Archive for Appliances

NewAir WCD-110SS Water Dispenser

NewAir WCD-110SS Water Dispenser

We drink a lot of water. We are currently on well water. The water itself is fine, however, we have to add salt since the home has an on-demand water softener system. It is the salt in the water that makes our water no-so-great. That is why we were excited to be offered a NewAir WCD-110SS Water Dispenser. No more carting home 10 1-gallon water jugs since we can use!

The NewAir WCD-110SS Water Dispenser is a nice little appliance to have in our home. It has a stainless steel front and black sides and back. It has a slim size, which makes it a great choice for smaller homes or areas within the home. We put ours just off the kitchen in the master suite hallway since there is no room in our small kitchen.

NewAir WCD-110SS Water Dispenser Specs

~ 33.65 lbs.
~ 1-year manufacturer’s limited warranty.
~ Removable plastic drip tray.
~ Hot & Cold water dispenser
~ Two push button controls – the hot water has a safety regulated “hot water” push button, making it safe for children.
~ Light indicators.
~ Hot water 176°F – 203°F.
~ Cold water 41°F – 50°F.
~ Compatible with 2-gallon, 3-gallon or 5-gallon bottles of water.
~ Features a stainless steel water tank which delivers a plastic free taste when drinking both hot and cold water.
~ UL Certified.
~ Easy no installation; simply remove it from its packaging, add a water bottle and plug in!

NewAir WCD-110SS Water Dispenser Review

We really like having the water dispenser. It saves on boiling a kettle of water, making it very convenient to get a cup of tea or hot chocolate. It is holding up well under our family of ten’s use of it. Granted the younger children cannot get hot water unless they have two of them to maneuver the child-safety feature on the buttons! It is easier for the children to get a drink and a lot less mess too, unless of course they overfill or spill, which they have yet to do, thankfully.

The only thing I really do not like about the unit is the fact that the buttons to dispense hot and cold water, as well as the child-safety button are all plastic. I fear they will eventually snap or break under heavy, extended use. I hope I am wrong but only time will tell. We have had it for nearly a month now, but we did limit the children’s use until this past week when I knew I would be doing the review.

Overall, the NewAir WCD-110SS Water Dispenser has been a welcome addition to our home and I am looking forward getting much use out of it.


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Delicious and Nutritious Microwave Meals

This is a featured guest post

Bowl of SoupDelicious and Nutritious Microwave Meals

Microwaves are capable of more than we give them credit for. So often they’re relegated to an out of the way counter where they’re used only to defrost frozen meats or cook frozen dinners. For busy families with hungry mouths to feed microwaves provide hearty, healthy dinners for everyone around your table.

For the beginner microwave chef there are a few introductory recipes that are super easy and sure to please the whole family. One of the easiest things to cook in the microwave is a baked potato. A conventional oven can take 20 minutes to cook a potato while a microwave cuts cooking time in half. Prick the potato all over, cook on high for five minutes, flip and cook for another five for steamy delicious potatoes ready to be dressed with the toppings of your choice.

Another easy crowd pleaser is microwave chilli. Combine all your favourite chilli ingredients into a microwave safe casserole dish and cook on high for five minutes. Remove the dish and stir it up well to break up all the meat then put it back in the microwave for another 20 minutes stirring every 10. You’ll be absolutely shocked at how delicious this dish tastes and it can quickly become a weekly staple.

Lasagne is a family favourite in many households but can sometimes be ruled out as a dinner option because of its labour intensive prep and cook times. Microwave lasagne is a quick alternative to conventional baking and tastes just as delicious. There’s no need to cook the noodles ahead of time, so once you’ve prepared your marinara and cheese ingredients the layering can begin. Arrange your layers in a microwave safe dish, cover and cook on medium heat for 20 minutes turning halfway through. Remove the lasagne from the microwave at this point and let it stand covered for about five minutes. Put it back in the microwave and cook on high for 15 minutes turning it again at the 10 minute mark.

It’s always important to know how your appliances work as individual units can vary. Understanding temperatures and cooking times specific to your microwave will help your culinary skills develop. For more delicious microwave recipes there are several websites worth perusing, even Oprah has a page dedicated to the fine art of the microwave meal http://www.oprah.com/food/Microwave-Cooking-Recipes.  

