archives: Splurge-Worthy
It seems as thought it has somehow become Thanksgiving week. What gives, calendar? Why in such a hurry? Are you not enjoying this lovely fall? Hmph.
I cannot avoid it any longer, so today I am going to head to the grocery store after work to stock up on the things I’ll need for my contributions to our family’s Thanksgiving feast. I usually bring the same three or four things: homemade bread, pureed butternut squash (totally plain, for sick sister who can’t eat much), roasted green beans and brussels sprouts, and mashed sweet potatoes.
In thinking about the mashed sweet potatoes, it occurred to me that I need to share with you one of my absolute favorite kitchen tools. It isn’t electric. It does not involve digital anything. It looks a lot like something my grandmother would have had in her kitchen. And yet, it performs better that a bunch of fancy gadgets I’ve tried for the same tasks.
It is: a food mill.
It works like this: you place the mill over a big pot. You scoop whatever you want mashed, pureed, smooshed, etc into the top of the food mill fitted with one of the three milling plates. You turn the crank. Beautiful, chunk-free, seed-free, skin-free puree falls out the bottom of the mill into your pot. You marvel, and wonder how you ever lived without this thing.
There are three different plates, from fine to coarse, which allow you to mash and puree foods of different textures. It works great on separating the seeds and skin from tomatoes, pressing applesauce into a super-smooth texture, and, of course, making the world’s most perfect mashed sweet potatoes with barely any effort. And, at $21.85, it’s hardly even a splurge. (There are fancier versions out there, but this is one kitchen appliance where the cheap-o version has served me so well I can’t imagine why you’d pay 2 or 3 times as much just for a stainless steel version.)
So if your schedule for the week includes turning dozens of potatoes into a smooth fluffy mash, I HIGHLY recommend the RSVP food mill. You’ll never go back to your old hand-masher again.
RSVP Food Mill, $21.85 on Amazon, also available at kitchen supply stores.
BONUS: Recipe for Absolutely Perfect mashed sweet potatoes
(from Cooks Illustrated, my favorite cooking magazine on earth.)
Ingredients:
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
2 Tablespoons heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 pounds sweet potatoes (2-3 large), peeled, quartered lengthwise, and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch thick slices (cutting them into even slices is important for the way they cook in this recipe, which kind of steam-braises them.)
a pinch of black pepper (optional)
Instructions:
1. Combine butter, cream, salt, sugar, and sweet potatoes in a 3 -4 quart saucepan. Cook, covered, over low heat, stirring occasionally, until potatoes fall apart when poked with a fork, 35-45 minutes.
2. Mash potatoes with a masher or put into the hopper of a food mill and process into a warmed serving bowl. Stir in pepper, if using. Serve immediately. (You can also keep them in a warm oven if the rest of your feast isn’t ready yet. I’ve even made these a few days ahead and reheated on the actual day. You can do that too. I won’t tell.)
Aside from the fact that I have highlighted my hair since I was 15, I’d say I have virgin hair. I hate blow drying it, flat-ironing it, and I am most certainly NOT a product fan (I like being able to still have touchable tresses throughout the day). However, I have come to accept the fact that in certain instances I need to use something in order to achieve the results I want. But first, let’s get the lowdown on what I’m working with:
- It’s crazy thick. Even as a wee babe I never had baby-fine hair; right out of the gate it meant serious business. My hair stylist actually had to purchase special wooden wide-toothed combs just for me as I’d break all of her other ones with my wet and tangly hair. True story.
- It has a natural wave. Throughout high school all I had to do was scrunch it with some water and I’d have some texture. I liked this as I could go either straight or wavy without a whole lot of execution or, who am I kidding, SKILL. I never had to master the art of ANYTHING relating to styling my hair because it was essentially easy. Well, aside from up-dos and don’t even get me started on THOSE because any gal with thick hair will tell you that maintaining an up-do for the length of time a formal event requires is enough to evoke a panic attack.
