I'll have to research those before I try. I'll update the blog later once I do it.