Delicious and nutritious, microwave meals allow families to spend less time in the kitchen and more time at the dinner table, as it should be. 


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Fabio Viviani Comfort Mat by Smart Step Home Review & Giveaway

Faith and Family Reviews received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While we consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, our reviews are our honest opinion and thoughts of the product.

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What’s one of the worst things about washing dishes, baking, canning, or folding?  Standing on the hard floor!  By the time I get out the kitchen my back is aching and my feet are barking.

Mat 1

Fabio Viviani Comfort Mat by Smart Step Home Review

I was super excited to review Chef Fabio Viviani Comfort Mats by Smart Step Home.  The first time I stepped onto the mat it was a dream to my feet.  This nearly indestructible mat will not curl and is trip resistant.  It is puncture, heat and stain resistant and is non-toxic.  In addition it is super easy to clean and is non-skid.

mat 4In this picture you can see I do my kitchen work in heels.  lol…….nah.  I’m just showing you how thick this mat is.  I’m putting my weigh into the heel of this shoe, the product did not puncture.  When I got off the mat, it popped right back in place, you didn’t see when I dug my heel into it.  I LOVE IT!

Here’s what Smart Step Home says about the comfort of their mats….

“Our proprietary polyurethane composite (STP) effectively suspends body weight and reduces the impact on the back, legs, and feet, while encouraging proprioception (rebalancing). The result is consistent comfort, improved circulation and less fatigue on joints, limbs and muscles.”

I have been using my mat for the past few days and my body doesn’t have the aches as it did last week.  I highly recommend this Smart Step Home Mat for people who stand most of the day.  I have a friend that owns a flower shop and she is planning on buying them for her shop.

It’s available in a few different colors and also comes in a 6 foot size!  Click here to order yours today!


Fabio Viviani Comfort Mat Giveaway!

Now you can enter to win one of your very own Fabio Viviani Comfort Mat in the giveaway form below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


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Shopping for a New Tea Kettle

This is a featured post.

We drink a lot of tea in our house. Since we mostly drink decaffeinated tea, the children also drink it. I’ve never owned an electric tea kettle, we’ve always had one that you heat on top of the stove. My parents always had one electric kettle and one for the stove, if I remember correctly.

Here’s a photo of our two year old tea kettle. I really like it, but it’s missing the knob on the top cover and wait until you see inside! The outside will actually clean up for the most part with a good scrubbing.

FFR Tea Kettle-edit

The inside of the tea kettle seems to have a lot of salt or sediment build up making the kettle that much heavier. It’s all around the sides and on the bottom. This photo does not really show the full extent of the build up but gives you a good idea:

FFR Inside Tea Kettle-edit

I like a nice looking tea kettle and I really liked this green one, but I have no idea what kind I would buy next so I am appealing to all of you for recommendations! What brand, style, electric or on the stove tea kettles do you recommend? Leave your recommendations in the comment section!


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Freshfoods Cook-n-Blend Baby Food Maker Review

I received this product for free from the sponsor of the Moms MeetSM program, May Media Group LLC, who received it directly from the manufacturer. As a Moms MeetSM blogger, I agreed to use this product and post my opinions on my blog. My opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of May Media Group LLC or the manufacturer of the product.

When I think of making baby food I think of a long day of lots of work, lots of mess, and no fun.  When my son was ready to eat baby food I bought a hand food processor, determined to make my own food.  It lasted for about two days.  The food was always too thick and chunky and I never knew if he was getting enough nutrients.  It was just easier to buy the baby food, even though I wasn’t crazy about all of the ingredients in some of the foods.  Now that he is a toddler, he is picky and will only eat certain foods.  If only there was a way to get him to eat more nutritious foods in an easy way…there is!  Introducing the Freshfoods Cook-n-Blend Baby Food Maker, the answer to all of my problems.