- It is happy to be highlighted. I first highlighted my hair in highschool and have never turned back. My natural color is brown, but I have two-tone blond/carmel coloring throughout to brighten it up a bit. LOVE. I will never go back to a single flat color again. And even with all the processing my hair has always been healthy. No split ends or nasty flakey bits. Hooray!
I understand that with this flowing mane comes great potential, and yet I am lazy. I love a styled and polished look but hate the actual styling part. That is, until I discovered Guts by Redken.
Guts is a spray mousse. Did you catch that? A mousse. . .that SPRAYS. It adds volume! Isn’t heavy and gloppy! It’s genius is what it is. I love it because it still provides a good amount of hold without making me feel like I’m wearing a helmet, all while not weighing me down. I’ve tried water wax in the past and it was too heavy, and I didn’t like how my hands felt afterwards if I touched my hair. Remember, I have thick hair so anything that can add voume is key. The smell is friendly and not overpowering which is an added bonus.
I didn’t like putting this on when my hair was totally wet, so I’d dry it about 75% of the way through and then spray it on. I’d scrunch away, dry a smidge more and be done. When I use this product I am trying to acheive this look with a bit more volume and messiness in the back (still waiting for that medal to arrive though):
It works fantasitcally. The Redken site says you can also use this product with a round brush if you wanted a smooth look, but I think it is perfect for a messy tousled ‘do.
Redken Guts Spray Mousse, $18.00 for 10.58 oz. on drugstore.com. Can also be found wherever Redken products are sold.
And don’t forget to enter to win a $20 beauty.com gift card over here.
It’s no secret that I like to cook. Baking, braising, broiling, brining- I do it all, my friends. But I also like to fit into my pants. These likes are in constant tension in my world. Lemon shortbread cookies? Like. My new straight-leg jeans (which I previously would have called “skinny” until the Gap employee corrected me snidely)? Also like. And want to fit into them. Which I won’t if I don’t lay off these cookies. Well, maybe just one more…. *munchcrunchomgsogoodlmunchmunchcrunch*
Hm. We seem to have veered off course there.
To be a little more serious for a second, healthy eating has been a priority in my family for a long time. Since I was six, to be specific. Wen I was six my father, at the ripe old age of 45, had a stroke, It was caused, in part, by high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Nothing says “hey kids, learn how to be healthy ASAP!” like riding in a car to the ER at three in the morning with your unresponsive father passed out in the front seat.
My dad is (thank god) totally healthy now. From that day forward, my mom eliminated virtually all salt from our diet, and we were ahead of the curve on whole grains, low saturated fat, etc. And I’m mostly really grateful for that. As an adult, I don’t eat as restrictively as we did in those early years after my dad got sick, (I keep salt in the house, for example, something my mother hasn’t done for over 20 years,) but it’s a lot easier for me to eat healthy because I don’t have a lifetime of bad habits to break.
But my mom, god love her, does not love flavor. So we ate a lot of healthy food, but it was also often really bland. And I am a food nut. I love food. I love the taste of food. I love the social experience of food. I cannot live a life where every day for lunch I eat the same salad and every day for dinner I have a broiled salmon fillet with steamed broccoli. (My mom can, god love her. I would just be bored to TEARS.)
So as an adult, when I learned to cook, part of my goal was to replicate some of the flavors I’ve come to love in healthier dishes that I felt okay eating every day, instead of just as a special treat. This has involved reading a LOT of cookbooks and magazines. One thing I’ve noticed, reading “healthy” and “light” cookbooks, is how many of them suck. Too many use recipes that just don’t taste good. Or they call for lots of fakey chemical- and additive-laden ingredients that just skeeve me out. (Fat free cheese? No thanks!) I’d rather eat a small portion of the real thing than a large portion of something fake and weird that doesn’t taste nearly as good. (Sorry, Hungry Girl.)