FreshFoods1

This baby food maker is for the whole family.  It has two different texture settings, smooth or chunky, making it perfect for your growing baby and toddler.  It also has a smoothie blade attachment so you can make healthy smoothies for the whole family.  I was a little hesitant at first to try it, since my previous experience with making baby food was unsuccessful.  Once I pulled the Cook-n-Blend Baby Food Maker out of the box, I thought it looked more like a juicer than a baby food maker.  The size was perfect, it was a little smaller than a 2-slice toaster.  The bowl can hold up to 3.75 cups, or 4 meals.  Putting it together was easy, it came assembled!  I skimmed through the recipe booklet that came with it.  It came with great meal ideas written by world-famous child nutrition expert, Annabel Karmel.  I chose to do the Banana and Blueberry puree, but replaced the blueberries with strawberries.  For some odd reason, my son is not a fan of strawberries so I was anxious to see if he would like this.

FreshFoods2

To begin with, I filled the reservoir with water to level 2.  There are three different water levels depending upon what you are making.

FreshFoods3

Next I filled the steam basket with three strawberries cut up and a whole ripened banana.  They also include a half steam basket that can be placed inside the large basket so you can seperate foods and flavors.  I love this option since you can easily cook two different items at once.  After I added the food, I placed the lid on top and replaced the canister back into the baby food maker.  I plugged it in and pressed the green on/off button to start cooking.

FreshFoods4

After a a couple of minutes steam started to build up in the steam basket.  The bananas and strawberries began to cook.

Freshfoods5

After about 14 minutes, I heard a beep and the green light turned off.  I carefully opened the lid, hot steam came out, and I saw very mushy fruit.

FreshFoods6

Next I dumped the fruit into the glass bowl that had lots of yummy smelling juice in it.

FreshFoods7

You can then choose which texture you want, smooth or chunky.  I chose chunky so I replaced the lid and turned the knob to chunky.  After about 5 seconds I realized it was fully blended.  I removed the lid and saw a wonderful puree.  It smelled so fresh and looked so smooth, I couldn’t wait for my son to taste it.

FreshFoods8

I poured the puree into a 4oz cup and told my son I made special applesauce just for him.  Now remember, he does not like strawberries.  He took a spoonful and said, “Mmmmm, mommy this is good applesauce!”  He gobbled the entire cup and I was thrilled!  That right there, sold me on this food maker.  If I could make my picky three year old eat something he did not like, I could make many other healthy foods in there and he would have no idea what he’s eating.

FreshFoods9

Clean up was a breeze!  Most of the pieces are dishwasher safe, which is exactly where they went.  I wiped the machine clean and placed it back on my counter.  I will definitely be using this all of the time!  Some of the features that I really like are that it is a 4 in 1 baby food maker.  It cooks, blends, reheats, and defrosts.  Since it steams all of the food, it retains most of the vitamins and minerals, making it extremely nutritious and healthy.  With one quick pour you can then blend the food into either a chunky puree for toddlers or a smooth puree for babies.  The Cook-n-Blend Baby Food Maker is extremely versatile.  The instruction manual has a cooking guide which tells you what level water to add for different foods and approximately how long it takes to cook each food.  My only minor complaint on this product is I wish the instruction manual was a little more detailed.  The first time I tried using the baby food maker I was kind of nervous about doing it right.  I thought it was going to be more complicated than it actually was.  After you make the food once, though, you see how easy it is and probably won’t even need to look at the manual again.

Overall, I was highly impressed with the Freshfoods Cook-n-Blend Baby Food Maker.  I am anxious to use it not only on my baby who’s on the way, but also on my toddler to sneak in some veggies without him knowing.  Freshfoods also offers other great products to help with making your own baby food including Stackable Cube containers to store the baby food and Freezer trays so you can easily freeze your baby food so it is ready when you need it.  Their products are of high quality and are reasonabley priced.  Go to this link for a $20 coupon off a Freshfoods Cook-n-Blend Baby Food Maker and $1 coupon off a Freshfoods accessory:

www.nuk-usa.com/promos/nuk-fresh-foods/blogger

To see all of their products go to their website:

www.Nukfreshfoods.com

Be sure to like them on Facebook:

facebook.com/nukUSA

To meet other moms working hard to keep their families healthy and living green check out:

www.greenmomsmeet.com

 


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Sears Patio Furniture #GrillingisHappiness @Sears #Ad

This is the first year winter has gone by fast for me. I spend all winter looking forward to spring and summer. What about you? Warmer weather will be here soon, considering it’s only a month before it is officially spring. Warm weather brings longer days (yay!), BBQs and lots of outdoor activities. Sears believes outdoor living is a lifestyle, not just a seasonal must-have.

Remember last year when I did a post about my dream patio and included Sears patio furniture? I am still dreaming of that patio. If you are looking for a new patio set, you’ve gotta check out this new lighted patio furniture Sears has available!

lighted Patio_Sears

This exclusive patio set will extend your time outdoors with the Halley collection of patio furniture from La-Z-Boy and Bella Luna collection of patio furniture from Agio – only at Sears.

Don’t let the outdoor fun stop there though, Sears also has this new Kenmore Elite Grill for this summer of 2013. It has three burners, 692 sq. inches of cooking space and a warming rack.

Kenmore Grill_Sears

We can agree that Sears patio furniture and grills offer sophisticated outdoor furniture to match your taste and pocket book. Get ready for warmer weather by heading to Sears for all your summertime needs! http://bit.ly/Yy6TVk


“This is a sponsored post. I am a Sears blogger, though all opinions are my own.”

 

 


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Visit from the Fairy Hobmother

You know since becoming an adult I’ve never put much stock in fairies and the like…until recently when I received a visit from the Fairy Hobmother. Yes, you read that correctly the Fairy Hobmother. Who or what is the Fairy Hobmother you ask? Let me tell you…

Fairy Hobmother

The Fairy Hobmother is what I consider a blog fairy who flits from blog to blog sprinkling good will, encouraging words and timely gifts to bloggers he (yes the Fairy Hobmother is a HE) deems works hard and deserves a little reward, extra joy and happiness.

All the Fairy Hobmother asks in return is a little mention of him, Appliances Online, which has mega deals, tumble dryers and so much more for your appliance needs. He also says other bloggers may also receive some of his fairy dust if they comment on my post. Hint, hint bloggers!

So now do you believe in fairies? I am officially a believer. Thank you Fairy Hobmother for your generosity and mission of spreading good cheer throughout blogosphere and among bloggers!


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Happy Havens Dyson DC35 Vacuum Giveaway

Happy Havens is a site that provides consumers with information on home products, trends and promotes wellness and a clean lifestyle. The latter is something our family is very interested and involved in with our little non-certified organic farm. Happy Havens also covers DIY projects, organic living, style and giveaways. Their website is very uncluttered with a fresh look and easy to navigate.

Happy Havens is currently hosting a Dyson DC35 Vacuum Giveaway. Who couldn’t use a second vacuum? I know we could use another one. The Dyson DC35 looks very lightweight and compact. I am use to heavy bulky vacuums but our last vacuum wasn’t and we really like it. That’s why the Dyson caught my eye. It would be perfect for doing our basement stairs. We are hard on vacuums though so I hope it is sturdier than it appears to be!

Happy Havens Dyson DC35 Vacuum Giveaway

To enter the giveaway fill out as much as the Rafflecopter below….

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This is a sponsored post.


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If It’s Free! It’s for Me!

I found a new website!  Watch out, it’s addicting!  It’s called The Freecycle Network. Type in your location and see what people have to “offer” or “want” and they are all free!  You will find almost ANYTHING on here.  I’ve seen used oil, frozen meats, swing sets, baby items, beds, you name it!  You will need an account – if you find and “offer” you’d like you then need to contact the person to set a time / place and go and pick it up!  I’ve seen a few “curb alerts” (a curb alert is people that are putting stuff out on the curb or road) in my area.  This is my kind of bargain shopping!

http://www.freecycle.org

Editor’s Note: Our family has used Free Cycle and have got some pretty nice stuff – our recliner is one of them. We have also got work horses which have come in handy now that we have moved! Lots of neat and useful things have been found on Free Cycle. Beware of daily emails as they will over take your inbox! I finally had to unsubscribe due to the emails and my husband’s request! lol! I had him running out to pick up too many things! ;)


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Stonyfield Organic Sweeps – Win a Kitchen Makeover!

Anyone need a kitchen makeover? I know I could use one!  Here’s your chance!

Register for the “Great Food Find“, find the products from various organic companies put them in your “tote”.  If your one of the first 50,000 entries, you’ll receive coupons!  Then be entered to win a $15,000.00 new kitchen and food to fill it up!

Good Luck in the Stonyfield Organic Sweeps!


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