My go-to cooking magazine is Cooks Illustrated, which I trust entirely. They’ve never steered me wrong. So when I learned that Cooks Illustrated had put out a light cookbook, I broke my own “no new cookbooks” rule and bought it.
I am so glad that I did. This book is full of recipes for delicious, normally deadly foods like chicken pot pie and spaghetti and meatballs. And get this- they all taste good! The editors say in the book that they couldn’t find a low-fat recipe for yellow cake that tasted good enough- so they didn’t include one! How’s that for novel? If it tastes like crap, it’s not worth it, healthy or not.
There are SO MANY recipes that have become standards in our house from this cookbook- French potato salad, artichoke dip, amazing turkey burgers, the aforementioned pot pie- and they’re all fabulous. Even the cheesecake is to die for. Is it fat free? No. Is it a lot healthier than your standard cheesecake, while still tasting delicious? Yes. That’s a compromise I can live with.
Technically this book costs more than $15 (the lowest I can find it for is $20.99, on Overstock.com,) so I’m going to have to categorize it as “splurge-worthy”. But I can tell you- we save a lot of money every week because I meal plan and cook most of our dinners at home- way cheaper than takeout- and this is our most frequently-used cookbook. So, despite the higher-than-usual pricetag, I recommend it wholeheartedly.
The Best Light Recipe, $20.99 on Overstock.com, also available at Amazon and other bookstores
Three years ago when I knew we were gearing up to start trying to get pregnant, I started slowly making better decisions about what I would put into my body. I started seeking out more natural products that didn’t contain junky junk like paraben and sodium lauryl sulfate because I didn’t want anything harmful to enter my bloodstream. I slowly started eating better, and watching what I used to clean our home. This is not to say that I avoided Cheetos as much as I should have but that’s another post entirely. Small steps people! This slow attempt at a transformation was because I knew my body needed to be in tip-top shape in order to grow little Campen 2.0, and I wanted to do it to the best of my ability. The only thing I regret about all of my preparation is that I didn’t know about Novena Maternal Skin Care, which is Vegan, cruelty-free and Organic and designed specifically to help preggo mamas be as healthy and beautiful as possible. Well my lands who wouldn’t want that?
I received a few products to sample and even though I am not pregnant, I do have some slight skin discoloration as a result so I was excited to see if the brown pigment spots around my eyes and mouth would fade or disappear all together. Ah pregnancy, the gift that keeps on giving! This line is also ideal for nursing mothers, as anything applied to the skin eventually enters the bloodstream. But my line of thinking is this: if a product is safe and recommended for gestating women, wouldn’t you want to use it even if you’re not expecting? Why not be safe and healthy regardless? I actually have a friend who uses that as a rule of thumb for staying healthy, but instead of “What would Brian Boitano Do?” it’s “What would a pregnant woman do?” Works out well.
First up was the Organic Cucumber Cranberry Eye Gel (30 ml $30.00) and let me just say, it has been my mission in life to find the perfect eye cream/gel. I have puffy dark circles under my eyes and I dream of one day having taught and refreshed eyes much like any model on the cover of a magazine, photoshopped of course. I’ve tried creams and gels and I fall firmly in the gel camp. The creams moisturize yes but I like the gel for the cooling and taught aspect. The directions say to use one pump but I found that to be too much. Half a pump worked great and hey, it makes the bottle last longer too! I used it day and night and it really does make my eyes feel refreshed. Now, is it a miracle product that somehow erases the last eighteen months of sleep deprivation? No. But does it make me look a hojillion times more refreshed and jovial? Oh you better believe it.
I also was able to try the Organic Fruit Face Wash (120 ml $28.00) which came not a moment too soon as my other face stuff had just run out. Side note: I LOVE it when that happens. Another side note: I love washing my face. I geek out reading the ingredients so I can know what kind of magical experience I will have when all the gunk gets wiped away. I eat up all the promises made about ‘newer, younger looking skin!’ and adjectives such as ’supple’ and ‘firmer’ and ‘dewy’. I am a marketing savant’s key demographic. So I was clearly pleased as punch when I read Novena’s description of this face wash. All those ingredients are things I could, in theory, eat! So my face could be a yummy organic smoothie of goodness in theory, if you choose to make food analogies when describing facial care products. Which I do apparently! When I used it it didn’t make my face tight and dry like some other washes out there. The first few times it didn’t really get rid of all of my make-up and I was pretty bummed. But then I read the directions. FOUR PUMPS! I was only using two and it clearly mattered, so take it from me–go straight to four pumps and you’re golden.
The last product I was given to sample was the Organic Skin Care Spot Brightening Moisturizer (120 ml $28.00). This was what I was the most excited to try because of the aformentioned pigmentation around my eyes (thanks Theo! Mommy loves you!). Now, let me say that the discoloration isn’t dark enough for anyone else to see, especially if I have make-up on. And lemme tell ya, if you’re going to see me I WILL be wearing make-up. My husband even claims he doesn’t know what spots I’m talking about, but they are there and they shouldn’t be thankyouverymuch. So I might have globbed a little extra on in my ‘troubled areas’ and watched them like a hawk for any change or variance. I honestly think I see a difference, but since everyone else around me is all “Wha? Guuuurl what choo talkin’ bout?” it’s hard to get a second or third opinion. So just trust me. It’s not a Magic Eraser for your face but it does even out skin tone and reduce visible pigmentation. It’s not a heavy lotion by any means so it won’t weigh you down or cause break-outs. I did find that my make-up didn’t go on quite as easy since it was so light, but it wasn’t horrible by any means. I guess I’m used to being a greasy monkey. Don’t judge.
Novena Maternity Skin Care was voted one of the top five organic maternity products in 2009 by Fit Pregnancy Magazine. That’s pretty sweet. They also offer samples of each of their products if you want to dabble first before making a purchase. Each of these three products fall under our Splurge Worth category and I think if ever there is a time to indulge it is when you are pregnant or a new mom.
Novena Maternity Skin Care is generously offered their 5 Product Kit consisting of the three above mentioned items in addition to their Organic Citrus Blemish Lotion and Tangerine Cocoa Belly Butter Cream all in a cute pink insulated bag. This is valued at $135.00! If you’re pregnant, thinking of getting pregnant or KNOW someone who is pregnant, you’ll want to enter this amazing giveaway.
To enter, leave a comment on this post (mandatory) letting me know why you’d like this product kit. You can get extra entries by:
–Following us on Twitter (@livespend) and mentioning the contest : “Organic Novena Maternity Skin Care #giveaway valued at $135.00 @livespend http://tinyurl.com/pez3k7” and be sure to come back and in a separate comment leave the link to your tweet
–Blogging about it and in a separate comment leave a link to your post.
–Subscribe to our RSS feed and comment letting us know. If you already subscribe, mention that in the comments.
–Referring others here and they tell us you sent them (“Sam sent me!”) both you and the person you referred will get a BONUS entry!
Contest will run until September 21st, 11:59 pm CDT. For full information on how we run our contests, see our Disclosure policy.
This morning while I was wrestling a very pissy 15 month old, Husband comes into the nursery and says, “Hey! I have something for you to put on your blog.” Lordy.
“What’s that?” I say. Meanwhile wishing he’d just contend with his son who recently decided I’m chump change and his father is King of All That’s Better Than Mom.
“You should talk about name brand things versus generic!”
(Blank stare from me.)
“You know that deoderant I used earlier in the week? Well, that was a store brand and I was stinky by 2pm. The other stuff is fine through the day and I’m not rank.”
And there you have it: one man’s experience with Old Spice deoderant v. jenky store brand.
I’ve been mulling it over all day and have decided to not do a review today, but simply put it out to the masses for you to tell us what’s been better in your experience: generic or name brand?
Leave your feedback in the comments section and be sure to mention a specific product and let us know whether you thought the generic or name brand version was better.
